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Use vNIC templates to define how a vNIC on a server connects to the LAN. You can view all existing vNIC templates on the Templates page.
Creating vNIC template pairs enables you to group vNICs that belong to a specific server. For example, you can create a vNIC template and specify it as the primary template, then create a different vNIC template and specify it as the secondary template. You can link the two templates to create a pair that share attributes that you define in the primary template. The secondary template inherits the attributes from the primary template. If you select Updating Template, any changes made to the primary template are propagated to the secondary template in the template pair. You can also modify any non-shared configurations on each individual template in the pair.
When creating the pair, you can assign one template to each fabric. For example you could assign the primary template to fabric A, and the secondary template to fabric B. This eliminates the need to configure vNIC pairs independently using one or more templates. The number of vNIC pairs that can be created using a template pair is only limited by the adapter's maximum capabilities.
The following configurations are shared when using template pairs:
Network Control Policy
QoS Policy
Template Type
Connection Policies
VLANs
MTU
Statistics Threshold Policy
The following configurations are not shared when using template pairs:
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If you plan to use a global vNIC redundancy template pair in a local service profile in Cisco UCS Manager, you cannot assign the vNIC template for the primary and the secondary of the redundancy template pair at the same time. You will need to assign the vNIC template for the primary vNIC and set the peer name for the second vNIC, then modify the second vNIC and manually assign the secondary vNIC template. |
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Global vNICs can be used in local service profiles created in Cisco UCS Manager. |
Default vNIC behavior policy allows you to configure how vNICs are created for a service profile. You can choose to create vNICS manually, or you can create them automatically.
You can configure the default vNIC behavior policy to define how vNICs are created. This can be one of the following:
None—Cisco UCS Central does not create default vNICs for a service profile. All vNICs must be explicitly created.
HW Inherit—If a service profile requires vNICs and none have been explicitly defined, Cisco UCS Central creates the required vNICs based on the adapter installed in the server associated with the service profile.
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If you do not specify a default behavior policy for vNICs, HW Inherit is used by default. |
If you do not specify a default behavior policy for vNICs, HWInherit is used by default.