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Upgrade Cisco UCS Server Firmware with Host Update Utility

Upgrade Cisco UCS Server Firmware with Host Update Utility

Upgrading server firmware is an integral part of patching your infrastructure. Typically, device firmware is installed prior to upgrading your OS/hypervisor. In this scenario, we will be upgrading Cisco UCS server firmware via the Host Update Utility (HUU). This specific server/host is running VMware ESXi. It is also worth noting, this process is also revelevant on how to upgrade Cisco CIMC. Before we get into the actual server firmware patching, let’s talk about drivers vs firmware as these two may…

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Configure Cisco UCS SMTP Sender Address

Configure Cisco UCS SMTP Sender Address

Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) has the ability to notify admins of server issues via SMTP e-mail alerts. If you leverage this capability in your environment, you might find yourself needing to specify the SMTP From address. By default, the mail alert sender address is CIMChostname@cisco.com (IE. C220-WZP1234567@cisco.com). This is potentially problematic in organizations that utilize direct send (Office 365) or SMTP relay servers to pass authentication. Direct send has a tendency to mark such addresses as spam and relay…

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Install or Upgrade VMware ESXi from CIMC HTML5 UI

Install or Upgrade VMware ESXi from CIMC HTML5 UI

Beginning in Cisco Integrated Management Controller version 3.0(1), Cisco rolled out support for their new HTML5 Web UI and vKVM. This removed the requirement for both Flash and Java to operate CIMC and KVM. In this post, we will take a look at a VMware ESXi upgrade utilizing the HTML based CIMC and KVM console. Attach ESXi Image via CIMC KVM From the CIMC home page, click Launch KVM and select HTML based KVM. Once the KVM session has launched,…

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VMware ESXi Install Fails with Partition Error on Cisco FlexFlash

VMware ESXi Install Fails with Partition Error on Cisco FlexFlash

During a recent install of VMware ESXi 6.7 on a pair of Cisco UCS 220 servers, I ran into a partition error causing the installation to fail. The error stated partedUtil failed with message: “Error: Can’t have a partition outside the disk! Unable to read partition table for device.” The intended install location was a Cisco FlexFlash virtual drive made up of two onboard SD cards. To remediate the issue, the virtual drive needed to be erased. We also disabled/re-enabled…

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