2015 04 20 22 05 11

Deploy a Cisco UCS system – Part 4 – Upgrading the Firmware

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My previous posts in the series covered getting the Cisco UCS up and running and into production, and it seems that adding how to upgrade the Firmware on the UCS at the end of the series is best, as you will find yourself needing to do this once the system is in production as well.

Note: Many thanks to Rene again for this simple post helping me through the steps.

Note2: It’s also worth looking through this short article on the do’s and don’t of UCS Firmware updates, from a session held at Cisco Live 2014.

Covered in this post;

  • Pre-reqs
  • Getting the Firmware
  • Upload firmware into UCS Manager
  • Upgrading UCS Manager
  • Upgrading the Fabric Interconnects
  • Upgrading the Blade Servers
Pre-Reqs

Continue reading Deploy a Cisco UCS system – Part 4 – Upgrading the Firmware →

2015 04 20 22 05 11

Deploy a Cisco UCS system – Part 3 – from scratch for VMware ESXi

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This is the final part of the series, where I cover off installing ESXi 6.0 onto the blade of the UCS system.

  • Setting up the SD Cards (FlexFlash)
  • Installing ESXi via KVM

Note: Please check your firmware is at the correct level needed. You can see this guide for upgrade the firmware.

Setting up the SD Cards (FlexFlash) Continue reading Deploy a Cisco UCS system – Part 3 – from scratch for VMware ESXi →

2015 04 20 22 05 11

Deploy a Cisco UCS system – Part 2 – from scratch for VMware ESXi

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In my first post, we got as far as setting up the management interface of the Cisco UCS Platform. In this second part, I’ll be covering;

  • Setting up the connectivity
  • Configuring the VLAN connectivity
  • Setting up Port Channels
  • Setting up the Appliance connectivity
  • Configuring LAN policies
  • Configuring VNIC Templates
  • Creating Server Policies
  • Building a Service Profile Template
  • Deploying a Service Profile from a Template
Setting up the connectivity

Continue reading Deploy a Cisco UCS system – Part 2 – from scratch for VMware ESXi →

2015 04 20 22 05 11

Deploy a Cisco UCS system – Part 1 – from scratch for VMware ESXi

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First off, huge thanks to the following posts by Rene Van Den Bedem and his Cisco UCS installation guide.

My aim here is not to rip off his posts, but to detail the process myself and use my own screenshots, as along the way, the setup was slightly different to Rene’s, such as the configuration needed for the SD Cards, and the lack of boot from SAN configuration.

Covered in Part 1;

  • The hardware/software
  • Cabling diagram
  • Pre-Reqs
  • Understanding Cisco’s policy based management
  • Summary of Task List
  • Setting up Fabric Interconnects
  • Connecting to Cisco UCS Manager

The Hardware/Software Continue reading Deploy a Cisco UCS system – Part 1 – from scratch for VMware ESXi →

vmware vcp dcv

VCP5-DCV Exam Experience

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I passed the VCP5-DCV exam at the start of the week.

Why take it now?

Having worked with VMware for many years, I’ve never actually taken a VCP exam, this was due to not realising many years ago you could sit an exam and the course was not mandatory. When I finally looked into taking a VCP exam, VMware had just changed the rules, so that the course requirement was mandatory.

So I spat my dummy out and didn’t bother, as my employer at the time would not send me on a course, and I couldn’t afford it myself.

Fast forward, VMware released the VCP-NV exam, where the course requirement was waived if you had a CCNA or CCNP certification. Brilliant, I jumped onto the VCP-NV and hammered all the material out there I could find, as I was also looking at moving companies to work with NSX full time.

Having passed the VCP-NV, it then allowed me to sit any other VCP exam without sitting the appropriate course.  So I finally got around to sitting the VCP5-DCV

The exam itself

Continue reading VCP5-DCV Exam Experience →