Adding VLANs to Cisco UCSM & HyperFlex

I know there are a few more ways to do these procedures, but this is just one example in this overall SOP.

1.    First, from the UCS manager, go to the LAN section on the left hand side, then expand LAN> Policies> root>Sub-Organizations>YourDataCenter>vNIC Templates>vNIC Template vm-network-a, and vNIC Template vm-network-b

2.    Once you navigate here, you can click on the “Modify VLANs” Action under the “General” tab.

3.    On the menu on the pop-up, click on “Create VLAN”

4.    On the Create VLANs screen, fill in your VLAN Name/Prefix with a name you wish to call this VLAN, example: MyTestVLAN-100. Then put in your VLAN number, example: 100

 5.    Now make sure to go to the second “vNIC Template vm-network-b” or whatever other vm-template policies you have to ensure it added there too (it should do this automatically with linked templates, but always good to check).

6.    Oh we are not done yet folks! Now, we have the VLAN added to the vm-network templates, now we can add the VLANs to the actual servers so they can start processing the VLAN tagging. This part is easy, just check the box on the new VLAN/VLANs you wish to add to the vm-network templates.

7.    Now, in the top tabs, next to the “General” tab, you can click on VLANs and verify your VLAN has appeared and is now showing in the VLANs for the UCS vNIC Template. You can now add your Port-Group/VLAN information into the VMware vSphere and your Cisco equipment. Ensure the VLAN tag is connected all the way through the Layer 2 systems for it to fully pass through.


Reference:
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/ucs-manager/GUI-User-Guides/Network-Mgmt/4-0/b_UCSM_Network_Mgmt_Guide_4_0/b_UCSM_Network_Mgmt_Guide_4_0_chapter_0110.html

Re-acknowledging a Blade Server in UCSM

1.    Sometimes you will need to re-acknowledge a server in order to clear alarms in the UCS/HyperFlex system. Start off by ensuring the server is in maintenance mode if it is linked in vCenter (this will help offload important VMs if in vMotion, and prevent issues in vCenter).
2.    Next, log into your UCS manager.
3.    Once you are logged into the UCS manager, navigate to the Equipment tab in the top left of the screen.
4.    From the Equipment tab, expand the following:
    a.    Equipment>Servers>Server you wish to work on.
5.    From here, click on the “Server Maintenance” in the “Actions” section. Also, I found out if you use the "reset" option it is displayed here too, a few ways you can get to it.
6.    Select “Re-Acknowledge” from the selection and then click “OK”.
7.    The process can take anywhere from 10-40 minutes depending on the system you are utilizing.
8.    Verify errors have cleared.

Reference:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/ucs-manager/GUI-User-Guides/Server-Mgmt/3-1/b_Cisco_UCS_Manager_Server_Mgmt_Guide_3_1/b_Cisco_UCS_Manager_Server_Mgmt_Guide_3_1_chapter_01001.html#task_DAD508E1ACC2406B81D00C1099E442EF

HyperFlex Tips & Commands

Storage Controller VM Commands

•    Sometimes the storage VMs will not start up correctly after a shutdown. The storage VMs might need to be rebooted/services started if you are having issues.
•    #service_status.sh
    o    This command will give you a status of the services running on the storage controller VM.
•    #stmgr restart
    o    This will restart the storage manager service on the controller VM. Sometimes this will stop and you will get errors in the Cisco HyperFlex Connect webpage.
•    #stcli cluster start
    o    This will start up the cluster between the nodes/servers. Sometimes the cluster is offline or not started and executing this command will bring the system back up online.
•    #stcli cluster info
    o    This command you can obtain an overall view of the cluster state. You can see replication factor, whether the cluster is online or offline, and also if the cluster is healthy.
•    #stcli cluster storage-summary
    o    This will give you the status of the storage cluster itself.
•    #stcli cluster storage-summary --detail
    o    This will give you further detail into the cluster health/status of the storage.

ESXi (Node) Commands

•    []vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms
    o    This will show you the VMs currently running on the node/server.


References:

Cisco HyperFlex CLI Guide 3.5
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/hyperconverged_systems/HyperFlex_HX_DataPlatformSoftware/CLIGuide/3_5/b_HyperFlexSystems_CLIReferenceGuide_3_5.html

Cisco HyperFlex Data Platform Administration Guide 3.5
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/hyperconverged_systems/HyperFlex_HX_DataPlatformSoftware/AdminGuide/3_5/b_HyperFlexSystems_AdministrationGuide_3_5.html
 

Remove Licenses for VMware through vSphere 6.5

1.    First log on to your vSphere web interface.
2.    Next, click on the home in the top left and then click on Administration

3.    Under the Navigator pane on the left, under Administration, click on Licenses under the Licensing section.

4.    Click on the Licenses tab to view your licenses.

5.    Select a license then click on the X Remove Licenses option. Here it is unavailable at the moment because I have assigned assets to them. But this will allow you to remove the licenses from your old vCenter/vSphere.


Reference: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.vcenterhost.doc/GUID-0A6414DC-557F-4C83-A43B-0B3FBDBFA77B.html

Changing VLAN Root Bridge ID on a Layer 3 Switch

1.    First, you will need to identify the VLAN you wish to change. With Cisco switches (not sure about others yet), you can change the root bridge ID for each VLAN individually. Warning! This may/will cause a re-convergence on the network. My lab environment noticed very little issues, but again just a home lab and a medium/large network this can take down your network as everything tries to readjust. Again, all of my SOPs/tips have been done in a home lab, always follow proper procedures before performing changes on your live/home network.
2.    Make sure you design/choose your switch you wish to be root carefully. Usually, you want your big/fast switches to be the root so you don’t have your traffic handicapped at a small/slow switch. It is all depending on how you wish to design it.
3.    Once you identify your VLAN, perform the following to change the priority:
    a.    #configure terminal
        i.    #spanning-tree vlan XXX priority 4096
            1.    Numbers start from 0 and increment in the number 4096 intervals. So example: 0, 4096, 8192, 12288 etc.
        ii.    #exit
    b.    #write
4.    Sometimes this is quick, sometimes this can take a little time for the switches to readjust. Just a few simple commands, but can make a huge difference on the speed of your network.

Reference: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/catalyst2960/software/release/12-2_53_se/configuration/guide/2960scg/swstp.html