Using the LAN Uplinks Manager

This chapter includes the following sections:

LAN Uplinks Manager

The LAN Uplinks Manager provides a single interface where you can configure the connections between Cisco UCS and the LAN. You can use the LAN Uplinks Manager to create and configure the following:


  • Ethernet switching mode

  • Uplink Ethernet ports

  • Port channels

  • LAN pin groups

  • Named VLANs

  • Server ports

  • QoS system classes

Some of the configuration that you can do in the LAN Uplinks Manager can also be done in nodes on other tabs, such as the Equipment tab or the LAN tab.

Launching the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the LAN tab.
Step 2   On the LAN tab, click the LAN node.
Step 3   In the Work pane, click the LAN Uplinks Manager link on the LAN Uplinks tab.

The LAN Uplinks Manager opens in a separate window.

Changing the Ethernet Switching Mode with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Important:

When you change the Ethernet switching mode, Cisco UCS Manager logs you out and restarts the fabric interconnect. For a cluster configuration, Cisco UCS Manager restarts both fabric interconnects sequentially. The second fabric interconnect can take several minutes to complete the change in Ethernet switching mode and become system ready.

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Uplink Mode area, click one of the following buttons:

  • Set Switching Mode

  • Set End-Host Mode

The button for the current switching mode is dimmed.

Step 3   In the dialog box, click Yes.

Cisco UCS Manager restarts the fabric interconnect, logs you out, and disconnects Cisco UCS Manager GUI.

Step 4   Launch Cisco UCS Manager GUI and log back in to continue configuring your system.

Configuring a Port with the LAN Uplinks Manager

You can only configure server ports on the fixed port module. Expansion modules do not include server ports.

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports area, click the down arrows to expand the Unconfigured Ports section.
Step 3   Expand Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name .
Step 4   Right-click the port that you want to configure and choose one of the following:
  • Configure as Server Port
  • Configure as Uplink Port
Step 5   If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

Configuring Server Ports

Enabling a Server Port with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports area, click the down arrows to expand the Server Ports section.
Step 3   Expand Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name.
Step 4   Right-click the port that you want to enable and choose Enable.

Disabling a Server Port with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports area, click the down arrows to expand the Server Ports section.
Step 3   Expand Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name.
Step 4   Right-click the port that you want to disable and choose Disable.
Step 5   If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

Unconfiguring a Server Port with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports area, click the down arrows to expand the Server Ports section.
Step 3   Expand Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name.
Step 4   Right-click the port that you want to unconfigure and choose Unconfigure.
Step 5   If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

Configuring Uplink Ethernet Ports

Enabling an Uplink Ethernet Port with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports and Port Channels area, expand Ports > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name.
Step 3   Right-click the port that you want to enable and choose Enable Port.
Step 4   If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

Disabling an Uplink Ethernet Port with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports and Port Channels area, expand Ports > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name.
Step 3   Right-click the port that you want to disable and choose Disable Port.
Step 4   If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

Unconfiguring an Uplink Ethernet Port with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports and Port Channels area, expand Ports > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name.
Step 3   Click the port that you want to unconfigure.

You can select multiple ports if you want to unconfigure more than one uplink Ethernet port.

Step 4   Click Unconfigure.
Step 5   If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

Configuring Uplink Ethernet Port Channels

Creating a Port Channel with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports and Port Channels area, click Create Port Channel.
Step 3   From the pop-up menu, select one of the following fabric interconnects where you want to create the port channel:
  • Fabric Interconnect A
  • Fabric Interconnect B
Step 4   In the Set Port Channel Name page of the Create Port Channel wizard, do the following:
  1. Complete the following fields:
    Name Description

    ID field

    The identifier for the port channel.

    Name field

    A user-defined name for the port channel.

    This name can be between 1 and 16 alphanumeric characters. You cannot use spaces or any special characters, and you cannot change this name after the object has been saved.

  2. Click Next.
Step 5   In the Add Ports page of the Create Port Channel wizard, do the following:
  1. In the Ports table, choose one or more ports to include the port channel.
  2. Click the >> button to add the ports to the Ports in the port channel table.

    You can use the << button to remove ports from the port channel.

    Note   

    Cisco UCS Manager warns you if you select a port that has been configured as a server port. You can click Yes in the dialog box to reconfigure that port as an uplink Ethernet port and include it in the port channel.

Step 6   Click Finish.

Enabling a Port Channel with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports and Port Channels area, expand Port Channels > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name.
Step 3   Right-click the port channel that you want to enable and choose Enable Port Channel.
Step 4   If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

Disabling a Port Channel with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports and Port Channels area, expand Port Channels > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name.
Step 3   Right-click the port channel that you want to disable and choose Disable Port Channel.
Step 4   If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

Adding Ports to a Port Channel with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports and Port Channels area, expand Port Channels > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name.
Step 3   Right-click the port channel to which you want to add ports and choose Add Ports.
Step 4   In the Add Ports dialog box, do the following:
  1. In the Ports table, choose one or more ports to include the port channel.
  2. Click the >> button to add the ports to the Ports in the port channel table.

    You can use the << button to remove ports from the port channel.

    Note   

    Cisco UCS Manager warns you if you select a port that has been configured as a server port. You can click Yes in the dialog box to reconfigure that port as an uplink Ethernet port and include it in the port channel.

Step 5   Click OK.

Removing Ports from a Port Channel with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports and Port Channels area, expand Port Channels > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name.
Step 3   Expand the port channel from which you want to remove ports.
Step 4   Right-click the port you want to remove from the port channel and choose Delete.
Step 5   If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

Deleting a Port Channel with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports and Port Channels area, expand Port Channels > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name.
Step 3   Right-click the port channel you want to delete and choose Delete.
Step 4   If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

Configuring LAN Pin Groups

Creating a Pin Group with the LAN Uplinks Manager

In a system with two fabric interconnects, you can associate the pin group with only one fabric interconnect or with both fabric interconnects.

Before You Begin

Configure the ports and port channels with which you want to configure the pin group. You can only include ports and port channels configured as uplink ports in a LAN pin group


Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Ports and Port Channels area, click Create Pin Group.
Step 3   In the Create LAN Pin Group dialog box, enter a unique name and description for the pin group.
Step 4   To pin traffic for fabric interconnect A, do the following in the Targets area:
  1. Check the Fabric Interconnect A check box.
  2. Click the drop-down arrow on the Interface field and navigate through the tree-style browser to select the port or port channel you want to associate with the pin group.
Step 5   To pin traffic for fabric interconnect B, do the following in the Targets area:
  1. Check the Fabric Interconnect B check box.
  2. Click the drop-down arrow on the Interface field and navigate through the tree-style browser to select the port or port channel you want to associate with the pin group.
Step 6   Click OK.
What to Do Next

Include the pin group in a vNIC template.

Deleting a Pin Group with the LAN Uplinks Manager

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the LAN Uplinks tab.
Step 2   In the Pin Groups area, right-click the pin group you want to delete and choose Delete.
Step 3   If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

Configuring Named VLANs

Creating a Named VLAN with the LAN Uplinks Manager

In a Cisco UCS instance with two switches, you can create a named VLAN that is accessible to both switches or to only one switch.

Important:

You cannot create VLANs with IDs from 3968 to 4047. This range of VLAN IDs is reserved.

The VLAN name is case sensitive.

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the VLANs tab.
Step 2   On the icon bar to the right of the table, click +.

If the + icon is disabled, click an entry in the table to enable it.

Step 3   In the Create VLAN dialog box, complete the following fields:
Name Description

VLAN Name/Prefix field

For a single VLAN, this is the VLAN name. For a range of VLANs, this is the prefix that the system uses for each VLAN name.

This name can be between 1 and 16 alphanumeric characters. You cannot use spaces or any special characters, and you cannot change this name after the object has been saved.

Configuration options

You can select:


  • Common/Global—The VLANs apply to both fabrics and use the same configuration parameters in both cases

  • Fabric A—The VLANs only apply to fabric A.

  • Fabric B—The VLAN only apply to fabric B.

  • Both Fabrics Configured Differently—The VLANs apply to both fabrics but you can specify different VLAN IDs for each fabric.

VLAN IDs field

To create one VLAN, enter a single numeric ID. To create multiple VLANs, enter individual IDs or ranges of IDs separated by commas. A VLAN ID can:


  • Be between 1 to 3967

  • Be between 4049 to 4093

  • Overlap with other VLAN IDs already defined on the system

For example, to create six VLANs with the IDs 4, 22, 40, 41, 42, and 43, you would enter 4, 22, 40-43.

Important:

The VLAN IDs from 3968 to 4048 are reserved. You cannot specify an ID within this range.

Check Overlap button

Click this button to determine whether the VLAN ID overlaps with any other IDs on the system.

Step 4   Click OK.

Cisco UCS Manager adds the VLAN to one of the following VLANs nodes:


  • The LAN Cloud > VLANs node for a VLAN accessible to both fabric interconnects.

  • The Fabric_Interconnect_Name > VLANs node for a VLAN accessible to only one fabric interconnect.

Deleting a Named VLAN with the LAN Uplinks Manager

If Cisco UCS Manager includes a named VLAN with the same VLAN ID as the one you delete, the VLAN is not removed from the fabric interconnect configuration until all named VLANs with that ID are deleted.

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the VLANs tab.
Step 2   Click one of the following subtabs, depending upon what type of VLAN you want to delete:
Subtab Description

All

Displays all VLANs in the Cisco UCS instance.

Dual Mode

Displays the VLANs that are accessible to both fabric interconnects.

Fabric A

Displays the VLANs that are accessible to only fabric interconnect A.

Fabric B

Displays the VLANs that are accessible to only fabric interconnect B.

Step 3   In the table, click the VLAN you want to delete.

You can use the Shift key or Ctrl key to select multiple entries.

Step 4   Right-click the highlighted VLAN or VLANs and select Delete.
Step 5   If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

Configuring QoS System Classes with the LAN Uplinks Manager

The type of adapter in a server impacts the maximum MTU supported. Network MTU above the maximums may cause the packet to be dropped for the following adapters:


  • The Cisco UCS CNA M71KR adapter supports a maximum MTU of 9216.

  • The Cisco UCS 82598KR-CI adapter supports a maximum MTU of 14000.

Procedure
Step 1   In the LAN Uplinks Manager, click the QoS tab.
Step 2   Update the following properties for the system class you want to configure to meet the traffic management needs of the system:
Note   

Some properties may not be configurable for all system classes.
Name Description

Enabled check box

If checked, the associated QoS class is configured on the fabric interconnect and can be assigned to a QoS policy.

If unchecked, the class is not configured on the fabric interconnect and any QoS policies associated with this class default to Best Effort or, if a system class is configured with a Cos of 0, to the Cos 0 system class.

Note   

This field is always checked for Best Effort and Fibre Channel.

Cos field

The class of service. You can enter an integer value between 0 and 6, with 0 being the lowest priority and 6 being the highest priority. We recommend that you do not set the value to 0, unless you want that system class to be the default system class for traffic if the QoS policy is deleted or the assigned system class is disabled.

Note   

This field is set to 7 for internal traffic and to any for Best Effort. Both of these values are reserved and cannot be assigned to any other priority.

Packet Drop check box

If checked, packet drop is allowed for this class. If unchecked, packets cannot be dropped during transmission.

This field is always unchecked for the Fibre Channel class, which never allows dropped packets, and always checked for Best Effort, which always allows dropped packets.

Weight drop-down list

This can be:


  • An integer between 1 and 10. If you enter an integer, Cisco UCS determines the percentage of network bandwidth assigned to the priority level as described in the Weight (%) field.

  • best-effort.

  • none.

Weight (%) field

To determine the bandwidth allocated to a channel, Cisco UCS:


  1. Adds the weights for all the channels

  2. Divides the channel weight by the sum of all weights to get a percentage

  3. Allocates that percentage of the bandwidth to the channel

MTU drop-down list

The maximum transmission unit for the channel. This can be:


  • An integer between 1500 and 9216. This value corresponds to the maximum packet size.

  • fc—A predefined packet size of 2240.

  • normal—A predefined packet size of 1500.

Note   

This field is always set to fc for Fibre Channel.

Multicast Optimized check box

If checked, the class is optimized to send packets to multiple destinations simultaneously.

Note   

This option is not applicable to the Fibre Channel.

Step 3   Do one of the following:
  • Click OK to save your changes and exit from the LAN Uplinks Manager.
  • Click Apply to save your changes without exiting from the LAN Uplinks Manager.