First Published: September 20, 2020

Release Notes for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine, BIOS Releases UCSEM3_2.10 and UCSEDM3_2.10

This document provides new features, system requirements, compatibility information, and open and resolved caveats for the Cisco UCS E-Series Server and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine (NCE) software, BIOS release UCSEDM3_2.10. Use this document in conjunction with the documents in the Related Documentation.


Note

The UCSEDM3_2.10 applies only to the UCS-E180D-M3 and UCS-E1120D-M3 modules. The UCSEM3_2.10 applies only to the UCS-E160S-M3 module.


Note
Documentation is sometimes updated after original publication; therefore, for updated content, review the documentation on Cisco.com.

Overview

The Cisco UCS E-Series Servers (E-Series Servers) and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine (NCE) are a family of size-, weight-, and power-efficient blade servers that are housed within the Cisco ISR 4000 series. These servers provide a general-purpose compute platform for branch-office applications deployed either as bare-metal on operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows or Linux, or as virtual machines on hypervisors, such as VMware vSphere Hypervisor, Microsoft Hyper-V, or Citrix XenServer.

The E-Series Servers are purpose-built with powerful Intel Xeon processors for general-purpose compute. They come in the following form factors: single-wide and double-wide. The single-wide E-Series Server fits into one server module (SM) slot, and the double-wide E-Series Server fits into two SM slots.


Note
M3 servers are supported on the Cisco ISR 4000 series only.

System Requirements

Hardware Requirements


Note
E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE can be installed in the Cisco ISR G2 and the Cisco ISR 4000 series.
  • The EHWIC E-Series NCEs are not supported from CIMC release 3.2.x.
  • The NIM E-Series NCE can be installed in the Cisco ISR 4000 series only.

The following M1 E-Series Servers are supported:

  • UCS-E140S-M1—Single-wide E-Series Server, 4-cores CPU, 1.0-GHz clock speed
  • UCS-E140D-M1—Double-wide E-Series Server, 4-cores CPU, 2.0-GHz clock speed
  • UCS-E160D-M1—Double-wide E-Series Server, 6-cores CPU, 1.8-GHz clock speed
  • UCS-E140DP-M1—Double-wide E-Series Server, 4-cores CPU, with PCIe, 2.0-GHz clock speed
  • UCS-E160DP-M1—Double-wide E-Series Server, 6-cores CPU, with PCIe, 1.8-GHz clock speed

The following M2 E-Series Servers and SM E-Series NCE are supported:

  • UCS-EN120S-M2—SM E-Series NCE, 2-cores CPU, 2.0-GHz clock speed
  • UCS-E140S-M2—Single-wide E-Series Server, 4-cores CPU, 1.8-GHz clock speed
  • UCS-E160D-M2—Double-wide E-Series Server, 6-cores CPU, 2.0-GHz clock speed
  • UCS-E180D-M2—Double-wide E-Series Server, 8-cores CPU, 1.8-GHz clock speed

The following M3 E-Series Servers are supported:

  • UCS-E160S-M3—Single-wide E-Series Server, 6-cores CPU, 1.9 -GHz clock speed

  • UCS-E180D-M3—Double-wide E-Series Server, 8-cores CPU, 2.0 -GHz clock speed

  • UCS-E1120D-M3—Double-wide E-Series Server, 12-cores CPU, 1.5 -GHz clock speed


Note
The M1, M2, and M3 E-Series Servers naming terminology indicates different generations of Intel processors within the respective servers.

The following NIM E-Series NCE is supported:

  • UCS-EN140N-M2—NIM E-Series NCE, 4-cores CPU, 1.7-GHz clock speed

Note
For details about the M1, M2, and M3 E-Series Servers and the EHWIC E-Series NCE hardware, see the “Hardware Requirements” section in the Hardware Installation Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine .

Software Requirements

E-Series Servers require three major software systems:

CIMC Firmware

Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) is a management module, which is built into the motherboard. A dedicated ARM-based processor, separate from the main server CPU, runs the CIMC firmware. The system ships with a running version of the CIMC firmware. You can update the CIMC firmware, but no initial installation is needed.

CIMC is the management service for the E-Series Servers. CIMC runs within the server. You can use CIMC to access, configure, administer, and monitor the server.

BIOS Firmware

BIOS initializes the hardware in the system, discovers bootable devices, and boots them in the provided sequence. It boots the operating system and configures the hardware for the operating system to use. BIOS manageability features allow you to interact with the hardware and use it. In addition, BIOS provides options to configure the system, manage firmware, and create BIOS error reports. The system ships with a running version of the BIOS firmware. You can update the BIOS firmware, but no initial installation is needed.


Note

Table below lists the minimum BIOS versions required to use with CIMC 3.2.x and later releases.

Table 1. Minimum BIOS Versions Required

Server Name

BIOS Version

UCS-EN120S-M2

UCS-E140S M2

1.5.0.6

UCS-E160D-M2

UCS-E180D-M2

2.5.0.4

UCS-E160S-M3

2.x

UCS-E180D-M3

UCS-E1120D-M3

2.x

UCS-EN140N-M2

1.5.0.4

UCS-EN120E

1.5.0.4

Note

The following M1 modules do not support the latest firmware for CIMC, BIOS, and HUU:

  • UCS-E140S-M1

  • UCS-E140D-M1

  • UCS-E160D-M1

  • UCS-E140DP-M1

  • UCS-E160DP-M1

Minimum System Requirements

The management client must meet or exceed the following minimum system requirements:

  • Sun JRE 1.6.0_14 or later
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or higher
  • Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista,
  • Apple Mac OS X v10.6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0 or higher operating systems

E-Series Server Options

E-Series Servers are available in the following options:

  • Option 1—E-Series Server without preinstalled operating system or hypervisor

  • Option 2—E-Series Server with preinstalled Microsoft Windows Server

At the time of purchase, you can choose the appropriate RAID option that you want enabled on the E-Series Server.


Note
If you purchase this option, the Microsoft Windows Server license is preactivated.

  • Option 3—E-Series Server with preinstalled VMware vSphere Hypervisor TM

At the time of purchase, you can choose the appropriate RAID option that you want enabled on the E-Series Server.

Cisco SD-WAN and SD-WAN IOS XE Support on UCS-E Series

Table 2. Cisco SD-WAN and SD-WAN IOS XE Release Compatibility

Cisco SD-WAN

SD-WAN IOS XE | ISR4000

UCS-E Series using External Interfaces in SD-WAN mode

UCS-E Series using Internal Backplane Interfaces** in SD-WAN mode

19.2.x

16.12.1b and later releases

Supported

Not supported

20.1.1

17.2.1r

Supported

Limited feature support configurable using only Cisco vManage CLI templates

Note

** Interfaces - ucse x/y/0 and ucse x/y/1

For related information on Cisco SD-WAN and SD-WAN IOS XE support, refer to the Compatibility Matrix section in the Release Notes for Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Devices, Cisco IOS XE Release Amsterdam 17.2.x

Cisco ISR G2, E-Series Server, NCE, and Cisco IOS Software Release Compatibility

Table 3. Cisco ISR G2, E-Series Server, NCE, and Cisco IOS Release Compatibility

Cisco ISR G2

Cisco IOS Software Release for Single-Wide E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE

Cisco IOS Software Release for Double-Wide E-Series Servers

Cisco IOS Software Release for the EHWIC E-Series NCE

1921

—

—

15.4(3)M and later releases

1941

—

—

15.4(3)M and later releases

2911

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.4(3)M and later releases

2921

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.4(3)M and later releases

2951

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.4(3)M and later releases

3925

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.4(3)M and later releases

3925e

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.4(3)M and later releases

3945

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.4(3)M and later releases

3945e

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.2(4)M and later releases

15.4(3)M and later releases

Cisco ISR 4000 Series, E-Series Server, NCE, CIMC, and Cisco IOS Software Release Compatibility

Table 4. Cisco ISR 4000 Series, E-Series Server, NCE, CIMC, and Cisco IOS Release Compatibility

Cisco ISR

Cisco IOS Software Release for Single-Wide E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE

Cisco IOS Software Release for Double-Wide E-Series Servers

Cisco IOS Software Release for the NIM E-Series NCE

CIMC

4400 Series

XE 3.12S

XE 3.12S

—

2.2.2 and later releases

XE 3.13S and later releases

XE 3.13S and later releases

—

2.3.1 and later releases

—

—

XE 3.15S and later releases

3.0.1 and later releases

XE 16.2.1

XE 16.2.1

XE 16.2.1

3.0.1 and later releases

4300 Series

XE 3.13S and later releases

XE 3.13S and later releases

—

2.3.1 and later releases

—

—

XE 3.15S and later releases

3.0.1 and later releases

XE 16.2.1

XE 16.2.1

XE 16.2.1

3.0.1 and later releases

Important Information About the VMware FL-SRE-V-HOST License

If you are using a VMware FL-SRE-V-HOST license (equivalent to VMware vSphere Hypervisor™ 5.X), make sure that you are using 32 GB or less of RAM. If more than 32 GB of RAM is used, you will get an error message, and you will not be able to apply the license. If you want to use 48 GB RAM, upgrade your license to FL-SRE-V-HOSTVC.

Important Information About the Host Upgrade Utility

Since CIMC release 3.0.1, a separate Host Upgrade Utility User Guide is not supported. All the information that was present in the Host Upgrade Utility User Guide is merged into the Getting Started Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine.

New Features for BIOS Releases UCSEM3_2.10 and UCSEDM3_2.10

September, 2020

This document provides new features, system requirements, compatibility information, and open and resolved caveats for the Cisco UCS E-Series Server and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine (NCE) software release 3.2.10. Use this document in conjunction with the documents in the Related Documentation.


Note
Documentation is sometimes updated after original publication; therefore, for updated content, review the documentation on Cisco.com.

  • UEFI Boot Order configuration: You can configure Boot Order for UEFI through CIMCwith BIOS version 2.10 or later. If any other BIOS version is used, you must configure UEFI Boot Order through the BIOS setup menu.

Resolved and Closed Bugs in BIOS Releases UCSEM3_2.10 and UCSEDM3_2.10

Table 5. Resolved or Closed Caveats

Bug ID

Summary

CSCvp71611

Evaluation of ucse for Intel 2019.1 QSR - MDS

CSCvr54380

Evaluation of ucse for Intel 2019.2 IPU

Open Bugs in BIOS Releases UCSEM3_2.10 and UCSEDM3_2.10

None

Related Documentation

For links to the following Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the NCE documents, see Documentation Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine :

  • Getting Started Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine

  • Hardware Installation Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine

  • Cisco Network Modules, Server Modules, and Interface Cards Regulatory Compliance and Safety Information

  • GUI Configuration Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine Integrated Management Controller

  • CLI Configuration Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine Integrated Management Controller

  • CIMC XML API Programmer’s Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine

  • Troubleshooting Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine

  • Open Source Used in Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine, Release 2.x

  • Third-Party Tools Plug-In Documentation:

    • Release Notes for Cisco IMC PowerTool, Release 1.x

    • Cisco UCS PowerTool, Release 1.1.1 User Guide

    • Cisco IMC Remote Action Service 1.1.1 User Guide for HP Operations Orchestration 9.00

    • Cisco IMC Smart Plugin 1.0 Installation Guide for HP Operations Manager—Windows

    • Cisco IMC Smart Plugin 1.0 Operations Guide for HP Operations Manager—Windows

    • Release Notes for Cisco IMC Management Pack, Release 1.1 for Microsoft System Center 2012, 2012 SP1 and 2012 R2, Operations Manager

    • Cisco IMC Management Pack User Guide, Release 1.1 for Microsoft System Center 2012, 2012 SP1 and 2012 R2, Operations Manager