Chapter 1. New and Changed Information for this Release

New and Changed Information for this Release

Chapter 2. Overview

Cisco UCS Director

Features and Benefits

Physical and Virtual Management Features

Model-Based Orchestration

Guided Setup Wizards in Cisco UCS Director

Creating a Wizard from a Workflow

Common User Interface Options

Setting up Non-Secure Connection to the Cisco UCS Director User Interface

Initial Login

Recommended Order of System Setup

Working with Ciphers

Editing Cipher Usage

Installing the Latest Java Cryptograpy Extension (JCE) Policy Files

Chapter 3. Managing Users and Groups

User Roles

Adding a User Role

Adding Users

Managing User Types

Default User Permissions

User Roles and Permissions

All Policy Admin

Billing Admin

Computing Admin

Group Admin

IS Admin

Network Admin

Operator

Service End User

Storage Admin

Viewing User Role Information for Users

Managing User Account Status

Unassigning Resources From a User

Disabling a User Account in Cisco UCS Director

Disabling User Accounts within a Group

MSP Administrator Role

Creating a User Group

Creating an MSP Organization

Creating a Customer Organization

Password Policy

Creating a Password Policy

Group Budget Policy

Viewing and Editing a Group Budget Policy

Resource Limits

Viewing Resource Limits

Editing Resource Limits

Creating the Admin Profile

Changing the Admin Password

Viewing Current Online Users

Multi-Role Access Profiles

Creating a User Access Profile

Logging in to a Profile

Default Profile

Changing a Default Profile

Authentication and LDAP Integration

Configuring Authentication Preferences

LDAP Integration

LDAP Integration Rules and Limitations

Managing LDAP Integration

Configuring LDAP Servers

Testing LDAP Server Connectivity

Viewing LDAP Server Summary Information

Adding LDAP Search BaseDN Entries

Executing the LDAP Synchronization System Task

Modifying LDAP Server Details

Viewing Group Membership Information

Deleting LDAP Server Information

Single Sign On

Mapping the Cisco UCS Director Appliance at the OneLogin Site

Generating a OneLogin Certificate

Enabling a Single Sign-On

Branding for Customer Organizations

Branding User Groups

Branding Customer Organizations

Login Page Branding

Configuring a Custom Domain Logo

Configuring Dashlets

Changing Colors of Dashlet Reports

Selecting Catalogs for End User Portal

Chapter 4. Managing System Administration Settings

Setting up the Outgoing Mail Server

Working with Email Templates

Adding an Email Template

Previewing an Email Template

Setting a Default Email Template

Configuring System Parameters

Configuring Infrastructure System Parameters (Optional)

Updating the License

Verifying License Utilization

Viewing License Utilization History

Viewing Resource Usage Data

Application Categories

Adding Application Categories

Customizing the Portal

Customizing the Login Page and Background Images

Customizing the Application Logo

Customizing Favicons

Customizing Application Header

Customizing Date Display

Customizing the Color Theme

Customizing Logout Redirect

Customizing Reports

Enabling Advanced Controls

Enabling the Service Provider Feature

User Menus

Setting User Menus

Setting User Permissions

System Tasks

Creating a Node Pool

Creating a System Task Policy

Assigning a Node Pool to a System Task Policy

Creating a Service Node

Assigning a System Policy to a System Task

Executing System Tasks

Disabling or Enabling a System Task

Managing Icons

Adding an Icon

Editing an Icon

Deleting an Icon

Previewing an Icon

Tag Library

Creating a Tag

Support Information

Viewing System Information

Showing Logs

Downloading Logs

Starting the Debug Log

Generating API Logs

Chapter 5. Managing Integration Settings

Configuration Management Database Integration

Setting Up CMBD Integration

Metering Data Export

Setting Up Metering Data Export

Viewing Change Records

System Logs

Setting up System Logs

Storage and OVF Upload

Multiple Language Support

Choosing a Language for Cisco UCS Director

Setting a Locale for the User Interface

Chapter 6. Managing a Physical Infrastructure

About Managing a Physical Infrastructure

Adding a Site

Adding a Pod

Adding a Physical Account

Adding a Multi-Domain Manager Account

Adding a Network Element

Enabling DHCP Logging

Testing Connectivity

Testing Connectivity of Managed Network Elements

Testing the Connection to a Physical Account

Enabling Device Discovery

Chapter 7. Managing a Virtual Infrastructure

About Managing VMware

Creating a Cloud

Downloading the PowerShell Agent Installer

Creating a PowerShell Agent

Testing the Connection

Viewing vCenter Plug-ins

Provisioning Virtual Machines in Cisco UCS Director

Chapter 8. Managing Policies

Policies

Computing Policies

Creating a Computing Policy

Data Collection Policy

Configuring a Data Collection Policy for a Virtual Account

Associating the Data Collection Policy for a Virtual Account

About Group Share Policy

Creating a Group Share Policy

Storage Policies

Storage Policies for Multiple VM Disks

Adding and Configuring a Storage Policy

Virtual Storage Catalogs

Configuring a Virtual Storage Catalog

Network Policies

Adding a Static IP Pool Policy

Configuring a IP Subnet Pool Policy

Adding a Network Policy

Networking Provisioning Policies

Configuring a Network Provisioning Policy

VLAN Pool Policies

Configuring a VLAN Pool Policy

System Policies

Configuring a System Policy

OS Licenses

Adding an OS License

End User Self-Service Policy

Creating an End User Policy

Configuring a VM Management Policy

Chapter 9. Managing Virtual Data Centers

Virtual Data Centers

Adding a Virtual Data Center

Viewing a Virtual Data Center

Managing Application Categories in a Virtual Data Centers

Assigning an Application Category to Multiple VDCs

Virtual Data Center Service Profiles

Adding a Virtual Data Center Service Profile

Chapter 10. Managing Catalogs

About Managing Catalogs

Publishing a Catalog

About Publishing Advanced Catalogs

Publishing Advanced Catalogs

Reordering Catalogs Within a Folder

Accessing Hosts for Deployment

Reordering Catalog Folders

Chapter 11. Using Self-Service Provisioning

Self-Service Provisioning

Service Requests

Creating a Service Request with Catalog Typeâ€”Standard

Creating a Service Request with Catalog Typeâ€”Advanced

Service Request Workflow and Details

Service Request Workflow

Service Request Details

Viewing the Workflow Status of a Service Request

Viewing Log Details for a Service Request

About Scheduling a Service Request

Scheduling Service Requests

About Resubmitting a Service Request

Resubmitting a Service Request

Canceling a Service Request

Rolling Back a Service Request

Archiving a Service Request

Deleting Service Requests

Viewing Service Requests for a Particular Group

Searching the Records of Service Requests for a Group

Exporting a Report of Service Requests for a Group

Reinstating an Archived Service Request

Service Request Approval Process

Approving a Service Request

Rejecting a Service Request

Viewing Approval Information on Service Requests

Searching the Records of Service Request Approvals

Exporting a Report of Service Request Approvals

Viewing the Current Month Budget Availability

Viewing Budget Entries

Adding a Budget Entry

Chapter 12. Multiple Disk VM Provisioning

About Multiple Disk VM Provisioning

Overview of the Procedure for Multiple Disk VM Provisioning

About Templates with Multiple Disks

Assigning Disk Categories

Defining Storage Policies

Creating a Storage Policy

Adding a Catalog

Creating a VM Disk

Chapter 13. Using the Chargeback Module

About Chargeback Features

Budget Policies

Configuring a Budget Policy

Creating a Tag-Based Cost Model

Cost Models

Creating a Cost Model

Modifying a VDC to Include a Cost Model

Adding a Cost Model to a VDC

Editing a VDC to Include a Cost Model

Package-Based Cost Models

Creating a Package-Based Cost Model

Storage Tier Cost Models

Assigning a Cost to a Tier

About Assigning a Datastore to Tiers

Assigning a Datastore to a Tier

Chargeback Reports

Viewing the Current Month Summary

Viewing the Previous Monthâ€™s Summary

Viewing Monthly Resource Accounting Information

Viewing the VM Level Resource Accounting Details

Viewing the VM Level Chargeback Details

Exporting the Monthly Resource Accounting Details

Exporting VM Level Resource Accounting Details

Exporting VM Level Chargeback Details

About Change Records

Accessing Change Records

Chargeback Calculations

Chapter 14. System Monitoring and Reporting

Dashboard

Enabling the Dashboard

Adding Report Widgets

Refreshing Widget Data

Summary

Viewing Virtual Machine, Cloud, and System Summary Information

Customizing Summary Report Widgets

Inventory Management

Accessing System Inventory Details

Resource Pools

Accessing Resource Details

Clusters

Accessing Clusters

Images

Accessing Images

Assigning VM Images to Users or Groups

Host Nodes

Accessing Host Nodes

Virtual Machines (VMs)

Accessing VMs

Accessing Group Level VMs

Topology

Accessing Topology Types

Assessment

Accessing Assessments

Reports

Accessing Reports

Chapter 15. Managing Lifecycles

Managing VM Power Settings

Managing VM Snapshots

Creating VM Snapshots

Reverting to a Snapshot

Marking a Golden Snapshot

Deleting a Snapshot

Deleting All Snapshots

Configuring the Lease Time for a Virtual Machine

Managing VM Actions

Viewing VM Details

Resizing VMs

Using the Stack View Option

Creating a VM Disk

Adding vNICs

Replacing a vNIC

Launching the VM Client

Enabling the VNC Console on a VM

Unconfiguring the VNC Console on a VM

Accessing VM Console using VNC Client

Configuring ESX/ESXi Server for VNC Access to VM Console

Assigning a VM

VM Credentials

Viewing VM Credentials

Initiating Inventory Collection for a VM

Testing VNC Connectivity

Cloning a VM

Moving a VM to VDC

Resynchronizing a VM

Locking VMs in Cisco UCS Director

Applying a Tag to a VM

Chapter 16. Managing CloudSense Analytics

CloudSense Analytics

Generating a Report

Generating an Assessment

Report Builder for Custom Report Templates

Creating a Report Builder Template

Generating a Report from a Template

Viewing Reports Generated From a Template

Emailing Reports Generated From a Template

Preface

Audience

Conventions

Documentation Feedback

Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

Copyright Page

Chapter 1. New and Changed Information for this Release

This chapter contains the following section:

- New and Changed Information for this Release

New and Changed Information for this Release

The following table provides an overview of the significant changes to this guide for this current release. The table does not provide an exhaustive list of all changes made to this guide or of all new features in this release.

New Features and Changed Behavior in Cisco UCS Director, Release 5.5

Feature

Description

Where Documented

Support for setting language preference for users

While creating a user, you can set a language preference for the user. In addition, each user can also set a language preference for their individual login session.

Adding Users

Setting a Locale for the User Interface

Introduction of the Create Service Request option for users

A new option called Create Service Request using which you can control the ability of a user to create a service request in the system.

User Roles and Permissions

Support for viewing user role information

After creating a user, which includes assigning a role, you can view the user role information at a later point in time.

Viewing User Role Information for Users

Support for full-length and half-length physical servers in resource limits

While editing resource limits for a group or an organization, you can now specify the maximum number of full-length and half-length physical servers.

Editing Resource Limits

Introduction of a tree view that depicts hierarchical structure of organizational units, groups and users.

After an LDAP account is added and synchronized with the system, the recently added LDAP information is displayed in Cisco UCS Director in a tree view format.

LDAP Integration

New navigation to access LDAP information in user interface.

LDAP-related tasks are now available from Administration > LDAP Integration menu

Managing LDAP Integration

Support for generating API logs

You can generate API logs from the user interface.

Generating API Logs

Support for multiple datacenters and clusters when adding a VMware vCenter account

You can discover and add multiple VMware vCenter datacenters and associated clusters when adding a VMware vCenter account.

Creating a Cloud

Support for overlapping IP in pool policies

You can specify overlapping IP ranges while creating static IP Pool policy, IP subnet pool policy and inline IP pools.

Adding a Static IP Pool Policy

Configuring a IP Subnet Pool Policy

Adding a Network Policy

Changes in VM Management policy

The following two fields have been introduced:

- Additional grace period for deleting expired VMs

- Action to be taken when a service request (SR) rollback task fails for VMs provisioned through Cisco UCS Director

Configuring a VM Management Policy

Changes while assigning an application category to multiple VDCs

While performing this task, the Assign Application Category dialog box lists all the application categories that have been previously assigned to VDCs.

Assigning an Application Category to Multiple VDCs

Support for cloning a VM from a selected image.

While publishing a catalog, you can check the Provision new VM for ISO mounting check box to clone a VM from a selected image.

Publishing a Catalog

Ability to control service end users from configuring lease time and VM provisioning.

As an administrator, you can prevent service end users from configuring VM lease time and from provisioning VMs later.

Publishing a Catalog

Ability to conduct an assessment before creating a service request with a standard catalog.

While creating a service request with a standard catalog, you can perform a deployment assessment. This assessment evaluates the budget allocation, resource limits and resource availability prior to submitting a service request.

Creating a Service Request with Catalog Type—Standard

Changes to the storage policy

While configuring a storage policy, you can now specify the number of physical disks to be created during VM provisioning.

Adding and Configuring a Storage Policy

Creating a Service Request with Catalog Type—Standard

Unconfiguring the VNC console

You can unconfigure the VNC Console on a VM. This action disables VNC on the selected VM and releases the assigned VNC port.

Unconfiguring the VNC Console on a VM

Keyboard Mapping

You can choose the keyboard mapping when you configure the VNC.

Assigning a VM

Chapter 2. Overview

This chapter contains the following sections:

- Cisco UCS Director

- Setting up Non-Secure Connection to the Cisco UCS Director User Interface

- Initial Login

- Recommended Order of System Setup

- Working with Ciphers

Cisco UCS Director

Cisco UCS Director is a complete, highly secure, end-to-end management, orchestration, and automation solution for a wide array of Cisco and non-Cisco data infrastructure components, and for the industry's leading converged infrastructure solutions based on the Cisco UCS and Cisco Nexus platforms. For a complete list of supported infrastructure components and solutions, see the Cisco UCS Director Compatibility Matrix.

Cisco UCS Director is a 64-bit appliance that uses the following standard templates:

- Open Virtualization Format (OVF) for VMware vSphere

- Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) for Microsoft Hyper-V

Management through Cisco UCS Director

Cisco UCS Director extends the unification of computing and network layers through Cisco UCS to provide you with comprehensive visibility and management of your data center infrastructure components. You can use Cisco UCS Director to configure, administer, and monitor supported Cisco and non-Cisco components. The tasks you can perform include the following:

- Create, clone, and deploy service profiles and templates for all Cisco UCS servers and compute applications.

- Monitor organizational usage, trends, and capacity across a converged infrastructure on a continuous basis. For example, you can view heat maps that show virtual machine (VM) utilization across all your data centers.

- Deploy and add capacity to converged infrastructures in a consistent, repeatable manner.

- Manage, monitor, and report on data center components, such as Cisco UCS domains or Cisco Nexus network devices.

- Extend virtual service catalogs to include services for your physical infrastructure.

- Manage secure multi-tenant environments to accommodate virtualized workloads that run with non-virtualized workloads.

Automation and Orchestration with Cisco UCS Director

Cisco UCS Director enables you to build workflows that provide automation services, and to publish the workflows and extend their services to your users on demand. You can collaborate with other experts in your company to quickly and easily create policies. You can build Cisco UCS Director workflows to automate simple or complex provisioning and configuration processes.

Once built and validated, these workflows perform the same way every time, no matter who runs the workflows. An experienced data center administrator can run them, or you can implement role-based access control to enable your users and customers to run the workflows on a self-service, as needed, basis.

With Cisco UCS Director, you can automate a wide array of tasks and use cases across a wide variety of supported Cisco and non-Cisco hardware and software data center components. A few examples of the use cases that you can automate include, but are not limited to:

- VM provisioning and lifecycle management

- Network resource configuration and lifecycle management

- Storage resource configuration and lifecycle management

- Tenant onboarding and infrastructure configuration

- Application infrastructure provisioning

- Self-service catalogs and VM provisioning

- Bare metal server provisioning, including installation of an operating system

- Features and Benefits

- Physical and Virtual Management Features

- Model-Based Orchestration

- Guided Setup Wizards in Cisco UCS Director

- Common User Interface Options

Features and Benefits

The features and benefits of Cisco UCS Director are as follows:

Feature

Benefit

Central management

- Provides a single interface for administrators to monitor, provision, and manage the system across physical, virtual, and bare metal environments

- Provides unified dashboards, reports, and heat maps, which reduce troubleshooting and performance bottlenecks

Self-service catalog

- Allows end users to order and deploy new infrastructure instances following IT-prescribed policies and governance

Adaptive provisioning

- Provides a real-time available capability, internal policies, and application workload requirements to optimize the availability of your resources

Dynamic capacity management

- Provides continuous monitoring that indicates real-time infrastructure consumption to improve capacity planning and management

- Identifies underutilized and overutilized resources

Multiple hypervisor support

- Supports VMware ESX, ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Red Hat hypervisors

Computing management

- Monitors, manages, and provisions physical, virtual, and bare metal servers, as well as blades

- Allows end users to implement virtual machine life-cycle management and business continuance through snapshots

- Allows administrators to access server utilization trending analysis

Network management

- Provides policy-based provisioning of physical and virtual switches and dynamic network topologies

- Allows administrators to configure VLANs, virtual network interface cards (vNICs), port groups and port profiles, IP and Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) allocation, and access control lists (ACLs) across network devices

Storage management

- Provides policy-based provisioning and management of filers, virtual filers (vFilers), logical unit numbers (LUNs), and volumes

- Provides unified dashboards that allow administrators comprehensive visibility into organizational usage, trends, and capacity analysis details.

Physical and Virtual Management Features

Physical Server Management

- Discover and collect configurations and changes

- Monitor and manage physical servers

- Perform policy-based server provisioning

- Manage blade power

- Manage the server life cycle

- Perform server use trending and capacity analysis

- Perform bare metal provisioning using preboot execution environment (PXE) boot management

Virtual Computing Management

- Discover, collect, and monitor virtual computing environments

- Perform policy-based provisioning and dynamic resource allocation

- Manage the host server load and power

- Manage the VM life cycle and snapshots

- Perform analytics to assess VM capacity, sprawl, and host utilization

Physical Storage Management

- Discover, collect, and monitor storage filers

- Perform policy-based provisioning of vFilers

- Provision and map volumes

- Create and map Logical Unit Number (LUN) and iGroup instances

- Perform SAN zone management

- Monitor and manage network-attached storage (NAS) and SAN-based storage

- Implement storage best practices and recommendation

Virtual Storage Management

- Discover, collect, and monitor storage of vFilers and storage pools

- Perform policy-based storage provisioning for thick and thin clients

- Create new datastores and map them to virtual device contexts (VDCs)

- Add and resize disks to VMs

- Monitor and manage organizational storage use

- Perform virtual storage trend and capacity analysis

Physical Network Management

- Discover, collect, and monitor physical network elements

- Provision VLANs across multiple switches

- Configure Access Control Lists (ACLs) on network devices

- Configure the storage network

- Implement dynamic network topologies

Virtual Network Management

- Add networks to VMs

- Perform policy-based provisioning with IP and DHCP allocation

- Configure and connect Virtual Network Interface Cards ( vNICs) to VLANs and private VLANs

- Create port groups and port profiles for VMs

- Monitor organizational use of virtual networks

Model-Based Orchestration

Cisco UCS Director includes a task library containing over 1000 tasks and out-of-the-box workflows. Model-based orchestration and a workflow designer enable you to customize and automate the infrastructure administrative and operational tasks. You can extend and customize the system to meet individual needs.

The following table shows the maintenance and update activities of the task library from day1 through day 3:

Day-1

Day-2

Day-3

- Add tenants

- Migrate or add applicants

- Integrate with enterprise systems

- Use End User Portal

- Monitor performance

- Start meeting and billing

- Manage tenant change

- Self-service Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

- Add/upgrade hardware

- Repurpose

Guided Setup Wizards in Cisco UCS Director

Cisco UCS Director includes a set of wizards that guide you through configuring important features. The following are the available guided setup wizards:

- Device Discovery—This wizard enables you to discover devices and assign them to a pod.

- Initial System Configuration—This wizard helps you complete initial tasks to set up Cisco UCS Director, such as uploading licenses, and setting up SMTP, NTP, and DNS servers.

- vDC Creation—This wizard enables you to configure the policies required to provision VMs in private clouds.

- FlexPod Configuration—This wizard helps you set up a FlexPod account.

- Vblock Pod Configuration—This wizard enables you to discover and assign accounts to Vblock pods.

- VSPEX Pod Configuration—This wizard enables you to discover and assign accounts to VSPEX pods.

- Virtual SAN Pod Configuration—This wizard enables you to set up a Virtual SAN Pod and add devices.

When you first log into Cisco UCS Director, a Wizard Explorer window is displayed. From this window, you can view the details of the available guided setup wizards and choose to launch any of them. If you do not want this Wizard Explorer to appear every time you log in, you can check the Do not show this page again checkbox. To launch these wizards later on, click Administration > Guided Setup.

In addition to these system-provided wizards, you can create a wizard from a workflow that you have previously configured. For more information, see Creating a Wizard from a Workflow.

- Creating a Wizard from a Workflow

Creating a Wizard from a Workflow

You can convert valid workflows into wizards, and save them in Cisco UCS Director.

Before You Begin

You must have created valid workflows in Cisco UCS Director.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Guided Setup.

Step 2

Click Create from Workflow.

Step 3

In the Create Wizard from Workflow dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Select Workflow field

Click Select to check the check box of the workflow that you want to convert to a wizard.

Label field

The name of the wizard. This is the primary name of the wizard.

Second Label field

A secondary name of the wizard.

Description field

A description of the wizard.

Icon Image field

Click Select to check the check box of the icon that you want to associate with this workflow.

Step 4

Click Submit.

Step 5

Click OK.

What to Do Next

You can perform the following tasks:

- Launch the wizard.

- Edit the wizard.

- View details of the wizard.

- Re-order the wizard in the interface.

- Delete the wizard.

Common User Interface Options

The following table describes the options that are available on all pages of the application user interface. These options perform the same task on every page.

Icon

Label

Description

Refresh

Refreshes the reported data on the page.

Favorite

Adds a page to the Favorites menu.

You can use this option to view frequently accessed pages more quickly.

Add

Brings up the Add dialog box, from which you can add a new resource.

Edit

Brings up the Edit dialog box, from which you can edit a resource.

Customize Table

Brings up the Customize Report Table dialog box, in which you choose what columns you want to include on the screen.

Export Report

Brings up the Export Report dialog box, from which you download a report to your system.

You can generate a report in one of the following formats:

- PDF

- CSV

- XLS

Expand

Expands all the folders that are displayed on the page.

Collapse

Collapses all the folders that are displayed on the page.

Add Advanced Filter

Provides extra filtering parameters on the page.

Search Field

Accepts a keyword to filter for specific records on the page.

Setting up Non-Secure Connection to the Cisco UCS Director User Interface

By default, the Cisco UCS Director user interface launches in the secure mode. If you want to bypass the secure mode, and launch the user interface in a non-secure mode (HTTP), you must follow this procedure.

Step 1

Log in as root.

Step 2

Make the following changes in the /opt/infra/web_cloudmgr/apache-tomcat/conf/server.xml file:

1. Comment out the existing port 8080 Connector tag

<!--
<Connector port="8080" protocol="HTTP/1.1"
redirectPort="443" maxHttpHeaderSize="65536"
URIEncoding = "UTF-8"/>
-->

2. Add the following as a new port 8080 Connector tag:

<Connector port="8080" protocol="HTTP/1.1"
maxThreads="150" minSpareThreads="4"
connectionTimeout="20000"
URIEncoding = "UTF-8" />

Step 3

Comment the <security-constraint> tag in the /opt/infra/web_cloudmgr/apache-tomcat/webapps/app/WEB-INF/web.xml file.

<!--
<security-constraint>
<web-resource-collection>
<web-resource-name>HTTPSOnly</web-resource-name>
<url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
</web-resource-collection>
<user-data-constraint>
<transport-guarantee>CONFIDENTIAL</transport-guarantee>
</user-data-constraint>
</security-constraint>
-->

Step 4

Restart the services.

Step 5

Launch the user interface and log in to the system.
You can now log into the system in the non-secure mode using the following URL format:

http://<IP-Address>:8080 or http://<IP-Address>

You can launch the user interface in both, secure and non-secure modes.

Initial Login

Log into Cisco UCS Director by hostname or IP address with the following credentials:

- Username: admin

- Password: admin

Note

We recommend that you delete the startup admin account after you create the first admin account or, at least, change the default password. To access the End User Portal, you must have a valid email address.

Recommended Order of System Setup

The following figure illustrates the workflow to set up your environment using Cisco UCS Director:

Sample Workflow to Set up Your Environment

The following table describes the chapters available in this book using which you can complete setting up your environment.

Name

Chapter

Description

Initial set up

2, 3, 4 and 5

Describes how to apply a license, set up the Admin profile, create groups, and create users. You will learn how to access language support, apply portal customization, and system settings

Physical Infrastructure

6

Describes how to optionally add a pod and physical account, add network elements, test the connections, and verify account discovery.

Note:   You can create the virtual infrastructure before the physical infrastructure if you want.

Virtual Infrastructure

7

Describes how to create a cloud, verify cloud discovery and connectivity, test the connections, and view vCenter plug ins.

Policies

8

Describes how to create and manage computing policies, storage policies, network policies, and system policies. You will learn how to add OS licenses for Microsoft Windows catalogs.

Virtual Data Centers

9

Describes how to set up VDCs to manage specific environments for groups. policies, and cost models, and how resource limits are configured and managed at the VDC level.

Catalogs

10

Describes how to set up catalog items, attach groups with access to a catalog, and publish catalog items.

Self-Service Provisioning

11

Describes how you can create and manage provisioning service requests.

Multi-Disk Provisioning

12

Describes how to configure VM disk provisioning on a preferred single datastore or multiple datastores. It also provides instructions on how to configure individual disk policies for each additional disk in a template.

Chargeback

13

Describes how to create chargeback summary reports, detailed reports, and resource accounting reports. It shows how cost models are defined and assigned to policies within departments and organizations.

Cloud Management

14

Describes how you can get complete cloud visibility, monitor resource usage, and manage the cloud stack—clouds, clusters, host servers, and virtual machines.

Life Cycles

15

Describes how to perform post provisioning life cycle management actions on VMs, such as VM power management, VM resizing, VM snapshot management, and other VM actions.

CloudSense

16

Describes the analytical reports about the underlying physical and virtual infrastructure that Cisco UCS Director can generate.

Working with Ciphers

As an administrator in Cisco UCS Director, you have the capability to enable or disable ciphers from the property file. In the event that you enable a cipher with a potential security risk, Cisco UCS Director displays a warning message. By default, all ciphers that pose a risk are disabled. You can configure specific ciphers from the defaultEnabledCipherSuites.properties file, located in the /opt/infra/inframgr folder. For more information, see Editing Cipher Usage.

In addition, you can change the preference order of the standard set of ciphers, based on your system requirements. By default, the standard ciphers are listed according to the preference order. You can re-order the ciphers using the numbers as values.

Cisco UCS Director currently supports the use of "limited" and "strong" Java Cryptograpy Extension (JCE) Policy files for Java SE Runtime Environment. If you want to change these policies to "unlimited" and "strong" JCE policies, then you must download and install the latest JCE policy files from the Oracle website. For more information, see Installing the Latest Java Cryptograpy Extension (JCE) Policy Files.

- Editing Cipher Usage

- Installing the Latest Java Cryptograpy Extension (JCE) Policy Files

Editing Cipher Usage

CipherSuites are maintained in the defaultEnabledCipherSuites.properties file. You can edit the list of ciphers in this file, based on the application requirements for your network.

We recommend that you always use the standard ciphers and not enable any broken or risky ciphers for your application.

Step 1

Open the defaultEnabledCipherSuites.properties file.
It is available in the opt/infra/inframgr/ directory.

Step 2

To use a broken cipher, locate the cipher in the file, and uncomment it.

Step 3

Save the file.

Step 4

Restart the service.

Installing the Latest Java Cryptograpy Extension (JCE) Policy Files

Complete the following procedure to download and install the latest JCE policy files:

Step 1

Take a backup of the following files in the $JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/security folder:

- local_policy.jar

- US_export_policy.jar

Step 2

Access the oracle Java SE download page at Click Here .

Step 3

Scroll to the Additional Resources section to locate the Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy File.

Step 4

Download the Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files for JDK/JRE 8 zipped file.

Step 5

Extract the contents of the zipped file.

Step 6

Replace the local_policy.jar and US_export_policy.jar in the $JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/security folder.

Step 7

Restart the application.

Chapter 3. Managing Users and Groups

This chapter contains the following sections:

- User Roles

- Adding a User Role

- Adding Users

- Managing User Types

- Default User Permissions

- Managing User Account Status

- MSP Administrator Role

- Branding for Customer Organizations

- Branding User Groups

- Branding Customer Organizations

- Login Page Branding

- Configuring Dashlets

- Changing Colors of Dashlet Reports

- Selecting Catalogs for End User Portal

User Roles

Cisco UCS Director supports the following user roles:

- All Policy Admin

- Billing Admin

- Computing Admin

- Group Admin—An end user with the privilege of adding users. This user can use the End User Portal.

- IS Admin

- MSP Admin

- Network Admin

- Operator

- Service End User—This user can only view and use the End User Portal.

- Storage Admin

- System Admin

These user roles are system-defined and available in Cisco UCS Director by default. You can determine if a role is available in the system by default, if the Default Role column in the Users page is marked with Yes.

Note

As an administrator in Cisco UCS Director, you can assign users to system-provided user roles or to custom-defined user roles. In addition, at a later point in time, you can view information on the role that a user is assigned to. For more information, see Viewing User Role Information.

As an administrator in the system, you can perform the following tasks with user roles:

- Create a custom user role in the system, and create user accounts with this role or assign the role to existing users.

When you create a new user role, you can specify if the role is that of an administrator or an end user. For more information on creating a user role, see Adding a User Role. For information on creating user accounts for a role, see Adding Users.

- Modify existing user roles, including default roles, to change menu settings and read/write permissions for users associated with that role.

The procedure to modify menu settings and permissions for a role is the same as the procedure to add a user role.

Defining Permissions to Perform VM Management Tasks to Users

Previously, user permissions for VM management tasks could only be created by defining them in an end-user self-service policy. As an administrator in the system, you can now map permissions to perform VM management tasks to any user role. Users that are mapped to the given role can complete the selected VM management related tasks. However, to assign VM management tasks to end users using the end-user self service policy, you must first disable all VM management actions for this user role, and then enable all other management tasks.

For any user in the system, the capability to perform VM management tasks is determined by the following:

- The permissions assigned to the user role that the user is mapped to

- The end user self-service policy that is mapped to the VDC.

If you have upgraded to the current release, then the permissions to perform VM management tasks is retained in the end user self service policy that was created with the previous release version. However, the permissions that you defined or set for the user role after upgrading to the current release, takes precedence.

Note

You can provide permissions to perform VM management tasks to other administrators, such as MSP Admin or Group Admin, by defining them in the user role only.

Adding a User Role

You can create any number of user roles in Cisco UCS Director and define the menu settings for the users created with these roles.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Click the User Roles tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add User Role dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

User Role field

Name of the user role.

Role Type drop-down list

Choose the type of role that you are adding. It can be one of the following:

- Admin

- End user

Description field

The description of the role being added.

Step 5

Click Next.

Step 6

In the Menu Settings pane, choose the menu options that will be visible to users who are defined in this role.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

In the User Permissions pane, choose the read or write permissions associated with various available user tasks.

Step 9

Click Submit.

What to Do Next

Create a user account with this role type.

Adding Users

Before You Begin

Ensure that you have created a group before you add a user to it.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Click the Users tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add User dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field Name

Description

User Role drop-down list

Choose the role type for the user.

Note:
This drop-down list displays all the available user roles in Cisco UCS Director. In addition to the user roles available by default, you can create additional user roles. For more information on creating user roles, see Adding a User Role.

Group Name drop-down list

Select the group that the user will have access to. You can either select a group already available, or you can add a new group.

Note:
This field is visible only when you select Service End-User or Group Admin as the user role.

MSP Organization drop-down list

Select the MSP organization that the user will manage.

You can either select an organization that is currently available, or you can add a new organization.

Note:
This field is visible only when you select MSP Admin as the user role.

Login Name field

The login name.

You can include special characters such as ( ). & - _ `~ $% ^ {}! ' @

Password field

The password.

Note:
If Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) authentication is configured for the user, the password is validated only at the LDAP server, and not at the local server.

Confirm Password field

The password is entered again for confirmation.

User Contact Email field

The email address.

Note:
The email address is required to notify the group owner about the service request status and to request approval.

First Name field

The first name.

Last Name field

The last name.

Phone field

The phone number of the user.

Address field

The office address of the user.

Set user disable date check box

Check this check box to set the date and time when the user account must be disabled in the system. Disabling a user account means that the user can no longer log in into the system.

A week prior to this date, an email message stating that the account will be disabled is sent to the user. This automatic email message is generated and sent by the PeriodicNotificationToUserTask system task.

On the specified date and time, the user account is disabled automatically. If the user is logged in to the system on the date specified, then the login session is terminated automatically.

Locale drop-down list

Choose a language for the system specifically for this user. By default, the language is set to English.

When this user logs in, the user interface is displayed in the language you selected. This locale selection applies only to this user.

Step 5

Click Add.

What to Do Next

After choosing a user from the main window and then clicking Manage Profiles, you can optionally assign multiple roles for that user.

Managing User Types

As the system administrator, you have full privileges to manage Cisco UCS Director, including adding users, viewing users and user permissions, and modifying individual user read/write permissions for different system components.

Most users access the Administrative portal when they log in.

Default User Permissions

Each admin user has a set of permissions to access Cisco UCS Director. The types of user permissions are as follows:

- Read—An admin user with Read permission has the ability to only read a file.

- Write—An admin user with Write permission has the ability to read, write, and modify a file. This permission includes the ability to delete or rename files.

- Read/Write—An admin user with Read/Write permission has the ability to read and write a file.

- User Roles and Permissions

- All Policy Admin

- Billing Admin

- Computing Admin

- Group Admin

- IS Admin

- Network Admin

- Operator

- Service End User

- Storage Admin

- Viewing User Role Information for Users

User Roles and Permissions

The following table shows a list of the permissions that are mapped to each user role:

Permission

All Policy Admin

Billing Admin

Computing Admin

Group Admin

IS Admin

MSP Admin

Network Admin

Operator

Service End User

Storage Admin

Virtual Computing

Read

Read

Read / Write

Read

Write

Read

Read

Read / Write

Read

VM Label

Write

Write

Write

Write

Write

Write

Write

Write

Write

Assign VM to vDC

Write

Write

Write

Virtual Storage

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Virtual Network

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Physical Computing

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Physical Storage

Read / Write

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read / Write

Physical Network

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read

Group Service Request

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read

Create Service Request

Write

Write

Write

Write

Write

Approver Service Request

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read /Write

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read

Read / Write

Read / Write

Budgeting

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read

Resource Accouting

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Chargeback

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

System Admin

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Users and Groups

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Virtual Accounts

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Catalogs

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

vDC

Read

Read

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Computing Policy

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read

Read

Storage Policy

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read / Write

Network Policy

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read

Deployment Policy

Write

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read

Service Delivery

Read / Write

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read

Resource Limit Report

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Group Users

Read

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read

Cloudsense Reports

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read

Read

Read

Cloudsense Assessment Reports

Read

Read / Write

Read

Read

Read

Orchestration

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read / Write

Discovery

Read

Read

Read

Write

Read / Write

Read / Write

Open Automation Modules

CS Shared Reports

Read / Write

Read

Read

CS Shared Assessments

Read / Write

Remote VM Access

Mobile Access Settings

End User Chargeback

Read

Read

Read

UCSD Cluster

Resource Groups

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read / Write

Tag Library

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read / Write

Read / Write

All Policy Admin

The following table shows a list of operations that an All Policy admin can perform:

Operations

Permissions

Read

Write

Virtual Computing

Yes

VM Label

Yes

Assign VM to vDC

Yes

Virtual Storage

Yes

Virtual Network

Yes

Physical Computing

Yes

Yes

Physical Storage

Yes

Yes

Physical Network

Yes

Yes

Group Service Request

Yes

Yes

Create Service Request

Yes

Approver Service Request

Yes

Yes

Budgeting

Yes

Resource Accounting

Yes

Chargeback

Yes

System Admin

Yes

Users and Groups

Yes

Virtual Accounts

Yes

Catalogs

Yes

vDC

Yes

Computing Policy

Yes

Yes

Storage Policy

Yes

Yes

Deployment Policy

Yes

Network Policy

Yes

Yes

Service Delivery

Yes

Yes

Resource Limit Report

Yes

Group Users

Yes

Cloudsense Reports

Yes

Cloudsense Assessment Reports

Yes

Orchestration

Yes

Yes

Discovery

Yes

Open Automation Modules

CS Shared Reports

CS Shared Assessments

Remote VM Access

Mobile Access Settings

End User Chargeback

Write Resource Accounting

UCSD Cluster

Resource Groups

Tag Library

Billing Admin

The following table show a list of operations that a Billing admin can perform:

Operation

Permission

Read

Write

Virtual Computing

VM Label

Assign VM to vDC

Virtual Storage

Virtual Network

Physical Computing

Physical Storage

Physical Network

Group Service Request

Yes

Approver Service Request

Budgeting

Yes

Yes

Resource Accounting

Yes

Chargeback

Yes

System Admin

Users and Groups

Virtual Accounts

Catalogs

vDC

Computing Policy

Storage Policy

Deployment Policy

Network Policy

Service Delivery

Resource Limit Report

Yes

Group Users

Cloudsense Reports

Yes

Yes

Cloudsense Assessment Reports

Yes

Yes

Orchestration

Discovery

Yes

Open Automation Modules

CS Shared Reports

CS Shared Assessments

Remote VM Access

Mobile Access Settings

End User Chargeback

Write Resource Accounting

Yes

UCSD Cluster

Resource Groups

Tag Library

Computing Admin

The following table shows a list of operations that a Computing admin can perform:

Operation

Permission

Read

Write

Virtual Computing

Yes

VM Label

Yes

Assign VM to vDC

Virtual Storage

Yes

Virtual Network

Yes

Physical Computing

Yes

Yes

Physical Storage

Yes

Physical Network

Yes

Group Service Request

Yes

Approver Service Request

Yes

Yes

Budgeting

Yes

Resource Accounting

Yes

Chargeback

Yes

System Admin

Yes

Users and Groups

Yes

Virtual Accounts

Yes

Catalogs

Yes

vDC

Yes

Computing Policy

Yes

Yes

Storage Policy

Yes

Deployment Policy

Yes

Network Policy

Yes

Service Delivery

Yes

Resource Limit Report

Yes

Group Users

Yes

Cloudsense Reports

Yes

Cloudsense Assessment Reports

Yes

Orchestration

Yes

Yes

Discovery

Yes

Open Automation Modules

CS Shared Reports

CS Shared Assessments

Remote VM Access

Mobile Access Settings

End User Chargeback

Write Resource Accounting

UCSD Cluster

Resource Groups

Yes

Yes

Tag Library

Yes

Yes

Group Admin

The following table shows a list of operations that a Group admin can perform:

Task

Permission

Read

Write

Virtual Computing

Yes

Yes

VM Label

Yes

Assign VM to vDC

Virtual Storage

Virtual Network

Physical Computing

Physical Storage

Yes

Yes

Physical Network

Group Service Request

Yes

Yes

Create Service Request

Yes

Approver Service Request

Yes

Yes

Budgeting

Resource Accounting

Yes

Chargeback

Yes

System Admin

Users and Groups

Virtual Accounts

Catalogs

Yes

vDC

Yes

Computing Policy

Storage Policy

Deployment Policy

Network Policy

Service Delivery

Resource Limit Report

Yes

Group Users

Yes

Yes

Cloudsense Reports

Yes

Yes

Cloudsense Assessment Reports

Orchestration

Discovery

Open Automation Modules

CS Shared Reports

Yes

Yes

CS Shared Assessments

Remote VM Access

Mobile Access Settings

End User Chargeback

Yes

Write Resource Accounting

UCSD Cluster

Resource Groups

Tag Library

IS Admin

The following table shows a list of operations that an IS admin can perform:

Task

Permission

Read

Write

Virtual Computing

Yes

VM Label

Yes

Assign VM to vDC

Yes

Virtual Storage

Yes

Virtual Network

Yes

Physical Computing

Yes

Physical Storage

Yes

Physical Network

Yes

Group Service Request

Yes

Approver Service Request

Yes

Yes

Budgeting

Yes

Resource Accounting

Yes

Chargeback

Yes

System Admin

Yes

Users and Groups

Yes

Virtual Accounts

Yes

Catalogs

Yes

vDC

Yes

Yes

Computing Policy

Yes

Storage Policy

Yes

Deployment Policy

Yes

Yes

Network Policy

Yes

Service Delivery

Yes

Yes

Resource Limit Report

Yes

Group Users

Yes

Cloudsense Reports

Yes

Cloudsense Assessment Reports

Yes

Orchestration

Yes

Yes

Discovery

Yes

Open Automation Modules

CS Shared Reports

CS Shared Assessments

Remote VM Access

Mobile Access Settings

End User Chargeback

Write Resource Accounting

UCSD Cluster

Resource Groups

Yes

Yes

Tag Library

Yes

Yes

Network Admin

The following table shows a list of operations that a Network admin can perform:

Task

Permission

Read

Write

Virtual Computing

Yes

VM Label

Yes

Assign VM to vDC

Virtual Storage

Yes

Virtual Network

Yes

Physical Computing

Yes

Physical Storage

Yes

Physical Network

Yes

Yes

Group Service Request

Yes

Approver Service Request

Yes

Yes

Budgeting

Yes

Resource Accounting

Yes

Chargeback

Yes

System Admin

Yes

Users and Groups

Yes

Virtual Accounts

Yes

Catalogs

Yes

vDC

Yes

Computing Policy

Yes

Storage Policy

Yes

Deployment Policy

Yes

Network Policy

Yes

Yes

Service Delivery

Yes

Resource Limit Report

Yes

Group Users

Yes

Cloudsense Reports

Yes

Cloudsense Assessment Reports

Yes

Orchestration

Yes

Yes

Discovery

Yes

Yes

Open Automation Modules

CS Shared Reports

CS Shared Assessments

Remote VM Access

Mobile Access Settings

End User Chargeback

Write Resource Accounting

UCSD Cluster

Resource Groups

Yes

Yes

Tag Library

Yes

Yes

Operator

The following table shows a list of operations that an Operator can perform:

Task

Permission

Read

Write

Virtual Computing

Yes

VM Label

Yes

Assign VM to vDC

Yes

Virtual Storage

Yes

Virtual Network

Yes

Physical Computing

Yes

Physical Storage

Yes

Physical Network

Yes

Group Service Request

Yes

Yes

Create Service Request

Yes

Approver Service Request

Yes

Yes

Budgeting

Yes

Resource Accounting

Yes

Chargeback

Yes

System Admin

Yes

Users and Groups

Yes

Virtual Accounts

Yes

Catalogs

Yes

vDC

Yes

Computing Policy

Yes

Storage Policy

Yes

Deployment Policy

Yes

Network Policy

Yes

Service Delivery

Yes

Resource Limit Report

Yes

Group Users

Yes

Cloudsense Reports

Yes

Cloudsense Assessment Reports

Yes

Orchestration

Discovery

Open Automation Modules

CS Shared Reports

CS Shared Assessments

Remote VM Access

Mobile Access Settings

End User Chargeback

Write Resource Accounting

UCSD Cluster

Resource Groups

Tag Library

Service End User

The following table shows a list of operations that a Service End User can perform:

Task

Permission

Read

Write

Virtual Computing

Yes

Yes

VM Label

Yes

Assign VM to vDC

Virtual Storage

Virtual Network

Physical Computing

Yes

Physical Storage

Yes

Physical Network

Group Service Request

Yes

Yes

Create Service Request

Yes

Approver Service Request

Yes

Yes

Budgeting

Resource Accounting

Yes

Chargeback

Yes

System Admin

Users and Groups

Virtual Accounts

Catalogs

Yes

vDC

Yes

Computing Policy

Storage Policy

Deployment Policy

Network Policy

Service Delivery

Resource Limit Report

Yes

Group Users

Cloudsense Reports

Yes

Cloudsense Assessment Reports

Orchestration

Discovery

Open Automation Modules

CS Shared Reports

Yes

CS Shared Assessments

Remote VM Access

Mobile Access Settings

End User Chargeback

Yes

Write Resource Accounting

UCSD Cluster

Resource Groups

Tag Library

Storage Admin

The following table shows a list of operations that a Storage admin can perform:

Task

Permission

Read

Write

Virtual Computing

Yes

VM Label

Yes

Assign VM to vDC

Virtual Storage

Yes

Virtual Network

Yes

Physical Computing

Yes

Physical Storage

Yes

Yes

Physical Network

Yes

Group Service Request

Yes

Approver Service Request

Yes

Yes

Budgeting

Yes

Resource Accounting

Yes

Chargeback

Yes

System Admin

Yes

Users and Groups

Yes

Virtual Accounts

Yes

Catalogs

Yes

vDC

Yes

Computing Policy

Yes

Storage Policy

Yes

Yes

Deployment Policy

Yes

Network Policy

Yes

Service Delivery

Yes

Resource Limit Report

Yes

Group Users

Yes

Cloudsense Reports

Yes

Cloudsense Assessment Reports

Yes

Orchestration

Yes

Yes

Discovery

Yes

Yes

Open Automation Modules

CS Shared Reports

CS Shared Assessments

Remote VM Access

Mobile Access Settings

End User Chargeback

Write Resource Accounting

UCSD Cluster

Resource Groups

Yes

Yes

Tag Library

Yes

Yes

Viewing User Role Information for Users

As an administrator in the system, you can assign users to system-provided user roles or to custom-defined user roles. You can view this information at a later point in time for all users in a group.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Summary.

Step 2

In the left pane, select a group.

Step 3

Choose the Users tab.
From this page, you can view detailed information on the users that belong to the selected group. The Access Level column displays the roles, system-defined or custom-defined roles, that the users are assigned to.

Optionally, you can choose Administration > User and Groups > Users to view all user information.

If you are a group administrator, then to view this information, choose Organizations > Users.

Managing User Account Status

Cisco UCS Director provides you with the capability to enable and disable users in the system. When you disable a user record, the user cannot log in to the system, and cannot use the APIs. In addition, the disabled user record is no longer present in any of the User fields that are displayed while performing administrative actions, such as assigning VMs or port groups. However, the records of all system users, whether enabled or disabled, are listed in the Users tab. In this tab, view the Status column to see if a user account status is Disabled or Enabled.

You can disable a user in one of the following ways:

- At account creation, you can set a date for disabling the user. For more information, see Adding Users.

- Disable a user from the Users page. For more information, see Disabling a User Account in Cisco UCS Director.

- Disable all users in an MSP Organization or a Customer Organization. For more information, see Disabling User Accounts within a Group.

Note

After you disable a user account, you can re-enable the account at a later point.

- Unassigning Resources From a User

- Disabling a User Account in Cisco UCS Director

- Disabling User Accounts within a Group

Unassigning Resources From a User

Cisco UCS Director allows you to unassign resources from a user.

Note

You can unassign resources from a user prior to disabling the user account in the system.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Choose the Users tab.

Step 3

Choose a user from the report, and click View Details.

Step 4

From the Resource Details report, choose the resources you want to unassign from the user.
You can select multiple resources.

Step 5

Click Unassign.

Step 6

In the Unassign Resource dialog box, click Unassign.

Step 7

Click OK.

What to Do Next

You can assign this resource to another user in the system.

Disabling a User Account in Cisco UCS Director

Perform this procedure to disable a specific user account in Cisco UCS Director.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Click the Users tab.

Step 3

Choose the user account from the table.
You can choose multiple users.

Step 4

On the toolbar, choose Disable.

Step 5

In the Disable User dialog box, click Disable.

Step 6

Click OK.
If the user whose account that you disabled is currently logged in to the system through the graphical user interface or the API, then that user session is terminated immediately. The disabled user cannot log in to the application.

What to Do Next

You can choose to enable the user's account at a later point in time. To do so, return to the Users page, select the user and click Enable.

Disabling User Accounts within a Group

Perform this procedure to disable user accounts within an MSP organization or a customer organization.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Click the MSP Organizations tab or the Customer Organizations tab.
These tab names are only indicative. If you have enabled the Service Provider Feature, you have to specify the names of the organization at the first and second level. The names that you specify are displayed as tabs in the interface.

Step 3

Select a group from the table.
You can select multiple groups.

Step 4

Click Disable Users.

Step 5

In the Disable Users dialog box, click Disable Users.

Step 6

Click OK.

What to Do Next

You can enable all the user accounts in this group by returning to MSP Organizations tab or the Customer Organizations tab, selecting the group, and clicking Enable Users.

MSP Administrator Role

A Managed Service Provider (MSP) organization is a type of customer group in Cisco UCS Director. It can be considered as a parent organization in the system. Within this MSP organization, multiple sub-categories or child organizations can be grouped. For example, a company name such as 'Cisco Systems' would represent an MSP organization. Within this MSP organization, you can create multiple customer groups, such as HR, Finance, and Operations. These groups would be considered as customer groups within an MSP organization.

An administrator is required for each MSP in Cisco UCS Director. This administrator is referred to as the MSP Admin. This administrator manages the MSP organization and all the customer organizations within the MSP organization.

If you are a global administrator in Cisco UCS Director, following is the recommended sequence of steps to create an MSP organization and an MSP administrator:

1. Enable the Service Provider Feature in Cisco UCS Director. For more information, see Enabling the Service Provider Feature.

2. Create the MSP organization. For more information, see Creating an MSP Organization.

3. Create the customer groups within the MSP organization. For more information, see Creating a Customer Organization.

4. Create a user account with MSP administrator role privileges in Cisco UCS Director. While creating this user account, you can also select the MSP organizations that this user can manage and you can create a new MSP organization. For information on creating a user account with a specific role, see Adding Users.

The role defines the menus and tabs that this user can view in Cisco UCS Director. Typically, an MSP administrator will require the following menus:

- Organization

- Policies

- CloudSense

In addition to creating MSP organizations and MSP administrator roles, you can also brand these organizations with customized logos and application labels. For more information, see Branding Customer Organizations.

Note

Cisco UCS Director supports branding at the global level, MSP organization level, and customer organization level. However, the branding details visible to a user are limited by certain guidelines. For more information, see Branding for Customer Organizations.

If you are an MSP administrator, then the following table lists the tasks that you can perform in Cisco UCS Director. It also lists sections in this guide where you can find procedural information.

Task

Link to the information in the guide

Create customer organizations to manage

Creating a Customer Organization

Apply specific branding to customer organizations.

Branding Customer Organizations

Create and manage policies to provision VMs

Managing Policies

Use CloudSense Analytics to generate reports

Managing CloudSense Analytics

Creating a User Group

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Click the User Groups tab.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add Group dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field Name

Description

Name field

The name of the group or the customer organization.

You can include special characters such as ( ). & - _ `~ $% ^ {}! '@

Description field

The description of the group or the customer organization, if required.

Code field

A shorter name or code name for the group. This name is used in VM and hostname templates.

Cost Center field

(Optional) The cost center name or number if required. This name or number represents a cost center that a group is associated with. This name can be used in a VMware System policy for the VM naming convention.

For more information about using a cost center for naming conventions, see Managing Policies.

Contact Email field

The email used to notify the group owner about the status of service requests and request approvals if necessary.

First Name field

The contact’s first name.

Last Name field

The contact’s last name.

Phone field

The contact’s phone number.

Address field

The contact’s address.

Group Share Policy drop-down list

Choose the group share policy for the users in this group.

This drop-down list is populated only when you have created group share policies.

For more information on creating this policy, see Creating a Group Share Policy.

Allow Resource Assignment To Users check box

If checked, the users of this group can have resources assigned to them and can own these resources. Also, these users can view resources belonging to the group. However, the resources among these users cannot be shared.

Step 5

Click Add.

What to Do Next

Repeat this procedure if you want to add more groups. For each group that you add, you can edit resource limits, manage tags, and customize the logo and application labels.

Creating an MSP Organization

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Click the MSP Organizations tab.
These tab names are only indicative. If you have enabled the Service Provider Feature, you must specify the names of the organization at the first and second level. The names that you specify are displayed as tabs in the interface.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add MSP Organizations dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field Name

Description

Name field

The name of the MSP organization.

You can include special characters such as ( ). & - _ `~ $% ^ {}! '

Description field

The description of the MSP organization, if necessary.

Code field

A shorter name or code name for the group. This name is used in VM and hostname templates.

Cost Center field

The cost center name or number if required. This name or number represents a cost center that a group is associated with. This name can be used in a VMware System policy for the VM naming convention.

For more information about using a cost center for naming conventions, see Managing Policies.

Contact Email field

The email used to notify the MSP administrator about the status of service requests and request approvals, if necessary.

First Name field

The contact’s first name.

Last Name field

The contact’s last name.

Phone field

The contact’s phone number.

Address field

The contact’s address.

Step 5

Click Add.

What to Do Next

For each MSP organization that you create, you can edit resource limits, manage tags, and customize the logo and application labels. You can also create customer organizations within each MSP organization.

Creating a Customer Organization

You can follow this procedure to create a customer organization within an MSP organization.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Click the Customer Organizations tab.
This tab name is only indicative. If you have enabled the Service Provider Feature, you must specify the names of the organization at the first and second level. Those names are displayed as tabs in the interface. If you have disabled the Service Provider Feature, then only the Customer Organizations tab is displayed.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add Group dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field Name

Description

Name field

The name of the group or the customer organization.

You can include special characters such as ( ). & - _ `~ $% ^ {}! '

Description field

The description of the group or the customer organization, if necessary.

MSP Group Name field

Select the MSP organization name from the drop-down list.

This list includes all the groups that you can currently manage. For example, if you are a global administrator of the system, then this list displays all the organizations that you manage. But, if you are an MSP administrator, then this list displays only the organization that you have administrative privileges for.

Code field

A shorter name or code name for the group. This name is used in VM and hostname templates.

Cost Center field

(Optional) The cost center name or number if required. This name or number represents a cost center that a group is associated with. This name can be used in a VMware System policy for the VM naming convention.

For more information about using a cost center for naming conventions, see Managing Policies.

Contact Email field

The email used to notify the group owner about the status of service requests and request approvals, if necessary.

First Name field

The contact’s first name.

Last Name field

The contact’s last name.

Phone field

The contact’s phone number.

Address field

The contact’s address.

Group Share Policy drop-down list

Choose the group share policy for the users in this group.

This drop-down list is populated only when you have created group share policies. For more information on creating this policy, see Creating a Group Share Policy.

Allow Resource Assignment To Users check box

If checked, the users of this group can have resources assigned to them and can own these resources. Also, these users can view resources belonging to the group. However, the resources among these users cannot be shared.

Step 5

Click Add.

What to Do Next

Repeat this procedure to add more customer organizations. For each customer organization that you add, you can edit resource limits, manage tags, and customize the logo and application labels.

Password Policy

The password policy applies to all users and is enforced when you add a user or change the password for all user types. This policy enables the following password constraints:

- Password length

- Whether the password can be the same as the username

- Whether a user can set the current password as a new password

- Whether certain regular expressions are disallowed in a password

- Creating a Password Policy

Creating a Password Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

In the Password Policy pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Minimum Password Length drop-down list

Choose the minimum number of characters for the password.

Maximum Password Length drop-down list

Choose the maximum number of characters for the password.

Minimum Character Classes drop-down list

Choose the minimum number of character classes, such as uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters.

Disallow Login in Password check box

Check the check box to disallow passwords that are the same as the login ID.

Disallow Previous Password check box

Check the check box to disallow the previous password from being used as the new password.

Disallow Passwords that match regular expression field

The regular expressions (one per line) that are not allowed for passwords. For example,.*abc.* specifies that a given password cannot contain the string “abc”.

Step 3

Click Submit.

Group Budget Policy

Resources are accounted for by using the Chargeback feature. For resource usage by a group or customer organization, you associate the entity with a budget policy.

You can configure a group or customer organization with a budget watch, and configure a group or customer organization to stay within or exceed the provisioned budget.

- Viewing and Editing a Group Budget Policy

Viewing and Editing a Group Budget Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Choose the User Group tab.

Step 3

Choose a group from the list.

Step 4

Click Budget Policy.

Step 5

In the Budget Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Enable Budget Watch check box

Check the check box to monitor the budget usage for the group. Uncheck the box to ignore all budget entries for this group.

Allow Over Budget check box

Check the check box to allow group members to exceed the provisioned budget. Uncheck the box to reject requests, once the budget is exhausted, until a new budget is added.

Step 6

Click Save.

Resource Limits

You can configure resource limits for a group, a customer organization, or a tenant, to manage resource utilization. You can specify limits for the following:

- Virtual resources

- Operating system resources

- Physical resources

Note

Configuration of operating system resource and physical resource limits are not supported for public clouds.

Guidelines for Resource Limits with Service Provider Enabled

If you have enabled the Service Provider feature in Cisco UCS Director, keep in mind the following considerations while configuring resource limits:

- The limit set for the parent organization determines the limits that you can set for customer groups and containers within the parent organization.

- If you have not added resource limits to a specific customer group but have specified limits for containers within that group, you must consider the total resource limits before setting a limit for another customer group within the parent organization.

- The total number of resource limits configured for all customer groups and containers within those groups cannot exceed the resource limit set for the parent organization.

- If you do not add resource limits to a specific customer group but do specify resource limits for containers within that group, you must consider the total of all container resource limits before you set a limit for the parent organization.

For example, the parent organization, Tenant 1, includes three customer groups: Group A, Group B, and Group C. If you configure a resource limit of ten for Tenant 1, the cumulative resource limits specified for all customer groups within Tenant 1 must not exceed ten. The cumulative resource limits include resource limits applied to customer groups and containers.

Group A includes containers C1 and C2, and has a resource limit of 4 assigned to the customer group. Group B includes containers C3 and C4, and each of these containers has a resource limit of two. This configuration means that two is the maximum available resource limit you can configure for Group C and all its containers (the resource limit for Tenant 1, minus the total resource limits for Group A, Group, B, and containers C1, C2, C3, and C4).

Guidelines for Resource Limits with Service Provider Disabled

If you have disabled the Service Provider feature, there is only one parent organization. Therefore, if you set a resource limit for the parent organization, the total of the limits specified for all customer groups must not exceed the parent resource limit.

For example, the parent organization includes two customer groups: Group A and Group B. If you set a limit of ten for the parent organization and five for Group A. The resource limit that you set for Group B, must not exceed five (the resource limit for the parent organization minus the resource limit for Group A).

- Viewing Resource Limits

- Editing Resource Limits

Viewing Resource Limits

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Summary.

Step 2

Choose a group.

Step 3

Choose the Resource Limits tab to view the current limit, usage, pending SR usage, and status of the resources for the selected group.

Editing Resource Limits

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

If you are editing a resource limit for an organization or a customer group, choose the Customer Organization tab, or the MSP Organization tab.
Important:
These tab names are only indicative. If you have enabled the Service Provider Feature, you have to specify the names of the organization at the first and second level. The names that you specify are displayed as tabs in the interface.

Step 3

To edit the resource limit for a user group, choose the User Groups tab.

Step 4

Choose a group from the table, and click Edit Resources Limits. The Resource Limit dialog box appears.

Step 5

In the Resource Limit dialog box, check the Enable Resource Limits check box and complete the following fields:

Field Name

Description

Group field

The group name that you selected.

Enable Resource Limits check box

Check the check box to enable the resource limits or uncheck the check box to disable the resource limits.

If checked, the user is provided with the option to set resource limits for a group and all nonzero resource limits are applied.

Maximum Active VM Count field

The maximum number of active VMs.

Maximum Total VM Count field

The total number of VMs.

Maximum Total VDC Count field

The total number of VDCs.

While provisioning a VM, if the number of VDCs you specify exceeds the number you specify in this field, then an error message is displayed.

Provisioned vCPUs Limit field

The maximum number of provisioned vCPUs.

Provisioned Memory (GB) Limit field

The provisioned memory limit, in gigabytes.

Provisioned Disk (GB) Limit field

The provisioned limit for disks, in gigabytes.

Reserved CPU (GHz) Limit field

The reserved limit of CPUs, in gigahertz.

Reserved Memory (GB) Limit field

The reserved memory limit, in gigabytes

Maximum Snapshot (GB) Limit field

The maximum limit for snapshots, in gigabytes.

Count CPU and Memory for Inactive VMs check box

Check the box to include the group's inactive VM CPU or memory data in the computation of resource limits. Uncheck the box to exclude inactive VM CPU or memory data from the computation of resource limits.

OS Resource Limits
Note:
The configuration of OS resource limits and physical resource limits is not supported for public clouds.

CentOS field

The maximum number of CentOS (Community Enterprise Operating System) servers.

Windows Server 2003 field

The maximum number of Windows 2003 servers.

Windows Server 2008 field

The maximum number of Windows 2008 servers.

Windows Server 2012 field

The maximum number of Windows 2012 servers.

Windows 7 field

The maximum number of Windows 7 machines.

Windows XP field

The maximum number of Windows XP machines.

Red Hat field

The maximum number of Red Hat machines.

Ubuntu field

The maximum number of Ubuntu machines.

FreeBSD field

The maximum number of FreeBSD machines.

Other Linux field

The maximum number of other Linux OS.

Other field

The maximum number of other OS.

Physical Resource Limits

Maximum vFiler Count field

The maximum number of vFilers.

Maximum Physical Storage Space (GB) field

The maximum amount of storage space.

Maximum Physical Server Count field

The maximum number of servers

Maximum Full Width Physical Server Count field

The maximum number of full length physical servers.

The number of servers specified in this field, when added with the number of servers specified for the Maximum Half Width Physical Server Count field must be less than or equal to the number of servers specified in the Maximum Physical Server Count field.

Important:
This field is applicable only for Cisco UCS blade servers.

Maximum Half Width Physical Server Count field

The maximum number of half length physical servers.

The number of servers specified in this field, when added with the number of servers specified for the Maximum Full Width Physical Server Count field must be less than or equal to the number of servers specified in the Maximum Physical Server Count field.

Important:
This field is applicable only for Cisco UCS blade servers.

Maximum Physical Server Memory (GB) field

The maximum amount of server memory.

Maximum Physical Server CPU Count field

The maximum number of server CPUs.

Step 6

Click Save.

Creating the Admin Profile

SUMMARY STEPS

1.    On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

2.    Choose Login User tab

3.    Click Add.

4.    In the Add User dialog box, complete the following fields:

5.    Click Add.

DETAILED STEPS

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Choose Login User tab

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add User dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field Name

Description

User Type drop-down list

Choose the user type option as System Admin. The system administrator has full privileges.

Login Name

The login name. The default is admin.

Password

The admin password.

Confirm Password

The admin password that is entered again for confirmation.

User Contact Email

The administrator’s email address.

First Name

The administrator’s first name.

Last Name

The administrator’s last name.

Phone

The administrator’s phone number.

Address

The administrator’s address.

Step 5

Click Add.

Changing the Admin Password

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

In the Login Name column, choose admin

Step 3

Click Change Password.

Step 4

In the Change Password dialog box, enter a new password for the admin user and confirm it.

Step 5

Click Save.

Viewing Current Online Users

SUMMARY STEPS

1.    On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

2.    Choose the Current Online Users tab to view a list of online users. The list displays each user's username, IP address, session start time, last data access, and client.

DETAILED STEPS

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Choose the Current Online Users tab to view a list of online users. The list displays each user's username, IP address, session start time, last data access, and client.

Multi-Role Access Profiles

A user can be assigned to more than one role, which is reflected in the system as a user access profile. For example, a user might log into Cisco UCS Director as a group administrator and as an all-policy administrator, if both types of access are appropriate.

Access profiles also define the resources that can be viewed by a user. With Cisco UCS Director Release 5.4, support for multiple profiles for a single user was introduced. So when you install version 5.4, and if a user account is associated with multiple groups, the system creates multiple profiles for the user account. But if you upgrade the system from a prior version to version 5.4, and if the LDAPSyncTask system task is not yet run, then, by default, only one profile is listed for a user account in the system.

When LDAP users are integrated with Cisco UCS Director, if a user belongs to more than one group, then the system creates a profile for each group. But by default, the domain users profile is added for LDAP users.

Note

The Manage Profiles feature enables you to add, log into, edit, or delete a user access profile.

Creating a User Access Profile

SUMMARY STEPS

1.    On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

2.    Choose the Login User tab.

3.    Choose a user from the list.

4.    Click Manage Profiles.

5.    In the Manage Profile window, click Add +.

6.    In the Add Entry to Access Profiles dialog box, complete the following fields:

7.    Click Submit.

DETAILED STEPS

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Choose the Login User tab.

Step 3

Choose a user from the list.

Step 4

Click Manage Profiles.

Step 5

In the Manage Profile window, click Add +.

Step 6

In the Add Entry to Access Profiles dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field Name

Description

Name field

The profile name.

Description field

The description of the profile.

Type drop-down list

Choose the user role type.

Customer Organizations drop-down list

Choose the organization to which this user profile applies.

Show Resources From All Other Groups the User Has Access check box

Select this checkbox to specify that the user can view resources from all other groups that they have access to or are a part of.

Shared Groups field

Click Select to choose the groups to which the user profile applies.

The user will be able to access all the resources associated with the selected groups.

Default Profile check box

Check the check box if this is the default user access profile. Uncheck the check box if it is not the default.

Step 7

Click Submit.

What to Do Next

Create additional user access profiles as needed.

Logging in to a Profile

As a user in the system, if you have multiple profiles for your account, then you can log in to the system with a specific profile.

SUMMARY STEPS

1.    In the Cisco UCS Director login dialog box, enter your username in the Username field, in the format Username: Access Profile Name.

2.    In the Password field, enter your password.

3.    Click Login.

DETAILED STEPS

Step 1

In the Cisco UCS Director login dialog box, enter your username in the Username field, in the format Username: Access Profile Name.
For example, Alex: GrpAdmin

Step 2

In the Password field, enter your password.

Step 3

Click Login.

Default Profile

The default profile is the first profile that you created in the system. You can change the default to another profile. Using the new default profile, you log in by entering the username and password.

- Changing a Default Profile

Changing a Default Profile

Step 1

In the user interface, click the username displayed on the top right corner.
The username is displayed to the left of the logout option.

Step 2

In the User Information window, choose the Access Profiles tab.

Step 3

Choose a user profile, and click Set as Default Profile.
Note:
A profile can also be set as default while it is being added, or being edited.

Authentication and LDAP Integration

As an administrator, you can specify an authentication mechanism for the user accounts in the system. You can configure an authentication preference with a fallback choice for LDAP. You can also configure a preference with no fallback for Verisign Identity Protection (VIP) authentication.

Name

Description

Local First, fallback to LDAP

Authentication is done first at the local server (Cisco UCS Director). If the user record is not found in the local server, then the authentication process shifts to the LDAP server.

Verisign Identity Protection

VIP Authentication Service (two-factor authentication) is enabled.

- Configuring Authentication Preferences

- LDAP Integration

- Single Sign On

Configuring Authentication Preferences

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Choose the Authentication Preferences tab.

Step 3

In the Authentication Preferences pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Authentication Preferences drop-down list

Choose the authentication preference.

You can select one of the following:

- Local First, fallback to LDAP

If you select this option, then you must configure the LDAP servers. For more information, see Configuring LDAP Servers.

- Verisign Identity Protection

If you select this option, continue to Step 4.

Step 4

If you selected Verisign Identity Protection, complete the following steps:

1. Click Browse to upload a VIP certificate. Locate and select the certificate, and click Upload.

2. Enter the Password.

Step 5

Click Save.

LDAP Integration

You can use LDAP integration to synchronize the LDAP server’s groups and users with Cisco UCS Director. LDAP authentication enables synchronized users to authenticate with the LDAP server. You can synchronize LDAP users and groups automatically or manually. While adding an LDAP account, you can specify a frequency at which the LDAP account is synchronized automatically with Cisco UCS Director. Optionally, you can manually trigger the LDAP synchronization by using the LDAPSyncTask system task.

After you configure an LDAP account and after the synchronization process is run, either manually or automatically, the recently added LDAP information is displayed in Cisco UCS Director. This information is displayed in a tree view that depicts the hierarchical structure of all organizational units (OUs), groups, and users that have been added to the system. You can view this information by choosing Administration > LDAP Integration. You can select and expand an OU in the left pane to view all the groups within it. If you select a group in this left pane, you can view a list of users that are associated with that group. If an OU has several sub OUs within it, then you can click the Organization tab in the right pane to view detailed information. In addition, the Groups and Users tabs in the right pane display groups and users respectively that are synchronized within the selected OU.

In addition to running a system task, Cisco UCS Director also provides an additional option for you to synchronize the LDAP directory with the system:

- Cleanup LDAP Users system task—This system task determines if the synchronized users in the system are deleted from the LDAP directories or not. If there are user records that have been deleted from the LDAP directories, then after this system task is run, these user accounts are marked as disabled in the system. As an administrator, you can unassign resources of these disabled user accounts. By default, this task is in the enabled state. After the second system restart, this system task is changed to the disabled state. This applies to both, a standalone and multi-node setup.

In a multi-node setup, this system task runs only on the primary node, even if there is a service node configured.

Important:
Users that do not belong to a group or to a domain user’s group display in LDAP as Users with No Group. These users are added under the domain user’s group in Cisco UCS Director.

You can add LDAP users with the same name in different LDAP server accounts. The domain name is appended to the login user name to differentiate multiple user records. For example: abc@vxedomain.com. This rule is applicable to user groups as well.

Appending the domain name to the user name to login to the system is only applicable to LDAP users. It does not apply to local users. All local users can login to the system with the user names.

When a single LDAP account is added, and a user logs in by specifying only the user name, Cisco UCS Director first determines if the user is a local user or is an LDAP user. If the user is identified as a local user and as an external LDAP user, then at the login stage, if the user name matches the local user name, then the local user is authenticated into Cisco UCS Director. Alternatively, if the user name matches that of the external user, then the LDAP user is authenticated into Cisco UCS Director.

- LDAP Integration Rules and Limitations

- Managing LDAP Integration

- Configuring LDAP Servers

- Testing LDAP Server Connectivity

- Viewing LDAP Server Summary Information

- Adding LDAP Search BaseDN Entries

- Executing the LDAP Synchronization System Task

- Modifying LDAP Server Details

- Viewing Group Membership Information

- Deleting LDAP Server Information

LDAP Integration Rules and Limitations

Group Synchronization Rules

- If a chosen LDAP group already exists in Cisco UCS Director and the source is type Local, the group is ignored during synchronization.

- If a chosen LDAP group already exists in Cisco UCS Director and the group source is type External, the group’s description and email attributes are updated in Cisco UCS Director.

- While adding an LDAP server, you can now specify user filters and group filters. When you specify a group filter, all users that belong to the specified group are added to the system. In addition, the following actions are also performed:

- If the specified group includes sub-groups, then the group, the sub-groups and the users in those sub-groups are added to the system (only applicable when you manually synchronize the LDAP directory).

- If the user is part of multiple groups, and the other groups do not match the group specified as the group filter, then those additional groups are not added to the system.

- A user can be part of multiple user groups. However, the group that is mentioned first in the list of groups that the user is part of is set as the default primary group for the user. If the user is not part of any group, then the default primary group is set as Domain Users.

Note

You can view information on all the groups that a user is part of only after the LDAPSyncTask system task is run.

- When an LDAP group is synchronized, all users that are in the group are first added to the system. Also, if users in the specified LDAP group are associated with other groups that are in the same OU or in a different OU, then those groups are also retrieved and added to the system.

- The LDAP synchronization process will retrieve the specified LDAP groups for the system, along with nested groups, if any.

- Prior to this release, a user was part of only one group. After an upgrade to the current release, and only after the LDAPSyncTask system task is run, the Manage Profiles dialog box displays the other groups that the user is part of. This is applicable only when the other groups match the group filters that you specified while configuring the LDAP server.

User Synchronization Rules

- LDAP users that have special characters in their names are now added to Cisco UCS Director.

- While adding an LDAP server, you can now specify user filters and group filters. When you specify a user filter, all the users that match the filter you specified, and the groups that they belong to, are retrieved for the system.

- An LDAP user can have multiple group memberships. When the LDAP user is synchronized with the system, this multiple group membership information is retained. Cisco UCS Director provides you with an option to view this information for every user. For more information, see Viewing Group Membership Information. In addition, multiple access profiles are also automatically created for the user.

Note

You can view this information only when the groups match the filter you specified while configuring the LDAP server, and when the groups have been assimilated into the system.

- Cisco UCS Director now displays the User Principal Name (UPN) for each user that is added into the system. This is applicable for users that have been added into the system in prior releases. Users can log in to the system using their login name or their user principal name. Logging in using the user principal name along with the profile name is not supported.

- If a chosen LDAP user already exists in Cisco UCS Director and the source type is External, then that user is ignored at synchronization. The user’s name, description, email, and other attributes are not updated again.

- If a user account is created in two different LDAP directories, then the user details of the LDAP directory that was synchronized first are displayed. The user details from the other LDAP directory are not displayed.

- After multiple LDAP directories are synchronized, the LDAP external users must log in to Cisco UCS Director by specifying the complete domain name along with their user name. For example: vxedomain.com\username. However, this rule does not apply if there is only one LDAP server directory added to Cisco UCS Director.

Note

After an LDAP synchronization process, verify that the user is assigned to the correct group.

Managing LDAP Integration

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > LDAP Integration.

Step 2

Choose an LDAP server and click the following buttons, as needed, to manage LDAP integration:

Name

Description

Search BaseDN button

Enables you to choose a distinguished domain name to search. All users and groups from the chosen organization units are fetched into Cisco UCS Director when the LDAP synchronization process is completed. This action is also considered to be an automatic synchronization process.

Note:
You can initiate LDAP server synchronization as a system task. For more information, see Executing the LDAP Synchronization System Task.

Request Manual LDAP Sync

Displays a dialog box that enables you to specify either basic or advanced search criteria to fetch LDAP users and groups.

Step 3

(Optional) If you chose Request LDAP Manual Server Sync, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Basic Search check box

Enables basic search by organization unit.

Advanced Search check box

Enables advanced search.

Important:
When you use either of the search options, if users and groups that match the search criteria already exist in Cisco UCS Director, then they are not displayed as part of the search results.

Step 4

For basic search, click Select to specify the search base.

Step 5

Choose the search base DN, click Select, and continue to Step 9.

Step 6

For advanced search, in the Advanced Filtering Options pane add or edit attribute names for User Filters and Group Filters.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

In the Select Users and Groups pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

LDAP Groups field

The LDAP groups from which the users must be synchronized.

LDAP Users field

The LDAP users that must be synchronized.

Step 9

Click Submit to synchronize the LDAP server.

Configuring LDAP Servers

You can configure multiple LDAP servers and accounts in Cisco UCS Director. While adding LDAP accounts, you can specify the following:

- An organization unit (OU) that is part of the search base DN.

- A frequency at which the LDAP account is automatically synchronized with the system.

- A group or user filter to narrow down the results, and specify an LDAP role filter on the groups and users

Soon after an LDAP server account is added, a system task for this account is created automatically, and it immediately begins to synchronize the data. All the users and groups in the LDAP server account are added to the system. By default, all the users from the LDAP account are automatically assigned to the service end-user profile.

Before You Begin

You should have set the authentication preferences to the following:

- Local First, fallback to LDAP

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > LDAP Integration.

Step 2

Click Add.

Step 3

In the LDAP Server Configuration dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Account Name field

The name of the account.

This name must be unique.

Server Type field

The type of LDAP server. It can be one of the following:

- OpenLDAP

- MSAD - Microsoft Active Directory

Server field

The IP address or the host name of the LDAP server.

Enable SSL check box

Enables a secure connection to the LDAP server.

Port field

The port number.

It is automatically set to 636 for SSL, and 389 for non-secure mode.

Domain Name field

The domain name.

If you selected OpenLDAP as the LDAP Directory Type, then this domain name must match the domain specified with the user name.

Important:
You must specify the complete domain name. For example: vxedomain.com.

User Name field

The user name.

If you selected OpenLDAP as the LDAP Directory Type, then specify the user names in the following format:

uid=users,ou=People,dc=ucsd,dc=com

where ou specified is the one all the other users are placed in the directory hierarchy.

Password field

The user password.

Synchronization Frequency drop-down list

Select the frequency (hours) at which the LDAP server must be synchronized. It can be one of the following:

- 1

- 4

- 12

- 24

Step 4

Click Next.

Step 5

In the LDAP Search Base pane, click Select to specify LDAP search base entries and click Select.
All organization units (OU) that are available in Cisco UCS Director are displayed in this list.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Configure User and Group Filters pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

User Filters

Click the + sign to select specific users that must be synchronized with the system.

All groups that the selected users are part of are retrieved and added into the system.

Group Filters

Click the + sign to select groups that must be synchronized with the system.

All users that are part of the selected group filters are retrieved and added into the system. However, if the users in the selected group are also part of other groups, then those groups are not retrieved and added to the system unless you select them.

Add Entry to Group Filters dialog box

Attribute Name drop-down list

Choose either Group Name or User Name.

Operator drop-down list

Choose the filter to retrieve groups and users. It can be one of the following:

- Equals to

- Starts with

Attribute Value field

Specify a keyword or a value that must be included in the search.

Based on the filters, the groups or users are retrieved.

Step 8

Click Next.

Step 9

In the LDAP User Role Filter pane, click the (+) sign to add a user role filter.

Step 10

In the Add Entry to User Role Filters dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Attribute Name field

The name of the attribute. It can be Group Name.

Operator drop-down list

It can be one of the following:

- Equal to

- Starts with

Attribute Value field

Specify a value in this field.

All users that match the values of the Operator field and the Attribute Value field are assigned to the user role you select in the Map User Role drop-down list.

Map User Role drop-down list

Select a user role that you want the users mapped to. You can choose a role that was available by default, or you can choose a role that you created in the system.

Following are the roles that are available by default in Cisco UCS Director:

- All Policy Admin

- Billing Admin

- Computing Admin

- Service End-User

- Group Admin

- IS Admin

- Network Admin

- Operator Admin

- Storage Admin

- System Admin

Step 11

Click Submit.

Step 12

Click OK.
The user role filters are added to the User Role Filters table.

Note:
If you have multiple user role filters specified, then the filter specified in the first row is processed.

If you manually update a user role for a user from the Login Users tab, then the user role that you mapped the group to is no longer applied to the user.

What to Do Next

If you have not set the authentication preference to LDAP, then you are prompted to modify the authentication preference. For more information on changing the authentication preference, see Configuring Authentication Preferences.

Testing LDAP Server Connectivity

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > LDAP Integration.

Step 2

In the LDAP Integration tab, choose an LDAP account name from the table.

Step 3

Click Test Connection.

Step 4

In the Test LDAP Connectivity dialog box, click Close.

Viewing LDAP Server Summary Information

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > LDAP Integration.

Step 2

In the LDAP Integration tab, choose an LDAP account name from the table.

Step 3

Click View.
The View LDAP Account Information dialog box displays summary information of the LDAP account.

Step 4

Click Close.

Adding LDAP Search BaseDN Entries

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > LDAP Integration.

Step 2

In the LDAP Integration tab, choose an LDAP account name from the table.

Step 3

Click Search BaseDN.

Step 4

In the LDAP Search Base dialog box, click Select to select the search entries.

Step 5

Click Select.

Step 6

Click Submit.

Step 7

Click OK.

Executing the LDAP Synchronization System Task

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose System Tasks.

Step 3

Enter LDAP in the Filter field.

Step 4

Select LDAPSyncTask from the System Tasks table.

Step 5

Click Run Now.

Step 6

(Optional)Click Manage Task to enable or disable the synchronization process.

What to Do Next

The results of the synchronization process are displayed in Cisco UCS Director. Select an LDAP account on the LDAP Integration pane, and click Results to view the summary of the synchronization process.

Modifying LDAP Server Details

You can only modify the following details for a configured LDAP server:

- Port numbers and SSL configuration

- User name and password

- Synchronization frequency

- Search BaseDN selections

- User roles and groups that are mapped

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > LDAP Integration.

Step 2

In the LDAP Integration tab, choose an LDAP account name from the table.

Step 3

Click Modify.

Step 4

In the Modify LDAP Server Configuration pane, edit the following fields:

Name

Description

Enable SSL check box

Enables a secure connection to the LDAP server.

Port field

The port number.

It is automatically set to 636 for SSL, and 389 for non-secure mode.

User Name field

The user name.

If you selected OpenLDAP as the LDAP Directory Type, then specify the user names in the following format:

uid=users,ou=People,dc=ucsd,dc=com

where ou specified is the one all the other users are placed in the directory hierarchy.

Password field

The user password.

Synchronization Frequency drop-down list

Choose the frequency (in hours) at which the LDAP server is synchronized with the system database. It can be one of the following:

- 1

- 4

- 12

- 24

Step 5

Click Next.

Step 6

In the LDAP Search Base pane, click Select to specify LDAP search base entries and click Select.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

In the Configure User and Group Filters pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

User Filters

Click the + sign to select specific users that must be synchronized with the system.

Group Filters

Click the + sign to select groups that must be synchronized with the system.

Step 9

Click Next.

Step 10

In the LDAP User Role Filter pane, click the (+) sign to add a user role filter.

Step 11

In the Add Entry to User Role Filters dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Attribute Name field

The name of the attribute. It can be Group Name.

Operator drop-down list

It can be one of the following:

- Equal to

- Starts with

Attribute Value field

Specify a value in this field.

All users that match the values of the Operator field and the Attribute Value field are assigned to the user role you select in the Map User Role drop-down list.

Map User Role drop-down list

Select a user role that you want the users mapped to. You can choose a role that was available by default, or you can choose a role that you created in the system.

Following are the roles that are available by default in Cisco UCS Director:

- All Policy Admin

- Billing Admin

- Computing Admin

- Service End-User

- Group Admin

- IS Admin

- Network Admin

- Operator Admin

- Storage Admin

- System Admin

Step 12

Click Submit.

Step 13

Click OK.
The user role filters are added to the User Role Filters table.

Note:
If you have multiple user role filters specified, then the filter specified in the first row is processed.

Viewing Group Membership Information

Any user in the system can be part of multiple user groups. When a user is added to the system, all groups that the user is part of are also added to the system. However, the group that the user was most recently added to is set as the default primary group for the user. If the user is not part of any group, then the default primary group is set as Domain Users. While you can use the Manage Profiles option to view and modify group membership for users, Cisco UCS Director also provides you with an additional option to view a list of all groups that a specific user is part of.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Choose the Users tab.

Step 3

Select a user from the table.

Step 4

Click Group Membership.
The Member Information dialog box displays all the groups that the user is part of.

Step 5

Click Close.

Deleting LDAP Server Information

When you delete an LDAP server account, the following actions are initiated:

- Resources that have been assigned to LDAP users are un-assigned.

- VMs that have been assigned to the LDAP users are un-assigned.

- Resources that have been assigned to LDAP groups are un-assigned.

- VMs that have been assigned to the LDAP groups are un-assigned.

- VM share policies that have been assigned to LDAP users are un-assigned.

- Tags that have been applied to the LDAP users and groups are cleared

- Users and groups are immediately deleted from the database.

- The LDAP server details are removed from the tree view.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > LDAP Integration.

Step 2

In the LDAP Integration tab, choose an LDAP account name from the table.

Step 3

Click Delete.

Step 4

In the Delete LDAP Account dialog box, click Delete.

Step 5

Click OK.
This initiates the deletion of the LDAP account in Cisco UCS Director. Based on the number of users and groups in the LDAP account, this deletion process could take a few minutes to complete. During such time, the LDAP account may still be visible in Cisco UCS Director. Click Refresh to ensure that the account has been deleted.

Single Sign On

Cisco UCS Director provides a Single Sign-On (SSO) service based on SAML 2.0. To enable SSO, Cisco UCS Director must be registered as a Service Provider (SP) with the OneLogin Identity Provider (IDP). SSO enables users to access multiple systems seamlessly without having to log in to individual systems. With SSO configured and enabled between the SP and IDP, a user can log in to the OneLogin portal and then access Cisco UCS Director without having to log in again.

To enable Single Sign-On, you must complete the following:

1. Create a user account at the OneLogin site.

2. Map the Cisco UCS Director appliance details in the OneLogin site.

For more information, see Mapping the Cisco UCS Director Appliance at the OneLogin Site

3. Generate a Single Sign-On certificate at the OneLogin site.

For more information, see Generating a OneLogin Certificate.

4. Create a user account in Cisco UCS Director with the same credentials as the account created at the OneLogin site. The user account must be created on the same appliance that was mapped in the OneLogin site.

For information on adding a user, see Adding Users.

5. Enable Single Sign-on by uploading the certificate on the appliance that you referenced in the OneLogin site.

For more information, see Enabling a Single Sign-On.

After you complete this procedure, when you return to the OneLogin site and click on Cisco UCS Director, the user will no longer be prompted to enter their user name and password information.

- Mapping the Cisco UCS Director Appliance at the OneLogin Site

- Generating a OneLogin Certificate

- Enabling a Single Sign-On

Mapping the Cisco UCS Director Appliance at the OneLogin Site

To enable Single Sign-On, you must first map the system that is running Cisco UCS Director.

Before You Begin

You must have a OneLogin account.

Step 1

Access the OneLogin site from the following link: Click Here .

Step 2

Log in to the site using your account details.

Step 3

From the menu bar, choose Apps > Add Apps.

Step 4

In the Find Applications field, enter SAML.

Step 5

In the search results that are displayed, select and double-click OneLogin SAML Test (IdP) SAML 2.0.
The Info pane is displayed.

Step 6

In the Info pane, enter the following information:

Field

Description

Display Name field

Enter a unique name for the system that is running Cisco UCS Director.

This name is displayed on the home page of the OneLogin portal. You can register multiple Cisco UCS Director appliances at this portal. Be sure to enter a name that helps you identify the system accurately.

Step 7

Click Save.

Step 8

Choose Configuration from the menu bar, and enter the following information:

Field

Description

SAML Consumer URL field

Enter the URL of the system that is running Cisco UCS Director.

Important:
Enter the URL that is displayed after a user logs into the Cisco UCS Director user interface. It should look similar to the following: https://<ip_address>/app/cloudmgr/cloudmgr.jsp. For example: https://10.10.10.10/app/cloudmgr/cloudmgr.jsp.

For releases 6.0 and later, the URL should look similar to the following: https://<ip_address>/app/ux/index.html. For example: https://10.10.10.10/app/ux/index.html.

Step 9

Click Save.
On the home page of this site, an icon is created for the server details that you specified. For every appliance that you register at the OneLogin site, an icon is displayed on the home page. If you click this icon, you are automatically directed to the Cisco UCS Director user interface.

What to Do Next

Generate a OneLogin certificate and enable SSO on the Cisco UCS Director appliance.

Generating a OneLogin Certificate

Before You Begin

- You must have a OneLogin account

- The Cisco UCS Director application must be registered with the OneLogin website.

Step 1

Access the OneLogin site from the following link: Click Here .

Step 2

Log in to the site using your account details.

Step 3

From the menu bar, choose Settings > SAML.

Step 4

Select Standard Strength Certificate (2048-bit).

Step 5

Click Download.

Step 6

Click OK.
A file with the name onelogin.pem is downloaded to your system.

What to Do Next

You must upload this certificate on the Cisco UCS Director appliance.

Enabling a Single Sign-On

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Choose the Single Sign-On tab.

Step 3

In the Single Sign-On pane, click the Enable Single Sign-On check box.

Step 4

In the Select a File for Upload field, browse and select the OneLogin certificate file on your system.
The OneLogin certificate file is saved on your system with the name onelogin.pem.

Step 5

Click Upload.

Step 6

When the upload is complete, click Submit.
When you launch Cisco UCS Director from the OneLogin site, you are not prompted to log in to the system.

Branding for Customer Organizations

Cisco UCS Director supports branding and customizing the portal at the following levels:

- Global level—This system-level branding can be modified by the global administrator.

- MSP Organization level or the tenant level—The branding at this level can be modified by the administrator or the MSP administrator.

- Customer organization level—Customer organizations are usually grouped with an MSP organization. An MSP administrator or a global administrator can modify the branding details.

With the introduction of branding support at the MSP organization level, certain rules apply to what branding changes users may view. The settings that are applied depend on the following:

- User role—Is the user an end user, a group administrator, or an MSP administrator?

- User's customer organization and the branding set for it.

- MSP Organization branding settings.

The following table elaborates the branding behavior in Cisco UCS Director.

Branding Behavior in Cisco Cisco UCS Director

Branding set at MSP Organization Level

Branding set at Customer Organization Level

MSP Administrator

Group Administrator

End User

Yes

Yes

Branding details set at the MSP organization level are displayed.

Branding details set at the customer organization level is displayed.

Branding details set at the customer organization level to which this user belongs to is displayed.

No

Yes

Global branding details are displayed.

Branding details set at the customer organization level is displayed.

Branding details set at the customer organization level to which this user belongs to is displayed.

Yes

No

Branding details set at the MSP organization level are displayed.

Branding details set at the MSP organization level to which this customer organization belongs to is displayed.

Branding details set at the MSP organization level to which the customer organization belongs to is displayed.

No

No

Global branding details are displayed.

Global branding details are displayed.

Global branding details are displayed.

Branding User Groups

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Choose the User Group tab.

Step 3

Choose the group to brand.

Step 4

Click Branding.
The Group Branding dialog box displays the options that you customize.

Step 5

Check the Logo image check box to customize the image that is displayed on the top left corner of the user interface.

1. Click Upload to browse to a logo image file and choose it.
Note:
Make sure that the logo image is in PNG, JPG, or GIF format. The optimal image size is 200 pixels in width and 100 pixels in height. We recommend that you use a small file size to enable faster download.

2. Click Submit.

Step 6

Check the Application Labels check box to specify a label that is displayed on the top header of the user interface.

1. Enter at least one application label in the Label 1 and Label 2 fields.

Step 7

Check the URL Forwarding on Logout check box to re-direct users to a specific URL after logging out of the user interface.

1. In the URL field, enter the URL.

Step 8

Check the Custom Links check box to specify the links that appear on the top right corner of the user interface.

1. Complete at least the first two fields.

Name

Description

Custom Link 1 Label field

The label for custom link 1.

Custom Link 1 URL field

The URL for custom link 1.

Custom Link 2 Label field

The label for custom link 2.

Custom Link 2 URL field

The URL for custom link 2.

Step 9

Click Submit.

Branding Customer Organizations

You can customize the logo and application labels for customer organizations in Cisco UCS Director.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Choose the Customer Organizations tab or the MSP Organizations tab.
These tab names are only indicative. If you have enabled the Service Provider Feature, you have to specify the names of the organization at the first and second level. The names that you specify are displayed as tabs in the interface. If you have disabled the Service Provider Feature, then only the Customer Organizations tab is displayed.

Step 3

Choose the customer organization to brand.

Step 4

Click Branding.
The Group Branding dialog box displays the options that you customize.

Step 5

Check the Logo image check box to customize the image that is displayed on the top left corner of the user interface.

1. Click Upload to browse to a logo image file and choose it.
Note:
Make sure that the logo image is in PNG, JPG, or GIF format. The optimal image size is 200 pixels in width and 100 pixels in height. We recommend that you use a small file size to enable faster download.

2. Click Submit.

Step 6

Check the Application Labels check box to specify a label that is displayed on the top header of the user interface.

1. Enter at least one application label in the Label 1 and Label 2 fields.

Step 7

Check the URL Forwarding on Logout check box to re-direct users to a specific URL after logging out of the user interface.

1. In the URL field, enter the URL.

Step 8

Check the Custom Links check box to specify the links that appear on the top right corner of the user interface.

1. Complete at least the first two fields.

Name

Description

Custom Link 1 Label field

The label for custom link 1.

Custom Link 1 URL field

The URL for custom link 1.

Custom Link 2 Label field

The label for custom link 2.

Custom Link 2 URL field

The URL for custom link 2.

Step 9

Click Submit.

Login Page Branding

A login page can be configured to display a logo that is associated with a domain name. When the end user logs in from that domain, the user sees the custom logo on the login page. The optimal image size for a logo is 890 pixels wide and 470 pixels high, with 255 pixels allowed for white space. Cisco recommends that you keep the image size small to enable faster downloads.

Note

The group or customer organization login page must first be configured (enabled) for branding.

- Configuring a Custom Domain Logo

Configuring a Custom Domain Logo

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Choose the Login Page Branding tab.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Domain Branding dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Domain Name field

The domain name to brand.

Select a file for upload field

The logo file to upload.

Note:
The optimal image size for a logo is 890 pixels wide by 470 pixels high, with 255 pixels for white space. We recommend that you keep the image size small to enable faster downloads.

Custom Domain Logo check box

Check the check box to enable login page branding from a specified domain name.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Configuring Dashlets

A dashlet is a report that you can display on the dashboard of UCS Director End User Portal.

The available dashlets include:

- Orders

- Approvals

- VMs

- Catalogs

- UCS Servers

As an administrator, you can choose to display some or all of the dashlets on the End User Portal. You can configure the dashlets for each user group.

Note

All the available dashlets are added to a user group only when the user group contains a user. When a user group does not have even one user, dashlets do not appear for the user group.

To configure dashlets for a user group, do the following:

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Click the User Groups tab.

Step 3

Choose the user group for which you want to configure the dashlets and then choose Dashlet Setup. The Dashlets Report screen appears with all the available dashlets.
Note:
When the user group does not have any users, dashlets do not appear in the Dashlets Report screen. Add a user to the user group to configure the dashlets.

Step 4

In the Dashlets Report screen, select the dashlet you do not want for the user group and click the X (delete) icon.

Step 5

To add a dashlet to the user group, click the + (plus) icon. In the Add Entry screen, do the following:

1. From the Dashlet Name list, select the dashlet type.

2. In the Dashlet Data Report section, click the + (plus) icon.

3. In the Add Entry to Dashlet Data Report, select the entry (status, type, or state depending on the dashlet type you chose), assign a color to the entry, and click Submit.

4. Assign colors to the rest of the entries.

5. After assigning colors to the entries for the dashlet, click Submit.

Step 6

In the Dashlets Report screen, make sure the Publish to end users box is checked.
This option enables the dashlets to appear on the End User Portal for users of this group.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Changing Colors of Dashlet Reports

As an administrator, you can choose to change the color for each entry in the dashlet reports that appear on the End User Portal. An entry might be a status (In Progress or Completed), a category type (Standard or Advanced), or a power state (on or off) depending on the dashlet. For example, for the VMs dashlet, you can assign red for the ON state and gray for the Off state.

To change colors for entries in a dashlet report, do the following:

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Click the User Groups tab.

Step 3

Choose the user group for which you want to configure the dashlet and then choose Dashlet Setup. The Dashlets Report screen appears with all the available dashlets.

Step 4

In the Dashlets Report screen, select the dashlet and click the Edit icon. The Add Entry screen appears.

Step 5

In the Add Entry screen, do the following:

1. In the Add Entry to Dashlet Data Report area, select the entry, assign a color to the entry, and click Submit.

2. Assign colors for the rest of the entries.

3. After assigning colors to the entries for the dashlet, click Submit.

Step 6

Make sure the Publish to end users box is checked.
This option enables the changes in the dashlet to appear on the End User Portal for users of this group.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Selecting Catalogs for End User Portal

As an administrator, you can enable folders and catalogs within these folders to appear on the dashboard of the end user portal. You can enable a maximum of 25 catalog folders and a maximum of 25 catalogs within a folder to appear on the dashboard of the end user portal.

To configure catalogs to appear on the dashboard of the end user portal, do the following:

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Click the User Groups tab.
If you have MSP-mode enabled, then choose the Customer Organizations tab.

Step 3

Choose the user group for which you want to configure the catalogs and choose Catalog Setup. The Configure Catalog screen appears with the list of catalogs available for the user group.
Note:
If catalogs have not been assigned to the user group, the Configure Catalog screen is empty.

Step 4

In the Configure Catalog dialog box, check the check boxes of the catalogs that must appear on the End User Portal dashboard.

Step 5

Click Submit.
When users that belong to the group login to the end user portal, the dashboard is populated with the selected catalogs and catalog folders.

Chapter 4. Managing System Administration Settings

This chapter contains the following sections:

- Setting up the Outgoing Mail Server

- Working with Email Templates

- Updating the License

- Verifying License Utilization

- Viewing License Utilization History

- Viewing Resource Usage Data

- Application Categories

- Customizing the Portal

- Customizing Reports

- Enabling Advanced Controls

- Enabling the Service Provider Feature

- User Menus

- Setting User Permissions

- System Tasks

- Managing Icons

- Tag Library

- Support Information

Setting up the Outgoing Mail Server

All outgoing emails from Cisco UCS Director require an SMTP server.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the Mail Setup tab.

Step 3

In the Mail Setup pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Outgoing Email Server (SMTP) field

The outgoing SMTP server address.

Outgoing SMTP Port field

The outgoing SMTP server port number.

Outgoing SMTP User field

The user ID.

Outgoing SMTP Password field

The user password.

Outgoing Email Sender Email Address field

The sender’s email address

Server IP address field

The IP address or DNS name of the Cisco UCS Director virtual appliance. This field is used to create proper links in emails for user workflow actions.

Send Test Email check box

Check this check box to test the current email settings.

Step 4

Click Save.

Working with Email Templates

Cisco UCS Director has a notification mechanism that enables you to configure emails to be sent to an administrator when specific events occur, such as when a VM is provisioned. In addition, if approvals are required for any task, an email notification can be sent to an administrator or to the group administrator.

Note

You can specify multiple recipients for an email notification. Use a comma as a separator for multiple email addresses.

Cisco UCS Director provides a set of email templates in the HTML format that cover different scenarios. The following are some of the tasks that you can perform with email templates library:

- Add a new email template

- Edit an existing email template—You can edit the subject and message details, or the formatting and presentation fields of an email template. Do not modify any Java-related information in the template.

- Preview an email template—You can preview the email content and determine if the email template needs modification.

- Set an email template as default—You can set email notifications to be sent based on the default email template.

- Delete an email template—You can delete the templates that you have added. However, you cannot delete a template if it meets one of the following criteria:

- You added a template and set it as a default template.

- It is a system-provided template.

- Adding an Email Template

- Previewing an Email Template

- Setting a Default Email Template

Adding an Email Template

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Click the Email Templates tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add Template dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Email Template Name field

The name of the email template.

Template Description field

The description of the email template.

Template Type drop-down list

Select the type of email template that you are adding. This drop-down list is populated with the system-provided templates.

Subject field

The subject line for the email template.

Reset to Default Subject check box

If you check this check box, the subject line you entered is cleared, and the system-provided subject line is populated in the Subject field.

Body field

The HTML code that defines the email template, such as the email content, font size and color, the notification triggers, and so on.

Reset to Default Body check box

If you check this box, the HTML code used in the system-provided email template is populated in the Script field.

After the HTML code is populated, to retain the changes you made to the code, you must uncheck this box.

Step 5

Click Submit.

What to Do Next

Preview the email template to determine if you need to make more changes.

Previewing an Email Template

After you create a new email template in Cisco UCS Director, you can preview the email content to determine if you need to make any additional changes.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Click the Email Templates tab.

Step 3

Choose an email template from the table.

Step 4

Click Preview Template.

Step 5

In the Launch Report dialog box, click Submit.
Note:
The preview mode of an email template displays only static information. Dynamic information such as the customer name, or resources, is not displayed.

What to Do Next

If necessary, you can return to the email template to make additional changes.

Setting a Default Email Template

Usually, a system template is set as the default email template. If you have added multiple templates for a specific scenario, you can choose to select one of these templates as a default template. Setting a template as default means that the selected template is used for notification.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Click the Email Templates tab.

Step 3

Choose an email template from the table.

Step 4

Click Set As Default Email Template.

Configuring System Parameters

You should edit the system parameters only if you need to change the default values.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the System Parameters tab.

Step 3

In the System pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Number of Days to Keep Deleted VMs Data field

The user-defined number of days that the system retains VM data.

Number of Days to Keep Events field

The user-defined number of days that the system retains all events.

Note:
Events older than the specified time period are deleted.

Number of Days to Keep Trend Data field

The user-defined number of days that the system retains trend data or historical data of the inventory (such as CPU, storage, and memory usage).

Note:
This data is used for reporting.

Number of Days to Keep Metering Data drop-down list

Choose the number of days that the system retains VM metering records.

Note:   This data is specific to VMs and their resources.

Download VM Locking Controls from URL field

The URL of the VM locking controls file that is hosted on a server that is accessible from the system that is running Cisco UCS Director.

Note:
This file must be in XML format. For more information on creating this VM locking controls file, see Locking VMs in Cisco UCS Director.

Currency drop-down list

Choose the type of currency to use.

Available currencies are US, EURO, GBP, KRW, CAD, CHF, CLP, NR, JPY, AUD, NZD, SGD, HKD, MYR, MXN, BRL, AED, DKK, SEK, KWD, CYN, RUB, ZAR, and Other.

Currency field

Enter the currency name (one only).

Note:
This field appears when Other is chosen as the currency.

Currency Precision drop-down list

Choose the currency precision in decimal points. Available precision is from 0 to 5 decimal points.

Funds Availability Check Interval (mins) drop-down list

Choose a time interval to check the availability of funds.

Step 4

Click Save.

Configuring Infrastructure System Parameters (Optional)

You can set parameters for polling the virtual and physical system infrastructure resources.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the Infrastructure System Parameters tab.

Step 3

In the entry box, enter the number of days to keep trend data for the system infrastructure. The default is 30 days.

Step 4

Click Save.

Updating the License

You can update the license using the Product Authorization Key (PAK).

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > License.

Step 2

Choose the License Keys tab.

Step 3

Click the Update License option. The Update PAK dialog box is displayed.

Step 4

Click Browse to navigate and to choose the PAK license file.

Step 5

Click Upload to upload the PAK license file.
Note:
If the license file does not upload, check the check box and copy and paste the license text into the license text field.

Step 6

Click Submit. The license is updated.

Verifying License Utilization

The License Utilization page shows the licenses in use and details about each license, including license limit, available quantity, status, and remarks. License audits can also be run from this page.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > License.

Step 2

Choose the License Utilization tab.

Step 3

Choose a Cisco UCS Director appliance.

Step 4

(Optional) To run a license audit, click Run License Audit.

Step 5

In the Run License Audit dialog box, click Submit. This process takes several minutes to run.

Viewing License Utilization History

The number of licensed network and storage controllers, servers, server and desktop VMs, and small and medium pods can be tracked over time to see how network resources are being utilized.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > License.

Step 2

Choose the License Utilization History tab.
The license utilization history is displayed for the following resource categories, with timestamp:

- Network Controllers

- Storage Controllers

- Servers

- Server VMs

- Desktop VMs

- Small pods

- Medium pods

Viewing Resource Usage Data

You can view how resources are being utilized in your environment.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > License.

Step 2

Choose the Resource Usage Data tab.
Following are the available report categories:

- Resource Name—Name of the available resources associated with Cisco UCS Director.

- Resource Count—Quantity of each available resource.

Application Categories

Application categories are an optional configuration that enable you to define the type of workload for a VM. If you do not use application categories, Cisco UCS Director assumes that all VMs provisioned for your users are generic VMs and configures them to handle CPU-intensive workloads. Whether you choose to use the default application categories or to create your own, you can provide your users with a pre-defined set of workloads that match their application needs.

The workload options for application categories include the following:

- CPU intensive

- Network I/O intensive

- Disk I/O intensive

- Memory intensive

- Any combination of the above

After you create your application categories, you can go to the desired cloud account and assign the vDC policies to the application categories. This assignment determines the boundaries of the infrastructure where the application can be provisioned. You can also use application categories to allocate clusters based on the type of application. For example, Cluster 1 is allocated for Web applications and Cluster 2 is allocated for database applications.

When an application category is chosen by a user, Cisco UCS Director uses the vDC assignment to determine which location, within the boundary of the vDC, best meets the application's workload needs. For example, if the user chooses a CPU-intensive application category, Cisco UCS Director provisions the application in the available infrastructure with the least CPU utilization.

- Adding Application Categories

Adding Application Categories

By default, Cisco UCS Director provides the following application categories for you to use or edit:

- Discovered VM

- Generic VM

- Web Server

- Application Server

- Database

- App—CPU Intensive

- App—Memory Intensive

- App—Disk Intensive

- App—Network Intensive

- Other App 1

- Other App 2

- Other App 3

Cisco UCS Director allows you to create application categories for multiple virtual data centers at a system level. This capability eliminates the repetitive task of selecting individual virtual data centers and assigning policies for categories.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the Application Categories tab.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add Category dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Category Label field

A unique name for the category.

Category Code field

Specify a code for the category. You can use this code in the VM or host name templates.

Category Description field

A description of the category.

Category Enabled check box

Check this check box to enable the category. Enabling a category implies that you can select this category during VDC assignment.

If you do not check this check box, then this category cannot be used in the system.

Default Smart Allocation Algorithm drop-down list

Choose a default algorithm that must be applied during VM provisioning.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Step 6

Click OK.
The application category is displayed when you click the Manage Categories option for a virtual data center.

What to Do Next

After you have created an application category, you can perform the following tasks:

- Edit or clone the application category

- Assign the application category to multiple virtual data centers. For more information, see Managing Application Categories in a Virtual Data Centers.

Customizing the Portal

Organizations can customize the End User Portal. The logo, login page, home page, and so on can be customized for branding and user interface-related changes.

- Customizing the Login Page and Background Images

- Customizing the Application Logo

- Customizing Favicons

- Customizing Application Header

- Customizing Date Display

- Customizing the Color Theme

- Customizing Logout Redirect

Customizing the Login Page and Background Images

You can change the login page and background images by uploading custom images.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Click Login Page.

Step 3

Check the Use customizable Login page check box.

Step 4

In the Logo Images pane, click Add and complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Image Label field

A name for the image.

Description field

A description for the image that you upload.

Select a file for upload field

Click Browse to search and select an image file.

Important:
An optimal image is 200 pixels in width and 100 pixels in height and is in the PNG format.

Upload option

Click this option to upload the image.

This option is enabled only after you have browsed and selected an image.

Submit option

Click Submit after the image is uploaded.

Step 5

In theBackground Images pane, choose an item or click Add and complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Image Label field

A name for the image.

Description field

A description for the image that you upload.

Select a file for Upload field

Click Browse to search and select an image file.

Important:
An optimal image is 890 pixels in width, 470 pixels in height, and has 255 pixels of white space. In addition, the image must be in the PNG format.

Upload option

Click this option to upload the image.

This option is enabled only after you have browsed and selected an image.

Step 6

Click Submit.

Customizing the Application Logo

You can customize the application logo on the home page by uploading a custom image.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Choose the Application Logo tab.

Step 3

In the Images pane, click Add to add a new image that is not listed, and complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Image Label field

A name for the image.

Description field

A description for the image that you upload.

Select a file for upload field

Click Browse to search and select an image file.

Important:
Supported image formats are PNG, JPG, and GIF. An optimal image size is 100 pixels in width and 50 pixels in height.

Upload option

Click this option to upload the image.

This option is enabled only after you have browsed and selected an image.

Step 4

Click Submit.

Customizing Favicons

You can customize a favorites icon (Favicon) that is displayed in the browser’s address bar or next to the page name, if it is bookmarked.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Choose the Favicon tab.

Step 3

In the Image Label column, click Add to add a new image not listed and complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Image Label field

A name for the image.

Description field

A description for the image that you upload.

Select a file for upload field

Click Browse to search and select an image file.

Important:
Supported image format is PNG. An optimal image size is 16x16 pixels.

Upload option

Click this option to upload the image.

This option is enabled only after you have browsed and selected an image.

Step 4

Click Submit.

Customizing Application Header

You can customize the End User Portal labels, next to the customer logo, by modifying existing labels.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Choose the Application Header tab.

Step 3

In the Application Header pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Hide Entire Header check box

Check the check box to hide the header section. If checked, the header that contains the logo image, application name, and links, such as Logout, are hidden.

Product Name field

The product name that must be displayed in the header.

Product Name 2nd Line field

The second title of the product.

Enable About Dialog check box

Check the check box to enable the About link in the header. Uncheck the check box to disable the About link in the header.

Administrator Portal

Custom Link 1 Label field

The custom link label 1 for the administrator portal.

Custom Link 1 URL field

The custom link URL 1 for the administrator portal.

Custom Link 2 Label field

The custom link label 2 for the administrator portal.

Custom Link 2 URL field

The custom link URL 2 for the administrator portal.

End-user Portal

Custom Link 1 Label field

The custom link label 1 for the end-user portal.

Custom Link 1 URL field

The custom link URL 1 for the end-user portal.

Custom Link 2 Label field

The custom link label 2 for the end-user portal.

Custom Link 2 URL field

The custom link URL 2 for the end-user portal.

Step 4

Click Save.

Customizing Date Display

Numerous data display formats are supported.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Choose the Date Display tab.

Step 3

Edit the date format.

Step 4

If required, click Hide Timezone to hide the time zone display from the user interface.

Step 5

Click Save.

Customizing the Color Theme

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Choose the Color Theme tab.

Step 3

From the drop-down list, choose from the available theme styles.

Step 4

Click Save.

Customizing Logout Redirect

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Choose the Login Redirect tab.

Step 3

Enter the URL.

Step 4

Click Save.

Customizing Reports

Report customization enables you to make a custom label or hide the available reports.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Choose the Reports Customization tab.

Step 3

Choose a report.

Step 4

Click Edit.

Step 5

In the dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Hide Report check box

Check the check box to hide the report. Uncheck the check box to show the report.

New Label field

A new label for the report, if required.

Step 6

Click Save.

Enabling Advanced Controls

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the Advanced Controls tab.

Step 3

Complete the following steps:

Name

Description

Performance Monitoring check box

Check the check box to enable virtual infrastructure monitoring, physical infrastructure monitoring, and external cloud monitoring.

Check all additional check boxes under this category, as needed.

Resource Metering check box

Check the check box to enable monitoring of VM metering functions.

Note:
If the VM metering function is disabled, chargeback does not work.

Event Monitoring check box

Check the check box to enable virtual and physical infrastructure events.

Auto Support check box

Check the check box to enable automatic support.

Heat Map Report Computing check box

Check the check box to enable generation of heat map reports for the virtual infrastructure.

Automatic Assessment check box

Check the check box to generate reports on virtual assessment.

Adaptive Provisioning Indexing check box

Check the check box to enable and compute the load indices for hosts for various host parameters every 4 hours.

These indices are used in adaptive provisioning of the catalogs. A lower index indicates a better chance for the host being chosen for provisioning. This process works according to the computing policy of a specific VDC.

Delete Inactive VMs Based on VDC Policy check box

Check the check box to enable and delete the inactive (powered off) VMs under a VDC after a time that is specified by the administrator. The deletion of these inactive VMs is also based on the VM management policy defined by the administrator. Before an inactive VM is is deleted, an email notification is sent to the user.

This property is associated with the Delete after inactive VM days field in the VM management policy.

Note:
By default, the property box is not checked.

System Task Remoting check box

Check the check box to administratively enable the remote execution.

Step 4

Click Submit.

Enabling the Service Provider Feature

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the Service Provider Feature tab.

Step 3

Complete the following steps:

Name

Description

Enable Service Provider Feature (Requires System Restart) check box

Check the check box to enable service providers in Cisco UCS Director.

Organization Name (First Level) field

The name of the parent organization for which this feature should be enabled.

Organization Name (Second Level) check box

The name of the child organization for which this feature should be enabled.

Step 4

Click Submit.

User Menus

You can enable customized menu operations for individual user roles. The menu settings that users can view and access in the application is dependent on the user roles that they have been assigned, and the menu operations that you set for the roles.

- Setting User Menus

Setting User Menus

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the Menu Settings tab.

Step 3

From the drop-down list, choose a user role.

Step 4

Check or uncheck the menu check boxes to allow menus for that role, or check the Reset to Defaults check box.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Setting User Permissions

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the User Permissions tab.

Step 3

From the drop-down list, choose a user role.

Step 4

In the Allowed Operations dialog box, you can view the read and write operations for the chosen user role.

Step 5

Check or uncheck the check boxes to allow read and write operations for an individual role, or check the Reset to Defaults check box.

Step 6

Click Submit.

System Tasks

The System Tasks tab displays all the system tasks that are currently available in Cisco UCS Director. However, this list of system tasks is linked to the type of accounts that you have created in Cisco UCS Director. For example, if you have logged in for the first time, then only a set of general system-related tasks or VMware related tasks are visible on this page. When you add accounts, such as rack accounts or Cisco UCS Manager accounts, system tasks related to these accounts are populated on this page.

Following are the tasks that you can complete from the System Tasks page:

- View the available systems tasks—You can use the Expand and Collapse options to view all the system tasks that are available on this page. The tasks are categorized according to the accounts available in Cisco UCS Director. For example: Cisco UCS Tasks or NetApp Tasks.

- Disable and enable system tasks—In circumstances when there are multiple processes or tasks running on the appliance, you can choose to disable a system task. If you do so, then until such time that you manually enable it, the system task will not run. This will affect the data populated in other reports. For example, if you disable an inventory collection system task, then reports that require this data may not display accurate data. In this case, you will have to manually run an inventory collection process, or enable the system task.

For more information, see Disabling or Enabling a System Task.

In a single-node setup, where there is only one server, all system tasks will run on this server. In a multi-node setup, where there are multiple servers configured, all system tasks, by default, run on the primary server. However, you can specify system tasks to run on the secondary servers. Following are the recommended steps to perform this task:

1. Ensure that the secondary servers are available in Cisco UCS Director as nodes. If the servers are not available, then you must add the servers as nodes. For more information, see Creating a Service Node.

2. Create a node pool from the available servers. For more information, see Creating a Node Pool.

3. Create a system task policy, and associate it with a node policy. For more information, see Creating a System Task Policy.

4. Associate a node pool with the system task policy. For more information, see Assigning a Node Pool to a System Task Policy.

5. Select a system task, and associate it with a system-task policy. For more information, see Assigning a System Policy to a System Task.

- Creating a Node Pool

- Creating a System Task Policy

- Assigning a Node Pool to a System Task Policy

- Creating a Service Node

- Assigning a System Policy to a System Task

- Executing System Tasks

- Disabling or Enabling a System Task

Creating a Node Pool

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the Service Nodes tab.

Step 3

Click the Service Node Pools icon. The Service Node Pool dialog box displays.

Step 4

Click the + (plus) icon. The Add Entry to Service Node Pools dialog box displays.

Step 5

In the Name field, enter the node pool name.

Step 6

(Optional) In the Description field, enter a description of the node pool name.

Step 7

Click Submit. The node pool is created.

Creating a System Task Policy

As an administrator, you can choose to combine a few policies and create a system task policy, in addition to the default system task policy. You can group system tasks into a system task policy to later determine which system tasks are running on which node.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the System Task Policy tab.

Step 3

Click the Add icon. The Add dialog box displays.

Step 4

In the Name field, enter the name that you gave the system task policy.

Step 5

(Optional) In the Description field, enter a description of the system task policy.

Step 6

From the Node Pool drop-down list, choose the node pool to which this system task policy belongs.

Step 7

Click Submit.
The selected node pool now belongs to the newly created system task policy.

Assigning a Node Pool to a System Task Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the System Task Policy tab.

Step 3

Select an existing system task policy from the Name column and click the Edit icon. The Edit dialog box displays.
Note:
If the default system task policy is used, you can assign service nodes to this policy. See Creating a System Task Policy, if you want to configure a policy that is different from the default.

Step 4

From the Node Pool drop-down list, choose a node pool to which this System Task Policy belongs.

Step 5

Click Submit.
The selected node pool now belongs to the system task policy.

Creating a Service Node

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the Service Nodes tab.

Step 3

Click the Add (+)

Step 4

In the Service Node dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Node Name field

The name of the service node.

Role field

You cannot edit this field. By default, this field displays Service as the role of this node.

Service Node Pool drop-down list

By default, the default-service-node-pool is displayed.

DNS Name field

Enter either the DNS name or IP address of the service node.
Note:   This field cannot use the Primary Node’s IP address. Ensure that a valid Service Node DNS name or IP address is entered.

Description field

The description of the of the service node.

Protocol drop-down list

Choose either http (default) or https.

Port field

The default TCP port for the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 80 is entered by default. Enter a different TCP port if necessary.

UserName field

The infraUser user name is entered by default.

The infraUser is a user account created by default. To find this user account on the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Choose the Login Users tab to find the infraUser user account in the Login Name column.

Note:   The InfraUser user name is not the default administrator user to login to the system.

Another user name can be added to this field. This user’s API key is used to authenticate with the Service Node.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Assigning a System Policy to a System Task

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the System Task tab.

Step 3

Choose a folder that contains system tasks. Click the folder arrow to expand its tasks.
Note:
128 system tasks are available.

Step 4

Choose the task and click the Manage Task icon.
The Manage Task dialog box appears.

Step 5

From the Task Execution drop-down list, choose Enable.

Step 6

From the System Task Policy drop-down list, choose a system policy.

Step 7

Click Submit.
The system task is assigned to the selected system policy.

Executing System Tasks

Cisco UCS Director includes a few system tasks that cannot be run remotely on a service node. Also, you can assign a system policy remotely from the local host or the primary node.

In addition, you can search and select a specific system task, and run it immediately in the system.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the System Tasks tab.

Step 3

Choose a task from the list.

Step 4

Click Run Now.
The result of the executed system task is updated in the user interface.

Disabling or Enabling a System Task

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the System Task tab.

Step 3

Choose a folder that contains one or more system tasks. Click the folder arrow to expand its tasks.
Note:
128 system tasks are available.

Step 4

Choose the task and click the Manage Task icon.
The Manage Task dialog box appears.

Step 5

To disable a system task, from the Task Execution drop-down list, choose Disable.

Step 6

To enable a system task, from the Task Execution drop-down list, choose Enable.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Managing Icons

Cisco UCS Director supports customization and management of catalog icons. Each icon set contains many images. The images in each icon set correspond to the icons that are available in the catalog-creation form.

The four prepopulated icon sets are as follows:

- Container Catalog Icon Set

- Catalog Folder Icon Set

- Advanced Catalog Icon Set

- Standard Catalog Icon Set

- Adding an Icon

- Editing an Icon

- Deleting an Icon

- Previewing an Icon

Adding an Icon

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Choose the Icon Management tab.

Step 3

Choose an icon set category.

Step 4

Click Icon Images.

Step 5

In the Manage Icon Images dialog box, click Add (+).

Step 6

In the Add entry to Icon Images dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Image Label field

The new label for the image. The label is used to populate the drop-down list for the icon during catalog creation.

Description field

The description of the image.

Select a file for Upload field

Click Browse to locate a file, and then click Upload.

Step 7

Click Submit.
The image is listed in the Manage Icon Images dialog box.

Step 8

Click Close.

What to Do Next

You can select this icon when you are creating or modifying a catalog.

Editing an Icon

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Choose the Icon Management tab.

Step 3

Choose an icon category.

Step 4

Click Icon Images.

Step 5

In the Manage Icon Images window, choose an icon image to edit.

Step 6

Click Edit.

Step 7

In the Edit Icon Images Entry dialog box, edit the Description.

Step 8

Choose a replacement file to upload by clicking Browse and browsing to an image.

Step 9

Click Upload.

Step 10

Once the upload is finished, click Submit.

Deleting an Icon

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Choose the Icon Management tab.

Step 3

In the Manage Icon Images window, choose an icon image and click Delete icon.

Step 4

Click Delete (X).

Previewing an Icon

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Choose the Icon Management tab.

Step 3

Click Icon Images.

Step 4

In the Manage Icon Images window, choose an icon image to preview.

Step 5

Click the Information icon to preview the image.

Tag Library

Tagging is when you assign a label to an object. As an administrator, you can decide to tag objects such as resource groups and user groups, in Cisco UCS Director. You can assign tags to a category such as Compute, Storage, Network, and Virtual. You can also apply a tag to a specific type of account in the selected category. For information on how to apply and remove tags on resource groups, see the Managing Tags of a Resource Group section in the Cisco UCS Director APIC Management Guide.

Once the tag is created, based on the defined applicability rules, the tags are filtered and displayed in an object report. You can associate the tag to an object such as resource group. To view the resource entities that are associated with a tag, choose the tag and click View Details. Alternatively, you can double click the tag.

Note

If resource entity is not associated with the tag, the table is empty.

- Creating a Tag

Creating a Tag

You can use the Create icon in the Tag Library tab to create a tag that can be assigned to one or more objects in report page.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Tag Library.

Step 2

In the Tag Library tab, click Create.

Step 3

In the Create Tag dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Name field

The name for the tag.

Description field

The description of the tag.

Type drop-down list

Choose INTEGER or STRING as the type of the tag.

Possible Tag Values field

The possible values for the tag.

Step 4

Click Next.

Step 5

In the Applicability Rules screen, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Visible to End User field

Check this check box to make the tag visible to end user.

Taggable Entities field

Choose the entities on which the tag need to be applied.

To add an entity, do the following:

1. Click the + icon.

2. From the Category drop-down list, choose the category. It can be one of the following:

- Virtual_Compute

- Virtual_Storage

- Virtual_Network

- Physical_Compute

- Physical_Storage

- Physical_Network

- Administration

3. Choose the taggable entities.

4. Click Submit.

Note:   The tags are displayed under the respective category according to the set taggable entities.

Step 6

Click Submit.

What to Do Next

After creating a tag, you can edit, clone and delete it by selecting the respective option in the user interface.

Support Information

Cisco UCS Director support provides basic and advanced system information, including the license status, database tables, version, resource usage, logs, and debugging processes for troubleshooting.

The Support Information page lets you perform the following actions:

- View system information (Basic)

- View system information (Advanced)

- Show logs

- Download all logs

- Start and stop debug logging

- Start and stop API logging

- Viewing System Information

- Showing Logs

- Downloading Logs

- Starting the Debug Log

- Generating API Logs

Viewing System Information

Cisco UCS Director allows you to access system information from the user interface. You can access the following types of system information:

- Basic system information

- Advanced system information

Basic system information includes the following:

- Software version

- Uptime

- Service status

- System license status

- System usage

- Compute accounts status

- Compute server status

- Storage account status

- System catalogs

- Network device status and

- Cloud status

The advanced system information includes the following:

- Basic system information

- Database tables summary

- Product configuration

- Top process information

- Information on processors, memory, disks, log files, network, and login

- System task status

- Cloud inventory

- Monitoring status

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Support Information.

Step 2

From the System Information drop-down list, choose the type of system information you want to view.

Step 3

Click Submit.
The System Information page opens in a new tab and displays information about the Cisco UCS Director appliance.

Showing Logs

Cisco UCS Director collates the following logs in the system:

- Infra Manager

- Web Context Cloud Manger

- Tomcat Log

- Authenticator Log

- Mail Delivery Log

- Patch Log

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Support Information.

Step 2

From the System Information drop-down list, choose Show Log.

Step 3

From the Show Log drop-down list, choose the log file that you want to view.

Step 4

Click Submit.
The log file opens in a new tab or browser window and displays any available information, warning, and error logs.

Downloading Logs

You can download all the log files as a zipped file.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Support Information.

Step 2

From the System Information drop-down list, choose Download All Logs.

Step 3

Click Download.

Starting the Debug Log

Debug logging enables you to record a maximum of 30 minutes debug logging to a log file.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Support Information.

Step 2

From the System Information drop-down list, choose Debug Logging.

Step 3

Click Start Debug Logging.

Step 4

Click Stop Debug Logging to stop the recording.
The recording will automatically stop once it reaches the 30 minute limit.

Step 5

Click Download Debug Logs from HH.MM.SS (time) to download the zipped log file.

Generating API Logs

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Support Information.

Step 2

From the System Information drop-down list, choose API Logging.

Step 3

Click Start API Logging.

Step 4

Click Stop API Logging to stop the recording.

Step 5

Click Download API Debug Logs from HH.MM.SS (time) to download the zipped file. A zipped file is generated and downloaded on your system. This zipped file contains a text file that lists all the REST APIs that were accessed on the system, along with the timestamp.

Chapter 5. Managing Integration Settings

This chapter contains the following sections:

- Configuration Management Database Integration

- Metering Data Export

- System Logs

- Storage and OVF Upload

- Multiple Language Support

Configuration Management Database Integration

The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is used to track and manage changes in the system. CMDB typically displays ADD, DELETE, or MODIFY event types on resources such as virtual machines (VMs), service requests, groups, and so on.

- Setting Up CMBD Integration

Setting Up CMBD Integration

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Integration.

Step 2

Choose the CMDB Integration Setup tab and complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Export to FTP Server check box

Check the check box to export change records to an FTP server.

Export Format drop-down list

Choose the type of export format: CSV or XML.

FTP Server field

The FTP server address.

FTP Port field

The FTP server port number.

FTP User field

The FTP user ID.

FTP Password field

The FTP user password.

FTP Export Frequency drop-down list

Choose how often the change records are exported to the FTP server.

FTP File Name field

The filename for the exported change records. The following variables can be used to create new filenames each time that a file is exported to the target FTP server:

MONTH, WEEK, DAY, YEAR, HOUR, MIN, SEC, MLLIS.

Example: XYZ-$DAY-$HOUR-$MIN-$SEC

Test FTP check box

Check the check box to test FTP settings.

Step 3

Click Save.

Metering Data Export

You can export trend data, such as VM resource usage and resource accounting details, by setting up a metering data export to a target server.

- Setting Up Metering Data Export

Setting Up Metering Data Export

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Integration.

Step 2

Choose the Metering Data Export Setup tab, and complete the fields that are used in setting up the Configuration Management Database (CMDB).
For more information, see Setting Up CMBD Integration.

Step 3

Click Save.

Viewing Change Records

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 2

Choose the Change Records tab.
Note:
You can display a maximum of 1000 records.

System Logs

You can forward system log (syslog) information to configured servers. Each system message is associated with a severity level. You can determine the severity level of the system logs that you want forwarded to the target server.

- Setting up System Logs

Setting up System Logs

SUMMARY STEPS

1.    On the menu bar, choose Administration > Integration.

2.    Choose the Syslogs tab.

3.    Check the Enable Syslog Forward check box and complete the following server fields:

4.    Click Save.

DETAILED STEPS

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Integration.

Step 2

Choose the Syslogs tab.

Step 3

Check the Enable Syslog Forward check box and complete the following server fields:

Field

Description

Enable Syslog Forward check box

Check the check box to enable the syslog.

Minimum Severity drop-down list

Choose a threshold below which any severity messages are not forwarded to the syslog server.

Primary Syslog Server

Server Address field

The primary server address.

Protocol drop-down list

Choose the protocol: UDP or TCP.

Port field

The port number.

Syslog Message Format drop-down list

Choose the message format: XML or plain text.

Secondary Syslog Server

Server Address field

The secondary server address.

Protocol drop-down list

Choose the protocol: UDP or TCP.

Port field

The port number.

Syslog Message Format drop-down list

Choose the message format: XML or plain text.

Step 4

Click Save.

Storage and OVF Upload

You can configure the storage location for files that are uploaded by the administrator, group administrator, or the end user. The uploaded files can either be stored locally or configured to go to an external NFS share mount point. As an administrator in the system, you can configure the Network File System (NFS) location.

The Upload files feature provides an option for administrators, group administrators, or the end-user (service end-user portal) to upload Open Virtualization Format (OVF) files to the local storage or to an external NFS share mount point. For more details, see the Cisco UCS Director OVF File Upload Guide.

Multiple Language Support

Cisco UCS Director supports the following languages for concurrent display and input:

- English (United States)

- Japanese (Japan)

- Spanish (Latin America)

- French (France)

- Korean (Korea)

- Chinese (China)

- Russian (Russia)

All input fields support entering text in the user’s language of choice.

As an administrator, you can set a language preference for specific users while you are adding them to the system. For more information, see Adding Users. In addition, each user in the system can select a language for the user interface. For more information, see Setting a Locale for the User Interface

- Choosing a Language for Cisco UCS Director

- Setting a Locale for the User Interface

Choosing a Language for Cisco UCS Director

You can choose a language for the Cisco UCS Director user interface.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > User Interface Settings.

Step 2

Choose the Language tab.

Step 3

From the Language drop-down list, choose a language.

Step 4

Click Save.
Important:
You must restart the system for the language change to take effect.

Setting a Locale for the User Interface

As a user in the system, you can select a specific language for the user interface. This language preference is set only for your login session, and does not impact the language selected for other users.

Step 1

On the menu bar, click your user name that is displayed on the top right corner of the screen.

Step 2

In the User Information dialog box, choose the Profile tab.

Step 3

Select a language from the Language drop-down list.

Step 4

Click Save.
The language in the user interface is changed immediately.

Note:
If the Language drop-down list and Save option is not visible, then you must clear browser cache and launch Cisco UCS Director again.

Chapter 6. Managing a Physical Infrastructure

This chapter contains the following sections:

- About Managing a Physical Infrastructure

- Testing Connectivity

- Enabling Device Discovery

About Managing a Physical Infrastructure

Cisco UCS Director enables you to manage both physical and virtual infrastructures. Cisco UCS Director discovers all components in a newly created physical account. Typically, the discovery process takes about 5 minutes. You can add a pod or use the default pod. A physical account can be associated with the default pod or with one that you add.

Note

As an administrator, you can create either a physical account or a virtual account first in the system. A physical account in Cisco UCS Director has no dependency on a virtual (cloud) account.

- Adding a Site

- Adding a Pod

- Adding a Physical Account

- Adding a Multi-Domain Manager Account

- Adding a Network Element

- Enabling DHCP Logging

Adding a Site

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

Choose the Site Management tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add Site dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Site Name field

A descriptive name for the site.

Description field

The description of the site, such as the location, significance, and so on.

Contact Name field

The name of the person responsible for this site.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Adding a Pod

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

Click the Pods tab.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add Pod dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Name field

A descriptive name for the pod.

Site drop-down list

Choose the site where you want to add the pod. If your environment does not include sites, you can omit this step.

Type drop-down list

Choose the type of pod that you want to add. This can be one of the following supported types:

- Flexpod

- VersaStack

- Generic

- ExpressPod Medium

- VSPEX

- ExpressPod Small

- Vblock

The nongeneric pod types accommodate only specific physical and virtual components. A generic pod does not require a specific pod license. You can add any type of physical or virtual component to a generic pod. For more information about bundled pod licenses (FlexPod, Vblock, and VSPEX), which include the necessary individual device licenses to run a pod, see the Cisco UCS Director Installation and Upgrade Guides.

Description field

(Optional) A description of the pod.

Address field

The physical location of the pod. For example, this field could include the city or other internal identification used for the pod.

Hide Pod check box

Check the check box to hide the pod if you do not want it to show in the Converged Check View. You can continue to add or delete accounts from the pod.

For example, you can use this check box to ensure that a pod that does not have any physical or virtual elements is not displayed in the Converged View.

Step 5

Click Add.

What to Do Next

Add one or more accounts to the pod.

Adding a Physical Account

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

Choose the Physical Accounts tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add Account dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Pod drop-down list

Choose the pod to which this physical account belongs.

Category drop-down list

Choose the category type (Computing or Storage). If you chose Storage, continue to Step 6.

Account Type drop-down list

Choose from the following account types for this physical account:

- UCSM

- HP ILO

- Cisco Rack Server (CIMC)

- IPMI

Step 5

Click Submit.

Step 6

In the Add Account dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Authentication Type drop-down list

Choose from the following authentication types to be used for this account:

- Locally Authenticated—A locally authenticated user account is authenticated directly through the fabric interconnect and can be enabled or disabled by anyone with admin or AAA privileges.

- Remotely Authenticated—A remotely authenticated user account is any user account that is authenticated through LDAP, RADIUS, or TACACS+.

Server Management drop-down list

Choose how servers are managed by this account by selecting one of the following options:

- All Servers

- Selected Servers

Account Name field

A unique name for the physical account that you want to add.

Server Address field

The IP address of the server.

Use Credential Policy check box

Check this check box if you want to use a credential policy for this account rather than enter the information manually.

Credential Policy drop-down list

If you checked the Use Credential Policy check box, choose the credential policy that you want to use from this drop-down list.

This field is only displayed if you choose to use a credential policy.

User ID field

The username for accessing this account.

This field is not displayed if you choose to use a credential policy.

Password field

The password associated with the username.

This field is not displayed if you choose to use a credential policy.

Transport Type drop-down list

Choose the transport type that you want to use for the account.

This can be one of the following:

- HTTP

- HTTPS

This field is not displayed if you choose to use a credential policy.

Port field

The server port number.

This field is not displayed if you choose to use a credential policy.

Description field

The description of the account.

Contact Email field

The contact email address for the account.

Location field

The location.

Service Provider field

The service provider’s name, if any.

Step 7

If this account is Storage, choose the appropriate account type: NetApp ONTAP, NetApp OnCommand, EMC VNX, EMC VMAX Solutions Enabler or WHIPTAIL.

Step 8

Click Add.

Adding a Multi-Domain Manager Account

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

Choose the Multi-domain Managers tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add Account dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Account Name field

Choose the account name to which this multi-domain manager account belongs.

Description field

(Optional) The description of the account.

Account Type drop-down list

Choose from the following account types for this multi-domain manager account:

- PNSC—Cisco Prime Network Services Controller account.

- UCS Central—Cisco UCS Central account.

Server Address field

Enter the IP address of the server managing the multi-domain manager account.

Account Name field

A unique name for the physical account that you want to add.

Server Address field

The IP address of the server.

User ID field

The username for accessing this account.

Password field

The password associated with the username.

Transport Type drop-down list

Choose the transport type that you want to use for the account. This can be one of the following:

- http

- https

Port field

The server port number. The default port is 443.

Contact Email field

(Optional) The contact email address for the account.

Location field

(Optional) The location.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Adding a Network Element

In order to create a virtual server that supports load balancing, first add a network element in Cisco UCS Director. After a Load Balancer is added as a network element in Cisco UCS Director, it appears under the Managed Network Element tab.

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

Choose the Managed Network Elements tab.

Step 3

Click Add Network Element.

Step 4

In the Add Network Element dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Pod drop-down list

Choose the pod to which the network element belongs.

Device Category drop-down list

Choose the device category for this network element. For example: F5 Load Balancer.

Device IP field

The IP address for this device.

Protocol drop-down list

Choose the protocol to be used. The list may include the following:

- Telnet

- SSH

- HTTP

- HTTPS

Note:
When working with an F5 load balancer device, HTTP and HTTPS are the only valid selections.

Port field

The port to use.

Login field

The login name.

Password field

The password associated with the login name.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Adding the F5 Load Balancer triggers the system task inventory collection. The polling interval configured on the System Tasks tab specifies the frequency of inventory collection.

What to Do Next

To modify or edit a virtual server, choose the server, then click the Modify button. To remove a virtual server, choose the server, then click the Delete button.

Enabling DHCP Logging

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

Choose the Network Service Agents tab.

Step 3

Click Embedded Network Services.

Step 4

In the Embedded Network Services dialog box, check the Enable DHCP Logging check box.

Testing Connectivity

You can test connectivity for managed network elements and physical accounts.

- Testing Connectivity of Managed Network Elements

- Testing the Connection to a Physical Account

Testing Connectivity of Managed Network Elements

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

Choose the Managed Network Elements tab.

Step 3

Choose the pod for which you want to test connectivity.

Step 4

Click Test Connection.

Testing the Connection to a Physical Account

You can test the connection at any time after you add an account to a pod.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

Click the tab for the type of account that you want to test.
For example, click the Physical Accounts tab or the Multi-Domain Managers tab.

Step 3

In the table, click the row of the account for which you want to test the connection.

Step 4

Click Test Connection.

Step 5

When the connection test has completed, click Close.

What to Do Next

If the connection fails, verify the configuration of the account, including the username and password. If the username and password are correct, determine whether there is a network connectivity problem.

Enabling Device Discovery

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

Click on an account for which you want to verify device discovery.

Step 3

Choose the Discovered Devices tab.

Step 4

Click Setup Discovery.

Step 5

In the Setup Discovery dialog box, check the Enable Discovery check box to enable discovery.

Step 6

In the Setup Discovery dialog box, complete the IP address range field and determine if the default values for the following fields are adequate for your environment:

Name

Description

Enable Discovery check box

The check box is checked by default to enable device discovery for this account.

IP Range field

The IP address range for device discovery. (For example, 10.1.1.1-10.1.1.12 )

TCP Timeout (ms) field

The TCP timeout (ms) (default value is 2000 ms).

SNMP Timeout (ms) field

The SNMP timeout (ms) (default is 1500 ms).

SNMP Community Strings field

The SNMP community string (default is public).

Step 7

Click Submit.

Chapter 7. Managing a Virtual Infrastructure

This chapter contains the following sections:

- About Managing VMware

- Viewing vCenter Plug-ins

- Provisioning Virtual Machines in Cisco UCS Director

About Managing VMware

Cisco UCS Director supports VMware through vCenter (ESX 3.5, ESX/ESXi 4.x and 5.x). Cisco UCS Director automatically discovers all existing virtual machines (VMs) and images in the newly added cloud account. Typically, the discovery process takes about 5 minutes. You can add VMware clouds and PowerShell agents.

Note

The term “cloud” refers to one vCenter installation.

Cisco UCS Director supports inventory collection and VM provisioning using multiple datacenters and clusters. When creating a VMware cloud, you can choose the option to discover and select multiple datacenters and clusters. Once you add a discovered datacenter and cluster to a cloud, you cannot de-select them from the cloud by editing it. However, you can edit the cloud to add extra datacenters and clusters.

Note

Cisco UCS Director does not support the creation of clouds that use the same vCenter account. If there are duplicate accounts, you cannot create a VMware Cloud. In addition, if there are duplicate accounts, VM provisioning fails and an error appears in the status for the virtual account. The Test Connectivity function also fails with the error message. This error also occurs if the same server with the same combination of clusters is used in different clouds.

To disable this functionality, you can manually modify the vmware.properties file in the cd /opt/infra/inframgr directory to allow duplicate account IDs by setting the allowDuplicateClouds field to true. By default the field is set to false.

When upgrading from a previous release, all duplicate accounts display a failed connection status. Though an error message displays, all the actions can still be executed on the VMs.

- Creating a Cloud

- Downloading the PowerShell Agent Installer

- Creating a PowerShell Agent

Creating a Cloud

When creating a cloud, you can specify a datacenter and clusters in one of the following ways:

- Within the credential policy

- In the VMware Datacenter and VMware Cluster fields

- From the Discover Datacenters / Clusters check box

Note

Either a datacenter within the credential policy or the VMware datacenter and VMware cluster can be selected. Specifying the datacenter in the Add Cloud dialog box and in the credential policy form results in an error.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Virtual Accounts.

Step 2

Choose the Virtual Accounts tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add Cloud dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Cloud Type drop-down list

Displays the available cloud types. Choose VMware.

Note:
The following fields are displayed when VMware is chosen. Other cloud types display fields that are specific to that cloud type.

Cloud Name field

The cloud name. The name cannot include single quotes.

Note:
Each cloud requires a unique name in Cisco UCS Director. Once a cloud has been added, all reports refer to the cloud using the Cloud Name.

Server Address field

The vCenter server address

Use Credential Policy check box

Check this check box if you want to use a credential policy for this account rather than enter the information manually.

Server User ID field

The vCenter server username.

Server Password field

The vCenter server password.

Server Access Port field

The server port number.

VMware Datacenter field

The data center name on the vCenter account.

VMware Cluster field

The name of the VMware cluster in the vCenter account.

This name allows you to discover, monitor, and manage the specified pod's resources. Leave the field blank if the entire vCenter account is managed by Cisco UCS Director.

Discover Datacenters / Clusters check box

Check this check box to discover and use any VMware datacenters and associated VMware clusters.

Select Datacenters / Clusters field

Check the associated datacenters and clusters you want to use.

Note:
This field is visible only when you check the Discover Datacenters / Clusters check box.

Enable SRM check box

Check this check box to enable Site Recovery Manager (SRM) for the account.

Primary SRM Server Address field

The IP address of the primary SRM server.

Note:
This field is visible only when you check the Enable SRM check box.

Primary SRM Server User ID field

The user ID for the primary SRM server.

Note:
This field is visible only when you check the Enable SRM check box.

Primary SRM Server Password field

The password of the user for the primary SRM server.

Note:
This field is visible only when you check the Enable SRM check box.

Primary SRM Server Access Port field

The port number for the primary SRM server. For SRM version 6.0, enter 9086 as the port number.

Note:
This field is visible only when you check the Enable SRM check box.

Remote SRM Server User ID field

The user ID for the remote SRM server.

Note:
This field is visible only when you check the Enable SRM check box.

Remote SRM Server Password field

The password of the user ID for the remote SRM server.

Note:
This field is visible only when you check the Enable SRM check box.

Use SSO check box

Check this check box to use Single Sign-On (SSO) for authentication.

The SSO option is only available for Virtual SAN (VSAN). SSO credentials are required for VM provisioning using storage profiles on the Virtual SAN cluster.

SSO Server Address field

The IP address of the Single-Sign On server.

Note:
This field is visible only when you check the Use SSO check box.

SSO Server User ID field

The user ID for the SSO server.

Note:
This field is visible only when you check the Use SSO check box.

SSO Server Password field

The password of the user ID for the SSO server.

Note:
This field is visible only when you check the Use SSO check box.

SSO Server Access URL field

The URL for SSO server access.

Note:
This field is visible only when you check the Use SSO check box.

SSO Server Access Port field

The port number. For vCenter version 5.x, enter 7444 as the port number.

Note:
This field is visible only when you check the Use SSO check box.

Server Access URL field

The URL for server access.

Description field

The description of the cloud.

Contact Email field

The contact email address for the cloud.

Location field

The location.

Pod drop-down list

Choose the converged infrastructure pod.

When you choose a pod name, the VMware cloud account is made available in the converged infrastructure stack.

Note:
You cannot add more than one virtual account to a virtual SAN pod.

Service Provider field

The service provider’s name.

Step 5

Click Add.

Downloading the PowerShell Agent Installer

The PowerShell Agent is installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 64-bit virtual machines.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Virtual Accounts.

Step 2

Choose the PowerShell Agents tab.

Step 3

Click Download Installer.

Step 4

In the Download Agent Installer dialog box, check if your system meets the listed installation requirements.

Step 5

If the requirements are met, click Submit.
The Opening PSASetup. exe dialog box prompts you to save the executable file.

Step 6

Click Save File.
The file is saved to your system’s download location.

Step 7

Install the PSASetup. exe file on your Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 64-bit virtual machine (VM).

Creating a PowerShell Agent

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Virtual Accounts.

Step 2

Choose the PowerShell Agents tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add Agent dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Agent Name field

The agent name.

Agent Address field

The agent address.

Agent Access Port field

The agent access port number.

Access Key field

The access key.

Description field

The description of the agent.

Testing the Connection

SUMMARY STEPS

1.    On the menu bar, choose Administration > Virtual Accounts.

2.    Choose the Virtual Accounts tab.

3.    Choose the VMware account that you want to test.

4.    Click Test Connectivity.

5.    On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

6.    Choose the Summary tab.

7.    Choose the cloud name to view its status details.

DETAILED STEPS

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Virtual Accounts.

Step 2

Choose the Virtual Accounts tab.

Step 3

Choose the VMware account that you want to test.

Step 4

Click Test Connectivity.
There is no progress bar that displays the results of the connectivity test. Use the Summary tab to verify that the cloud account is added and its data is collected.

Step 5

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 6

Choose the Summary tab.
It can take a few minutes to complete autodiscovery and populate the data.

Step 7

Choose the cloud name to view its status details.

Viewing vCenter Plug-ins

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Virtual Accounts.

Step 2

Choose the Plugins tab.
This tab lists all the vCenter plug-ins that are added to Cisco UCS Director.

Provisioning Virtual Machines in Cisco UCS Director

Provisioning virtual machines in Cisco UCS Director is a multi-step process. It involves steps such as creating a virtual account, creating policies, and creating catalogs and service requests. Prior to starting this task, as an administrator, determine the following:

- The cluster in which the VM must be deployed

- The datastores within the cluster that are available for VM provisioning

- The available network within the cluster in which the VM must be deployed

Attention:
In the absence of this information, if you select invalid datastores or an incorrect network for a cluster, VM provisioning in Cisco UCS Director fails.

The process of provisioning a VM in Cisco UCS Director can be summarized as:

1. Create a user group.

For more information, see Creating a User Group.

2. Create a virtual account.

A VM is provisioned within a virtual account in Cisco UCS Director. For more information, see Creating a Cloud.

3. Create a VMware system policy.

This policy defines the system-specific information for the VM. You must specify the VM naming template to use, the OS to be configured, and the domain in which the VM must be provisioned. For more information, see Configuring a System Policy.

4. Create a VMware computing policy.

Computing policies determine the compute resources that can be used during provisioning to satisfy group or workload requirements. The cluster that you specify in this policy determines the choices you make in subsequent policies. For more information, see Creating a Computing Policy.

5. Create a storage policy.

A storage policy defines resources such as the datastore scope, type of storage to use, minimum conditions for capacity, latency, and so on. For more information, see Adding and Configuring a Storage Policy.

6. Create a network policy.

The network policy defines resources such as network settings, DHCP or static IP, and the option to add multiple vNICs for provisioning VMs. For more information, see Configuring a Network Provisioning Policy.

7. Create a virtual data center.

A Virtual Data Center (VDC) is an environment that combines virtual resources, operational details, rules, and policies. While creating a VDC, select the user group that you created for VM provisioning, and select the cloud that you specified while creating the policies. Based on the cloud account that you select, all the subsequent policy-related fields are populated. For more information, see Adding a Virtual Data Center.

8. Create a catalog to select a template.

You can self-provision virtual machines (VMs) using predefined catalog items. A catalog defines parameters such as the cloud name and the group name to which the VM is bound. For more information, see Publishing a Catalog.

9. Create and submit a service request.

You can use the self-service provisioning feature to create a service request to provision virtual machines (VMs), services, or applications. The service request process produces a provisioning workflow for VM creation. For more information, see Creating a Service Request with Catalog Type—Standard.

After you submit a service request, a workflow is triggered, and the VM is provisioned.

The following image illustrates the workflow to provision a VM in Cisco UCS Director.

Workflow for Provisioning a Virtual Machine in Cisco UCS Director

Chapter 8. Managing Policies

This chapter contains the following sections:

- Policies

- Computing Policies

- Data Collection Policy

- About Group Share Policy

- Storage Policies

- Network Policies

- System Policies

- End User Self-Service Policy

- Configuring a VM Management Policy

Policies

Cisco UCS Director provides an End User Portal where virtual machines (VMs) are provisioned from a pool of assigned resources using predefined policies set by administrators.

A policy is a group of rules that determine where and how a new VM is provisioned within the infrastructure, based on available system resources.

Cisco UCS Director requires that you set up the following policies to provision VMs:

- Computing

- Storage

- Network

- System

Important:
Create a cloud account prior to setting up policies to provision VMs.

Computing Policies

Computing policies determine the compute resources that can be used during provisioning to satisfy group or workload requirements.

As an administrator, you can define advanced policies by mixing and matching various conditions in the computing policy.

Note

We recommend that you thoroughly understand all the fields in the computing policy. Some combinations of conditions can result in no host machines being available during self-service provisioning.

- Creating a Computing Policy

Creating a Computing Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Computing.

Step 2

Choose the VMware Computing Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add Computing Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

The name of the policy.

Note:
This name is used during catalog definition.

Policy Description field

The description of the policy.

Cloud Name drop-down list

Choose the cloud where resource allocation occurs.

Host Node/Cluster Scope drop-down list

Choose the scope of deployment.

Note:
You can narrow the scope of deployment by specifying whether to use all, include chosen, or exclude chosen options. Depending on the choices, a new field appears where the required hosts or clusters can be chosen.

Resource Pool drop-down list

Choose the resource pool.

ESX Type drop-down list

Choose the ESX installation type: ESX, ESXi, or both.

ESX Version drop-down list

Choose the version of ESX.

Minimum Conditions check boxes

Check the check boxes for one or more conditions that should match. Any hosts that do not meet these criteria are excluded from consideration. If more than one condition is chosen, all of the chosen conditions must match.

Deployment Options

Override Template check box

Check the check box to override the template properties. You are provided with options to enter custom settings for CPU and memory.

Number of vCPUs field

A custom number of vCPUs. The specified number of vCPUs for a VM should not exceed the total cores for the chosen scope of host nodes or clusters.

Note:   This option appears if you checked the Override Template check box.

CPU Reservation (MHz) field

The CPU reservation for the VM. The reservation depends upon the number of vCPUs specified.

Note:   This option appears if you checked the Override Template check box.

CPU Limit (MHz) field

The CPU limit for the VM. The CPU limit is based on the chosen scope of host nodes or clusters.

CPU Shares drop-down list

Choose the CPU shares: low, normal, or high. The CPU shares determine which VM gets CPU resources when there is competition among VMs.

Note:
This option appears if you checked the Override Template check box.

Memory field

The custom memory for the VM.

Note:
This option appears if you checked the Override Template check box.

Memory Reservation (MB) field

The memory reservation for the VM. The reservation depends upon the memory specified.

Note:
This option appears if you checked the Override Template check box.

Memory Limit (MB) field

The memory limit for the VM. The memory limit is based on the chosen scope of host nodes or clusters.

Note:
This option appears if you checked the Override Template check box.

Memory Shares drop-down list

Choose the memory shares: low, normal, or high.1 Memory shares determine which VM gets memory resources when there is competition among VMs.

Note:
This option appears if you checked the Override Template check box.

Resizing Options

Allow Resizing of VM check box

Check the check box to allow VM resizing before provisioning or to resize an existing VM.

Permitted Values for vCPUs field

The range of vCPUs to use while provisioning a VM or resizing an existing VM. A range of more than 8 is visible during VM provisioning or resizing only if the chosen cloud (vCenter) is 5 or above and has VM version 8. Only the values specified in the box are visible.

Note:
This option appears if you checked the Allow Resizing of VM check box.

Permitted Values for Memory in MB field

The range of memory to use while provisioning a VM or resizing an existing VM. For example: 512, 768, 1024, 1536, 2048, 3072, 4096, and so on. Only the values specified in the box are visible.

Note:
This option appears if you checked the Allow Resizing of VM check box.

Step 5

Click Add.

Data Collection Policy

A data collection policy can be created to control the parameters that can be retrieved from the vCenter server for each VMware account. Each of the parameters mentioned in a data collection policy is collected and used in specific trend reports in Cisco UCS Director.

Note

VMware is the only supported virtual account type. When a VMware account is added, it is automatically associated with the default-data-collection-policy.

- Configuring a Data Collection Policy for a Virtual Account

- Associating the Data Collection Policy for a Virtual Account

Configuring a Data Collection Policy for a Virtual Account

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Service Delivery.

Step 2

Choose the Data Collection Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Name field

The name of the data collection policy.

Note:   This name is used during catalog definition.

Description field

The description of the policy

Account Type drop-down list

The VMware virtual account is selected

Resource window

Choose a data collection group containing vCenter parameters. For example: CPU.

Click the pencil icon to edit the data collection group. In the Edit Resource Entry dialog box, you can enable or disable data collection by checking or unchecking the Enable Collection check box.

To view the datastore-specific performance data in the Cisco UCS Director GUI, select the following resources:

- Datastore throughput in kilobytes per second

- Datastore number of read average

- Datastore number of write average

- Disk total latency in milliseconds

For a Disk Latency report, in addition to selecting the resources listed above, set the vCenter Server performance data statistics collection level to 3.

For a Throughput report, in addition to selecting the resources listed above, set the vCenter Server performance data statistics collection level to 4.

Important:
Increasing the statistics collection to level 2 and above in the vCenter server could have an impact on the performance of the vCenter server and of Cisco UCS Director.

For more information, see Click Here .

Step 5

Click Submit.

Associating the Data Collection Policy for a Virtual Account

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Service Delivery.

Step 2

Choose the Data Collection Policy Association tab.

Step 3

Choose the virtual (VMware) account and click Edit.

Step 4

In the Edit dialog box, choose the data collection policy from the Policy drop-down list that you configured.

Step 5

Click Submit.
The VMware account is now associated with the data collection policy.

About Group Share Policy

A group share policy provides more control to the users on resources and on what they can share with other users. With this policy, users can view resources that are currently assigned only to them or can view resources that are assigned to all groups that the users are part of.

While you are creating a group, you can define a group share policy and determine which groups have read/write permissions. Later, when users are added to this group, their access to resources is defined by the group share policy.

- Creating a Group Share Policy

Creating a Group Share Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Click the Group Share Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

The name of the group share policy.

Policy Description field

The description of the policy.

MSP Group Share Policy check box

Check this box if you want to apply this policy to one or more MSP organizations.

MSP Organizations field

Click Select to choose the MSP organizations that have read/write permissions for the resources defined with this policy.

This file is only available if you enable the MSP Group Share Policy check box.

Customer Organizations field

Click Select to choose the organizations that have read/write permissions for the resources defined with this policy.

Step 5

Click Submit.

What to Do Next

You can associate this group share policy with user groups in the system. Based on the permissions, users within those groups inherit read/write permissions to resources.

Storage Policies

A storage policy defines resources such as the datastore scope, type of storage to use, minimum conditions for capacity, latency, and so on.

The storage policy also provides options to configure additional disk policies for multiple disks, and to provide datastore choices for use during a service request creation.

Note

Cisco UCS Director supports datastore choice during a service request creation for VM provisioning. You can enable or disable datastore choices for the end user during service request creation. The datastores listed depend upon the scope conditions specified in the storage policy that is associated with the VDC during the service request creation.

To use the datastore selection feature while creating a service request, the template for VM provisioning must have the disk type assigned as System. This is applicable for templates with single or multiple disks.

- Storage Policies for Multiple VM Disks

- Adding and Configuring a Storage Policy

- Virtual Storage Catalogs

Storage Policies for Multiple VM Disks

Cisco UCS Director supports VM provisioning with multiple disks on multiple datastores.

Disks are classified into five types: system, data, database, swap, and log. The system disk policy is configured first, and the other disks can be configured depending on requirements. You can configure the disk policy individually for each disk type or choose the default system disk policy for each disk.

Note

For information on creating a storage policy for a template with multiple disks, see Multiple Disk VM Provisioning.

Adding and Configuring a Storage Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Storage.

Step 2

Choose the VMware Storage Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add Storage Resource Allocation Policy- System Disk Policy pane, complete the following fields

Name

Description

Policy Name field

Choose the cloud in which resource allocation occurs.

Policy Description field

The description of the policy.

If you want to narrow the scope of deployment, choose whether to use all, include selected data stores, or exclude selected data stores.

Cloud Name drop-down list

Choose the cloud account for this resource allocation.

If you choose an SRM account, the Enable Protection check box is displayed. For more information about how to enable protection groups for Site Recovery Manager, see the Cisco UCS Director VMware Management Guide.

System Disk Scope

Use Linked Clone check box

If you want to use a linked clone, click the check box.

If you do not click this check box, the configuration uses a full clone.

Storage Profile drop-down list

Choose a storage profile if you want to provision one or more VMs with the associated storage profile.

Data Stores/Data Store Clusters Scope drop-down list

To define the scope of deployment, choose one of the following options:

- All

- Include Selected Datastores

- Exclude Selected Datastores

- Include Selected Datastore Clusters

- Exclude Selected Datastore Clusters

Depending upon which option you choose, additional fields may display.

Note:
The option that you choose determines which datastores or datastore clusters are available when you create a VM disk.

Selected Data Stores field

If you chose Include Selected Datastores or Exclude Selected Datastores, click Select to choose the appropriate datastores.

Use Shared Data Store Only check box

Click the check box to use shared datastores only.

This option is only available if you chose to include or exclude selected datastores.

Selected Datastore Clusters field

If you chose Include Selected Datastore Clusters or Exclude Selected Datastore Clusters, click Select to choose the appropriate datastore clusters.

Select SDRS Rule Type drop-down list

If you chose to include or exclude selected datastore clusters, choose one of the following SDRS rule types:

- Keep VMDKs Together—You need to select an existing rule on the filtered clusters. The newly provisioned VM is added to the VM anti-affinity rule.

- Separate VMDKs—If the newly provisioned VM contains more than one disk, a new VM affinity rule is created on the datastore cluster.

Select SDRS Rule field

If you chose Keep VMDKs Together, you must choose the VMs that you want to apply the rule to.

Storage Options

Use Local Storage check box

By default, the field is checked. Uncheck the check box if you do not want to use local storage.

Use NFS check box

By default, the field is checked. Uncheck the check box if you do not want to use NFS storage.

Use VMFS check box

By default, the field is checked. Uncheck the check box if you do not want to use VMFS storage.

Use SAN check box

By default, the field is checked. Uncheck the check box if you do not want to use SAN storage.

Filter Conditions check boxes

To add one more conditions to filter the datastores, do the following for each desired condition:

- Click the appropriate check box.

- Choose the desired option from the drop-down list.

- Enter the criteria by which you want to filter the datastores.

Any datastores that do not meet these criteria are excluded from consideration. If more than one condition is chosen, all conditions must match.

Override Template check box

Check the check box to override the template properties. You are provided with options to enter custom settings, such as using thin provisioning or setting a custom disk size.

Use Thin Provisioning check box

Check the check box to use thin provisioning during VM storage provisioning.

Thin provisioning enables dynamic allocation of physical storage capacity to increase VM storage utilization.

This option is only available if you choose Override Template.

Manual Disk Size

A custom disk size that overrides the disk size of the template used for VM provisioning.

This option is only available if you choose Override Template.

Resizing Options for VM Lifecycle

Allow Resizing of Disk check box

Check the check box to provide the end user with an option to choose the VM disk size before provisioning.

Permitted Values for Disk in GB field

Specify the custom range of disk size values that are chosen while provisioning a VM. For example: 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1024, 5120, 10240, and so on.

This option is only available if you choose Allow Resizing of Disk.

Allow user to select datastores from scope check box

Check the check box to provide the end user with an option to choose the datastore during the service request creation.

Step 5

Click Next.

Step 6

In the Additional Disk Policies pane, do one of the following:

- Choose a disk type to configure if you do not want to use the same disk policy for that disk type as you configured in the System Disk Policy.

- Click Next if you want to use the System Disk Policy options for all disk types.

Note:
By default, the disk policy for the disk is the same as in the System Disk Policy that you configured on the Add Storage Resource Allocation Policy pane.

Step 7

If you chose to configure a custom system disk policy for a specific disk type, do the following:

1. Click Edit (pencil) to edit the disk type.

2. In the Edit Policies Entry dialog box, uncheck the Same as System Disk Policy check box.

3. In the Edit Entry dialog box, complete the fields.
All the fields displayed here are the same as the fields displayed in the Add Storage Resource Allocation Policy pane.

Note:
This configuration determines which datastores are available for the disk type when you create a VM disk.

4. Click Submit.

5. Repeat these steps to configure the other disk types, if desired.

Note:
To use the storage policy created with additional disk policies, you must associate the policy with the VDC that is used for the VM provisioning

Step 8

Click Next.

Step 9

In the Hard Disk Policy pane, you can specify the number of physical disks that you want to create during VM provisioning.

1. Click + to add a disk and complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Disk Label field

A descriptive label for the disk you are adding.

Disk Size (GB) field

The size of the disk.

Disk Type drop-down list

Choose the disk type.

The options that you see in this drop-down list depends on whether you selected the Same as System Policy check box earlier in this procedure.

Controller Options

Controller Type drop-down list

Choose a controller type from the drop-down list.

Based on the availability of ports, a controller is mapped to the VM disks.

Create Disk on new Controller check box

Check this check box to create a new controller.

The type of controller that is created is based on the selection you made in the Controller Type drop-down list.

Disk Provisioning Options

Disk Provisioning Options radio buttons

Check the radio button of the type of provisioning you want to specify. You can specify one of the following:

- Thin Provision

- Thick Provision lazy zeroed

- Thick Provision eager zeroed

Resizing Options for VM Life cycle

Allow Resizing of Disk check box

Check the check box to enable editing of the VM disk size before provisioning.

Permitted Values for Disk in GB field

This option appears if Allow Resizing of Disk is checked.

Specify the custom range of disk size values that are chosen while provisioning a VM. For example: 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1024, 5120, 10240, and so on.

Allow user to select datastore from scope check box

Check the check box to provide the user with an option to choose the datastore during the service request creation.

Step 10

Click Submit.
Note:
To use the storage policy created with additional disk policies, you need to associate the policy with the VDC that is used for the VM provisioning.

When using the Additional disks policies configured in a policy, make sure to uncheck the Provision all disks in a single database check box during catalog creation for the multiple disk template. For more information about catalog creation, see Managing Catalogs.

Virtual Storage Catalogs

You can use a virtual storage catalog to customize storage policies. Using the virtual storage catalog, you can choose more than one storage policy and give it a custom storage entry name.

You map a storage catalog to a catalog by enabling it during catalog creation. When you raise a service request using the catalog, you are provided with the Storage Tier choice.

- Configuring a Virtual Storage Catalog

Configuring a Virtual Storage Catalog

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Storage.

Step 2

Choose the Virtual Storage Catalog tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Virtual Storage Catalog dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Catalog Name field

The name of the catalog.

This name is used during catalog custom actions definition.

Catalog Description field

The description of the catalog.

Cloud Name drop-down list

Select the cloud account.

Choose No of Entries drop-down list

Choose the number of entries. The range is from 1 to 10. Depending on the choice, storage entry options are provided in the subsequent dialog box.

Step 5

Click Next.

Step 6

In the Add Entries pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Storage Entry #1

Storage Entry Name field

The name of the storage entry.

Storage Policy drop-down list

Choose the storage policy.

Storage Entry # 2

Storage Entry Name field

The storage entry name of the second policy.

Storage Policy drop-down list

Choose the storage policy.

Step 7

Click Submit.

What to Do Next

- You can map the virtual storage catalog during catalog creation.

See Managing Catalogs.

- You can view the storage tier options during the Service request creation.

See Using Self-Service Provisioning.

Network Policies

The network policy includes resources such as network settings, DHCP or static IP, and the option to add multiple vNICs for VMs provisioned using this policy.

- Adding a Static IP Pool Policy

- Configuring a IP Subnet Pool Policy

- Adding a Network Policy

- Networking Provisioning Policies

- VLAN Pool Policies

Adding a Static IP Pool Policy

You can optionally configure a static IP pool policy that can be used with a network policy.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Network.

Step 2

Choose the Static IP Pool Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Static IP Pool Policy Information dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

Name of the IP pool policy.

Policy Description field

Description of the IP pool policy.

Allow IP Overlap drop-down list

Indicate whether IP overlap is allowed or not. By default, overlapping IP is not enabled.

Enabling overlapping of IP implies the following:

- You can create an IP pool and have IP addresses overlap within that pool.

- You can create two static IP pools and have the IP addresses overlap between the pools.

Scope drop-down list

The scope of the IP pool overlap.

The options are:

- MSP Organization

This option is visible only if you have enabled MSP.

- Group/Customer Organization

- Container

Note:
This option is visible only if you select Yes in the Allow IP Overlap drop-down list.

User Group ID field

Choose Select to check the check box of a user group for the policy. All the user groups created in the system are displayed.

Container ID field

Choose Select to check the check box of a container.

Step 5

Click (+) in the Static IP Pools section to add and configure multiple static IP pools.

Step 6

In the Add Entry to Static IP Pools dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Static IP Pool field

The static IP pool.

For example: 10.5.0.1 - 10.5.0.50, 10.5.0.100, 10.5.1.20 -10.5.1.70.

Subnet Mask field

The subnetwork mask for the pool. For example: 255.255.255.0.

Gateway IP Address field

The IP address of the default gateway for this network.

VLAN ID field

The VLAN ID to be used for the network. Enter a valid VLAN ID range.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Step 8

Click Submit in the Static IP Pool Policy Information dialog box.

Configuring a IP Subnet Pool Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Network.

Step 2

Choose the IP Subnet Pool Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the IP Subnet Pool Policy Information dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Policy Name field

The name of the policy.

Policy Description field

The description of the policy.

Network Supernet Address field

The network supernet address.

Network Supernet Mask field

The network supernet mask.

Number of Subnets Required drop-down list

Choose the number of subnets required for your configuration.

Gateway Address drop-down list

Choose a gateway address index:

Allow IP Overlap drop-down list

Indicate whether IP overlap is allowed or not. By default, overlapping IP is not enabled.

Enabling overlapping of IP implies the following:

- You can create an IP pool and have IP addresses overlap within that pool.

- You can create two IP subnet pools and have the IP addresses overlap between the pools.

Scope drop-down list

The scope of the IP subnet pool overlap. The options are:

- MSP Organization

This option is visible only if you have enabled MSP.

- Group/Customer Organization

- Container

Note:
This option is visible only if you select Yes in the Allow IP Overlap drop-down list.

Important:
While creating a policy with overlapping IP enabled, you must first determine if there are any other IP subnet pool policies created with the same IP range. If those other policies also have overlapping IP enabled, then you can create an additional policy with no errors. However, if a previously created IP subnet pool policy, which uses the same IP range that you want to specify for the policy you are creating, does not have overlapping IP enabled, then you cannot proceed. The same behavior holds true in the case of creating a policy without enabling overlapping IP.

While creating this policy without enabling overlapping IP, you must first determine if there are any other policies that are created with the same IP range. If previously created pool policies have overlapping IP enabled, then you cannot specify the same IP range to create another policy with overlapping IP disabled.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Adding a Network Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Network.

Step 2

Choose the VMware Network Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Network Policy Information dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

The name of the network policy.

Policy Description field

The description of the network policy.

Cloud Name drop-down list

Choose the cloud account to which the policy applies.

Allow end user to select optional NICs check box

Check this check box if you want to provide vNICs selection during the creation of a service request-deployment configuration.

VM Networks field

Click + to add a new entry to the VM network.

Step 5

Click Add (+) in the VM Networks section to add and configure multiple vNICs. These vNICs are applicable to the VM that is provisioned using this policy.
Note:
To add or replace vNICs for provisioned or discovered VMs using VM actions, you must configure the vNICs.

Step 6

In the Add Entry to VM Networks dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

NIC Alias field

The name for the new NIC

Mandatory check box

If the Allow end user to select optional NICs check box in the Network Policy Information dialog box was checked, this box is pre-selected. If the Network Policy Information dialog box was not selected, and this check box is not selected, then the NIC Alias field is optional.

Note:
At least one of the NICs should have the Mandatory option selected. The NICs that have the Mandatory option selected are used in VM provisioning and there will be no option for the user during VM service request creation.

Allow end user to choose portgroups check box

Check the check box to allow the end user to choose port groups during provisioning.

Show policy level portgroups check box

Checking this check box along with the Allow end user to choose portgroups check box lists all the selected portgroups of NICs in the policy.

Copy Adapter from Template check box

Check the check box if you do not need custom settings. Clear this check box for custom settings.

The Adapter Type drop-down list is not visible when you check this check box.

Allow the end user to override IP Address check box

Check the check box to allow users to override the IP address.

Adapter Type drop-down list

Choose the adapter type. Select this option if the user wants to have the same Adapter Type that is available in the template.

Note:
This option is not visible if the Copy Adapter from Template option is chosen.

Step 7

Click Add (+) in the Port Groups section. The Add Entry to Port Groups dialog box appears.

Step 8

Click Select to choose the port group name.

Step 9

From the Select IP Address Type drop-down field, choose DHCP (default) or Static.

1. If you choose Static, you must choose IP Pool Policy (default) or Inline IP Pool.
If you choose IP Pool Policy, click Select to choose a static IP pool. In the Select dialog box, choose from the list of preconfigured static IP pool(s). If no preconfigured static IP pools exist, see Adding a Static IP Policy for more information.

2. If you choose Inline IP Pool, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Static IP Pool field

The static IP pool. For example: 10.5.0.1 - 10.5.0.50, 10.5.0.100, 10.5.1.20-10.5.1.70

Subnet Mask field

The subnetwork mask for the pool. For example: 255.255.255.0

Gateway IP Address field

The IP address of the default gateway for this network.

Allow IP Overlap drop-down list

Indicate whether IP overlap is allowed or not. By default, overlapping IP is not enabled.

Enabling overlapping of IP implies the following:

- You can create an IP pool and have IP addresses overlap within that pool.

- You can create two static IP pools and have the IP addresses overlap between the pools

Scope drop-down list

The scope of the IP pool overlap. The options are:

- MSP Organization

This option is visible only if you have enabled MSP.

- Group/Customer Organization

- Container

Note:
This option is visible only if you select Yes in the Allow IP Overlap drop-down list.

User Group ID field

Choose Select to check the check box of a user group. All the user groups created in the system are displayed.

Container ID field

Choose Select to check the check box of a container.

Step 10

Check the IPv6 check box to configure IPv6.
You must configure the identical fields that you specified for IPv4 configuration.

Step 11

Click Submit.

Step 12

Click Submit in the Add Entry to VM Networks dialog box.

Step 13

Click Submit in the Network Policy Information dialog box.

Networking Provisioning Policies

A network provisioning policy is used during orchestration workflow tasks. This policy defines Layer 2 network configuration and access control lists (ACLs) for switches in the network.

- Configuring a Network Provisioning Policy

Configuring a Network Provisioning Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Network.

Step 2

Choose the Network Provisioning Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

General Information

Policy Name field

The name of the policy.

Policy Description field

The description of the policy.

L2 Network Configuration VLAN

Use Private VLAN check box

If checked, the following fields are automatically populated:

- Private VLAN Type: community

- Primary VLAN ID: 0

- Secondary VLAN Range—Starting ID 500

- Secondary VLAN Range—Ending ID 1000

VLAN Range - Starting ID field

A starting ID for the VLAN range. 500 is the default ID start range.

VLAN Range - Ending ID field

An ending ID for the VLAN range. 1000 is the default ID end range.

Base Profile Name field

The VLAN base profile name. This is the profile that contains one or more nested profile assignments.

Access Control List

ACL Type drop-down list

By default, it is set to Simple. This is the only option available currently.

Allow ICMP check box

Check the check box to allow ICMP on the VLAN.

Permit Incoming Traffic to TCP Ports field

Click the Select button. The Select Items dialog box appears. The following options are available:

- FTP

- SSH

- Telnet

- SMTP

- POP3

- HTTP

- HTTPS

- MySQL

Select the check box next to each option you want or click the Check All button. To clear prior entries, click the Check None button.

Permit Incoming Traffic to UDP Ports field

Click the Select button. The Select Items dialog box appears. The following options are available:

- SNMP

- Syslog

Select the check box next to each option you want or click the Check All button. To clear prior entries, click the Check None button.

Step 5

Click Submit.

VLAN Pool Policies

A VLAN pool policy defines the VLAN range for a pod. This policy is used in the orchestration workflow for generating a free VLAN ID from the defined range specified in the policy.

- Configuring a VLAN Pool Policy

Configuring a VLAN Pool Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Network.

Step 2

Choose the VLAN Pool Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Pod drop-down list

Allows you to choose the pod.

Policy Name field

The policy name. This policy name is used in orchestration workflows.

Policy Description field

The description of the policy.

VLAN Range field

The VLAN range. For example: 1,3, 5—15.

Step 5

Click Submit.

System Policies

A system policy defines system-specific information, such as the template to use, time zone, OS-specific information, and so on.

- Configuring a System Policy

- OS Licenses

Configuring a System Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Service Delivery.

Step 2

Choose the VMware System Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the System Policy Information dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

The name of the policy. This name is used during catalog definition.

Policy Description field

The description of the policy.

VM Name Template field

The VM name template to use.

Cisco UCS Director allows automatic creation of VM names. VM names can be automatically created using a set of variable names. Each variable must be enclosed in ${VARIABLE_NAME}. For example: vm-${GROUP_NAME}-SR${SR_ID}.

VM Name Validation Policy drop-down list

Allows you to choose a VM name validation policy. This list is populated with the policies that you created previously.

Step 5

Choose from the following optional VM Name Template features:

Name

Description

End User VM Name or VM Prefix check box

Check the check box to allow the user to add a VM name or VM prefix during a service request creation for VM provisioning.

Power On after deploy check box

Check the check box to automatically power on all VMs deployed using this policy.

Host Name Template field

The VM hostnames that can be automatically created using set of variable names. Each variable must be enclosed in ${VARIABLE}.

Host Name Validation Policy drop-down list

Choose a host name validation policy. This list is populated with the policies that you created earlier on.

Step 6

Complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Linux Time Zone drop-down list

Choose the time zone.

Linux VM Max Boot Wait Time drop-down list

Choose the maximum waiting period for the Linux VM to boot.

DNS Domain field

The IP domain to use for the VM.

DNS Suffix List field

The DNS suffixes to configure for the DNS lookup. Use commas to separate multiple entries.

DNS Server List field

The list of DNS server IP addresses. Use commas to separate multiple entries.

VM Image Type drop-down list

Choose the OS of the image that is installed on the VM. You can choose between:

- Windows and Linux

- Linux Only

Windows

Product ID field

The Windows product ID or license key. The product ID or license key can be provided here or at the OS license pool. The key entered in the OS license pool overrides the key provided here.

License Owner Name field

The Windows license owner name.

Organization field

The organization name to configure in the VM.

License Mode drop-down list

Choose per-seat or per-server.

Number of License Users

The number of license users or connections.

WINS Server List field

The WINS server IP addresses. Use commas to separate multiple entries.

Windows VM Max Boot Wait Time drop-down list

Choose the maximum waiting period for the Windows VM to boot.

Create a unique SID check box

Check the check box to create a unique SID for the system.

Auto Logon check box

Check the check box to enable auto logon.

Auto Logon Count field

The number of times to perform auto logon.

Administrator Password field

The password for the administrator's account.

Windows Time Zone drop-down list

Choose the time zone that must be set for the Windows VM.

Domain/Workgroup drop-down list

Choose either Domain or Workgroup.

Workgroup field

The name for the workgroup.

This option appears if Workgroup is chosen as the value in the Domain/Workgroup drop-down list.

Domain field

The name of the Windows domain.

Note:
This option appears if Domain is chosen as the value in the Domain/Workgroup drop-down list.

Domain Username field

The Windows domain administrator’s username.

Note:
This option appears if Domain is chosen as the value in the Domain/Workgroup drop-down list.

Domain Password field

The Windows domain administrator’s password.

Note:
This option appears if Domain is chosen as the value in the Domain/Workgroup drop-down list.

Define VM Annotation check box

Check the check box to specify annotations to the VM.

You can specify a note and custom attributes as part of the annotation. After you select this check box, complete the following fields:

- VM Annotation field

Enter a description for the VM.

- Custom Attributes

Click Add (+) to specify the Name, Type and Value.

Following are some of the Custom Attributes that you can add:

- ${VM_HOSTNAME}

- ${VM_HOSTNAME_SHORT}

- ${VM_HOSTNAME_DOMAIN}

- ${VM_IPADDRESS}

- ${VM_ID}

- ${VM_NAME}

- ${VM_STATE}

- ${VM_STATE_DETAILS}

- ${VM_PARENT}

- ${VM_CLOUD}

- ${VM_GROUP_NAME}

- ${VM_GROUP_ID}

- ${VM_VDC_NAME}

- ${VM_VDC_ID}

- ${VM_SR_ID}

- ${VM_SCHED_TERM}

- ${VM_TYPE}

- ${VM_COMMENTS}

- ${VM_CATALOG_ID}

- ${ INITIATING_USER}

- ${SUBMITTER_EMAIL}

- ${SUBMITTER_FIRSTNAME}

- ${SUBMITTER_LASTNAME}

- ${SUBMITTER_GROUPNAME}

- Variables for VM creation:

- ${SR_ID}

- ${GROUP_NAME}

- ${USER}

- ${APPCODE}

- ${COST_CENTER}

- ${UNIQUE_ID}

- ${LOCATION}

- ${PROFILE_NAME}

- ${COMMENTS}

- ${CATALOG_NAME}

- ${CLOUD_NAME}

Note:
The information that you add as part of the VM Annotation is displayed for the VM in the VM Details page.

Step 7

Click Submit.

OS Licenses

Cisco UCS Director provides an option for users to add Windows OS licenses. These licenses are mapped to Windows images during the creation of a catalog. You have an option to provide the Windows OS license for a Windows image in VMware System Policy or choose the key from the OS version field during catalog creation.

- Adding an OS License

Adding an OS License

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Service Delivery.

Step 2

Choose the OS License tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add License Details dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Windows Version Name field

The Windows version name.

License field

The Windows product ID or license key. This field accepts KMS client set-up keys.

License Owner Name field

The Windows license owner name.

Organization field

The organization name to configure in the VM.

License Mode drop-down list

Allows you to choose per-seat or per-server.

Number of Licensed Users field

The number of license users or connections.

Step 5

Click Submit.

End User Self-Service Policy

An End User Self-Service Policy controls the actions or tasks that a user can perform on a VDC. The starting point for creating this policy is to specify an account type (for example, VMware). After you specify an account type, you can continue with creating the policy. After you create the policy, you must assign the policy to a vDC that is created with the same account type. For example, if you have created an end user policy for VMware, then you can specify this policy when you create a VMware vDC. You cannot view or assign policies that have been created for other account types.

In addition to creating an end user self-service policy, Cisco UCS Director allows you to perform the following tasks:

- View—Displays a summary of the policy.

- Edit—Opens the End User Policy dialog box from which you can modify the description or the end user self-service options.

- Clone—Opens the End User Policy dialog box through which you can create an additional policy using the parameters defined in an existing end user self-service policy.

- Delete—Deletes the policy from the system. You cannot delete a policy that has a VDC assigned to it.

Important:
The tasks that a user can perform on a VDC are defined by the role that the user is mapped to and by the end user self-service policy assigned to the VDC. If you have upgraded to the current release, then the permissions to perform VM management tasks are retained in any pre-existing end user self-service policy. However, the permissions defined in the user role to which the user belongs takes precedence.

- Creating an End User Policy

Creating an End User Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Service Delivery.

Step 2

Choose the End User Self-Service Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add End User Policy dialog box, select an account type from the drop-down list.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Step 6

In the End User Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

The name of the policy.

Policy Description field

The description for the policy.

End User Self-Service Options field

A list of tasks that a user can perform on a VDC that is assigned with this policy.

The list of tasks varies according to the Account Type.

Step 7

Click Submit.

What to Do Next

Assign this end-user policy to a VDC. For more information, see Adding a Virtual Data Center.

Configuring a VM Management Policy

This policy defines how VMs are managed in the VDC.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Service Delivery.

Step 2

Choose the VM Management Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add VM Management Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Description field

A description for the policy.

VM Lease Expiry Notification Settings

Configure VM Lease Notification check box

Check this check box to set notification parameters for VMs configured with lease time.

How many days before VM Lease expiry should notifications be sent field

Enter a number.

This number indicates the number of days prior to VM lease expiry that an email notification is sent to the VM owner.

How many notifications should be sent field

Enter a number.

This number indicates the number of email notifications that will be sent informing the user of the VM lease expiration.

Interval between notifications drop-down list

Choose a number from the drop-down list.

This number defines the time gap or interval between the notification emails that are sent.

Inactive VM Management Settings

Delete after inactive VM days field

Enter a number.

This number indicates the number of days after which an inactive VM is deleted from the system.

Note:
Inactive VMs are deleted only if the Delete Inactive VMs Based on vDC Policy option is selected in the Properties pane. This option is displayed when you select Administration > System > Advanced Controls.

Additional grace period for deleting expired VMs field

Enter a number.

This number indicates the number of days that the system waits before deleting an inactive VM from the system.

Note:
When the time period specified in the Delete after inactive VM days and Additional grace period for deleting expired VMs fields elapse, VMs discovered through Cisco UCS Director are deleted, and service requests for VMs provisioned through Cisco UCS Director are rolled back. A new email template for rolled back Service Requests (SR) for these system—provisioned VMs has been introduced.

Action to be taken when a service request (SR) roll back task fails for VMs provisioned through Cisco UCS Director drop-down list

Select an action to be taken when a service request (SR) roll back task fails for VMs provisioned through Cisco UCS Director. You can choose one of the following options:

- Send notification and delete the VM

- Send notification and do not delete the VM

Note:
In the VM Automatic Deletion email template, a new field titled Rollback SR ID has been introduced. This field is populated for VMs provisioned through Cisco UCS Director and is blank for VMs discovered through Cisco UCS Director.

Configure VM Delete Notification check box

Check this check box to set notification parameters for VMs that are to be deleted.

How many days before VM deletion should notifications be sent field

Enter a number.

This number indicates the number of days prior to VM deletion that an email notification is sent to the user.

How many notifications should be sent field

Enter a number.

This number indicates the number of notification emails that are sent to the user.

Interval between notifications drop-down list

Choose a number from the drop-down list.

This number defines the time gap or interval between the notification emails that are sent.

Step 5

Click Submit.

What to Do Next

You can map this policy to a virtual data center.

Chapter 9. Managing Virtual Data Centers

This chapter contains the following sections:

- Virtual Data Centers

- Virtual Data Center Service Profiles

Virtual Data Centers

A Virtual Data Center (VDC) is a logical grouping that combines virtual resources, operational details, rules, and policies to manage specific group requirements.

A group or organization can manage multiple VDCs, images, templates, and policies. Organizations can allocate quotas and assign resource limits for individual groups at the VDC level.

You can also define approvers specific to a VDC. The approvers assigned to a particular VDC must approve all service requests from users for VM provisioning.

Note

There is a default VDC in Cisco UCS Director, and all discovered VMs are part of this default VDC. Discovered VMs are VMs that are created outside of Cisco UCS Director or were already created on VMware vCenter before Cisco UCS Director was installed. Cisco UCS Director automatically discovers such VMs and adds them to the default VDC.

A VM that is provisioned using a service request can be associated with a specific VDC. When you create a service request, you can choose the VDC on which this VM is provisioned. You can view a list of the VDCs that are available for a particular group and choose the required VDC when provisioning VMs.

Adding a Virtual Data Center

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Virtual Data Centers.

Step 2

Choose the VDC tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the VDC Add dialog box, select an account type from the drop-down list.
The account type that you select determines the list of cloud names that are displayed in the Add VDC dialog box.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Step 6

In the Add VDC dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

VDC Name field

The name of the VDC.

You can include special characters such as ( ). & - _ `~ $% ^ {}! ' @

Note:
A name cannot be edited after it is entered.

VDC Locked check box

Check the check box to deny the use of the VDC for any further deployments. Uncheck the check box to allow the use of the VDC for further deployments.

VDC Description field

The VDC-specific description.

Group drop-down list

Click Select to check the check box of the group for which the VDC is being set up.

Cloud Name drop-down list

Choose the cloud on which the VDC is being set up.

The options available in this drop-down list are determined by the account type you specified.

Approvers and Contacts

First Level Approver(s) field

The users who must approve the service request at the first level.

Click Select and check the check boxes of the users. You can select multiple users.

Second Level Approver(s) field

The users who must approve the service request at the second level.

Click Select and check the check boxes of the users. You can select multiple users.

Approval Required from all users check box

Check this check box to indicate that approval is required from all users who have been selected as first-level and second-level approvers.

Number of Approval Requests Reminders field

The number of times the reminder email to approve the service request is sent to the approvers.

By default, the system sends a reminder email once in every 24 hours until the service request is approved or rejected.

Reminder Interval (Hours) field

The time interval between the reminder emails that are sent to the approvers.

By default, the system sends a reminder email every 24 hours.

Provider Support Email Address field

The contact or user’s email address. The person who is notified about VM provisioning using this VDC.

Copy Notifications to Email Address field

The second contact’s email address for copying notifications about this VDC.

Policies

System Policy drop-down list

Choose the system policy applicable to the VDC.

Computing Policy drop-down list

Choose the computing policy applicable to the VDC.

Network Policy drop-down list

Choose the network policy applicable to the VDC.

Storage Policy drop-down list

Choose the storage policy applicable to the VDC.

ISO Image Mapping Policy drop-down list

Choose the ISO image mapping policy applicable to the VDC.

Cost Model drop-down list

Choose the cost model applicable to the VDC.

Disable displaying cost in the SR summary and email page check box

Check the check box to disable displaying cost in the SR summary and email page for this VDC.

User Action Policy drop-down list

Choose the policy that is used for execution of orchestration workflow post provisioning of the VMs. The chosen workflow appears as an action button for VMs within the VDC.

VM Management Policy drop-down list

Choose the VM management policy for the VDC.

This policy defines how VMs are managed in the VDC.

Enable Storage Efficiency check box

Check the check box to clone the VM using RCU.

This option is only available for some VDC types.

End User Self-Service Policy

Select a self-service policy for the VDC. The policy defines the tasks or actions that can be performed on the VDC.

Note:
This drop-down list is populated with policies that are relevant to the account type that you are creating the VDC for.

The tasks that a user can perform on a VDC are defined by the role that the user is mapped to and by the end user self-service policy assigned to the VDC. If you have upgraded to the current release, then the permissions to perform VM management tasks are retained in any pre-existing end user self-service policy. However, the permissions defined in the user role to which the user belongs takes precedence.

Step 7

Click Add.
Note:
The following tasks can no longer be performed by users on a VM:

- Migrate a VM

- Use Stack View

- Assign a VM

What to Do Next

After adding a VDC, you can edit, clone, or delete it by selecting the respective option in the user interface.

Viewing a Virtual Data Center

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Virtual Data Centers.

Step 2

In the All User Groups pane, choose the VDC group containing the VDC that you wish to view.

Step 3

Choose the VDC tab.

Step 4

In the main viewing pane, choose the VDC to view.

Step 5

Click View to open the VDC Details page.

Managing Application Categories in a Virtual Data Centers

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Virtual Data Centers.

Step 2

In the All User Groups pane, choose the VDC group that contains the VDC.

Step 3

Choose the VDC tab.

Step 4

In the main viewing pane, choose the VDC to edit.

Step 5

Click Manage Categories.

Step 6

In the Edit App Category dialog box, edit the appropriate fields that apply to modify the system policy, computing policy, network policy, or storage policy. You can also change the cost model and the smart allocation policy.

Step 7

Click Save.

Assigning an Application Category to Multiple VDCs

You can assign application categories to multiple VDCs.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose a VMware cloud.

Step 3

Choose the Application Categories tab.

Step 4

Select an application category and choose Assign App Category.

Step 5

In the Assign Application Category dialog box, click + to map policies to multiple vDCs.
The Assign Application Category dialog box lists all the application categories that have been previously assigned to VDCs. You can select an assigned application category, and either edit it or delete it from the VDC.

Step 6

In the Add Entry to Map Policies to Multiple VDCs dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Policies

System Policy drop-down list

Choose a system policy from the drop-down list.

Computing Policy drop-down list

Choose a computing policy from the drop-down list.

Storage Policy drop-down list

Choose a storage policy from the drop-down list.

Smart Allocation Policy drop-down list

Choose a smart allocation policy from the drop-down list.

Network Policy drop-down list

Choose a network policy from the drop-down list.

Cost Model drop-down list

Choose a cost model from the drop-down list.

All cost models for the cloud are displayed in this drop-down list.

vDC

Select vDCs field

Click Select to check the check boxes of the vDCs that you want to map the policies to.

Note:
The system displays vDCs that are part of the cloud you selected.

If the vDC you selected has policies mapped to it previously, a warning message is displayed.

Overwrite policies for mapped VDCs check box

Check this check box to overwrite policies that have been previously mapped to the vDC you selected.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Step 8

In the Assign Application Category dialog box, click Submit.

Step 9

Click OK.

Virtual Data Center Service Profiles

A Virtual Data Center Service Profile is similar to a VDC. However, you only need to create a VDC service profile if you plan to create VDCs from workflow tasks, such as Gold, Silver, and Bronze VDCs.

- Adding a Virtual Data Center Service Profile

Adding a Virtual Data Center Service Profile

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Virtual Data Centers.

Step 2

Choose the VDC Service Profile tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add VDC Service Profile dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

VDC Profile Name field

The name of the VDC profile.

A name cannot be edited after it is entered.

VDC Locked check box

Check the check box to deny the use of the VDC for any further deployments. Actions on existing VMs, within this VDC, are disabled. Uncheck the check box to allow the use of the VDC for further deployments.

VDC Description field

The VDC-specific description.

Group drop-down list

Choose the group for which the VDC is being set up.

Cloud Name drop-down list

Choose the cloud on which the VDC is being set up.

Approvers and Contacts

First Approver User Name field

The users who must approve the service request at the first level.

Click Select and check the check boxes of the users. You can select multiple users.

Second Approver User Name field

The users who must approve the service request at the second level.

Click Select and check the check boxes of the users. You can select multiple users.

Approval Required from all users check box

Check this check box to indicate that approval is required from all users who have been selected as first-level and second-level approvers.

Number of Approval Requests Reminders field

The number of times the reminder email to approve the service request is sent to the approvers.

By default, the system sends a reminder email once in every 24 hours until the service request is approved or rejected.

Reminder Interval (Hours) field

The time interval between the reminder emails that is sent to the approvers.

By default, the system sends a reminder email every 24 hours.

Provider Support Email Address field

The contact or user’s email address. The person who is notified about VM provisioning using this VDC.

Copy Notifications to Email Address field

The second contact’s email for copying notifications about this VDC.

Policies

System Policy drop-down list

Choose the system policy applicable to the VDC service profile.

Computing Policy drop-down list

Choose the computing policy applicable to the VDC service profile.

Network Policy drop-down list

Choose the network policy applicable to the VDC service profile.

Storage Policy drop-down list

Choose the storage policy applicable to the VDC service profile.

Cost Model drop-down list

Choose the cost model applicable to the VDC service profile.

Disable displaying cost in the SR summary and email page check box

Check the check box to disable displaying cost in the SR summary and email page for this VDC service profile.

User Action Policy drop-down list

Choose the policy that is used for execution of orchestration workflow after provisioning of the VMs. The chosen workflow appears as an action button for VMs within the VDC.

End User Self-Service Options

VM Power Management check box

Check the check box to enable all VM power management actions for VMs that belong to this VDC.

VM Resize check box

Check the check box to enable the VM resize action for VMs that belong to this VDC.

VM Snapshot Management check box

Check the check box to enable all storage snapshot actions for VMs in this VDC.

VM Deletion check box

Check the check box to enable the VM delete action for VMs in this VDC.

VM Disk Management check box

Check the check box to enable the VM disk management for VMs in this VDC.

VM Network Management check box

Check the check box to enable network management for the VM that belongs to this VDC.

Delete after Inactive VM days drop-down list

Choose the number of days to wait before deleting an inactive VM. The VM in the inactive state is when it is not in the power-on state.

Step 5

Click Add.

Chapter 10. Managing Catalogs

This chapter contains the following sections:

- About Managing Catalogs

- Publishing a Catalog

- About Publishing Advanced Catalogs

- Publishing Advanced Catalogs

- Reordering Catalogs Within a Folder

- Accessing Hosts for Deployment

- Reordering Catalog Folders

About Managing Catalogs

You can self-provision virtual machines (VMs) using predefined catalog items. A system administrator or an end-user can create a catalog. A catalog defines parameters, such as the cloud name and the group name to which the VM is bound.

The following folders are available by default. You cannot edit or delete them.

- Standard

- Advanced

- Service Container

- Bare Metal

To aid in managing catalogs, Cisco UCS Director allows you to group similar catalogs within a folder. While creating a catalog, you can choose to add it in a previously created folder, or create a new folder. A folder is visible in the system only when it contains a catalog.

The Manage Folder option on the Catalog page allows you to perform the following tasks:

- Edit a folder—Modify the name of a user-created folder or the folder icon for all folders. You cannot modify the name of a default folder.

- Delete a folder—Delete a folder from Cisco UCS Director. If this folder contains catalogs, then these catalogs are automatically moved into the folders that are available by default, based on the catalog type.

Default folders cannot be deleted.

- Re-order the list of folder—Change the order in which the folders are listed in the Catalog page. By default, folders are listed alphabetically.

Important:
If you have upgraded Cisco UCS Director to the latest version, then all catalogs created in prior versions are grouped into folders available by default, based on their catalog types.

By default, the catalogs will be displayed in a tile view format.

From the Catalog page, you can create a Service Request. Click Create Service Request, and complete the procedure documented in Creating a Service Request with Catalog Type—Standard.

Note

Place the Catalogs option on the menu bar to easily access all the catalog-related options. Click your user name on the top right corner of the interface, choose the Catalogs tab in the User Information dialog box, and check the Enable Catalogs check box.

Publishing a Catalog

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Catalogs.

Step 2

Choose the Catalog tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Catalog Add dialog box, select the type of catalog that you want to add.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Step 6

In the Create Catalog dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Basic Information pane

Catalog Name field

Enter a name of the catalog.

Note:
Once created, a catalog name cannot be modified.

Catalog Description field

Enter a description of the catalog.

Catalog Type drop-down list

Choose the type of catalog. It can be one of the following:

- Standard—Used to create catalogs for VM provisioning, using images from a list of clouds.

- Advanced—Used for publishing orchestration workflows, such as catalog items.

- Service Container—Used for publishing application containers as catalog items.

Catalog Icon drop-down list

Choose from a list of icons to associate this catalog with an image. This icon is seen when you are creating a service request using this catalog.

Applied to all groups check box

Check the check box to enable all groups to use this catalog. Leave it unchecked to deny its use to other groups.

Selected Groups check box list

Check the check boxes for included groups that are from the Select Items dialog box. The checked groups use this catalog to provision new VMs.

Publish to end users check box

By default, this check box is checked. Uncheck this check box if you do not want this catalog to be visible to end users. If you do not uncheck this check box, then this catalog is visible to the end users of the system.

Cloud Name drop-down list

Choose the cloud with the image for VM provisioning.

Provision new VM for ISO mounting check box

Check this check box to clone a new VM from a selected image. If you do not check this check box, a blank VM is created.

Image field

Choose the type of image, (any existing templates such as Windows, Linux, and other files that make up the image) that you use when VMs are provisioned using this catalog.

If you are a group administrator, or an end user in a group with permissions to create catalogs, this field displays images that have been assigned to the group you belong to.

If you are an MSP administrator, then this field displays images that have been assigned to your MSP organization, and to the groups within the MSP organization.

Windows License Pool field

Choose the Windows License.

Note:
This option appears only when a Windows image is chosen. This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Provision all disks in single datastore check box

Check the check box to provision all disks in a single datastore. You can also choose to use the datastores configured for each disk in the storage policy.

For more information on multiple disk storage policy creation, see Managing Policies.

Note:
This option appears if the chosen template has multiple disks. This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Service Container Template Name drop-down list

Choose the template from the list.

Note:
This option appears when the chosen Catalog Type is Service Container.

Select Folder drop-down list

Choose the folder within which this catalog must be created.

Note:
The drop-down list includes names of folders that are available by default. You can either select a folder that is available, or click the + icon to create a new folder.

To create a new folder in the Add New Folder dialog box, specify a folder name, and select an icon for the folder.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

In the Applications Details pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Category drop-down list

Choose a VDC category.

Override check box

Check the check box to enable the end user to override the selected category while provisioning a VM using a service request.

Support Contact Email Address field

The email address of the contact who is notified when a service request is created using this catalog item.

Specify OS drop-down list

Choose the type of OS installed on the VM when it is provisioned.
Note:
This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Specify Other OS field

Specify an OS that is not available in the Specify OS list.

Note:
This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Specify Applications check box list

Check the appropriate check boxes to specify applications from the Select Items dialog box. These applications are installed on the VM during provisioning.

Note:
This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Specify Other Applications field

Specify other applications that are not available in the Select Items dialog box.

Note:
This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Application Code field

Specify an application code that is used in the VM name.

The application code can be between 1 to 4 characters (for example: W2K3, DB, WS). The application code can be used in a system policy for the VM name by using the variable ${APPCODE}.

For example, if the VM Name Template is vm-${GROUP_NAME}-${APPCODE}, the VM provisioned with the system policy has the name vm-groupname-W2K3.

Note:
This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Step 9

Click Next.

Step 10

In the User Credentials pane, complete the following fields:
Note:
These options are not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Name

Description

Credential Options drop-down list

Choose to allow or disallow users to retrieve VM access credentials (shared).

User ID field

The user ID.

Note:
This field is available only if a choice is made under Credential Options.

Password field

The user password.

Note:
This field is available only if a choice is made under Credential Options.

Step 11

Click Next.

Step 12

In the Customization pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Automatic Guest Customization Enable check box

Check the check box to enable automatic guest customization.

If you do not check this check box, then Cisco UCS Director does not configure the DNS, Network, and Guest OS properties.

Post Provisioning Custom Actions check box

Check the check box to enable execution of an orchestration workflow after VM provisioning.

Workflow drop-down list

Choose a defined workflow for provisioning.

Note:
This option appears when Post Provisioning Custom Actions is checked.

Virtual Storage Catalog Enable check box

Check the check box to select storage entries from the Virtual Storage catalog.

Virtual Storage Catalog drop-down list

Select a storage entry from the catalog.

Note:
This option appears when the Virtual Storage Catalog Enable check box is checked.

Cost Computation

Charge Duration drop-down list

Choose Hourly or Monthly.

Active VM Application Cost field

The cost for the application that is included in the template.
Note:
Not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Inactive VM Application Cost field

The cost to this catalog of a VM in inactive state, per hour or month.
Note:
Not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

VM Life Cycle Configuration

Lease Time check box

Check the check box to define a lease time (in days and hours).

Day field

Specify the number of days.

This field is visible only when you check the Lease Time check box

Hours field

Specify the number of hours.

This field is visible only when you check the Lease Time check box

Hide end user lease configuration check box

Check the check box to prevent service end users from configuring a lease time for VMs.

Hide end user VM provision later check box

Check the check box to prevent service end users from provisioning VMs at a later time.

Step 13

Click Next.

Step 14

In the VM Access pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Web Access Configuration

Enable check box

Check the check box to enable web access to the VM. By default, this check box is unchecked which means that web access to the VM is disabled.

URL field

The URL of the VM.

Note:
This option appears when Web Access Configuration is checked.

Label field

The label that is defined for this URL

Note:
This option appears when Web Access Configuration is checked.

Remote Desktop Access Configuration

Enable check box

Check the check box to enable remote desktop access to the VM. By default, this check box is unchecked, which means that remote desktop access to the VM is disabled.

Server field

The IP address of the server for remote access.

Note:
This option appears when Remote Desktop Access Configuration is checked.

Port field

The port number on the server for remote access.

Note:
This option appears when Remote Desktop Access Configuration is checked.

Label field

The label that is defined for this remote access.

Note:
This option appears when Remote Desktop Access Configuration is checked.

VMRC Console Configuration

Enable check box

Check the check box to enable VMRC console access to the VM. By default, this check box is unchecked, which means that the VMRC console access to the VM is disabled.

Step 15

Click Next.

Step 16

Review the catalog information in the Summary page.

Step 17

Click Submit.

About Publishing Advanced Catalogs

When you choose the Advanced catalog type, you can provision workflow catalogs. End users can execute workflows with these catalogs during a Service Request. You create an Advanced Catalog Item by defining parameters such as Group Name and Workflow.

Publishing Advanced Catalogs

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Catalogs.

Step 2

Choose the Catalog tab.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Catalog Add dialog box, from the Catalog Type drop-down list, select Advanced.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Step 6

In the Create Catalog dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Basic Information Pane

Catalog Name field

The name of the catalog.

Catalog Description field

The description of the catalog.

Catalog Type

Choose Advanced.

Catalog Icon drop-down list

Choose the icon to associate this catalog with an image. The icon is seen when creating a service request using this catalog.

Applied to all groups check box

Check the check box to enable all groups to use this catalog. By default, this check box is not checked, which means that all groups cannot use this catalog.

Selected Groups

Click Select and complete the following:

1. (Optional) Click Check All to choose all of the categories or click Check None to deselect all categories.

2. From the Select Items dialog box, check the appropriate groups to include. The checked groups can use this catalog to provision new VMs.

3. Click Select to finish your selection of categories.

Publish to end users check box

By default, this check box is checked, which means that the catalog is available to end users. Uncheck this check box if you do not want this catalog to be visible to end users.

Select Folder drop-down list

Choose the folder within which this catalog must be created in.

Note:
The drop-down list includes names of folders that are already available. You can either select a folder that is available, or click the + icon to create a new folder.

To create a new folder in the Add New Folder dialog box, specify a folder name, and select an icon for the folder.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

In the vApp Workflow pane, click Workflow Select.

Step 9

In the Select dialog box, check the check box next to the appropriate workflow.

Step 10

Click Select.

Step 11

Review the catalog information on the Summary page.

Step 12

Click Submit.

Reordering Catalogs Within a Folder

By default the catalogs within a folder are listed alphabetically, but you can customize the order.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Catalogs.

Step 2

Choose the Catalog tab.

Step 3

Expand a folder to view the catalogs within it.

Step 4

Select a catalog from the list.

Step 5

Click the Move Up or Move Down options to reorder the catalogs.

Accessing Hosts for Deployment

You can choose a catalog item to assess deployable hosts and provide a reason for hosts that are excluded. You can determine if you want to run this assessment on all configured VDCs, or on certain specific VDCs.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Catalogs.

Step 2

Choose the Catalog tab.

Step 3

Choose the Catalog Entry to assess.

Step 4

Click Deployability Assessment.

Step 5

In the Select vDC dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Run Assessment Across all VDCs check box

By default, this check box is checked, which indicates that this catalog item will be assessed with all VDCs. Uncheck this check box to select specific VDCs.

Select VDC field

Click Select to check the check boxes of the VDCs against which you want the catalog item assessed.

The list displays all the vDCs associated with the user group for the selected catalog.

Step 6

Click Submit.

Step 7

View the Deployability Assessment report and the click Close.

Reordering Catalog Folders

By default the catalog folders are listed alphabetically, but you can customize the order.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Catalogs.

Step 2

Click Manage Folder.

Step 3

In the Manager Folder dialog box, use the arrows to reorder the folders.

Step 4

Click Submit.

Chapter 11. Using Self-Service Provisioning

This chapter contains the following sections:

- Self-Service Provisioning

- Service Requests

- Service Request Workflow and Details

- About Scheduling a Service Request

- About Resubmitting a Service Request

- Service Request Approval Process

Self-Service Provisioning

You can provision virtual machines (VMs) or applications through self-service provisioning. To provision a VM or an application using self-service provisioning, you must first create a service request. This action initiates a VM-creation workflow that includes the following:

- Budget validation

- Dynamic resource allocation

- Approval

- Provisioning

- Lifecycle setup

- Notification about the status of service requests

Service Requests

You can use the self-service provisioning feature to create a service request to provision virtual machines (VMs), services, or applications. The service request process produces a provisioning workflow for VM creation that includes the following actions:

- Budget validation

- Dynamic resource allocation

- Approvals

- Provisioning

- Lifecycle setup and notification

Note

If you change the number of CPU Cores or memory allocation while in the Deployment Configuration pane, the total cost is automatically updated and displayed.

To provision a VM or execute an orchestration workflow, you must first create a service request. If desired, you can require approval from one or two administrators or designated users before the VM is provisioned or the workflow executed. VMs can be immediately approved or scheduled to be approved within a maximum of 90 days from the original request.

- Creating a Service Request with Catalog Type—Standard

- Creating a Service Request with Catalog Type—Advanced

Creating a Service Request with Catalog Type—Standard

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

Choose the Service Request tab.

Step 3

Click Create Request.

Step 4

In the Create Request dialog box, choose Standard.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Step 6

In the Create Service Request dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Catalog Selection Request Pane

VM Ownership

Customer Organizations radio button

Select this radio button to choose the customer organizations for which a VM is provisioned.

Customer Organizations field

Click Select to choose the customer organizations for which you want to provision the VM.

Customer organizations that have valid vDCs are displayed.

Note:
This field is visible only when you select the Customer Organizations radio button.

If you chose Create Service Request from the Catalog page, then the group list that is displayed is dependent on the user groups you select in the left pane

User radio button

Select this radio button to choose the users to whom you want a VM is provisioned.

User field

Click Select to choose the users to whom you want to provision the VM. This list is populated with users from groups which allow resource assignment to users.

Note:
Currently, only VMs that are in a VMware cloud can be assigned to a specific end user.

If you chose Create Service Request from the Catalog page, then the user list that is displayed is dependent on the user groups you select in the left pane.

VM Access Sharing

Users with Access Privilege field

Click Select to choose users who can only access VM information.

The selected users can only access the VM. They cannot perform any administrative tasks.

Users with Manage Privilege field

Click Select to choose users who can only manage the VM.

The selected users can perform administrative tasks on the VM.

Catalog Type drop-down list

Displays the catalog type. It can be one of the following:

- Standard

- Advanced

- Service Container

- VDI

Note:
Advanced is used for Orchestration Workflow.

Select Catalog drop-down list

Choose the catalog that is used for VM provisioning.

If you chose Create Service Request from the Catalog page, then you cannot select a catalog.

Perform deployment assessment check box

Check this check box to perform an assessment of the budget allocation, resource limits and resource availability prior to submitting a service request. After you check this check box, the summary of the assessment is displayed in the Deployment Assessment pane.

Important:
This option is visible only for VMware catalogs, and for catalogs that are not ISO-based.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

In the Provisioning Configuration pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Select vDC drop-down list

Choose a vDC for the service request.

VM Name field

Specify a name for the VM.

If you do not specify a name, the system will automatically generate a VM name.

Guest OS field

Click Select to choose a Guest OS for the service request.

Number of vCPUs drop-down list

Choose the number of vCPUs from the drop-down list.

This field is populated and editable only if you checked the Allow Resizing of VM check box while creating the VMware computing policy.

Memory drop-down list

Choose the memory capacity from the drop-down list.

This field is populated and editable only if you checked the Allow Resizing of VM check box while creating the VMware computing policy.

Category field

Click Select to choose an application category that is different from the one specified while creating the catalog.

Step 9

Click Next.

Step 10

In the Deployment Configuration pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Select VDC drop-down list

The VDC on which the VM is provisioned.

VDCs are defined by the administrator.

VM Name or VM Prefix field

The VM name or prefix.

Comment field

Any comments relating to the deployment configuration.

Provision drop-down list

Choose either Now or Later.

Choose Now to set provisioning for any time within the next 90 days. When you choose Later, a calendar for the Day, drop-down lists for the Hour and Minute, and radio buttons for AM or PM appear.

Days calendar

The number of days after which the VM is terminated.

Note:
This option appears when the Power OFF the VM After check box is checked.

Hours drop-down list

Choose the number of hours after which the VM is terminated.

Note:
This option appears when the Power OFF the VM After check box is checked.

Minutes drop-down list

Choose the number of minutes after which the VM is terminated.

Note:
This option appears when the Power OFF the VM After check box is checked.

Lease Time check box

Check this check box to indicate that a lease time is configured for the VM.

Default Cost Computation Period Settings

Charge Duration drop-down list

Choose a duration for which the cost is calculated. By default, this duration is set to Monthly.

Month field

Specify the number of months to be included in the cost computation

Note:
This field is displayed only when you select Monthly in the Charge Duration drop-down list.

Day field

Specify the number of days to be included in the cost computation

Note:
This field is displayed only when you select Daily in the Charge Duration drop-down list.

Hours field

Specify the number of hours to be included in the cost computation

Note:
This field is displayed only when you select Hourly in the Charge Duration drop-down list.

Step 11

Click Next.

Step 12

In the Custom Specification pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

CPU Cores drop-down list

Choose the CPU cores for the VM being provisioned.

Note:
This list opens if the resizing option is chosen in the Computing Policy dialog box.

Memory drop-down list

Choose the amount of memory for the VM being provisioned.

Note:
This list opens if the resizing option is chosen in the Computing Policy dialog box.

Approximate SR Cost Estimate field

Displays an approximate SR cost based on the values you provided in the Default Cost Computation Period Settings fields.

Storage Tier drop-down list

Choose an option to customize storage entries for the VM being provisioned.

Note:
This custom list opens if the Virtual Storage Catalog was enabled when the chosen catalog was created.

See more information about the creation of a virtual storage catalog in Policies. See more information about enabling this option during catalog creation in About Managing Catalogs.

Disk Datastores table

Choose the preferred hard disk size for VM provisioning. The list of available datastores depends upon the scope conditions specified in the storage policy. You can enable or disable this option in the storage policy.

Choose a disk from the table, and click the pencil icon to select a datastore.

Note:
You can edit the size of the disk if you have enabled the Allow Resizing of Disk check box in the storage policy.

Step 13

To choose a datastore for a disk, choose a disk from the list and click the Pencil icon.

Step 14

Click Select to view available datastores.

Step 15

Choose a datastore from the list and click Select.

Step 16

Click Submit.

Step 17

(Optional)For templates with multiple disks, you must choose a datastore for each disk.

Step 18

In the Custom Specification pane, click Select to view available VM Networks.
Note:
This option is available only if the Allow end user to select optional NICs check box or the Allow end user to choose portgroups check box is checked in the network policy associated with the VDC selected for this VM provisioning service request. For more information, see Adding a Network Policy.

Step 19

Choose a VM Network from the list and click Select.

Step 20

Click Next.

Step 21

Complete the details in the Custom Workflow pane.
Note:
Custom workflow inputs apply if the catalog chosen for VM provisioning has Post Provisioning Custom Actions enabled. In this procedure, the post-provisioning workflow allows users to specify custom inputs.

Step 22

Click Next.
Note:
The list of available datastores depends upon the scope conditions specified in the storage policy. You can choose only one datastore for each disk category (System, Data, Database, Swap, and Log).

Step 23

If you checked the Perform deployment assessment check box, then review the report of the assessment displayed in the Deployment Assessment pane.
If this assessment report identifies errors, then you must return to the previous panes and rectify the errors before submitting the request. If the assessment report shows no errors, then click Next.

Step 24

Review the summary for the service request.

Step 25

Click Submit.

Creating a Service Request with Catalog Type—Advanced

By choosing the advanced catalog type during the creation of a service request, you can execute orchestration workflows. The steps for creating an advanced catalog are much the same as those for creating a standard catalog.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

Choose the Service Requests tab.

Step 3

Click Create Request.

Step 4

In the Catalog Selection section of the Create Service Request dialog box, choose the Group, Catalog Type (Advanced), and the Catalog (workflow).

Step 5

Click Next.

Step 6

In the Custom Workflow section of the Create Service Request dialog box, provide the custom workflow input values.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

Review the summary of the service request.

Step 9

Click Submit.

Service Request Workflow and Details

After you create a service request, you can check its status and workflow, cancel the request, resubmit the request, and so on. These actions are controlled by the toolbar buttons at the top of the service request lists.

- Service Request Workflow

- Service Request Details

- Viewing the Workflow Status of a Service Request

- Viewing Log Details for a Service Request

Service Request Workflow

The Workflow Status box displays details about the service request and the workflow steps. A typical service request workflow to provision a VM includes the following steps:

1. Initiation—Service request is initiated by the user.

2. Resource Allocation—Required resources, such as virtual compute, are allocated to the VM.

3. Approval—VM provisioning is approved, if required. During this step, an email is sent to the approvers defined in the catalog chosen for VM provisioning.

4. Provision—VM is created and provisioned.

5. Set Up Lifecycle Schedule—Lifecycle scheduling is configured with the setup, scheduled times, and termination times.

6. Notify—User is notified by email that the VM has been created and provisioned.

Optional service request workflow steps include Budget Watch and Check Resource Limits:

- Budget Watch—An administrator has to enable budgeting for a group. This step determines if a sufficient budget is available for provisioning a new VM in that group.

- Check Resource Limits—Resource limits for a group must be enabled by an administrator. This step determines if sufficient resources are available for provisioning a new VM in that group.

Any user who has been assigned the Read-Group Service Request permission can view the progress of a service request.

Service Request Details

Service Request details include items under Overview, Ownership, Catalog Information, and the Current Status of the service request, as follows:

Name

Description

Overview

Request ID

The service request ID number.

Request Type

The type of request (in this case, creating a VM).

VDC

The VDC where the VM is provisioned.

Image

The image from which the VM is provisioned.

Request Time

The time of the service request creation.

Request Status

The status of the service request as Complete, Canceled, Failed, and so on.

Comments

Any comments.

Ownership

Group

The group to which the service request initiating user belongs.

Initiating User

The user who has initiated the service request.

Duration Hours

The amount of time that the VM is active. If this time is defined, the VM is deleted after the specified time.

Scheduled Time

The time at which the VM is provisioned. If defined, the VM is provisioned at 6 a.m. on the scheduled date. If not defined, the VM is provisioned when the workflow steps for the service request are complete.

Catalog Information

VDC Owner Email

The email ID provided by the administrator when creating a VDC.

Approving Users

The user (if defined) who must approve the service request for VM provisioning.

Catalog Name

The catalog item name from which the VM is provisioned.

Catalog Description

The catalog item description.

Service Request Cost

The cost (projected) of provisioning the VM. This cost is determined based on the Cost Model that is defined for the catalog item.

You can view the status of each workflow step. Details such as warning or error messages and the time of the request are also displayed. The workflow steps are color-coded to indicate their status:

Color Code

Description

Gray

The step is incomplete.

Green

The step completed successfully.

Red

The step failed. The reason for failure is also described.

Blue

More input is required for the step to complete. For example, an approver was defined for a service request, and until the request is approved, this step is incomplete.

Note

Approvers may look under the Approvals tab to see their assigned service requests.

Viewing the Workflow Status of a Service Request

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a user group.
The default is All User Groups, which lists all service requests.

Step 3

Choose the Service Request tab.

Step 4

Choose a service request.

Step 5

Click View Details to see the details and status of the service request. By default, the Workflow Status tab appears in the dialog box.

Viewing Log Details for a Service Request

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a user group.
The default is All User Groups, which lists all service requests.

Step 3

Choose the Service Request tab.

Step 4

Choose a service request.

Step 5

Click View Details, and choose the Log tab.

About Scheduling a Service Request

You can schedule VM provisioning for a later date using Deferred Provisioning. The default provisioning is at 8.30 a.m. on the date of scheduling. Once a new date is set, the VM provisioning status in the workflow displays the change.

- Scheduling Service Requests

Scheduling Service Requests

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

Choose the Service Request tab.

Step 3

Click Create Request.

Step 4

Choose the group, catalog type, and catalog. See Creating a Service Request with Catalog Type—Standard.

Step 5

Click Next.

Step 6

Choose the Later option for the Provision field, and the provisioning date in the Service Request dialog box.

Step 7

Click Next until the Summary window appears.

Step 8

Click Submit.

About Resubmitting a Service Request

You can resubmit a failed service request. A service request could fail for the following reasons:

- Budget limit (if defined by administrator) is exceeded for the group under which the VM is being provisioned.

- Resource limits (if defined by administrator) are exceeded for the group under which the VM is being provisioned.

- Provisioning could fail if a service request lacks relevant information.

When a service request is resubmitted, the process starts again from the workflow step that failed in the earlier submissions. For example, if a service request fails in the Resource Allocation workflow (Step 2), when this service request is resubmitted, the process is re-initiated from that step.

- Resubmitting a Service Request

Resubmitting a Service Request

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a user group.
The default is All User Groups, which lists all service requests.

Step 3

Choose the Service Request tab.

Step 4

Choose the service request to resubmit.

Step 5

Click Resubmit Request.

Canceling a Service Request

As an administrator in the system, you can cancel any service request that has been created. If you are an MSP admin, or a group admin, you can cancel service requests that you have created, and those created by users in member groups that you manage.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a user group.
The default is All User Groups, which lists all service requests.

Step 3

Choose the Service Request tab.

Step 4

Choose the service request entry to cancel.

Step 5

Click Cancel Request.

Step 6

Click Submit to cancel the service request.

Rolling Back a Service Request

You can roll back a service request when a service request is created using orchestration workflow or fenced container deployment.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a user group.
The default is All User Groups, which lists all service requests.

Step 3

Choose the Service Request tab.

Step 4

Choose the service request to roll back.

Step 5

Right-click and select Rollback Request.

Step 6

In the Rollback Service Request dialog box, select the tasks in the service requests that must be rolled back.
By default, check boxes of all tasks in the service request are checked.

Step 7

(Optional)Check the Abort rollback, if any rollback task fails check box.

Step 8

Click Submit.

Archiving a Service Request

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a user group.
The default is All User Groups, which lists all service requests.

Step 3

Choose the Service Request tab.

Step 4

Choose the service request to archive.

Step 5

Click Archive.

Step 6

In the Archive Request dialog box, click Archive.
Choose the Archived Service Requests tab to view all the archived requests.

What to Do Next

If you need to use this archived service request at a later time, you can re-instate it. For more information, see Reinstating an Archived Service Request.

Deleting Service Requests

You can delete archived service requests from Cisco UCS Director. The deleted service requests are removed permanently from Cisco UCS Director.

You can enter archived service requests to delete in one of two ways:

- By selecting the service requests on the Archived Service Requests page and clicking the Delete Requests action.

- By selecting the Purge Requests action and typing the IDs of the archived service requests.

Both methods result in the permanent removal of the specified service requests. The only difference is the method of data entry.

You can delete only archived service requests. For information about archiving service requests, see the current release of the Cisco UCS Director Administration Guide. Because active service requests cannot be archived, you cannot delete service requests that are in progress, or that contain child service requests that are in progress.

You also cannot delete a service request that has a rollback that is in progress or that has failed. For example, say that you submit a rollback for service request (SR) 100 that generates a rollback service request SR 101. You cannot delete SR 100 while SR 101 is in progress. Furthermore, you cannot delete SR 100 if SR 101 failed.

To delete service requests, do the following:

Step 1

Navigate to Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

Click the Archived Service Requests tab.

Step 3

You can either enter service request IDs using the keyboard or choose service requests from the Archived Service Requests report.
To enter service request IDs, skip to the next step. To choose service requests instead, do the following:

1. Choose all the service requests that you want to delete.
Note:
Select multiple items as you would in any other application on your system. For example, in Windows, hold down the Ctrl key to choose more items or Shift to choose a range of items.

When you choose one or more service requests, the Delete Request action appears.

2. Click the Delete Request action.

3. In the Delete Request dialog, click Delete.

Step 4

To enter service requests, do the following:

1. Click Purge Requests.

2. In the Delete Request dialog, type the IDs of the service requests that you want to delete in the SR IDs text field. Use hyphens to indicate ranges of IDs and commas to separate ranges or individual IDs; for example: 101-111, 113, 116-118.

3. Click Delete.

Viewing Service Requests for a Particular Group

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a user group.
The default is All User Groups, which lists all service requests.

Step 3

Choose the Service Request tab.

Searching the Records of Service Requests for a Group

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

Choose the Service Request tab.

Step 3

On the toolbar, click Search and Replace.

Step 4

In the Search and Replace dialog box, enter the search terms in the search fields. You must enter the following information:

- Asset Identity

- Asset Type

- New Asset Identity

- Selected SRs

Step 5

Click Submit.

Exporting a Report of Service Requests for a Group

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a group name.

Step 3

Choose the Service Request tab.

Step 4

On the right of the toolbar, click the Export Report icon.

Step 5

In the Export Report dialog box, choose the report format.
The report format can be PDF, CSV, or XLS.

Step 6

Click Generate Report.
After the report is generated, the Download option appears.

Step 7

Click Download to open the report and to save it on your system.

Reinstating an Archived Service Request

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

Choose the Archived Service Requests tab.

Step 3

Choose the service request that you want to reinstate.

Step 4

Click Unarchive.

Service Request Approval Process

Before the VM is provisioned, a service request must be approved by a specified approver or approvers named in the VDC. You have an option to define one or two approvers for a group.

- Once created, the service request workflow has a step requiring VM approval that displays the name of the approver.

- A service request notification email is sent to the approvers. Approvers may view all pending requests under the Approvals tab.

- Once approved is granted, VM provisioning is initiated.

Note

For more information about defining approvers, see Virtual Data Centers.

- Approving a Service Request

- Rejecting a Service Request

- Viewing Approval Information on Service Requests

- Searching the Records of Service Request Approvals

- Exporting a Report of Service Request Approvals

Approving a Service Request

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > My Approvals.

Step 2

Choose the My Approvals tab.

Step 3

Choose the service request entry to approve.

Step 4

(Optional)To verify the details, click View Details.
You can view the Workflow and Input/Output information and click Close.

Step 5

Click Approve.

Step 6

Add comments in the Service Request dialog box if necessary.

Step 7

Click Approve.

Rejecting a Service Request

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > My Approvals.

Step 2

Choose the My Approvals tab.

Step 3

Choose the service request entry to reject.

Step 4

(Optional)Verify the details by clicking View Details and then click Close.

Step 5

Click Reject.

Step 6

Add comments in the Service Request dialog box if necessary.

Step 7

Click Reject.

Viewing Approval Information on Service Requests

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > My Approvals.

Step 2

Choose the My Approvals tab.
All approvals that are either already approved or pending approval are listed.

Searching the Records of Service Request Approvals

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > My Approvals.

Step 2

Choose the My Approvals tab.
All approvals that are either already approved or pending approval are listed.

Step 3

In the Search field, enter your search term.
The service requests that match the search criteria are displayed.

Exporting a Report of Service Request Approvals

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > My Approvals.

Step 2

Choose the My Approvals tab.

Step 3

From the list, choose a group name.

Step 4

On the right of the toolbar, click the Export Report icon.

Step 5

In the Export Report dialog box, choose the report format.
The report format can be PDF, CSV, or XLS.

Step 6

Click Generate Report.
After the report is generated, the Download option appears.

Step 7

Click Download to open the report and to save it on your system.

Viewing the Current Month Budget Availability

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose either All User Groups or a specific user group.

Step 3

Choose the Current Month Budget Availability tab.

Viewing Budget Entries

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Service Requests.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a user group.

Step 3

Choose the Budget Entries tab.

Adding a Budget Entry

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Summary.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a user group.

Step 3

Choose the Budget Entries tab.

Step 4

Click Add (+).

Step 5

In the Add Budget Entry dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Entry Name field

The name of the budget entry.

Budget Amount field

The amount of the budget per month.

Year drop-down list

Choose the year.

Month drop-down list

Choose the month.

Repeat Entries drop-down list

Choose the number of months for the same amount of budget to repeat.

Step 6

Click Add.

Chapter 12. Multiple Disk VM Provisioning

This chapter contains the following sections:

- About Multiple Disk VM Provisioning

- Overview of the Procedure for Multiple Disk VM Provisioning

- About Templates with Multiple Disks

- Assigning Disk Categories

- Defining Storage Policies

- Creating a VM Disk

About Multiple Disk VM Provisioning

Cisco UCS Director supports virtual machine (VM) provisioning of multiple disks from a template. You can configure VM disk provisioning on a preferred single datastore or on multiple datastores. You can also configure individual disk policies for each additional disk in a template.

Cisco UCS Director classifies the disks into the following categories:

- System

- Data

- Database

- Swap

- Log

Note

The disk categories that are defined by Cisco UCS Director are for disk labeling only.

Overview of the Procedure for Multiple Disk VM Provisioning

Step 1

Check for the availability of a template with multiple disks.

Step 2

Assign disk categories.

Step 3

Define the storage policy.

Step 4

Create the template catalog.

About Templates with Multiple Disks

To provision a multiple disk virtual machine (VM), a template (image) with multiple disks, must be available. Before using a template with multiple disks for VM provisioning, you must assign the disk categories for individual disks.

Assigning Disk Categories

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose a VMware cloud and choose the Images tab.

Step 3

Choose a template with multiple disks.

Step 4

On the toolbar, click the View Details button.

Step 5

Click the Disks tab.

Step 6

Choose a disk.

Step 7

Click Assign Disk Type.

Step 8

Choose the disk type.
It can be one of the following:

- System

- Data

- Database

- Swap

- Log

Step 9

Click Submit.

Defining Storage Policies

A storage policy defines resources such as datastore scope, type of storage to use, minimum conditions for capacity, and latency. This policy also provides an option to configure additional disk policies for multiple disks, and an option to provide datastore choices for end users during a service request creation.

Cisco UCS Director supports VM provisioning with multiple disks on multiple datastores. There are five types of disks: System, Data, Database, Swap, and Log. The System disk policy is configured first, and the other disks are configured later depending on the requirements. You can configure the disk policy individually for each disk type, or choose the default system disk policy.

When using additional disk policies, be sure to uncheck the Provision all disks in a single datastore option during catalog creation for the multiple disk template. For more information about catalog creation, see Adding a Catalog.

In addition, Cisco UCS Director supports datastore selection during the creation of a service request for VM provisioning. It gives you an option to enable or disable datastore selection for the end user. When a VDC is specified at creation of a service request, the scope conditions defined in its storage policy determine which datastores appear for selection here.

- Creating a Storage Policy

Creating a Storage Policy

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Storage.

Step 2

Choose the VMware Storage Policy tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add Storage Resource Allocation Policy- System Disk Policy pane, complete the following fields

Name

Description

Policy Name field

Choose the cloud in which resource allocation occurs.

Policy Description field

The description of the policy.

If you want to narrow the scope of deployment, choose whether to use all, include selected data stores, or exclude selected data stores.

Cloud Name drop-down list

Choose the cloud account for this resource allocation.

If you choose an SRM account, the Enable Protection check box is displayed. For more information about how to enable protection groups for Site Recovery Manager, see the Cisco UCS Director VMware Management Guide.

System Disk Scope

Use Linked Clone check box

If you want to use a linked clone, click the check box.

If you do not click this check box, the configuration uses a full clone.

Storage Profile drop-down list

Choose a storage profile if you want to provision one or more VMs with the associated storage profile.

Data Stores/Data Store Clusters Scope drop-down list

To define the scope of deployment, choose one of the following options:

- All

- Include Selected Datastores

- Exclude Selected Datastores

- Include Selected Datastore Clusters

- Exclude Selected Datastore Clusters

Depending upon which option you choose, additional fields may display.

Note:
The option that you choose determines which datastores or datastore clusters are available when you create a VM disk.

Selected Data Stores field

If you chose Include Selected Datastores or Exclude Selected Datastores, click Select to choose the appropriate datastores.

Use Shared Data Store Only check box

Click the check box to use shared datastores only.

This option is only available if you chose to include or exclude selected datastores.

Selected Datastore Clusters field

If you chose Include Selected Datastore Clusters or Exclude Selected Datastore Clusters, click Select to choose the appropriate datastore clusters.

Select SDRS Rule Type drop-down list

If you chose to include or exclude selected datastore clusters, choose one of the following SDRS rule types:

- Keep VMDKs Together—You need to select an existing rule on the filtered clusters. The newly provisioned VM is added to the VM anti-affinity rule.

- Separate VMDKs—If the newly provisioned VM contains more than one disk, a new VM affinity rule is created on the datastore cluster.

Select SDRS Rule field

If you chose Keep VMDKs Together, you must choose the VMs that you want to apply the rule to.

Storage Options

Use Local Storage check box

By default, the field is checked. Uncheck the check box if you do not want to use local storage.

Use NFS check box

By default, the field is checked. Uncheck the check box if you do not want to use NFS storage.

Use VMFS check box

By default, the field is checked. Uncheck the check box if you do not want to use VMFS storage.

Use SAN check box

By default, the field is checked. Uncheck the check box if you do not want to use SAN storage.

Filter Conditions check boxes

To add one more conditions to filter the datastores, do the following for each desired condition:

- Click the appropriate check box.

- Choose the desired option from the drop-down list.

- Enter the criteria by which you want to filter the datastores.

Any datastores that do not meet these criteria are excluded from consideration. If more than one condition is chosen, all conditions must match.

Override Template check box

Check the check box to override the template properties. You are provided with options to enter custom settings, such as using thin provisioning or setting a custom disk size.

Use Thin Provisioning check box

Check the check box to use thin provisioning during VM storage provisioning.

Thin provisioning enables dynamic allocation of physical storage capacity to increase VM storage utilization.

This option is only available if you choose Override Template.

Manual Disk Size

A custom disk size that overrides the disk size of the template used for VM provisioning.

This option is only available if you choose Override Template.

Resizing Options for VM Lifecycle

Allow Resizing of Disk check box

Check the check box to provide the end user with an option to choose the VM disk size before provisioning.

Permitted Values for Disk in GB field

Specify the custom range of disk size values that are chosen while provisioning a VM. For example: 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1024, 5120, 10240, and so on.

This option is only available if you choose Allow Resizing of Disk.

Allow user to select datastores from scope check box

Check the check box to provide the end user with an option to choose the datastore during the service request creation.

Step 5

Click Next.

Step 6

In the Additional Disk Policies pane, do one of the following:

- Choose a disk type to configure if you do not want to use the same disk policy for that disk type as you configured in the System Disk Policy.

- Click Next if you want to use the System Disk Policy options for all disk types.

Note:
By default, the disk policy for the disk is the same as in the System Disk Policy that you configured on the Add Storage Resource Allocation Policy pane.

Step 7

If you chose to configure a custom system disk policy for a specific disk type, do the following:

1. Click Edit (pencil) to edit the disk type.

2. In the Edit Policies Entry dialog box, uncheck the Same as System Disk Policy check box.

3. In the Edit Entry dialog box, complete the fields.
All the fields displayed here are the same as the fields displayed in the Add Storage Resource Allocation Policy pane.

Note:
This configuration determines which datastores are available for the disk type when you create a VM disk.

4. Click Submit.

5. Repeat these steps to configure the other disk types, if desired.

Note:
To use the storage policy created with additional disk policies, you must associate the policy with the VDC that is used for the VM provisioning

Step 8

Click Next.

Step 9

In the Hard Disk Policy pane, you can specify the number of physical disks that you want to create during VM provisioning.

1. Click + to add a disk and complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Disk Label field

A descriptive label for the disk you are adding.

Disk Size (GB) field

The size of the disk.

Disk Type drop-down list

Choose the disk type.

The options that you see in this drop-down list depends on whether you selected the Same as System Policy check box earlier in this procedure.

Controller Options

Controller Type drop-down list

Choose a controller type from the drop-down list.

Based on the availability of ports, a controller is mapped to the VM disks.

Create Disk on new Controller check box

Check this check box to create a new controller.

The type of controller that is created is based on the selection you made in the Controller Type drop-down list.

Disk Provisioning Options

Disk Provisioning Options radio buttons

Check the radio button of the type of provisioning you want to specify. You can specify one of the following:

- Thin Provision

- Thick Provision lazy zeroed

- Thick Provision eager zeroed

Resizing Options for VM Life cycle

Allow Resizing of Disk check box

Check the check box to enable editing of the VM disk size before provisioning.

Permitted Values for Disk in GB field

This option appears if Allow Resizing of Disk is checked.

Specify the custom range of disk size values that are chosen while provisioning a VM. For example: 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1024, 5120, 10240, and so on.

Allow user to select datastore from scope check box

Check the check box to provide the user with an option to choose the datastore during the service request creation.

Step 10

Click Submit.
Note:
To use the storage policy created with additional disk policies, you need to associate the policy with the VDC that is used for the VM provisioning.

When using the Additional disks policies configured in a policy, make sure to uncheck the Provision all disks in a single database check box during catalog creation for the multiple disk template. For more information about catalog creation, see Managing Catalogs.

Adding a Catalog

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Catalogs.

Step 2

Choose the Catalog tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Catalog Add dialog box, select the type of catalog that you want to add.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Step 6

In the Create Catalog dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Basic Information pane

Catalog Name field

Enter a name of the catalog.

Note:
Once created, a catalog name cannot be modified.

Catalog Description field

Enter a description of the catalog.

Catalog Type drop-down list

Choose the type of catalog. It can be one of the following:

- Standard—Used to create catalogs for VM provisioning, using images from a list of clouds.

- Advanced—Used for publishing orchestration workflows, such as catalog items.

- Service Container—Used for publishing application containers as catalog items.

Catalog Icon drop-down list

Choose from a list of icons to associate this catalog with an image. This icon is seen when you are creating a service request using this catalog.

Applied to all groups check box

Check the check box to enable all groups to use this catalog. Leave it unchecked to deny its use to other groups.

Selected Groups check box list

Check the check boxes for included groups that are from the Select Items dialog box. The checked groups use this catalog to provision new VMs.

Publish to end users check box

By default, this check box is checked. Uncheck this check box if you do not want this catalog to be visible to end users. If you do not uncheck this check box, then this catalog is visible to the end users of the system.

Cloud Name drop-down list

Choose the cloud with the image for VM provisioning.

Provision new VM for ISO mounting check box

Check this check box to clone a new VM from a selected image. If you do not check this check box, a blank VM is created.

Image field

Choose the type of image, (any existing templates such as Windows, Linux, and other files that make up the image) that you use when VMs are provisioned using this catalog.

If you are a group administrator, or an end user in a group with permissions to create catalogs, this field displays images that have been assigned to the group you belong to.

If you are an MSP administrator, then this field displays images that have been assigned to your MSP organization, and to the groups within the MSP organization.

Windows License Pool field

Choose the Windows License.

Note:
This option appears only when a Windows image is chosen. This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Provision all disks in single datastore check box

Check the check box to provision all disks in a single datastore. You can also choose to use the datastores configured for each disk in the storage policy.

For more information on multiple disk storage policy creation, see Managing Policies.

Note:
This option appears if the chosen template has multiple disks. This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Service Container Template Name drop-down list

Choose the template from the list.

Note:
This option appears when the chosen Catalog Type is Service Container.

Select Folder drop-down list

Choose the folder within which this catalog must be created.

Note:
The drop-down list includes names of folders that are available by default. You can either select a folder that is available, or click the + icon to create a new folder.

To create a new folder in the Add New Folder dialog box, specify a folder name, and select an icon for the folder.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

In the Applications Details pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Category drop-down list

Choose a VDC category.

Override check box

Check the check box to enable the end user to override the selected category while provisioning a VM using a service request.

Support Contact Email Address field

The email address of the contact who is notified when a service request is created using this catalog item.

Specify OS drop-down list

Choose the type of OS installed on the VM when it is provisioned.
Note:
This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Specify Other OS field

Specify an OS that is not available in the Specify OS list.

Note:
This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Specify Applications check box list

Check the appropriate check boxes to specify applications from the Select Items dialog box. These applications are installed on the VM during provisioning.

Note:
This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Specify Other Applications field

Specify other applications that are not available in the Select Items dialog box.

Note:
This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Application Code field

Specify an application code that is used in the VM name.

The application code can be between 1 to 4 characters (for example: W2K3, DB, WS). The application code can be used in a system policy for the VM name by using the variable ${APPCODE}.

For example, if the VM Name Template is vm-${GROUP_NAME}-${APPCODE}, the VM provisioned with the system policy has the name vm-groupname-W2K3.

Note:
This option is not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Step 9

Click Next.

Step 10

In the User Credentials pane, complete the following fields:
Note:
These options are not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Name

Description

Credential Options drop-down list

Choose to allow or disallow users to retrieve VM access credentials (shared).

User ID field

The user ID.

Note:
This field is available only if a choice is made under Credential Options.

Password field

The user password.

Note:
This field is available only if a choice is made under Credential Options.

Step 11

Click Next.

Step 12

In the Customization pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Automatic Guest Customization Enable check box

Check the check box to enable automatic guest customization.

If you do not check this check box, then Cisco UCS Director does not configure the DNS, Network, and Guest OS properties.

Post Provisioning Custom Actions check box

Check the check box to enable execution of an orchestration workflow after VM provisioning.

Workflow drop-down list

Choose a defined workflow for provisioning.

Note:
This option appears when Post Provisioning Custom Actions is checked.

Virtual Storage Catalog Enable check box

Check the check box to select storage entries from the Virtual Storage catalog.

Virtual Storage Catalog drop-down list

Select a storage entry from the catalog.

Note:
This option appears when the Virtual Storage Catalog Enable check box is checked.

Cost Computation

Charge Duration drop-down list

Choose Hourly or Monthly.

Active VM Application Cost field

The cost for the application that is included in the template.
Note:
Not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Inactive VM Application Cost field

The cost to this catalog of a VM in inactive state, per hour or month.
Note:
Not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

VM Life Cycle Configuration

Lease Time check box

Check the check box to define a lease time (in days and hours).

Day field

Specify the number of days.

This field is visible only when you check the Lease Time check box

Hours field

Specify the number of hours.

This field is visible only when you check the Lease Time check box

Hide end user lease configuration check box

Check the check box to prevent service end users from configuring a lease time for VMs.

Hide end user VM provision later check box

Check the check box to prevent service end users from provisioning VMs at a later time.

Step 13

Click Next.

Step 14

In the VM Access pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Web Access Configuration

Enable check box

Check the check box to enable web access to the VM. By default, this check box is unchecked which means that web access to the VM is disabled.

URL field

The URL of the VM.

Note:
This option appears when Web Access Configuration is checked.

Label field

The label that is defined for this URL

Note:
This option appears when Web Access Configuration is checked.

Remote Desktop Access Configuration

Enable check box

Check the check box to enable remote desktop access to the VM. By default, this check box is unchecked, which means that remote desktop access to the VM is disabled.

Server field

The IP address of the server for remote access.

Note:
This option appears when Remote Desktop Access Configuration is checked.

Port field

The port number on the server for remote access.

Note:
This option appears when Remote Desktop Access Configuration is checked.

Label field

The label that is defined for this remote access.

Note:
This option appears when Remote Desktop Access Configuration is checked.

VMRC Console Configuration

Enable check box

Check the check box to enable VMRC console access to the VM. By default, this check box is unchecked, which means that the VMRC console access to the VM is disabled.

Step 15

Click Next.

Step 16

Review the catalog information in the Summary page.

Step 17

Click Submit.

Creating a VM Disk

You can add an additional disk with a custom size to provisioned or discovered VMs. Use the Create VM disk option that is available through the VM action button.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

In the navigation pane, choose a cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM.

Step 5

Click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar, and choose Create VM Disk from the drop-down list.

Step 6

In the Create VM Disk dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

VM Name field

The name of the VM.

Once entered, the VM name cannot be edited.

New Disk Size (GB) field

The disk size for the VM, in GB.

Select Disk Type drop-down list

Choose the disk type. It can be one of the following:

- System

- Swap

- Data

- Database

- Log

Select Datastore/Datastore Cluster drop-down list

Specify if the VM disk should be created from a datastore or a datastore cluster.

Select Datastore field

Click Select and choose which datastore you want to use to create the VM disk.

Note:
The available datastores depend upon the storage policy associated with the VDC. Only datastores that meet the criteria specified in the storage policy are available for the VM disk.

This field is only available if you specify that the VM disk should be created from a datastore.

Select Datastore Cluster field

Click Select and choose which datastore cluster you want to use to create the VM disk.

Note:
The available datastore clusters depend upon the storage policy associated with the VDC. Only datastore clusters that meet the criteria specified in the storage policy are available for the VM disk.

This field is only available if you specify that the VM disk should be created from a datastore cluster.

Thin Provision check box

Check the check box to add a thin provisioned disk to the VM.

Note:
Thin provisioning enables dynamic allocation of physical storage capacity to increase VM storage utilization.

Compute New Disk Cost option

This option calculates the cost of the new disk based on the input you specified, and displays it in the dialog box.

Step 7

Click Create.

Chapter 13. Using the Chargeback Module

This chapter contains the following sections:

- About Chargeback Features

- Budget Policies

- Cost Models

- Modifying a VDC to Include a Cost Model

- Package-Based Cost Models

- Storage Tier Cost Models

- About Assigning a Datastore to Tiers

- Chargeback Reports

- About Change Records

- Chargeback Calculations

About Chargeback Features

The chargeback module in Cisco UCS Director offers in-depth visibility into the costs of the virtual infrastructure. It allows the definition of cost models and their assignment to policies within departments and organizations. Virtual machine (VM) metering data is collected at frequent intervals to ensure accurate calculation of resource costs.

Attention:
The chargeback module is supported only for physical servers that are within an application container.

Following are the features of the chargeback module:

- Flexibility—Provides fixed costs, one-time costs, allocation costs, usage costs, and a combination of these costs, based on the organizational requirements.

- Reusable Cost Models—Assigns cost models to VMs using standardized cost models or templates. These templates apply cost models to new environments quickly.

- Reporting—Generates various summary and comparison reports of costs and resource usage for the virtual infrastructure. These reports are exported to PDF, CSV, and XLS formats and allow you to view them with a web browser.

- Top Five Reports—Monitors the top five reports for organizations or groups with the highest VM cost, CPU, memory, storage, and network costs.

- Dashboard—Monitors and analyzes VM metering information and chargeback in real time with the built-in dashboard and an extensive set of graphical widgets.

Budget Policies

Overall resources are accounted for by the chargeback module. In addition to chargeback, individual groups or organizations must be associated with a budget policy where you can enable or disable the budget watch and over budget.

- Configuring a Budget Policy

- Creating a Tag-Based Cost Model

Configuring a Budget Policy

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

Choose the User Groups tab.

Step 3

Choose a group and click Budget Policy.

Step 4

In the Budget Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Enable Budget Watch check box

If checked, the group’s budget usage is monitored. If unchecked, all budget entries for this group are ignored.

Allow Over Budget check box

If checked, the group members are allowed to go over the provisioned budget. If unchecked, once the budget is exhausted, all requests are rejected until a new budget is added.

Step 5

Click Save.

Creating a Tag-Based Cost Model

The tag-based cost model capability is supported on all VMs that have been provisioned through a container.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Service Delivery.

Step 2

Choose the Tag Based Cost Model tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+) to create a new cost model.

Step 4

In the Add Tag Based Cost Model dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Cost Model Name field

The name of the cost model.

Cost Model Description

The description of the cost model.

Tag Name drop-down list

Select a VM tag from the drop-down list.

The tag costs that you specify are restricted to the VM tag that you select in this drop-down list. The tag-based cost model is restricted to the VM tag that you selected.

Step 5

Click + sign to add tag costs to the cost model.

Step 6

In the Add Entry to Tag Costs dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field

Description

VM Tag drop-down list

Choose a tag value from the drop-down list.

This drop-down list displays the possible values for the tag name that you selected.

Fixed Cost field

The per-hour fixed cost for the tag.

One Time Cost field

The fixed one-time cost for the tag.

Include VM in Regular Chargeback check box

Check the check box to include the tag-based cost model along with the regular cost model for the VM.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Step 8

In the Add Tag Based Cost Model dialog box, click Submit.

Step 9

Click OK.

Cost Models

A cost model is used to define the unit-level costs of virtual resources, such as CPU, RAM, and storage. These costs are used for chargeback calculations of VMs within the virtual infrastructure. Cost models offer a definition of costs in a linear model.

The cost of a particular resource for a VM is calculated on how many units are assigned to that VM. For example, the cost of 1 GB of RAM is defined within the cost model. This unit cost is used to determine the cost of RAM for a particular VM.

You can define one-time provisioning costs, active or inactive VM costs, and provisioned, reserved, or used costs for resources, such as CPU, and memory. These values are used to calculate VM costs based on usage.

Note

You can map a cost model to a VDC or to an application container. For more information on mapping a cost model to an application container, see the Cisco UCS Director Application Container Guide available at the following link:

Click Here

- Creating a Cost Model

Creating a Cost Model

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Service Delivery.

Step 2

Choose the Cost Model tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add Cost Model dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Cost Model Name field

The name of the cost model.

Cost Model Description field

The description of the cost model.

Cost Model Type drop-down list

Choose the type of cost model.

Standard indicates a linear cost model. Advanced indicates a package or script-based cost model. See the Package-Based Cost Models for the Advanced cost model description and usage. You can also choose HyperV, if appropriate.

Charge Duration drop-down list

Choose the interval at which costs for the VM's resources are defined. It can be one of the following options:

- Hourly—If you want to quantify the costs of resources on an hourly basis.

- Daily—If you want to quantify the costs of resources on a daily basis.

- Weekly—If you want to quantify the costs of resources on a weekly basis.

- Monthly—If you want to quantify the costs of resources on a monthly basis.

- Yearly—If you want to quantify the costs of resources on a yearly basis.

Virtual Machine Cost Parameters

Fixed Costs (Currency: USD)

One Time Cost field

The fixed one-time cost for provisioning the VM.

VM Costs (Currency: USD)

Active VM Cost field

The per-hour cost of a VM in the active state.

Inactive VM Cost field

The per-hour cost of a VM in the inactive state.

CPU Costs

CPU Charge Unit drop-down list

Choose the charge unit for CPU: GHz or cores.

Provisioned CPU Cost field

The provisioned CPU cost per CPU charge unit per-hour. The system calculates the percentage of CPU that was provisioned for the VM.

Note:
The cost of the CPU charge unit is GHz.

If you enter a value for the Used CPU Cost field, you must leave this field blank.

Reserved CPU Cost field

The reserved CPU cost per GHz per hour.

The amount of CPU that has been actually reserved to the VM is taken into consideration, including the provisioned CPU cost calculation. Any extra cost for the reserved CPU (apart from the provisioning cost) is entered here. For example, if the provisioning cost is $1 and the reserved cost is $1.4, the extra amount to reserve must be mentioned. In this example, it is $1.4 – $1 = $0.4.

Note:
The cost if the CPU charge unit is GHz.

If you enter a value for the Used CPU Cost field, you must leave this field blank.

Used CPU Cost field

The used CPU cost per GHz per hour. The cost is based on the actual CPU usage.

This cost does not take into consideration the provisioned and reserved costs. If you enter a value for the Used CPU Cost field, the provisioned cost and reserved cost fields must be left blank.

Note:
The cost if the CPU charge unit is GHz.

Memory Costs

Provisioned Memory Cost field

The provisioned memory cost per GB per hour.

Reserved Memory Cost field

The reserved memory cost per GB per hour.

Used Memory Cost field

The used memory cost per GB per hour.

Network Costs

Received Network Data Cost field

The received data cost per GB per hour.

Transmitted Network Data Cost field

The transmitted data cost per GB per hour.

Storage Costs

Committed Storage Cost field

The committed storage cost per GB per hour.

Uncommitted Storage Cost field

The uncommitted storage cost per GB per hour. The unused but provisioned storage is defined as uncommitted storage.

Tag Based Costs

Tag Based Cost Model drop-down list

Select a tag-based cost model.

This list displays all the tag-based cost models that you have created.

Physical Server Cost Parameters

Fixed Costs (Currency: USD)

One Time Cost field

The fixed one-time cost for provisioning the server.

CPU Costs

CPU Charge Unit drop-down list

Choose the charge unit for CPU: GHz or cores.

Provisioned CPU Cost field

The provisioned CPU cost per CPU charge unit per hour. The CPU percentage that was provisioned to the server is taken into consideration.

Note:
The cost if the CPU charge unit is GHz.

If you enter a value for the Used CPU Cost field, you must leave this field blank.

Memory Costs

Provisioned Memory Cost field

The provisioned memory cost per GB, per-hour.

Used Memory Cost field

The used memory cost per GB, per-hour.

Storage Costs

Committed Storage Cost field

The committed storage cost per GB, per-hour.

Blade Costs (Currency: USD)

Full Length Blade Cost field

The cost of full-length blade servers, per-hour.

Note:
This field does not appear when HyperV is selected as the cost model type.

Half Length Blade Cost field

The cost of half-length blade servers, per-hour.

Note:
This field does not appear when HyperV is selected as the cost model type.

Step 5

Click Add.

Modifying a VDC to Include a Cost Model

You can add or edit an existing VDC to assign a newly created cost model. You can edit an existing VDC, or create a new VDC and assign a cost model to it.

After the cost model is assigned to a VDC, all VMs within the VDC are charged based on the advanced cost model. Any VMs within VDCs that have the standard type of cost model are still charged according to the standard cost model.

- Adding a Cost Model to a VDC

- Editing a VDC to Include a Cost Model

Adding a Cost Model to a VDC

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Virtual Data Centers.

Step 2

Choose the VDC tab.

Step 3

Choose the VDC to which you want to add the cost model.

Step 4

Click Add (+).

Step 5

In the Add vDC dialog box, select the account type, and click Submit.

Step 6

In the Add VDC dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

VDC Name field

The name of the VDC.

VDC Locked check box

By default, this check box is not checked, which means that the VDC is available for further deployments.

Check the check box to deny the use of the VDC for any further deployments. Actions on existing VMs, within this VDC, are disabled. Uncheck the check box to allow the use of the VDC for further deployments.

VDC Description field

The VDC-specific description.

Group drop-down list

Choose the group for which the VDC is being set up.

Cloud Name drop-down list

Choose the cloud on which the VDC is being set up.

Approvers and Contacts

First Approver User Name field

Specify the user names of the first-level approvers of the service request.

Click Select and check the check boxes of the users. You can select multiple users.

Second Approver User Name field

The users who must approve the service request at the second-level.

Click Select and check the check boxes of the users. You can select multiple users.

Approval Required from all users check box

Check this check box to indicate that approval is required from all users who have been selected as first-level and second-level approvers.

Number of Approval Requests Reminders field

The number of times the reminder email to approve the service request is sent to the approvers.

By default, the system sends a reminder email once every 24 hours until the service request is approved or rejected.

Reminder Interval (Hours) field

The time interval between the reminder emails that are sent to the approvers.

By default, the system sends a reminder email every 24 hours.

Provider Support Email Address field

The contact or user’s email address. The person who is notified about VM provisioning using this VDC.

Copy Notifications to Email Address field

The second contact’s email for receiving copies of notifications about this VDC.

Policies

System Policy drop-down list

Choose the system policy applicable to the VDC.

Computing Policy drop-down list

Choose the computing policy applicable to the VDC.

Network Policy drop-down list

Choose the network policy applicable to the VDC.

Storage Policy drop-down list

Choose the storage policy applicable to the VDC.

Cost Model drop-down list

Choose the cost model applicable to the VDC.

Disable displaying cost in the SR summary and email page check box

Check the check box to disable displaying cost in the SR summary and email page for this VDC.

User Action Policy drop-down list

Choose the policy that is used for execution of orchestration workflows after provisioning of the VMs. The chosen workflow appears as an action button for VMs within the VDC.

End User Self-Service Policies

VM Power Management check box

Check the box to enable all VM power management actions for VMs that belong to this VDC.

Note:
End user self-service policies also include VM Resizing, VM Snapshot Mangement, VM deletion, VM Disk Management, and VM Network Management. For more information, see Adding a Virtual Data Center.

Step 7

Click Add.

Editing a VDC to Include a Cost Model

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Virtual Data Centers.

Step 2

Choose the VDC tab.

Step 3

Choose the VDC to add to the cost model.

Step 4

Click Manage Categories.

Step 5

Choose the category to edit.

Step 6

Click Edit.

Step 7

In the Edit App Category dialog box, in the drop-down list, choose a Cost Model and a Deploy Policy.

Step 8

Click Save.

Package-Based Cost Models

A package-based cost model enables you to define the costs for the system resources as packages instead of as individual definitions. There are different packages to choose from based on your requirements. This type of cost model is suitable for nonlinear models.

Note

Cisco UCS Director supports definitions of CPU memory (server) packages.

In this type of cost model, the definition is based on the available resource packages. The model is in the following format:

C – M:X.

C is the number of CPU cores.

M is the memory in GB.

X is the combined monthly cost of C and M.

For example, a package with an entry of 2-4:200 implies CPU cores = 2, memory = 4 GB, and the cost of this package is $200 per month.

You can define multiple packages using the following format: C1-M1:X1,C2-M2:X2,......,CN-MN:XN.

For example, 1-1:50,1-2:70,1-4:90,2-4:150,2-6:170,2-8:190,4-8:350,4-12:380,4-16:400. The first entry 1-1:50 is a package of 1 core CPU and 1 GB memory that costs $50 per month.

Note

These entries can be edited at any time to suit the cost package requirements.

- Creating a Package-Based Cost Model

Creating a Package-Based Cost Model

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Service Delivery.

Step 2

Choose the Cost Model tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+) to create a new cost model.

Step 4

Under the Cost Model Type field, choose the Advanced option.

Step 5

Paste the script provided in the Advanced Cost Model field.
/********************************/

var CPU_MEMORY_COST =

"1-2:81,1-4:95,1-8:109,2-4:162,2-6:176,2-8:189,2-16:378,4-12:352,4-16:378";

/********************************/

/* define cost packages as shown above.

The cost packages can be defined in the following format:

C-M:X.

C is the number of CPU cores.

M is the memory in GB.

X is the combined monthly cost of C and M.

For example, 2-4:162 means CPU cores = 2, memory = 4 GB and the cost of this package is $162 per month. */

/* When defining multiple packages, define it in the following format: C1-M1:X1,C2-M2:X2, ...........,CN-MN:XN

The standard packages are defined at the top of the script using the variable CPU_MEMORY_COST.

This variable can be edited to suit the cost package requirement. */

/* For reference, the storage cost to use is based on the storage tier cost model definition. */

/* do not edit any script below */

computeChargeback(data);
function computeChargeback(data)
{
var map = chargeBackAPI.getCPUMemCostModelMap(CPU_MEMORY_COST);
var cpuCores = data.getVmMeter().getCpuCores();
var memory = data.getVmMeter().getAllocMemGB();
var serverCost = chargeBackAPI.getCostForItem(map,cpuCores, memory);
serverCost = serverCost / (24 * 30);
var storageTierCost = chargeBackAPI.getStorageCostForItem(data.getVmMeter().getVmId());
var storageGB = (data.getVmMeter().getCommittedDiskGB()) +
(data.getVmMeter().getUncommittedDiskGB());
var committedDiskGBCost = (data.getVmMeter().getCommittedDiskGB()) * storageTierCost;
var unCommittedDiskGBCost = (data.getVmMeter().getUncommittedDiskGB()) * storageTierCost;
var storageCost = (storageGB * storageTierCost) / (24 * 30);
var totalVMCost = serverCost + storageCost;
var cb = data.getCbSummary();
cb.setCpuCores(cpuCores);
cb.setMemory(memory);
cb.setServerCost(serverCost);
cb.setCommittedDiskGB(data.getVmMeter().getCommittedDiskGB());
cb.setCommittedDiskGBCost(committedDiskGBCost);
cb.setUncommittedDiskGB(data.getVmMeter().getUncommittedDiskGB());
cb.setUncommittedDiskGBCost(unCommittedDiskGBCost);
cb.setTotalCost(totalVMCost);
}

/********************************/

Step 6

Click Add.
Note:
Once the cost model has been defined, assign it to a VDC in order to start the chargeback of VMs based on this cost model.

Storage Tier Cost Models

You can use a storage tier cost model to define multiple costs for storage using the tier format. Current storage types include but not limited to local storage, NFS, SAN, and NAS. Each storage cost could vary. You can incorporate this variation while calculating costs for storage usage.

You can use this model to define different costs for different tiers and then assign existing datastores to these tiers. You can group similar datastore types by cost wise using the tier cost model.

Each tier must be assigned a cost, at a per-GB, per-month value. For example, when assigning $0.50 to a tier, all datastores within this tier are charged at $0.50 per GB per month. By default, four tiers are already created, so you must assign the costs to them.

- Assigning a Cost to a Tier

Assigning a Cost to a Tier

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Virtual/Hypervisor Policies > Service Delivery.

Step 2

Choose the Storage Tier Cost Model tab.

Step 3

Choose the tier to edit.

Step 4

Click Edit.

Step 5

Edit the Disk Cost (GB)/Month field.

Step 6

Click Submit.

About Assigning a Datastore to Tiers

You can assign a datastore to a tier so that the cost defined in the tier is used to calculate the cost of storage within that particular datastore.

When calculating the chargeback for VMs within a datastore, the cost is determined by which tier the datastore was assigned to. If no tier is assigned to a datastore, the storage cost for that datastore is not considered when using the advanced (script-based) cost model.

With a regular cost model, you define resource costs in a form. Storage tier costs are taken into consideration if tier costs are assigned and datastores are assigned to those tiers. However, if no tier is assigned to a datastore, the storage cost for VMs under that datastore is removed from the storage cost entry of the cost model form.

Note

Assigning a datastore to a tier applies only to the regular cost model.

- Assigning a Datastore to a Tier

Assigning a Datastore to a Tier

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Storage.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose the cloud account.

Step 3

Choose the Datastore Capacity Report tab.

Step 4

Choose the datastore to assign to a tier.

Step 5

Click Assign Tier and the Storage Tier dialog box appears.
Currently, the tier-based cost is supported only on VMware cloud accounts.

Step 6

From the drop-down list, choose a tier.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Chargeback Reports

Chargeback provides information about how much your organization may be paying for resources, even unused resources. This feature allows you to optimize resource consumption and costs. System resources accounting can be based on monthly usage. Resources, such as CPU and memory usage, are monitored and measured.

Chargeback reports are based on the cost model type. Chargeback is calculated and shown in the user interface in the form of tabular reports, summaries, graphical reports, and widgets.

Chargeback summary data is stored only at a daily and monthly interval. So, you cannot generate daily and hourly trend cost reports using the Chargeback menu option. You can generate trend reports only for weekly and monthly duration. You can generate these trend reports, in addition to several other trend reports, using the Report Builder menu available under CloudSense. For more information on using the Report Builder option, see Report Builder for Custom Report Templates.

Note

For VMs that are provisioned through a container, you can associate a tag-based cost model and include those costs in the regular chargeback calculations and subsequent reports.

Following are the report types that are available:

- Viewing

- Current month summary—The current month summary cost report (VM, CPU, storage costs, and so on).

- Previous month summary—The previous month summary cost report (VM, CPU, storage costs, and so on).

- Monthly resource accounting details—The resource accounting details (CPU and memory usage statistics) on a monthly basis.

- VM level resource accounting details—The resource accounting details at the VM level.

- VM level chargeback details—The charges that are applicable for VM usage calculated with the chargeback feature.

- Export

- Export monthly resource accounting details—These reports can be exported as tables.

- Export VM level resource Accounting details—These reports can be exported as tables.

- Export VM level chargeback details—Chargeback reports can be exported as tables.

Important:
You can generate these reports for a group, or for a specific virtual data center (VDC). These reports include information on virtual resources as well as on physical servers.

- Viewing the Current Month Summary

- Viewing the Previous Month’s Summary

- Viewing Monthly Resource Accounting Information

- Viewing the VM Level Resource Accounting Details

- Viewing the VM Level Chargeback Details

- Exporting the Monthly Resource Accounting Details

- Exporting VM Level Resource Accounting Details

- Exporting VM Level Chargeback Details

Viewing the Current Month Summary

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Chargeback.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a group.

Step 3

Choose the Current Month Summary tab to view the month’s chargeback details for all VMs and physical servers that belong to the group.

Viewing the Previous Month’s Summary

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Chargeback.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a group.

Step 3

Choose the Previous Month Summary tab to view the previous month’s chargeback details for all VMs and physical servers that belong to the group.

Viewing Monthly Resource Accounting Information

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Chargeback.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a group or a virtual data center (VDC).

Step 3

Choose the Resource Accounting tab.

Viewing the VM Level Resource Accounting Details

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Chargeback.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a group or a virtual data center (VDC).

Step 3

Choose the Resource Accounting Details tab to view the individual VM's resource usage details.

Viewing the VM Level Chargeback Details

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Chargeback.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a group or a virtual data center (VDC).

Step 3

Choose the Chargeback tab.
The table displays the chargeback report for the selected group or VDC.

If you indicated that the tag-based cost model must be included in the regular VM chargeback calculations, then you will see the Fixed Costs column in the report. This column retrieves the cost that you indicated in the tag-based cost model.

Exporting the Monthly Resource Accounting Details

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Chargeback.

Step 2

Choose the Resource Accounting tab.

Step 3

Click the Export Report icon on the right side of the toolbar. The Export Report dialog box appears.

Step 4

From the drop-down list, choose a format: PDF, CSV, or XLS.

Step 5

Click Generate Report.
After the report is generated, the Download option appears.

Step 6

Click Download to open the report in another browser.
After the report opens in another browser, you can save it on your system.

Exporting VM Level Resource Accounting Details

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Chargeback.

Step 2

Choose the Resource Accounting Details tab.

Step 3

On the right side of the toolbar, click the Export Report icon. The Export Report dialog box appears.

Step 4

From the drop-down list, choose a format: PDF, CSV, or XLS.

Step 5

Click Generate Report.
After the report is generated, the Download option appears.

Step 6

Click Download to open the report in another browser.
After the report opens in another browser, you can save it on your system.

Exporting VM Level Chargeback Details

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Chargeback.

Step 2

Choose the Chargeback tab.

Step 3

On the right side of the toolbar, click the Export Report icon. The Export Report dialog box appears.

Step 4

From the drop-down list, choose a format: PDF, CSV, or XLS.

Step 5

Click Generate Report.
After the report is generated, the Download option appears.

Step 6

Click Download to open the report in another browser.
After the report opens in another browser, you can save it on your system.

About Change Records

You can use change records within the Change Management Database (CMDB) to track and manage changes in the system. These records typically display ADD, DELETE, and MODIFY types of events on any resource, such as a VM, service request, or group.

Change records display information about the resource type (VM), including the resource name, change type, change time, and description. When a VM is resized, the change records display information on the resources that were resized. This includes information on the original resource size and the resized values. You can view this information from the Change Records tab.

- Accessing Change Records

Accessing Change Records

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Integration.

Step 2

Choose the Change Records tab.

Chargeback Calculations

The total cost calculated for a VM includes the following:

Total cost = active VM cost or inactive VM cost + one-time cost + CPU cost + memory cost + disk cost + CPU reserved cost + memory reserved cost + CPU used cost + CPU core cost + memory used cost + network received used cost + network transmitted used cost + application cost.

If a VM is associated with a tag, and has a cost model and a tag-based cost model associated with the vDCs, then the chargeback calculation is derived as follows:

- When the Include VM in Regular Chargeback check box is not checked, only the tag-based cost is calculated.

Total Cost - Fixed Cost + One-Time Cost

- When the Include VM in Regular Chargeback check box is checked, the total cost is calculated including the tag-based cost and the regular chargeback computation.

Total Cost = active VM cost or inactive VM cost + one-time cost + CPU cost + memory cost + disk cost + CPU reserved cost + memory reserved cost + CPU used cost + CPU core cost + memory used cost + network received used cost + network transmitted used cost + application cost + Fixed Cost

Note

The one-time cost for the VM is determined from the cost specified in the tag-based cost model. If you have not specified a one time cost in the tag-based cost model, then this cost is derived from the regular cost model.

The total cost calculated for a physical server includes the following:

Total cost = one time cost + CPU cost + memory cost + memory used cost + committed disk cost + CPU core cost + full blade cost + half blade cost.

The VM cost calculation is done only on an hourly basis. There is no other option available to calculate the VM cost. The cost for each resource is calculated based on the values that are defined in the cost model. The cost calculations are based as follows:

Cost

Cost Description

Active VM Cost

The value defined in the cost model for the active VM cost.

Inactive VM Cost

The value defined in the cost model for the inactive VM cost.

One Time Cost

The value defined in the cost model for the one-time cost.

CPU Cost

CPU usage (provisioned) × cost that is defined in the cost model for the provisioned CPU cost. The CPU charge unit is GHz.

Memory Cost

Memory usage (provisioned) × cost that is defined in the cost model for the provisioned memory cost. The memory charge unit is GB.

Disk Cost

The committed storage × committed storage cost that is defined in the cost model + uncommitted storage × uncommitted storage cost that is defined in the cost model. The storage charge unit is GB.

CPU Reserved Cost

The reserved CPU × cost that is defined in the cost model for the reserved CPU cost.1.

Memory Reserved Cost

The reserved memory × cost that is defined in the cost model for the reserved memory cost.2.

CPU Used Cost

The used CPU × cost that is defined in the cost model for the used CPU cost.1.

CPU Core Cost

The used CPU core × cost that is defined in the cost model for the CPU core cost. The CPU charge unit is per core.

Memory Used Cost

The used memory × cost that is defined in the cost model for the used memory cost.2.

Network Received Used Cost

The network received usage in KB / (1024.0 × 1024.0) × cost that is defined in the cost model for the received network data cost. The network charge unit is GB.

Network Transferred Used Cost

The network transmitted usage in KB / (1024.0 × 1024.0) × cost that is defined in the cost model for the transmitted network data cost.5.

Application Cost

The active VM hours × cost that is defined in a catalog for active VM application cost + inactive VM hours × cost that is defined in a catalog for the inactive VM application cost.

Full-length Blade Cost

The cost of full-length blade servers per-hour. This cost is applicable only for physical servers.

This is applicable only for physical servers that are part of an application container.

Half-Length Blade Cost

The cost of half-length blade servers per-hour. This cost is applicable only for physical servers.

This is applicable only for physical servers that are part of an application container.

Fixed Cost USD

The fixed cost, per-hour, determined for the VM.

This is applicable only if you have indicated that the tag-based cost model should be included with the regular cost model for the VM.

Chapter 14. System Monitoring and Reporting

This chapter contains the following sections:

- Dashboard

- Summary

- Inventory Management

- Resource Pools

- Clusters

- Images

- Host Nodes

- Virtual Machines (VMs)

- Topology

- Assessment

- Reports

Dashboard

In Cisco UCS Director, you can enable the Dashboard option in the user interface. On this Dashboard page, you can add important, or frequently accessed report widgets. If you have enabled the Dashboard option, then this is the first window that you see when you log in to the user interface.

- Enabling the Dashboard

- Adding Report Widgets

- Refreshing Widget Data

Enabling the Dashboard

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

At the top right of the window, click admin.

Step 2

Choose the Dashboard tab.

Step 3

Check the Enable Dashboard check box.

Step 4

Click Apply.

Adding Report Widgets

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the tab with the type of report you want to view.

Step 4

At the top right of a report, click the down arrow.

Step 5

Choose Add to Dashboard.

Refreshing Widget Data

After enabling the Dashboard option, you can set a refresh interval to the widgets on this page. Automatic refresh can occur at intervals from a minimum of 5 minutes to a maximum of 60 minutes.

The Automatic Refresh button on the dashboard should be set to ON to configure the interval.

Summary

The Summary window allows you to manage system inventory. It gives you access to a wide array of tabular, graphical, and map reports, and also helps in managing inventory lifecycle actions.

Each report is displayed as a widget. Reports can be hidden through customization.

- Viewing Virtual Machine, Cloud, and System Summary Information

- Customizing Summary Report Widgets

Viewing Virtual Machine, Cloud, and System Summary Information

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the Summary tab.
All information is displayed in the form of tables, graphs, and charts.

Customizing Summary Report Widgets

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the Summary tab.

Step 3

Click the Customize icon to bring up the available report widgets.

Step 4

Click and drag a widget onto the Dashboard.

Step 5

Double-click the report to expand the view, or click the top right side of a report and choose Expand View.

Step 6

Adjust the size of the reports displayed on the Dashboard by using the slide bar.

Inventory Management

You can monitor the system inventory using the Dashboard. The Dashboard displays the entire system level infrastructure information for administrative management.

- Accessing System Inventory Details

Accessing System Inventory Details

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose any of the tabs to view detailed information.
Following is a list of some of the tabs visible for each cloud:

- Summary

- Polling

- VDCs

- Clusters

- Host Nodes

- Resource Pools

- VMs

- VM Action Requests

- Events

- Assessment

- Application Categories

- Data Centers

- SRM Sites

Resource Pools

The Resource Pools tab shows resource details at the host node level. These details include the CPU configured reservation, CPU limit, CPU used, and memory used.

- Accessing Resource Details

Accessing Resource Details

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose the cloud name or choose All Clouds.

Step 3

Choose the Resource Pools tab.
All the resource pools for the selected cloud are displayed. You can select a resource pool and click View Details to view detailed information of each resource pool.

Clusters

If a pod includes clusters, then the Clusters tab displays all the cluster-related information.

- Accessing Clusters

Accessing Clusters

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose All Clouds in the left panel, or choose a specific cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the Clusters tab.
All clusters available in the selected cloud accounts are displayed. You can select a specific cluster, and click View Details.

Images

The Images tab displays all available image IDs and their details. These images include guest OS, CPU, memory, and storage provisioned. You can use these image IDs to provision new virtual machines (VMs). If you are a group administrator, or an MSP administrator, then the Images tab displays images that have been assigned to your group.

If you select a specific VMware cloud account, and select the Images tab, you can assign images to groups or to individual users. Images assigned to a particular group or user are displayed when administrators of the relevant group log in to the system.

- Accessing Images

- Assigning VM Images to Users or Groups

Accessing Images

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose All Clouds from the left panel, or choose a specific cloud account.

Step 3

Choose the Images tab.
A list of images associated with the selected clouds is displayed. You can select a specific image and click View Details.

Assigning VM Images to Users or Groups

As an administrator, you can assign specific VM images to users or groups. The assignments filter the images that are displayed when you perform VM provisioning tasks, such as creating catalogs.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose a VMware cloud and choose the Images tab.

Step 3

Choose an image from the table.

Step 4

Choose Assign Image to Group.

Step 5

To assign an image to a group, in the Assign Image to Group dialog box, click Select to check the names of the groups.

Step 6

To assign an image to individual users, in the Assign Image to Group dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Assign to Users check box

Check the check box to assign the image to specific users.

User field

Click Select to check the names of users to whom you want to assign the image.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Step 8

Click OK.

Host Nodes

The Host Nodes tab displays all physical host nodes that are available in the infrastructure. The tab lists details such as the ESX/ESXi version installed, active VMs, and power status.

- Accessing Host Nodes

Accessing Host Nodes

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the Host Nodes tab.

Step 3

From the drop-down list, choose a Report type on the toolbar.

Virtual Machines (VMs)

The VMs tab displays all the VMs and VM-specific details for the chosen cloud.

- Accessing VMs

- Accessing Group Level VMs

Accessing VMs

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the VMs tab.
All virtual machines for all cloud accounts are displayed. You can perform additional tasks on these VMs such as launching VM client or powering off VMs. For more information, see Managing VM Actions.

Accessing Group Level VMs

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Organizations > Virtual Resources.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose a group and then choose the VMs tab.
All virtual machines for the selected group are displayed. You can perform additional tasks on these VMs such as launching VM client or powering off VMs. For more information, see Managing VM Actions.

Topology

The Topology tab displays VMware cloud topology. There are four view mode types: Hierarchical, Concentric, Circular, and Force Directed. Depending on the mode, you can adjust the item spacing, distance, radius, rigidity, and force distance.

- Accessing Topology Types

Accessing Topology Types

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the Topology tab.

Step 4

Choose one of the topology types: Hostnode-Datastore Topology, or Hostnode-VM Topology.

Step 5

On the toolbar, click the View Connectivity button. The topology appears in a new window.
Note:
Not all of the topology types are displayed.

Assessment

The Assessment tab displays assessment reports, including cloud readiness, virtualization best practices, performance optimization, capacity, and power optimization.

- Accessing Assessments

Accessing Assessments

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the Assessment tab.

Step 4

From the Report drop-down list, choose a report type.

Reports

Cisco UCS Director can help you monitor virtual infrastructure and system resources. It displays a wide variety of reports that provide insight into how the system is performing

Following are the types of reports:

- Tabular reports for system information, including overview, host nodes, new VMs, and deleted VMs.

- Bar and pie graph comparisons, including VMs active versus inactive, and CPU provisioned versus capacity.

- Trend graphs about system resources, including CPU trends, memory trends, and VM additions and deletions.

- Other reports include Top 5 reports at the group, VDC, host node, and VM levels. The Top 5 reports focus on groups with the highest number of VMs, groups with the greatest CPU usage, VDCs with the highest number of VMs, and host nodes with the greatest CPU usage.

- Map reports, displaying the system resource information in the form of heat maps or color-coded maps.

Additional trend reports are available for certain accounts (for example: KVM accounts). Trend reports display data over a selected time frame.

- Accessing Reports

Accessing Reports

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the tab with the required type of report (Map, Top 5, or More Reports).

Chapter 15. Managing Lifecycles

This chapter contains the following sections:

- Managing VM Power Settings

- Managing VM Snapshots

- Configuring the Lease Time for a Virtual Machine

- Managing VM Actions

- Applying a Tag to a VM

Managing VM Power Settings

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

To bring up virtual machine (VM) actions, choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose an action and the VM Task dialog box appears.

Name

Description

VM Name display-only field

The name of the VM that is the subject of the action.

Power Off display-only field

The task to power off the VM.

Power On display-only field

The task to power on the VM.

Suspend display-only field

The task to put the VM in a suspended state.

Shutdown Guest display-only field

The task to shut down the guest OS on the VM.

Standby display-only field

The task to move the VM into a standby state.
Note:
Not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Reset display-only field

The task to perform a hard reset of the VM.
Note:
Not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Reboot display-only field

The task to perform a soft reboot of the VM.
Note:
Not supported in the RHEV KVM Connector.

Comments field

Enter any comments that help identify the VM.

Schedule Action radio button

The task to power on a VM now or later at a specific date and time.

Step 5

Click Proceed.

Managing VM Snapshots

This process includes the following tasks:

- Create Snapshot—You can create a snapshot of all the VM’s resources in their current state.

- Revert Snapshot—If the VM crashes or malfunctions (For example, if the OS becomes corrupt), you can revert to the most recent snapshot of the VM. Where there are multiple snapshots for a VM, you can revert to a specific snapshot.

- Mark Golden Snapshot—You can mark a specific snapshot for a VM as a Golden Snapshot. This feature protects the snapshot from accidental deletion.

- Delete a Snapshot—You can delete a snapshot, if necessary. A Golden Snapshot must be first unmarked before it can be deleted.

- Delete All Snapshots—You can delete all snapshots for a VM. However, you cannot delete all snapshots if they include Golden Snapshots. You must first unmark any Golden Snapshot and then delete all snapshots.

- Creating VM Snapshots

- Reverting to a Snapshot

- Marking a Golden Snapshot

- Deleting a Snapshot

- Deleting All Snapshots

Creating VM Snapshots

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose a cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow option displayed on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Create Snapshot.

Step 6

In the Create Virtual Machine Snapshot dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Snapshot Name field

The snapshot name.

Snapshot Description field

The snapshot description.

Snapshot Memory check box

Check the check box to include the VM memory in the snapshot.

Quiesce Guest File System check box

Check the check box to take the snapshot in quiesce mode.

Note:
Quiescing a file system brings the on-disk data of a physical or virtual computer into a state that is suitable for backups. This process might include operations such as flushing buffers from the operating systems in-memory cache to disk, or other higher-level application-specific tasks. To use this option, VMware Tools must be installed on the VM.

Step 7

Click Proceed.

Reverting to a Snapshot

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Revert Snapshot.

Step 6

In the Revert Snapshot Task dialog box, choose a snapshot from the list by checking the check box that is next to the snapshot name.

Step 7

Click Proceed.

Marking a Golden Snapshot

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow option displayed on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Mark Golden Snapshot.

Step 6

In the Mark Golden Snapshot Task dialog box, check the check box next to the name of the desired snapshot.

Step 7

Check the Mark as Golden Snapshot check box.

Step 8

Click Proceed.

Deleting a Snapshot

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow option displayed on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Delete Snapshot.

Step 6

In the Delete Snapshot Task dialog box, check the check box next to the name of the desired snapshot.

Step 7

Check the Delete Children check box to delete child snapshots of the selected snapshot.

Step 8

Click Proceed.

Deleting All Snapshots

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow option displayed on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Delete All Snapshots.

Step 6

In the VM Snapshot Task dialog box, enter an optional comment.

Step 7

Click Proceed.

Configuring the Lease Time for a Virtual Machine

A user can configure a lease expiration time for a selected virtual machine (VM). Once the lease time expires, the VM is powered down. The lease time end is a calendar selection.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM.

Step 5

On the toolbar, click the Configure Lease Time button.

Step 6

In the Configure Lease Time dialog box, check the Set Lease Time check box. Complete the following fields:

Name

Description

VM Name field

The name specified while creating the VM.

Once entered, you cannot edit the name of the VM.

Lease Date/Time calendar, drop-down lists, radio buttons

The lease date and time for the VM. There are calendars for the Date, drop-down lists for the Time (hour and minute), and radio buttons for AM or PM.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Managing VM Actions

After creating a VM, you can perform additional tasks on it, by using menus available in the user interface. You can access these menus in one of the following ways:

- Right clicking on a VM to view a list of limited options,

- Choosing a VM and clicking the down arrow option on the toolbar for a complete list of options.

Following are the other VM actions:

- View VM Details—You can access individual VMs to view details, such as summary reports, vNICs, disks, and snapshots.

- Stack View—You can view stacks of information about a particular VM including, OS, hypervisor, and infrastructure information.

- Delete a VM—You can delete a VM from the list. Only a powered-off VM can be deleted.

- Create a VM Disk—You can add an additional disk with a custom size to a VM.

- Delete a VM Disk—You can delete a disk.

- Add vNICs—You can add multiple vNICs to a VM. You also have the option to add or replace a vNIC in a VM. The options for vNICs depend on the network policy mapped to the VDC associated with the VM.

- Launch VM Client—You can set up either web access, remote desktop, or VNC console preferences for a VM.

- Assign VM—You can assign a VM to a group or VDC and modify the category of the VM. You can set the provisioning time, termination time, and label for a VM.

- Access VM Credentials—You can access a VM’s login credentials when it is set up for web or remote desktop access, but only if the administrator provides the privileges in the catalog from which the VM is provisioned.

- Inventory Collection Request for VM—You can choose a VM and request on-demand inventory collection.

- Test VNC—You can test VNC connectivity, for troubleshooting purposes.

- Clone—You can clone or make a copy of an existing VM to make a new VM with the same or similar qualities.

- Move a VM to VDC—You can move a VM to a VDC so that the rules of the VDC system policy are followed in the VM.

- VM Resync—You can choose to set the number of minutes to have a VM resynchronize its time periodically with Cisco UCS Director.

- Viewing VM Details

- Resizing VMs

- Using the Stack View Option

- Creating a VM Disk

- Adding vNICs

- Replacing a vNIC

- Launching the VM Client

- Enabling the VNC Console on a VM

- Unconfiguring the VNC Console on a VM

- Accessing VM Console using VNC Client

- Configuring ESX/ESXi Server for VNC Access to VM Console

- Assigning a VM

- VM Credentials

- Initiating Inventory Collection for a VM

- Testing VNC Connectivity

- Cloning a VM

- Moving a VM to VDC

- Resynchronizing a VM

- Locking VMs in Cisco UCS Director

Viewing VM Details

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM from the list.

Step 5

On the toolbar, click the View Details button.

Resizing VMs

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow button displayed on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Resize VM.

Step 6

In the Resize VM dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

VM Name field

The name of the selected VM.

Current Allocated CPU field

The number of allocated CPUs being used by the VM.

Current Allocated Memory (GB) field

The amount of memory allocated to the VM.

New CPU Count drop-down list

Choose the CPU required.

New Memory drop-down list

Choose the amount of memory.

Current CPU Cost (Currency: USD) field

Displays the current CPU cost per-hour.

This value is calculated based on the currently allocated CPU for the VM.

Current Memory Cost (Currency: USD) field

Displays the current memory cost per-hour.

This value is calculated based on the currently allocated memory for the VM.

New CPU Cost (Currency: USD) field

Displays the CPU cost per-hour based on the CPU count specified for the VM.

New Memory Cost (Currency: USD)

Displays the memory cost per-hour based on the memory specified for the VM.

Step 7

Click Resize.

Using the Stack View Option

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

On the toolbar, click the Stack View button.

Creating a VM Disk

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

In the navigation pane, choose a cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

Click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar, and choose Create VM Disk from the drop-down list.

Step 6

In the Create VM Disk dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

VM Name field

The name of the VM.

Once entered, the VM name cannot be edited.

New Disk Size (GB) field

The disk size for the VM, in GB.

Select Disk Type drop-down list

Choose the disk type. It can be one of the following:

- System

- Swap

- Data

- Database

- Log

Select Datastore/Datastore Cluster drop-down list

Specify if the VM disk should be created from a datastore or a datastore cluster.

Select Datastore field

Click Select and choose which datastore you want to use to create the VM disk.

Note:
The available datastores depend upon the storage policy associated with the VDC. Only datastores that meet the criteria specified in the storage policy are available for the VM disk.

This field is only available if you specify that the VM disk should be created from a datastore.

Select Datastore Cluster field

Click Select and choose which datastore cluster you want to use to create the VM disk.

Note:
The available datastore clusters depend upon the storage policy associated with the VDC. Only datastore clusters that meet the criteria specified in the storage policy are available for the VM disk.

This field is only available if you specify that the VM disk should be created from a datastore cluster.

Thin Provision check box

Check the check box to add a thin provisioned disk to the VM.

Note:
Thin provisioning enables dynamic allocation of the physical storage capacity to increase VM storage utilization.

Compute New Disk Cost field

This option calculates and displays the disk cost, per hour, based on the new disk size and the datastore you have specified for the VM disk.

Step 7

Click Create.

Adding vNICs

Note

When you add a vNIC VM, the values of the Port Group Name and Adapter Type parameters are modified. The IP address of the VM is changed only if DHCP is enabled on the selected port group. However, the IP address is not modified if it is sourced from a static pool policy.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Add vNICs.

Step 6

In the Add VM vNICS window, choose Add from the Operation drop-down list.
This addition is not allowed if the vNIC limit configured in the network policy will be exceeded.

Step 7

Click Add (+).

Step 8

In the Add Entry to VM Networks dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

NIC Alias drop-down list

Choose a NIC alias from the list.

Port Group Type display-only drop-down list

Choose a port group from the list.

Port Group Name drop-down list

Choose a port group name from the list.

Adapter Type display-only drop-down list

Choose the adapter type.

The choice is available only if the NIC alias does not have Copy Adapter Type from Template chosen in the network policy.

DHCP check box

If this field is checked, then the IP is assigned using DHCP.

Static IP Pool field

The static IP address pool.

Network Mask field

The network mask.

Gateway IP Address field

The gateway IP address.

Note:
The NIC Alias, Port Group Name, Adapter Type, DHCP, and Static IP Pool choices depend on the settings in the network policies associated with the VM (VM’s VDC). For more information about multiple NIC network policies, see Managing Policies.

The VM is powered down to perform this action. The VM will power up once the action is completed.

Step 9

Click Submit.

Replacing a vNIC

Note

When you replace a vNIC VM, the values for the Port Group Name and Adapter Type parameters are modified. The IP address of the VM is changed only if DHCP is enabled on the selected port group. However, the IP address is not modified if it is sourced from a static pool policy.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Add vNICs.

Step 6

In the Add VM vNICS window, choose Replace from the Operation drop-down list.
This replacement is not allowed if the additional vNIC limit configured in the network policy will be exceeded.

Step 7

Choose a vNIC.

Step 8

In the Add vNIC dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

NIC Alias drop-down list

Choose a NIC alias.

Only the vNICs configured in the network policy are visible here.

Port Group Name drop-down list

Choose a port group name from the list.

Adapter Type display-only drop-down list

Choose the adapter type.

The choice is available only if the choice of the NIC alias does not have Copy Adapter Type from Template chosen in the network policy.

DHCP check box

Check the check box if you want the IP assigned using DHCP.

Static IP Pool field

The static IP address pool.

Network Mask field

The network mask.

Gateway IP Address field

The gateway IP address.

Step 9

Click Submit.
Note:
The VM is powered down to perform this action. The VM is powered up once the action is completed. The Replace task removes all existing vNICs from the VM and replaces them with the vNICs that were added.

The NIC Alias, Port Group Name, Adapter Type, DHCP, and Static IP Pool choices depend on the settings in the network policy associated with the VM (VM’s VDC). For more information about multiple NIC network policies, see Managing Policies.

Launching the VM Client

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM from the list.

Step 5

On the toolbar, choose Launch VM Client.

Step 6

In the Launch Client dialog box, choose an access scheme for the VM Client.
If a VM is provisioned through Cisco UCS Director, the access schemes displayed in this dialog box are defined by the options enabled in the catalog used to provision the VM.

For a VM that is discovered, the options, Remote Desktop, Web Access, VMRC Console (Browser Plug-in), and VMRC Console (Standalone Plug-in) are displayed. The VNC Console option is displayed only if you have chosen the Configure VNC Console option for the VM.

Step 7

Click Proceed.

Enabling the VNC Console on a VM

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Configure VNC.

Step 6

In the Configure VNC dialog box, choose a keyboard mapping language from the drop down.

- French (Switzerland)

- Japanese

- US English

- Italian

- Icelandic

- UK English

- French (Belgium)

- German (Switzerland)

- German

- Spanish

- Norwegian

- Finnish

- Polish

Step 7

Click Submit.

Step 8

Click OK.
The system automatically configures VNC console access to a VM when a request is submitted.

Unconfiguring the VNC Console on a VM

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Unconfigure VNC.

Step 6

In the Unconfigure VNC dialog box, click Submit.

Step 7

Click OK.
Cisco UCS Director automatically unconfigures VNC and disables VNC console access to the selected VM when the request is submitted. The assigned VNC port is released.

Accessing VM Console using VNC Client

The VNC client is an Ajax-based application that provides access to a VM console. The console window can be launched by using any standalone web browser. It does not require a dedicated browser plug-in and it provides full VM control capabilities. However, you must disable pop-up blockers in the browser for the VNC console to launch.

Note

If the access to a VM is secured through the https protocol, the VNC console does not launch in Internet Explorer. For accessing VMs secured through the https protocol, use the Chrome or Firefox browser to launch the VNC console.

Before You Begin

- You must configure ESX/ESXi server for VNC access to VM console. For information on how to do this, see Click Here .

- Cisco UCS Director provides automatic configuration of the VM console access using VNC client. To configure, you must open ports 5901-6000 in the ESX/ESXi server to the Cisco UCS Director appliance.

- Import a self-signed certificate or a CA certificate using Cisco UCS Director admin shell. Importing a certificate enables secured access to the VM console using the VNC client. For more information on importing certificates, see the Cisco UCS Director Shell Guide available at the following link:

Click Here

- Disable pop-up blockers in your browser.

Note

VMware with ESX 4.x and ESXi 5.x versions is supported for configuring VM console access using the VNC client.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM from the list.

Step 5

On the toolbar, choose Launch VM Client.

Step 6

In the Launch Client dialog box, choose VNC Console as the Access Schema.
Note:
If this VM is deployed using a catalog, then the access schemes displayed for the VM are those that were specified while creating the catalog.

Step 7

Click Proceed.
Tip:
If the screen is blank, click in the black area and press Enter.

Configuring ESX/ESXi Server for VNC Access to VM Console

VMware with ESX 4.x and ESXi 5.x versions is supported to configure VNC access to the VM console.

Step 1

Log in to ESXi5.x host.

Step 2

Using the shell, disable the firewall configuration.

Step 3

Copy and paste the following XML configuration to the vnc.xml file.

# cat /etc/vmware/firewall/vnc.xml
<!-- Firewall configuration information for VNC -->
<ConfigRoot>
<service>
<id>VNC</id>
<rule id='0000'>
<direction>inbound</direction>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<porttype>dst</porttype>
<port>
<begin>5901</begin>
<end>6000</end>
</port>
</rule>
<rule id='0001'>
<direction>outbound</direction>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<porttype>dst</porttype>
<port>
<begin>0</begin>
<end>65535</end>
</port>
</rule>
<enabled>true</enabled>
<required>false</required>
</service>
</ConfigRoot>

Note:
This vnc.xml file is available when VNC is enabled for the host. If this file is not available, then create a vnc.xml file, add the configuration lines mentioned in this procedure, and save the file.

Step 4

Refresh the firewall rules and verify that the new configuration is accurately loaded.

~ # esxcli network firewall refresh
~ # esxcli network firewall ruleset list | grep VNC
VNC   true #****************************************

Step 5

Repeat these steps on all ESXi hosts in an ESXi cluster.

Assigning a VM

You can assign a resource or a VM to a user group. If the resource or VM is in a VMWare cloud, then you can also assign it to a specific end user in Cisco UCS Director.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Click the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM from the list.

Step 5

On the toolbar, click the Assign VM button.

Step 6

In the Assign VM dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

VM Name field

The name of the VM.

VM Ownership Section

Customer Organizations radio button

Select this radio button to assign the VM to a specific group.

Cutomer Organizations field

Click Select to choose the specific user group to which you want to assign the VM.

This field is visible only when you select the Customer Organizations radio button.

Note:
Only groups that have valid vDCs are displayed.

User radio button

Select this radio button to assign the VM to a specific user.

User field

Click Select to choose the user to whom you want to assign the VM. This list is populated with users from groups that allow resource assignment to users.

VM Access Sharing Section

Users with Access Privilege field

Click Select to choose users who can only access VM information.

The selected users can only access the VM. They cannot perform any administrative actions

This option is only available if the User radio button is selected and you have selected a specific user for this VM.

Users with Manage Privilege field

Click Select to choose users who can only manage the VM.

The selected users can perform administrative tasks on the VM.

This option is only available if the User radio button is selected and you have selected a specific user for this VM.

General Assignment Information Section

VDC drop-down list

Choose the VDC.

Category drop-down list

Choose the category for the VM.

VM User Label field

The VM label if required.

Set Provision Time check box

Check the check box to set a specific provisioning time for the VM.

Provision Date/Time calendar, drop-down lists, radio buttons

The VM’s provisioning date and time. There are calendars for the Date, drop-down lists for the Time (hour and minute), and radio buttons for AM or PM.

This option appears when Set Provision Time is checked.

Comments field

Add any comments about the task, if necessary.

Step 7

Click Assign.

Step 8

Click OK.

VM Credentials

The web or remote access login credentials for a VM can only be viewed if the administrator provides the necessary privileges in the Catalog from which the VM is provisioned.

- Viewing VM Credentials

Viewing VM Credentials

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM from the list.

Step 5

On the toolbar, click the Access VM Credentials button.

Initiating Inventory Collection for a VM

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Inventory Collection.

Step 6

Click Submit.

Testing VNC Connectivity

Testing VNC connectivity is used for troubleshooting purposes. A successful test for VNC connectivity displays the host node IP address and VNC port number. For example: VNC connectivity intact at 172.16.0.1:5921.

However if connectivity fails, a failure message displays. For example: VM is not configured for VNC yet.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Test VNC.

Step 6

In the Test VNC Connectivity dialog box, click Submit.

Step 7

Use the result to troubleshoot VNC connectivity.
Note:
If connectivity fails, then there is no VNC port assigned to the VM IP address. For more information, see Enabling the VNC Console on a VM.

Cloning a VM

Cloning a VM allows you to create a new VM in the system, by using some of the parameters defined in an existing VM. The cloning option helps you create a VM faster, especially if you need to modify only a few parameters of an existing VM. The name that you specify for the cloned VM is defined by the system policy.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Clone.

Step 6

In the Clone VM dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Select Group drop-down list

Choose a predefined group to clone. The Default Group is chosen by default.

Assign to User check box

Check this check box to assign the VM to a specific user.

This option is visible only if resource assignment to end users is enabled for the group share policy that is applied to the selected user group. For more information on creating a group share policy, see Creating a Group Share Policy.

User drop-down list

Select the user to whom this VM needs to be assigned.

Note:
Currently, only VMs that are in a VMWare cloud can be assigned to a specific end user.

Use Linked Clone check box

Check this check box to clone a VM from a linked clone.

Note:
A linked clone is a copy of a virtual machine that shares virtual disks with the parent VM. A linked clone is made from a snapshot of the parent VM. A linked clone must have access to the parent VM. Without access to the parent VM, a linked clone is disabled.

Select Snapshot Type drop-down list

Select the snapshot that is associated with the linked clone.

You can choose one of the following:

- Existing Snapshot

- New Snapshot

Select Existing Snapshot field

Click Select to view a list of existing snapshots.

Select a snapshot from the list, and click Select.

Note:
This field appears only when you select Existing Snapshot.

Snapshot Name field

Specify a name for the snapshot.

Note:
This field appears only when you select New Snapshot.

Perform deployment assessment check box

Check this check box to perform an assessment of the budget allocation, resource limits and resource availability prior to cloning a VM. After you check this check box, the summary of the assessment is displayed in the Deployment Assessment pane.

Note:
This option is visible only for VMware clouds.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

In the Customization Options pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Category drop-down list

Choose the required VM category.

Credential Options drop-down list

Choose to allow or disallow users to retrieve VM access credentials (shared).

The Do not share option is chosen if the administrator wants to send the credentials privately to another user outside Cisco UCS Director.

Provision all disks in a single datastore check box

Check this check box to have provision all the VM disk in the previously configured single datastore.

User ID field

The user ID.

This option appears when you choose either of the share options under Credential Options.

Password field

The user password.

This option appears when you choose either of the share options under Credential Options.

Automatic Guest Customization check box

The Enable check box is checked.

Post Provisioning Custom Actions check box

Click Enable to attach a workflow. The Workflow drop-down list appears with a list of workflows to choose from. The chosen workflow will initiate when provisioning starts.

VM App Charge Frequency drop-down list

Choose Hourly or Monthly.

Active VM Application Cost field

The cost for the application that is included in the template.

Inactive VM Application Cost field

The cost to this catalog of a VM in inactive state per hour or month.

Step 9

Click Next.

Step 10

In the Deployment Configuration pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Select VDC drop-down list

Choose a VDC containing the policies you want for the VM.

Comment field

Optionally, enter a description of the VDC.

Provision drop-down list

Choose Now to provision the VDC now or choose Later to provision the VDC later.

If you choose Later, then fields to specify the date and time appear.

Lease Time check box

Check the check box to configure a lease expiration time.

Days field

Specify the number of days for the lease time.

Note:
This field appears only when you select the Lease Time checkbox

Hours field

Specify the number of hours for the lease time.

Note:
This field appears only when you select the Lease Time checkbox

Step 11

Click Next.

Step 12

In the Custom Specification pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

CPU Cores drop-down list

Choose the CPU cores for the VM being provisioned.

Memory drop-down list

Choose the amount of memory for the VM being provisioned.

Step 13

Click Next.

Step 14

In the Select Datastores pane, complete the following field:

Name

Description

VM Disks pencil icon

Click the VM Disks pencil icon (if a disk is available) to assign any applicable datastores to the applicable disk.

You can also resize the VM disks from this pane.

Step 15

In the Edit VM Disks Entry pane, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Disk Name

The name of the VM disk to which datastores are assigned.

Disk Type

Choose the VM disk type. For example: System.

Selected Datastores

Choose the datastores that you want for this VM disk. The datastore choices that appear are from the data storage policy associated with the VDC.

Do not resize check box

Check this check box if you do not want the disks resized before cloning the VM.

If you check this check box, then the Size drop-down list is no longer visible.

Size drop-down list

Specify the new size of the disk while cloning the VM.

Note:
You can edit the size of the disk if you have enabled the Allow Resizing of Disk check box in the storage policy.

Step 16

Click Submit.

Step 17

Click Next.

Step 18

In the Select VM Networks pane, click the VM Networks pencil icon to edit a VM network.
Note:
The Select VM Networks pane is empty unless the Allow end user to select optional NICs check box is chosen in the network policy.

Step 19

In the Select dialog box, choose the cloud(s) that you want associated with the VM.

Step 20

Click Submit.

Step 21

If you checked the Perform deployment assessment check box, then review the report of the assessment displayed in the Deployment Assessment pane.
If this assessment report identifies errors, then you must return to the previous panes and rectify the errors before submitting the request. If the assessment report shows no errors, then click Next.

Step 22

Review the cloned VM information in the Summary pane.

Step 23

Click Submit.
The cloned VM gets its new name from the VDC policy.

Moving a VM to VDC

A VM is moved to a VDC so that the rules of the VDC system policy are followed in the VM. The existing VM is replaced by the one that is moved to the VDC.

Note

The old VM is deleted. The new VM name is given according to the system policy.

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Move VM to VDC.

Step 6

In the Move VM to VDC dialog box, you can make modifications to the VM that you are moving in the same way you did when cloning a VDC. For more information, see Cloning a VM.

Resynchronizing a VM

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM and click the down arrow button on the right side of the toolbar.

Step 5

From the drop-down list, choose Resync VM.

Step 6

In the Resync VM dialog box, choose the number of minutes from 0 to 30 from the Max Wait Time drop-down list.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Locking VMs in Cisco UCS Director

As an administrator in Cisco UCS Director, you can create a list of VMs that you would like locked. Locking VMs implies preventing actions from running on the specified VMs. These actions could be shutting down, resetting, or powering off VMs.

Step 1

Create an XML file titled VMControls.xml which is similar to the following:

<VMControlList>
--<VMControl>
<ControlType>lock</ControlType>
<MatchType>VM-IPAddress</MatchType>
<MatchValue>19.19.19.19</MatchValue>
<IsRegex>false</IsRegex>
<ContactEmail>admin@admin.com</ContactEmail>
--<Label>
Do not shutdown or delete my machine.
--</Label>
--</VMControl>
--<VMControl>
<ControlType>lock</ControlType>
<MatchType>VM-IPAddress</MatchType>
<MatchValue>19.29.29.29*</MatchValue>
<IsRegex>true</IsRegex>
<ContactEmail>admin@admin.com</ContactEmail>
--<Label>
Do not shutdown or delete this machine.
--</Label>
--</VMControl>
</VMControlList>

Step 2

Host this file on a server that is accessible from the system that is running Cisco UCS Director.

Step 3

On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.

Step 4

Choose the System Parameters tab.

Step 5

In the Download VM Locking Controls From URL field, enter the URL of the XML file.
The URL will look similar to this: <ip_address>:8000/VMControls.xml.

Step 6

Click Save.

Step 7

Choose the System Tasks tab.

Step 8

Search for and select the VM Control List Poller Task.

Step 9

Click Run Now.
This system task downloads the VMControls.xml file and saves it in the inventory database. After this system task is run, actions such as powering off, or shutting down are prevented from running on VMs that match the IP addresses specified in the XML file.

Applying a Tag to a VM

With the introduction of tagging support for a VM, you can manage tags in Cisco UCS Director to categorize and identify specific VMs as firewall VMs or as load balancer VMs.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Virtual > Compute.

Step 2

Choose the cloud name.

Step 3

Choose the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose a VM from the table.

Step 5

On the tool bar, choose Add Tags.

Step 6

In the Add Tags dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Tag Name drop-down list

Choose the tag that you want to apply to the VM.

This drop-down list displays all the tags that you have previously created. You can choose a tag from this list, or create a new tag. For information on creating a tag, see Creating a Tag.

Tag Value drop-down list

Choose a value for the tag.

Step 7

Click Submit.

What to Do Next

You can create a tag-based cost model for the VMs. For more information, see Creating a Tag-Based Cost Model.

Chapter 16. Managing CloudSense Analytics

This chapter contains the following sections:

- CloudSense Analytics

- Generating a Report

- Generating an Assessment

- Report Builder for Custom Report Templates

- Creating a Report Builder Template

- Generating a Report from a Template

- Viewing Reports Generated From a Template

- Emailing Reports Generated From a Template

CloudSense Analytics

CloudSense Analytics in Cisco UCS Director provide visibility into the infrastructure resources utilization, critical performance metrics across the IT infrastructure stack, and capacity in real time. CloudSense significantly improves capacity trending, forecasting, reporting, and planning of virtual and cloud infrastructures.

You can generate the following reports with CloudSense:

- Billing Report for a Customer

- EMC Storage Inventory Report

- NetApp Storage Inventory Report

- NetApp Storage Savings Per Group

- NetApp Storage Savings Report

- Network Impact Assessment Report

- Organizational Usage of Virtual Computing Infrastructure

- PNSC Account Summary Report

- Physical Infrastructure Inventory Report for a Group

- Storage Dedupe Status Report

- Storage Inventory Report For A Group

- Thin Provisioned Space Report

- UCS Data Center Inventory Report

- VM Activity Report by Group

- VMware Host Performance Summary

- Virtual Infrastructure and Assets Report

Note

This is a complete list of reports available in the system. However, the number of reports available in the system for a user depends on the user role. By default, the CloudSense option is not visible to MSP administrators. The system administrator needs to enable this option for MSP administrators. Once this is done, then when an MSP administrator logs in, only reports relevant to customer organizations are displayed.

Generating a Report

Before You Begin

You must be signed into the appliance before completing this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose CloudSense > Reports.

Step 2

From the left panel, choose the report.

Step 3

Click Generate Report.

Step 4

In the Generate Report dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Context drop-down list

Select the group that you want to generate the report for.

Note:
If you are an administrator, then this drop-down list displays all the groups for which you have administrative privileges. For example, if you are an MSP administrator, then this drop-down list displays all the customer groups that you manage. This list does not display any other groups.

Report Label field

You can provide a label for the report to distinguish it from the other reports that you generate.

Step 5

Click Submit.
The report is generated in the system. This generated report is accessible only to you and to users in the groups that you manage. For example, if you are an MSP administrator, then this generated report is not visible to other MSP administrators or groups.

Generating an Assessment

Before You Begin

You must be signed into the appliance before completing this task.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose CloudSense > Assessments.

Step 2

Click Virtual Infrastructure Assessment Report.

Step 3

Click Generate Report.
This step generates a new instant report in either HTML or PDF format.

Report Builder for Custom Report Templates

Using the Report Builder option in Cisco UCS Director, you can create custom report templates to run reports on specific parameters. You can specify the context, the type of report to run, and the duration of the data samples for the report. You can also create multiple templates.

After you have created a report template, you can use it to generate a report in either PDF or HTML formats. You can view custom reports in Cisco UCS Director or you can email reports, either to yourself and to other users in your organization. You can review and archive these reports outside Cisco UCS Director.

In addition to creating a template, you can edit, clone, and delete custom report templates.

Note

You cannot generate daily and hourly trend cost reports using the report builder. You can generate trend reports only for weekly and monthly duration.

Creating a Report Builder Template

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose CloudSense > Report Builder.

Step 2

Click Add Template.

Step 3

In the Add Template dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Name field

The name of the report template.

Description field

A description of the template.

Reports field

Click + to add entries to the reports.

Step 4

In the Add Entry to Reports dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Report Context drop-down list

Choose one of the following options:

- VDC

- Cloud

- Physical Account

- Multi Domain Manager

- Global

- Global Admin

VDC drop-down list

Choose a VDC.

This field is displayed only when the report context is set to VDC.

Clouds drop-down list

Choose a cloud from the drop-down list. This list displays all the clouds that have been previously configured in the system.

This field is displayed only when the report context is set to Cloud.

Physical Accounts drop-down list

Choose a physical account from the drop-down list. This list displays all the accounts that have been previously configured in the system.

This field is displayed only when the report context is set to Physical Accounts.

Multi Domain Manager

Choose a multi-domain manager from the drop-down list. This list displays all the accounts that have been previously configured in the system.

This field is displayed only when the report context is set to Multi Domain Manager.

Reports drop-down list

Click Select to choose the reports that you want included in the template.

This list is filtered depending on the report context that you have selected.

Duration for Trend Reports drop-down list

If you specified VDC as the report context, then choose one of the following durations for the template:

- Hourly

- Daily

- Weekly

- Monthly

If you specified Cloud as the report context, then choose one of the following durations for the template:

- Daily

- Weekly

- Monthly

Step 5

Click Submit.

Step 6

Click OK.

Step 7

In the Add Template dialog box, click Submit.

Step 8

Click OK.

What to Do Next

After you have created a template, you can generate a report based on the template. For more information, see Generating a Report from a Template.

Generating a Report from a Template

Before You Begin

You should have created a report template in the system. For information, see Creating a Report Builder Template.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose CloudSense > Report Builder.

Step 2

Select a template from the table.

Step 3

Choose Generate Report.

Step 4

In the Confirm Report Generation dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Report Title field

A title for the report.

Description field

A description of the report.

Step 5

Click Generate.
The report is generated and saved in the system.

Step 6

Click OK.

What to Do Next

You can view the report that has been generated, and if necessary, email the report.

Viewing Reports Generated From a Template

Before You Begin

You should have created a template, and generated a report using the template.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose CloudSense > Report Builder.

Step 2

Select a template from the table.

Step 3

Click View Reports.
The Custom Reports table displays the reports that have been generated using the template.

Step 4

Select a report from the table.

Step 5

Click View Report.

Step 6

In the View Report dialog box, choose the format in which you would like to view the report.
You can choose either HTML or PDF.

Step 7

Click Submit.
The report opens in a new window.

What to Do Next

You can email the reports to other users in the organization.

Emailing Reports Generated From a Template

You can email a report that is generated from a template to yourself or to other users within the organization.

Before You Begin

- You should have created a template, and generated a report using the template.

- You should have configured your email address during the initial system set-up. Your name and email address identifies you as the sender with the report.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose CloudSense > Report Builder.

Step 2

Select a template from the table.

Step 3

Click View Reports.
The Custom Reports table displays the reports that have been generated using the template.

Step 4

Select a report from the table.

Step 5

Click Email Report.

Step 6

In the Email Report dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

To field

The email address of the recipient.

You can enter multiple email addresses separated by commas.

Subject field

The subject of the email message.

Format drop-down list

Choose the format of the report that will be attached to the email message. You can choose one of the following:

- HTML

- PDF

Step 7

Click Submit.

Step 8

Click OK.
The email message is sent to the recipient.

What to Do Next

If you no longer need the report, you can select it, and click Delete to erase the report from the system.

Preface

This preface contains the following sections:

- Audience

- Conventions

- Documentation Feedback

- Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

Audience

This guide is intended primarily for data center administrators who use Cisco UCS Director and who have responsibilities and expertise in one or more of the following:

- Server administration

- Storage administration

- Network administration

- Network security

- Virtualization and virtual machines

Conventions

Text Type

Indication

GUI elements

GUI elements such as tab titles, area names, and field labels appear in this font.

Main titles such as window, dialog box, and wizard titles appear in this font.

Document titles

Document titles appear in this font.

TUI elements

In a Text-based User Interface, text the system displays appears in this font.

System output

Terminal sessions and information that the system displays appear in this font.

CLI commands

CLI command keywords appear in this font.

Variables in a CLI command appear in this font.

[ ]

Elements in square brackets are optional.

{x | y | z}

Required alternative keywords are grouped in braces and separated by vertical bars.

[x | y | z]

Optional alternative keywords are grouped in brackets and separated by vertical bars.

string

A nonquoted set of characters. Do not use quotation marks around the string or the string will include the quotation marks.

< >

Nonprinting characters such as passwords are in angle brackets.

[ ]

Default responses to system prompts are in square brackets.

!, #

An exclamation point (!) or a pound sign (#) at the beginning of a line of code indicates a comment line.

Note

Means reader take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to material not covered in the document.

Caution

Means reader be careful. In this situation, you might perform an action that could result in equipment damage or loss of data.

Tip

Means the following information will help you solve a problem. The tips information might not be troubleshooting or even an action, but could be useful information, similar to a Timesaver.

Timesaver

Means the described action saves time. You can save time by performing the action described in the paragraph.

Warning

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

This warning symbol means danger. You are in a situation that could cause bodily injury. Before you work on any equipment, be aware of the hazards involved with electrical circuitry and be familiar with standard practices for preventing accidents. Use the statement number provided at the end of each warning to locate its translation in the translated safety warnings that accompanied this device.

SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS

Documentation Feedback

To provide technical feedback on this document, or to report an error or omission, please send your comments to ucs-director-docfeedback@cisco.com. We appreciate your feedback.

Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

For information on obtaining documentation, submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, see the monthly What's New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco technical documentation.

Subscribe to the What's New in Cisco Product Documentation as a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed and set content to be delivered directly to your desktop using a reader application. The RSS feeds are a free service and Cisco currently supports RSS version 2.0.

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