Server Pools
Server Pools
A server pool contains a set of servers. These servers typically share the same characteristics. Those characteristics can be their location in the chassis, or an attribute such as server type, amount of memory, local storage, type of CPU, or local drive configuration. You can manually assign a server to a server pool, or use server pool policies and server pool policy qualifications to automate the assignment.
If your system implements multitenancy through organizations, you can designate one or more server pools to be used by a specific organization. For example, a pool that includes all servers with two CPUs could be assigned to the Marketing organization, while all servers with 64 GB memory could be assigned to the Finance organization.
A server pool can include servers from any chassis in the system. A given server can belong to multiple server pools.
When you select a specific server pool, you can view the individual details for that pool, including the number of servers included in the pool, and the associated qualification policies.
Creating a Server Pool
The following example shows how to create the server pool named ServPool2 which includes two servers:
UCSC# connect resource-mgr UCSC(resource-mgr)# scope org / UCSC(resource-mgr) /org # create server-pool ServPool2 UCSC(resource-mgr) /org/server-pool* # create server 1/1 ucs-domain 1008 UCSC(resource-mgr) /org/server-pool* # create server 1/4/6 ucs-domain 1008 UCSC(resource-mgr) /org/server-pool* # commit-buffer UCSC(resource-mgr) /org/server-pool #
Deleting a Server Pool
| Command or Action | Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCSC# connect resource-mgr |
Enters resource manager mode. |
| Step 2 | UCSC(resource-mgr)# scope org org-name |
Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name. |
| Step 3 | UCSC(resource-mgr) /org # delete server-pool server-pool-name |
Deletes the specified server pool. |
| Step 4 | UCSC(resource-mgr) /org # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example shows how to delete the server pool named ServPool2:
UCSC# connect resource-mgr UCSC(resource-mgr)# scope org / UCSC(resource-mgr) /org # delete server-pool ServPool2 UCSC(resource-mgr) /org* # commit-buffer UCSC(resource-mgr) /org #
Server Pool Qualification Policy
The server pool qualification policy qualifies servers based on the server inventory conducted during the discovery process. You can configure these qualifications or individual rules in the policy to determine whether a server meets the selection criteria. For example, you can create a rule that specifies the minimum memory capacity for servers in a data center pool.
Qualifications are used in other policies to place servers, not just by the server pool policies. For example, if a server meets the criteria in a qualification policy, it can be added to one or more server pools or have a service profile automatically associated with it. You can use the server pool policy qualifications to qualify servers according to the following criteria:
- Creating a Server Pool Qualification Policy
- Creating a Domain Qualification for a Policy Qualification
- Creating an Adapter Qualification for a Policy Qualification
- Deleting a Server Pool Policy Qualification
Creating a Server Pool Qualification Policy
| Command or Action | Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCSC# connect policy-mgr |
Enters policy manager mode. |
| Step 2 | UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name |
Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name. |
| Step 3 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create server-qual server-qual-name |
Creates a server pool qualification with the specified name, and enters organization server qualification mode. |
| Step 4 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example shows how to create a server pool qualification named ServPoolQual22:
UCSC# connect policy-mgr UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org / UCSC(policy-mgr) /org* # create server-qual ServPoolQual22 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual* # commit-buffer UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual #
Creating a Domain Qualification for a Policy Qualification
| Command or Action | Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCSC# connect policy-mgr |
Enters policy manager mode. |
| Step 2 | UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name |
Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name. |
| Step 3 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # scope server-qual server-qual-name |
Enters server qualification mode for the specified server pool policy qualification. |
| Step 4 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual # create domain-qual domain-qual-name |
Creates the specified domain qualification and enters domain qualification mode. |
| Step 5 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual/domain-qual # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example shows how to add a domain qualification to a server pool policy qualification:
UCSC# connect policy-mgr UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org / UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # scope server-qual ServPoolQual22 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual # create domain-qual TestDomain UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual/domain-qual* # commit-buffer UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual/domain-qual #
Creating an Adapter Qualification for a Policy Qualification
| Command or Action | Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCSC# connect policy-mgr |
Enters policy manager mode. |
| Step 2 | UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name |
Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name. |
| Step 3 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # scope server-qual server-qual-name |
Enters server qualification mode for the specified server pool policy qualification. |
| Step 4 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual # create adapter |
Creates the specified adapter qualification and enters adapter qualification mode. |
| Step 5 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual/adapter # create cap-qual adapter-type |
Creates an adapter capacity qualification for the specified adapter type and enters organization server qualification adapter capacity qualification mode. The adapter-type argument can be any of the following values:
|
| Step 6 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual/adapter/cap-qual # set maximum {max-cap | unspecified} |
Specifies the maximum capacity for the selected adapter type. |
| Step 7 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual/adapter/cap-qual # set pid-regex regex |
Specifies the regular expression that the PID must match. |
| Step 8 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual/adapter/cap-qual # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example shows how to add a domain qualification to a server pool policy qualification:
UCSC# connect policy-mgr UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org / UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # scope server-qual ServPoolQual22 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual # create adapter TestAdapter UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual/adapter* # create cap-qual non-virtualized-eth-if UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual/adapter/cap-qual* # set maximum unspecified UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual/adapter/cap-qual* # commit-buffer UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual/adapter/cap-qual #
Deleting a Server Pool Policy Qualification
| Command or Action | Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCSC# connect policy-mgr |
Enters policy manager mode. |
| Step 2 | UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org org-name |
Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name . |
| Step 3 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # delete server-qual server-qual-name |
Deletes the specified server pool qualification. |
| Step 4 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/server-qual # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example deletes the server pool qualification named ServPoolQual22:
UCSC# connect policy-mgr UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org / UCSC(policy-mgr) /org* # delete server-qual ServPoolQual22 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org* # commit-buffer UCSC(policy-mgr) /org #
IP Pools
IP pools are a collection of IP IPv4 or IPv6 addresses. You can use IP pools in Cisco UCS Central in one of the following ways:
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For external management of Cisco UCS Managerservers.
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For iSCSI boot initiators.
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For both external management and iSCSI boot initiators in Cisco UCS Manager.
 Note | The IP pool must not contain any IP addresses that were assigned as static IP addresses for a server or service profile. |
A fault is raised if the same IP address is assigned to two different Cisco UCS domains. If you want to use the same IP address, you can use the scope property to specify whether the IP addresses in the block are public or private:
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public—You can assign the IP addresses in the block to multiple Cisco UCS domains.
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private—You can assign the IP addresses in the block to one and only one registered Cisco UCS domain.
Cisco UCS Central creates public IP pools by default.
Global IP pools should be used for similar geographic locations. If the IP addressing schemes are different, the same IP pool cannot be used for those sites.
Cisco UCS Central supports creating and deleting IPv4 and IPv6 blocks in IP pools. However, iSCSI boot initiators support only IPv4 blocks.
Creating an IP Pool
| Command or Action | Purpose | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCSC# connect policy-mgr |
Enters policy manager mode. | ||
| Step 2 | UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name |
Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name. | ||
| Step 3 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create ip-pool pool-name |
Creates an IP pool with the specified name, and enters organization IP pool mode. | ||
| Step 4 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool # set descr description | (Optional)
Provides a description for the IP pool.
| ||
| Step 5 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool # create block first-ip-addr last-ip-addr gateway-ip-addr subnet-mask |
Creates a block (range) of IP addresses, and enters organization IP pool block mode. You must specify the first and last IP addresses in the address range, the gateway IP address, and subnet mask.
| ||
| Step 6 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/block # set primary-dns ip-address secondary-dns ip-address |
Specifies the primary DNS and secondary DNS IP addresses. | ||
| Step 7 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/block #set scope {private | public} |
Specifies whether the IP addresses is private or public. | ||
| Step 8 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/block # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction to the system configuration.
|
The following example shows how to create an IP pool named GPool1, provide a description for the pool, specify a block of IP addresses and a primary and secondary IP address to be used for the pool, set the pool to private, and commit the transaction:
UCSC# connect policy-mgr UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org / UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create ip-pool GPool1 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool* # set descr "This is IP pool GPool1" UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool* # create block 192.168.100.1 192.168.100.200 192.168.100.10 255.255.255.0 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/block* # set primary-dns 192.168.100.1 secondary-dns 192.168.100.20 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/block* # set scope private UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/block* # commit-buffer UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/block #
Include the IP pool in a service profile and template.
Creating an IP Pool with IPv6 Blocks
| Command or Action | Purpose | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCSC# connect policy-mgr |
Enters policy manager mode. | ||
| Step 2 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # scope org org-name |
Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type/ as the org-name | ||
| Step 3 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create ip-pool global-ip-pool |
Creates a global IP pool with the specified name, and enters the global IP pool mode. | ||
| Step 4 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool # set descr description | (Optional)
Provides a description for the IP pool.
| ||
| Step 5 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool # create ipv6-block first-ip-addr last-ip-addr default-gateway ip address prefix |
Creates a block (range) of IP addresses, and enters organization IP pool block mode. You must specify the first and last IP addresses in the address range, the default gateway IP address, and the prefix.
| ||
| Step 6 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/ipv6-block # set primdns ip-address secdns ip-address |
Specifies the primary DNS and secondary DNS IP addresses. | ||
| Step 7 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/ipv6-block #set qualifier word |
Sets the IPv6 block to an existing ID range qualifier name. | ||
| Step 8 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/ipv6-block # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction to the system configuration.
|
UCSC# connect policy-mgr UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org org-name UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create ip-pool global-ip-pool UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool* # set descr "This is global-ip-pool gpool1" UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool* # create ipv6-block 2001:db8:111::a1 2001:db8:111::af 2001:db8:111::1 64 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/ipv6-block* # set primdns 2001:db8:111::FF secdns 2001:db8:111::FE UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/ipv6-block* # set qualifier Q1 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/ipv6-block* # commit-buffer UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ip-pool/ipv6-block #
Deleting an IP Pool
If you delete a pool, does not reallocate any addresses from that pool that were assigned to vNICs or vHBAs. All assigned addresses from a deleted pool remain with the vNIC or vHBA to which they are assigned until one of the following occurs:
| Command or Action | Purpose | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCSC# connect policy-mgr |
Enters policy manager mode. | ||
| Step 2 | UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name |
Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name. | ||
| Step 3 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # delete ip-pool pool-name |
Deletes the specified IP pool. | ||
| Step 4 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction to the system configuration.
|
The following example shows how to delete the IP pool named GPool1:
UCSC# connect policy-mgr UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org / UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # delete ip-pool GPool1 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org* # commit-buffer UCSC(policy-mgr) /org #
IQN Pools
An IQN pool is a collection of iSCSI Qualified Names (IQNs) for use as initiator identifiers by iSCSI vNICs in a Cisco UCS domain. IQN pools created in Cisco UCS Central can be shared between Cisco UCS domains.
IQN pool members are of the form prefix:suffix:number, where you can specify the prefix, suffix, and a block (range) of numbers.
An IQN pool can contain more than one IQN block, with different number ranges and different suffixes, but share the same prefix.
Creating an IQN Pool
Note | In most cases, the maximum IQN size (prefix + suffix + additional characters) is 223 characters. When using the Cisco UCS NIC M51KR-B adapter, you must limit the IQN size to 128 characters. |
| Command or Action | Purpose | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCSC# connect policy-mgr |
Enters policy manager mode. | ||
| Step 2 | UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name |
Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name. | ||
| Step 3 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create iqn-pool pool-name |
Creates an IQN pool with the specified name, and enters organization IQN pool mode. This name can be between 1 and 32 alphanumeric characters. You cannot use spaces or any special characters other than - (hyphen), _ (underscore), : (colon), and . (period), and you cannot change this name after the object has been saved. | ||
| Step 4 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/iqn-pool # set iqn-prefix prefix |
Specifies the prefix for the IQN block members. Unless limited by the adapter card, the prefix can contain up to 150 characters. | ||
| Step 5 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/iqn-pool # set descr description | (Optional)
Provides a description for the IQN pool. Enter up to 256 characters. You can use any characters or spaces except ` (accent mark), \ (backslash), ^ (carat), " (double quote), = (equal sign), > (greater than), < (less than), and ' (single quote).
| ||
| Step 6 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/iqn-pool # create block suffix from to |
Creates a block (range) of IQNs, and enters organization IQN pool block mode. You must specify the base suffix, the starting suffix number, and the ending suffix number. The resulting IQN pool members are of the form prefix:suffix:number. The suffix can be up to 64 characters.
| ||
| Step 7 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/iqn-pool/block # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction to the system configuration.
|
UCSC# connect policy-mgr UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org / UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create iqn-pool GPool1 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/iqn-pool* # set iqn-prefix iqn.alpha.com UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/iqn-pool* # set descr "This is IQN pool GPool1" UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/iqn-pool* # create block beta 3 5 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/iqn-pool/block* # commit-buffer UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/iqn-pool/block #
Include the IQN suffix pool in a service profile and template.
Deleting an IQN Pool
If you delete a pool, does not reallocate any addresses from that pool that were assigned to vNICs or vHBAs. All assigned addresses from a deleted pool remain with the vNIC or vHBA to which they are assigned until one of the following occurs:
| Command or Action | Purpose | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCSC# connect policy-mgr |
Enters policy manager mode. | ||
| Step 2 | UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name |
Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name. | ||
| Step 3 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # delete iqn-pool pool-name |
Deletes the specified IQN pool. | ||
| Step 4 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction to the system configuration.
|
The following example shows how to delete the IQN pool named GPool1:
UCSC# connect policy-mgr UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org / UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # delete iqn-pool GPool1 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org* # commit-buffer UCSC(policy-mgr) /org #
UUID Suffix Pools
A UUID suffix pool is a collection of SMBIOS UUIDs that are available to be assigned to servers. The first number of digits that constitute the prefix of the UUID are fixed. The remaining digits, the UUID suffix, are variable values. A UUID suffix pool ensures that these variable values are unique for each server associated with a service profile which uses that particular pool to avoid conflicts.
If you use UUID suffix pools in service profiles, you do not have to manually configure the UUID of the server associated with the service profile. Assigning global UUID suffix pools from Cisco UCS Central to service profiles in Cisco UCS Central or Cisco UCS Manager allows them to be shared across Cisco UCS domains.
Creating a UUID Suffix Pool
| Command or Action | Purpose | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCSC# connect policy-mgr |
Enters policy manager mode. | ||
| Step 2 | UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name |
Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name. | ||
| Step 3 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create uuid-suffix-pool pool-name |
Creates a UUID suffix pool with the specified name, and enters organization UUID suffix pool mode. | ||
| Step 4 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/uuid-suffix-pool # set descr description | (Optional)
Provides a description for the UUID suffix pool.
| ||
| Step 5 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/uuid-suffix-pool # create block first-uuid last-uuid |
Creates a block (range) of UUID suffixes, and enters organization UUID suffix pool block mode. You must specify the first and last UUID suffixes in the block using the form nnnn-nnnnnnnnnnnn, with the UUID suffixes separated by a space.
| ||
| Step 6 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/uuid-suffix-pool/block # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction to the system configuration.
|
UCSC# connect policy-mgr UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org / UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create uuid-suffix-pool GPool1 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/uuid-suffix-pool* # set descr "This is UUID suffix pool GPool1" UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/uuid-suffix-pool* # create block 1000-000000000001 1000-000000000010 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/uuid-suffix-pool/block* # commit-buffer UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/uuid-suffix-pool/block #
Include the UUID suffix pool in a service profile and/or template.
Deleting a UUID Suffix Pool
If you delete a pool, does not reallocate any addresses from that pool that were assigned to vNICs or vHBAs. All assigned addresses from a deleted pool remain with the vNIC or vHBA to which they are assigned until one of the following occurs:
| Command or Action | Purpose | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCSC# connect policy-mgr |
Enters policy manager mode. | ||
| Step 2 | UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name |
Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name. | ||
| Step 3 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # delete uuid-suffix-pool pool-name |
Deletes the specified UUID suffix pool. | ||
| Step 4 | UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # commit-buffer |
Commits the transaction to the system configuration.
|
The following example shows how to delete the UUID suffix pool named GPool1:
UCSC# connect policy-mgr UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org / UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # delete uuid-suffix-pool GPool1 UCSC(policy-mgr) /org* # commit-buffer UCSC(policy-mgr) /org #
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