For the base config of the router you can follow this guide: https://www.mytechgnome.com/2016/02/cisco-isr-project-isr-base-config-5-of.html
The config of the router portion is the same between the two models. The difference comes in with the UCS E-Series server.
By default the CIMC of the blade (out-of-band management) is set to use the dedicated management port (the one labeled with a green background with an “M”) and it’s set for DHCP. If you are running DHCP you should be able to find the record in your DHCP server. The client name will be the model and serial of the server, so E160D-FOCXXXXXXXX for example. If you don’t have DHCP or if you want to assign a static IP you can run these commands from a config prompt on the router:
ucse subslot 1/0
imc ip address A.B.C.D E.F.G.H
You’ll need to replace A.B.C.D with the desired IP and E.F.G.H with the subnet mask. As usual, remember to save the config after making changes.
You can also set up the CIMC address by booting into the CIMC manager (press F8 during boot to get to the CIMC manager) and setting it there, but I think it’s easier to just use the router CLI.
To simplify my life, I set up a management station on the same subnet as the management IPs I used on the CIMC and router management. This way I don’t need to worry about getting routing set up yet.
You should be able to open a browser window and connect to the CIMC IP address. First, the CIMC web interface requires Adobe Flash Player, so you may need to install/update that.
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| CIMC login page |
The default username is: admin
The default password is: password
You will be prompted to change the password when you log in for the first time.
First things first. Let’s get the CIMC firmware updated. If you haven’t done this yet, go to the Cisco site and download the latest CIMC software. https://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=286281321&flowid=&softwareid=284480160&release=3.0.2&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=&reltype=latest
When logged in click the admin tab in the left pane.
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| CIMC Admin |
Then select Firmware Management
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| CIMC Firmware Management |
Now click Install CIMC Firmware through Browser Client
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| Firmware install |
In the window that pops up browse to the firmware download and click Install. This process will take some time, and it’s not actually installing the firmware. It’s just getting the firmware copied and ready. When this process is complete you will need to activate the firmware by click Activate CIMC firmware.
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| Activate firmware |
You’ll get a popup to select the firmware version to activate. Select the version you just installed and click Activate Firmware. Since the server isn’t in production yet we are going to ignore the recommendation to set the maintenance mode. When the firmware is activated it will restart the CIMC service, so remote access will be lost temporarily.
That should get the CIMC configuration done, and now an OS can be installed.
First, we need to set the boot order. Click BIOS in the left pane on the Server tab, then select Configure Boot Order. If there is a pop up click OK on it.
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| Boot order |
For my deployment I am going to be installing the OS on the embedded SD card. For that, I set the boot order to first look at the Linux Virtual CD/DVD, then Cypress (the SD card).
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| Set boot order |
Once things are moved as needed click Apply. To start the OS install click the KVM icon (it’s in the top bad, and it looks vaguely like a keyboard.
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| Start KVM |
The KVM does require Java, so that may need to be installed. Also, since it uses Java expect a series of security prompts, as well as the difficulty that can accompany. One thing to be aware of is if it downloads a file that looks like this ‘viewer.jnlp(1.2.3.4@0@215634295136582)’ it can be renamed to remove everything in the parenthesis, as well as the parenthesis leaving just ‘viewer.jnlp’ and then you can run that.
You will likely see this pop up more than once during the install. Just click ‘Accept this session’ and then check the box to remember the setting. Since we are doing an install of a OS there’s nothing that needs to be encrypted. If encryption is needed, it can be enabled on the CIMC interface, under Remote Presence. On the Virtual KVM tab check the box the enable video encryption, and on the Virtual Media tab check the box to enable virtual media encryption.
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| Unencrypted Virtual Media Session |
When the session is connected, click the Virtual Media tab at the top, then Add Image on the right.
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| Add image |
Browse to the VMware ISO and select it. When selected, it will be listed in the window, and you will need to check the box under Mapped. Then go back to the KVM tab and boot the server (or reboot if it is running).
The VMware install is pretty self explanatory, and I presume familiar. If not, here’s the VMware install guide: http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-60/index.jsp#com.vmware.vsphere.install.doc/GUID-6FFA928F-7F7D-4B1A-B05C-777279233A77.html
When the installation finishes the server will reboot into a two-tone page that will have the machine info, including DHCP address. If you need to modify the network settings press ‘F2’ and then log in.
Since this is a text based configuration I won’t bother with screenshots for most of this. In the menu select Configure Management Network.
For Network Adapters, determine what adapter will be used. VMNIC0 and VMNIC1 are built into the UCS server, and are connected internally to the ISR. VMNIC2 and VMNIC3 are matched to GE2 and GE3 on the server module.
After selecting the adapters then set the IP address, and make any needed DNS changes.
Once the server is online these changes can be made from the GUI as well.