Resource Groups
You can use a resource group to select the appropriate resources for a tenant based on the requirements of an application. Additional concepts, such as a service offering, tenant profile, application profile, and resource group, are all required. Using these resource group concepts, you can onboard tenants and deploy applications based on a dynamic selection of resources. You can share resources in a resource group across tenants or you can dedicate them to a specific tenant.
A resource group is a pool of resources. Each group can contain physical infrastructure resources, virtual infrastructure resources, or a combination of physical and virtual infrastructure resources. Resource groups enable you to onboard tenants into Cisco UCS Director with minimum intervention.
As an infrastructure administrator or system administrator, you can add physical or virtual accounts to a resource group one at a time. Also, you can assign a pod to a resource group where all the accounts in the pod are added to the resource group. For more information about assigning a pod to a resource group, see Adding a Pod to a Resource Group.
When an account is added to a resource group, the resource group by default announces all the capabilities and capacities for objects for that account as resource group entity capacities and capabilities. With Cisco UCS Director, you can selectively disable certain capacities or capabilities from the resource group.
Environment Variables
You can configure the environment variable for each resource. These environment variables are used during provisioning of the tenant onboarding and application deployment.
You can set the following default environment variables for both virtual and physical accounts. Also, you can add an environment variable in Cisco UCS Director and use the environment variable in the resource group. For more information on how to add an environment variable, see Adding a Custom Environment Variable.
![]() Note |
The listed environment variables are not required for every workflow. The subset of required environment variables depends on the use case and the specific workflow(s) being executed. |
Virtual Compute Environment Variables
Environment Variable |
Description |
Sample Value |
---|---|---|
Container Parent Folder |
The folder to which you want to add the newly created container. |
APIC |
IP Subnet Pool Policy |
The APIC container uses an IP subnet pool policy that is defined in Cisco UCS Director. Each tier inside the container gets a unique subnet address from the IP subnet pool policy. This environment variable is used for container provisioning. |
IP-Pool |
Virtual Storage Environment Variables
No environment variables are required for virtual storage.
Virtual Network Environment Variables
Environment Variable |
Description |
Sample Value |
---|---|---|
VMM Domain for VMware |
VMware vCenter is configured ACI-vCenter with the Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) domain. When VMware vCenter is associated with Cisco APIC, a distributed virtual switch (DVS) with the same name is created in VMware vCenter. This environment variable is used for tenant onboarding. Choose VMM domain with Cisco AV switch to support AVS in VXLAN mode. Cisco UCS Director offers AVS support in both VLAN and VXLAN mode. The VM gets the VLAN ID or VXLAN ID from the pool assigned to the VMM domain. |
ACI-Bldg4-1-vCenter |
DV Switch |
Choose either DV switch or Cisco AV switch according to the requirement. The DV switch is available on the vCenter account and is used to connect the selected host during onboarding. The Cisco AV switch is used to support AVS in VXLAN mode. This environment variable is used for tenant onboarding. |
virt_switch |
Physical Compute Environment Variables
Environment Variable |
Description |
Sample Value |
---|---|---|
Physical Domain for UCS |
The physical domain for Cisco UCS. This environment variable is used for bare metal provisioning. |
Phys |
VLAN Pool |
The VLAN pool from which you want to assign a VLAN ID for the account. |
ACI3-Eng-VLAN-Pool |
iSCSI PXE Boot Service Profile Template |
The template used for creating the host service profile on which you want to provision bare metal. This environment variable is used for bare metal provisioning on a NetApp storage system. |
DR_UCSM;org-root;org-root/l s-ACI-DR-Hosts |
Service Profile Template for Full Width Blade |
The service profile template is used to create a service profile. When a service profile is created, the software identifies and selects free servers from the server pool that is associated with the service profile template. This environment variable is used for the VNX tenant onboarding. |
VNX_UCSM;org-root/ls-PSC- FullBlade-Template |
Service Profile Template for Half Width Blade |
The service profile template is used to create a service profile. When a service profile is created, the software identifies and selects free servers from the server pool that is associated with the service profile template. This environment variable is used for the VNX tenant onboarding. |
VNX_UCSM;org-root/ls-PSC- HalfBlade-Template |
IQN Pool |
The IQN pool that contains the iSCSI Qualified Names (IQNs) used as initiator identifiers by iSCSI vNICs in a Cisco UCS domain. The IQN pool is used to create a service profile iSCSI boot policy. This environment variable is used for bare metal provisioning on a NetApp storage system. |
IQN_Pool |
Boot Policy |
Boot policy for the physical compute account. This environment variable is used for a VNX-type account. |
VNX_UCSM;org-root;org-root// boot-policy-SAN_NEW |
VLAN |
VLAN for the physical compute account. This environment variable is used for a VNX-type account. |
VNX_UCSM;fabric/lan/net-MGT -ACI-POOL |
Physical Storage Environment Variables
Environment Variable |
Description |
Sample Value |
---|---|---|
Physical Domain for NetApp |
The physical domain that is used to connect the NetApp account to the APIC. This environment variable is used for tenant onboarding. |
topology/pod-1/paths-201/pathep- [eth1/36]
|
NetApp Static Path |
The static path defines the port on the APIC where the NetApp cluster node is connected. This environment variable is used to add the static path to the endpoint group (EPG) during tenant onboarding. |
topology/pod-1/node-302/sys /cdp/inst/if-[eth1/47]adj-1 |
Vlan pool |
The VLAN pool that is used to create the cluster vServer. This environment variable is used for tenant onboarding. |
Vlan_pool |
SP Port |
The storage processor (SP) port for the physical storage account. This environment variable is used for VNX type account. |
VNX-POD;VNX_BLOCK;A- 0;50:06:01:60:88:60:1B:6A: 50:06:01:60:08:60:1B:6A ,VNX-POD;VNX_BLOCK;A- 1;50:06:01:60:88:60:1B:6A: 50:06:01:61:08:60:1B:6A |
Replication Storage Group |
The replication storage group for the physical storage account. This environment variable is used for VNX type account. |
|
NFS Vlan Pool |
This environment variable is used to define a VLAN pool. Individual VLANs are then assigned to a physical storage account dynamically from the pool. |
NetApp-vlan-pool |
SVM mgmt Vlan Pool |
The VLAN pool for management of Storage Virtual Machine (SVM). |
NetApp-vlan-pool |
iSCSI_A VLAN Pool |
The VLAN pool from which a VLAN is chosen as iSCSI_A VLAN. |
NetApp-vlan-pool |
iSCSI_B VLAN Pool |
The VLAN pool from which a VLAN is chosen as iSCSI_B VLAN. |
NetApp-vlan-pool |
APIC vPC Static Path for Node 1 |
The static path of virtual port channel (vPC) for node 1. |
topology/pod-1/path-101/pathep- [PGr-FAS-A] |
APIC vPC Static Path for Node 2 |
The static path of virtual port channel (vPC) for node 2. |
topology/pod-1/path-101/pathep- [PGr-FAS-B] |
NFS IP Subnet Pool Policy |
The subnet IP pool policy for NFS. |
ip_nfs_subnet_pool |
iSCSI_A IP Subnet Pool Policy |
The IP subnet pool policy to be used for the first iSCSI VLAN. |
NetApp_ISCSI_A_Subnet_pool |
iSCSI_B IP Subnet Pool Policy |
The IP subnet pool policy to be used for the second iSCSI VLAN. |
NetApp_ISCSI_B_Subnet_pool |
SVM mgmt IP Subnet Pool Policy |
The subnet IP pool policy for SVM management. |
netapp_svm_subnet_pool |
VMNet IP Subnet Pool Policy |
The subnet IP pool policy for VM network. |
VMNet_IP_Subnet_pool_policy |
APIC Vlan Pool for Node 1 |
The APIC VLAN pool from which the VLAN ID needs to be assigned for node 1. |
NetApp-Pool |
APIC Vlan Pool for Node 2 |
The APIC VLAN pool from which the VLAN ID needs to be assigned for node 2. |
NetApp-Pool |
Cluster Node 1 Identity |
The identity of the first Netapp C-mode account node. |
ACI2-CMODE-01 |
Cluster Node 2 Identity |
The identity of the second Netapp C-mode account node. |
ACI2-CMODE-02 |
Default Recovery Point |
The recovery point attached to the VNX account. |
RP |
Recovery Point Cluster Identity |
The identity of the recovery point attached to the VNX account. |
RP@1649417791 |
Physical Network Environment Variables
Environment Variable |
Description |
Sample Value |
---|---|---|
IP Pool |
The IP pool that is used to assign the IP addresses between the NetApp datastore and host vmkernel. This environment variable is used for tenant onboarding. |
IP_pool |
PXE Server IP Pool |
The IP pool of the Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) server. This environment variable is used for bare metal provisioning. |
pxe_ip_new11 |
BMA EPG Entity |
The Cisco UCS Director Bare Metal Agent endpoint group (EPG) entity. This environment variable is used for bare metal provisioning. |
VNX_APIC185@common@BMA- AP@PSC_BMA |
Connected to FI A |
When configuring the physical setup for FlexPod, VSAN is created for the Fabric Interconnect (FI) A - NXOS switch 1 connection and FI B - NXOS switch 2 connection. In BMA provisioning, zoning is configured for FI A - NXOS controller. Choose this environment variable to specify whether a Cisco Nexus switch is connected to Cisco UCS FI A. This environment variable appears for the MDS switch. |
Yes |
Physical domain for LB |
The physical domain that you need to use for the load balancer service. |
Phy_LB_Domain |
Physical LB Path |
The physical path of the load balancer service. |
topology/pod-1/node-101/sys/cdp /inst/if-[eth1/12]/adj-1 |
DPC Static path 1 |
The static path of the first Direct Port Channel (DPC). |
topology/pod-1/paths-302/ pathep-[PC_Policy_1Gb] |
DPC Static path 2 |
The static path of the second DPC. |
topology/pod-1/paths-303/ pathep-[PC_Policy_1Gb] |
Path 1 to L3Out |
The first transit path from the ACI leaf to an external router. |
topology/pod-1/protpaths- 103-104/pathep-[ifs-n3k-b_PolGrp] |
Path 2 to L3Out |
The second transit path from the ACI leaf to an external router. |
topology/pod-1/protpaths- 103-104/pathep-[ifs-n3k-a_PolGrp] |
L2 Physical Domain |
The physical domain for Layer 2. This environment variable is used for configuring EPG transit. |
L2-2960 |
IP Subnet Pool Policy |
The pool policy to be used to get the IP addresses for sub-interfaces. |
Ipsubnetpoolpolicy |
L3 Vlan Pool |
The pool to be used to get the VLAN ID that is used to communicate between the external router and ACI fabric. This environment variable is used to configure the external routed network. |
L3out_Pool |
L2 Transit Vlan Pool |
The pool to be used to get the VLAN ID for the transit EPG. This environment variable is used for creating a transit EPG. |
L2out_Pool |
Node |
The leaf nodes of the APIC account. This environment variable is used for creating a transit EPG. |
topology/pod-1/node-302 |
Routed Sub-Interface Path |
The sub-interface routed path based on the leaf node selection. |
topology/pod-1/paths-303/pathep- [eth1/47], topology/pod-1/paths-303/pathep- [eth1/48], topology/pod-1/paths-302/pathep- [eth1/47] topology/pod-1/paths-302/pathep- [eth1/48] |
Nexus Switches |
The Nexus switches for the APIC account. |
192.0.232.166, 192.0.232.167 |
Loop Back IP Subnet Pool Policy |
The pool policy to be used to get the IP address for Loop Back. |
loop_back_ip_pool_policy |
L3 Domain |
The Layer 3 domain of the APIC account. This environment variable is used to configure the external routed network. |
Phy_L3out_domain |
Router IP Pool |
The IP pool to configure router ID for routers on an external Layer 3 network. This environment variable is used to configure the external routed network. |
IP_pool |
LB Cluster IP Pool |
The IP pool to provide the cluster management IP address for the load balancer device cluster. |
IP_pool |
SVI Path |
The interface connecting APIC to a router on an external Layer 3 network. This environment variable is used to configure the external routed network. |
topology/pod-1/protpaths-101-102 /pathep-[vpcPG_ec1acifwi001-2_DATA |
SVI IP Pool |
The subnet for configuring a switch virtual interface (SVI) on APIC leaves. This environment variable is used to configure the external routed network. |
IP_pool |
![]() Note |
The following environment variable are not supported in Cisco UCS Director Release 5.4: IP Subnet Pool Policy, iSCSI PXE Boot Service Profile Template, IQN Pool, Replication Storage Group, PXE Server IP Pool, BMA EPG Entity, Physical domain for LB, and Physical LB Path. |
The environment variable that need to be defined for VNX tenant onboarding are:
-
Physical Compute—Cisco UCS Manager
-
Service Profile Template for Full Width Blade
-
Service Profile Template for Half Width Blade
-
-
EMC VNX Unified
-
SP Port
-
-
VMware Account
-
DV Switch-Virtual Network
-
VMM Domain for VMware-Virtual Network
-
-
APIC (Physical Network)
-
DPC Static Path 1 (for L2 configuration)
-
DPC Static Path 2 (for L2 configuration)
-
L2 Physical Domain (for L2 configuration)
-
IP Subnet Pool Policy (for L3 configuration)
-
L3 VLAN Pool (for L3 configuration)
-
Routed Sub-Interface Path (for L3 configuration)
-
Node (for L3 configuration)
-
Nexus Switches (for L3 configuration)
-
Loop Back IP Subnet Pool Policy (for L3 configuration)
-
The environment variable that need to be defined for FlexPod tenant onboarding as per the Cisco UCS Director and FlexPod Cisco validated design (CVD) are:
-
APIC Account
-
IP Pool
-
-
NetApp
-
Vlan Pool
-
Physical Domain for NetApp
-
NFS Vlan Pool
-
SVM mgmt Vlan Pool
-
APIC vPC Static Path for Node 1
-
APIC vPC Static Path for Node 2
-
NFS IP Subnet Pool Policy
-
SVM mgmt IP Subnet Pool Policy
-
VMNet IP Subnet Pool Policy
-
APIC Vlan Pool for Node 1
-
APIC Vlan Pool for Node 2
-
Cluster Node 1 Identity
-
Cluster Node 2 Identity
-
iSCSI_A VLAN Pool
-
iSCSI_B VLAN Pool
-
iSCSI_A IP Subnet Pool Policy
-
iSCSI_B IP Subnet Pool Policy
-
-
VMware Account
-
DV Switch
-
VMM Domain for VMware-Virtual Network
-
The environment variable that need to be defined for NetApp tenant onboarding (obsolete) are:
-
APIC Account
-
IP Pool
-
-
NetApp
-
Vlan Pool
-
NetApp Static Path
-
Physical Domain for NetApp
-
-
Virtual Network
-
DV Switch
-
VMM Domain for VMware
-
Adding a Custom Environment Variable
You can define an environment variable that you want to use in the resource group and workflow. The type of the user-defined environment variable is custom.
Procedure
Step 1 |
Choose . |
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Step 2 |
On the Resource Groups page, click Environment Variables. |
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Step 3 |
Click the row with anenvironment variable and click View to view the name, variable type, and identity type of the environment variable. |
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Step 4 |
Click the row with the environmental variable and click Delete to delete the environment variable. You can delete only the user-defined environment variable that is categorized as custom. |
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Step 5 |
Click Add. |
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Step 6 |
On the Resource Group Environment Variable screen, complete the following fields:
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Step 7 |
Click Submit. |
Adding a Resource Group
Before you begin
Ensure that the IP subnet pool policy and VLAN pool policy are defined to use the policy in the environment. Also, you can add a policy on the Add Entry to Environment Variables screen when adding a resource group.
Procedure
Step 1 |
Choose . |
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Step 2 |
On the Resource Groups page, click Resource Groups. |
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Step 3 |
Click the row with a resource group and click View to view the name and description of the resource group. |
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Step 4 |
Click the row with a resource group and click View Details to view the resources that are associated with a resource group. The ID, pod, account name, category, account type, resource type, and resource name of the resources in the resource group are displayed. |
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Step 5 |
Click the row with a resource and click View Details to view the capacities and capabilities of a resource. |
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Step 6 |
Click Add. |
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Step 7 |
On the Create Resource Group screen, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 |
Click Next. |
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Step 9 |
(Optional) On the Virtual Compute screen, choose the virtual compute account and the interested capabilities and capacities: |
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Step 10 |
Click Next. |
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Step 11 |
On the Virtual Storage screen, expand Virtual Accounts click the row with the virtual compute account and the interested capabilities and capacities. |
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Step 12 |
Click Next. |
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Step 13 |
On the Virtual Network screen, expand Virtual Accounts and click the row with the virtual network account and the interested capabilities and capacities: |
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Step 14 |
Click Next. |
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Step 15 |
(Optional) On the Physical Compute screen, expand Compute Accounts and click the row with the physical compute account and the interested capabilities and capacities: |
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Step 16 |
Click Next. |
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Step 17 |
(Optional) On the Physical Storage screen, expand Storage Accounts and click the row with the physical storage account and the interested capabilities and capacities: |
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Step 18 |
Click Next. |
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Step 19 |
(Optional) On the Physical Network screen, expand Network Accounts and click the row with the physical network account and the interested capabilities and capacities: |
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Step 20 |
Click Next. |
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Step 21 |
On the L4L7 Devices screen, choose the firewall specification and load balancer specification: |
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Step 22 |
Click Submit. |
Editing a Resource Group
You can delete an account from a resource group only when the account is not associated with other resource group objects, such as a tenant profile.
Procedure
Step 1 |
Choose . |
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Step 2 |
On the Resource Groups page, click Resource Groups. |
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Step 3 |
Click the row with the resource group that you want to edit. |
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Step 4 |
Click Edit. |
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Step 5 |
On the Edit Resource Group screen, complete the following fields for the resource group:
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Step 6 |
Click Next. |
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Step 7 |
(Optional) The Virtual Compute screen displays the virtual compute accounts added to the resource group. Expand Virtual Accounts, click the row of an account, and click the edit icon to edit the environment variable, capabilities, and capacities of the account. You can also add an account using the add icon and delete the account using the delete icon. |
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Step 8 |
Click Next. |
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Step 9 |
The Virtual Storage screen displays the virtual storage accounts added to the resource group. Expand Virtual Accounts, click the row of an account, and click the edit icon to edit the environment variable, capabilities, and capacities of the account. You can also add an account using the add icon and delete the account using the delete icon. |
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Step 10 |
Click Next. |
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Step 11 |
The Virtual Network screen displays the virtual network accounts added to the resource group. Expand Virtual Accounts, click the row of an account, and click the edit icon to edit the environment variable, capabilities, and capacities of the account. You can also add an account using the add icon and delete the account using the delete icon. |
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Step 12 |
Click Next. |
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Step 13 |
The Physical Compute screen displays the physical compute accounts added to the resource group. Expand Compute Accounts, click the row of an account, and click the edit icon to edit the environment variable, capabilities, and capacities of the account. You can also add an account using the add icon and delete the account using the delete icon. |
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Step 14 |
Click Next. |
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Step 15 |
The Physical Storage screen displays the physical storage accounts added to the resource group. Expand Storage Accounts, click the row of an account, and click the edit icon to edit the environment variable, capabilities, and capacities of the account. You can also add an account using the add icon and delete the account using the delete icon. |
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Step 16 |
Click Next. |
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Step 17 |
The Physical Network screen displays the physical network accounts added to the resource group. Expand Network Accounts, click the row of an account, and click the edit icon to edit the environment variable, capabilities, and capacities of the account. You can also add an account using the add icon and delete the account using the delete icon. |
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Step 18 |
Click Next. |
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Step 19 |
On the L4L7 Devices screen, edit the firewall specification and load balancer specification as required. |
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Step 20 |
Click Submit. |
Adding a Pod to a Resource Group
To add all accounts in a pod to a resource group, add the pod itself to the resource group.
![]() Note |
You can also add a multi-domain manager account to a resource group using the Add Pod to Resource Group option, provided that the multi-domain manager account is associated with a pod. |
Procedure
Step 1 |
Choose . |
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Step 2 |
On the Resource Groups page, click Resource Groups. |
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Step 3 |
Click Add Pod to Resource Group. |
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Step 4 |
On the Resource Group screen, complete the following fields:
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Step 5 |
Click Submit. |
Managing Tags of a Resource Group
You can add a tag to a resource group, edit the assigned tag, and delete the tag from the resource group.
![]() Note |
The Manage Tag dialog box displays tags according to the Taggable Entities that are assigned during creation. For more information on how to create a tag, see the Cisco UCS Director Administration Guide. |
The resources need to be grouped based on the resource capabilities. Use a tag to group the resources. You can create the tag library based on the resource type, capacity, quality, and capability of each resource, so as to group the resources in a proper pattern.
Procedure
Step 1 |
Choose . |
Step 2 |
On the Resource Groups page, click Resource Groups. |
Step 3 |
Click the row with the resource group for which you want to manage the associated tags. |
Step 4 |
From the More Actions drop-down list, choose Manage Tags. |
Step 5 |
On the Manage Tags screen, expand Tag and click the + icon to add a tag. Alternatively, you can click Add Tags on the Resource Groups page. |
Step 6 |
On the Manage Tags screen, click the row with the tag you want to edit and click the pencil icon. |
Step 7 |
On the Manage Tags screen, click the row with the tag you want to delete and click the delete icon. Alternatively, you can click Delete Tags on the Resource Groups page.
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Step 8 |
Click Submit. |
Deleting a Resource Group
![]() Note |
You cannot delete a resource group that is in use. |
Procedure
Step 1 |
Choose . |
Step 2 |
On the Resource Groups page, click Resource Groups. |
Step 3 |
Click the row with the resource group that you want to delete. |
Step 4 |
Click Delete. The Delete Resource Group screen appears. |
Step 5 |
Click Submit. |