Cisco UCS Management Pack – Configuration, Installation and Licensing

A month ago we published news that introduced our latest product: the Cisco UCS Management Pack. This management pack brings in key health, performance metrics, and alerting to vCOps 5.8+ and vRealize 6.0+.

The Cisco UCS Management Pack is scheduled to release end of March, with a beta release coming out later this week. To supplement the release of the management pack, we have released a few videos focusing on Configuration, Installation and Licensing. To setup your new Cisco UCS Management pack, follow the steps provided in these videos.

Click to see the configuration video for vRealize 6.0.x or vCOps 5.8.x

vRealize Operations MP for Cisco UCS Installation and Configuration

Installation, Configuration and Licensing Guide for Cisco UCS Management Pack on vRealize 6.x

Before we get started there are a few things you will need

• Cisco UCS PAK file (provided by Blue Medora)
• License Key (provided by Blue Medora)
• Cisco UCSM Hostname or IP address
• Cisco UCSM Username and Password
• Cisco UCSM Protocol (HTTP or HTTPS)
• vRealize Credentials

Installation

1. Navigate to ‘Administration’.
2. Click the ‘Green Plus (+)’ button to add a new PAK file.
3. Click the ‘Browse’ button to search for the PAK file located on your machine.
4. Click Next to start the upload.
5. After a short time the EULA will appear.  Read through and click that you accept the EULA, then click ‘Next’.
6. When the management pack has finished installating, click ‘Finish’.

Configuration

1. To start configuration navigate to ‘Administration’ again.
2. Ensure you are selected on the ‘Cisco UCS Adapter’ and click the configuration gear.
3. Give your adapter a name and description.  
4. Enter your Hostname of IP address of the Cisco UCS Manager.  
5. Select if you want the adapter to automatically discover all resource kinds (Fabric Interconnects, Chassis, Blades, IO Modules, Fans, Power Supplies, and Racks).
6. Select the protocol UCSM uses (HTTP or HTTPS).
7. Click the ‘Green Plus (+)’ sign next to your credentials to add new Cisco UCS Credentials.  
8. When the form appears, enter a name for this credential set.
9. Enter your UCSM and vRealise username and passwords.  The minimal requirements for the UCSM credentals are read-only.  You will also need Suite API rights enabled on your vRealize credentials.
10. Once you save the credentials, click the ‘Test Connection’ button.  
11. Click ‘Save Settings’.
12. Click ‘Close’.

Licensing

1. To add a license navigate to ‘Administration’.
2. Click ‘Licensing’.  
3. Click the ‘Green Plus (+)’ button.
4. Select ‘Cisco UCS Adapter’.
5. Copy the license key provided by Blue Medora into the ‘Enter License Key:’ field.
6. Click ‘Validate’ to ensure the license works.
7. Click ‘Save’ to add the license.
8. Click the ‘License Groups’ tab.
9. Select ‘Cisco UCS Adapter Licensing’
10. Click the ‘Edit Pencil’ button.
11. When the form appears, check the Cisco UCS License you have added.
12. Click ‘Next’ twice.
13. Click ‘Finish’.

Your Cisco UCS Adapter should now be completly setup.  In 10-15 minutes you should start to see metrics across all your resource kinds.

Installation, Configuration and Licensing Guide for Cisco UCS Management Pack on vCOps 5.8.x (on a vApp)

Before we get started there are a few things you will need

• Cisco UCS PAK file (provided by Blue Medora)
• License Key (provided by Blue Medora)
• Cisco UCSM Hostname or IP address
• Cisco UCSM Username and Password
• Cisco UCSM Protocol (HTTP or HTTPS)
• Credentials to log onto vCOps Analytics machine

Installation

1. Navigate to the ‘admin’ URL and log in.
2. Navigate to ‘Update’.
3. Click ‘Browse’.
4. Select the Cisco Management Pack PAK file.
5. Click ‘Update’ to begin the installation.
6. vCOps will prompt you to backup your vApp.  If you need to run a backup take this time to do so; otherwise click ‘OK’.

Configuration

1. Navigate to the ‘custom’ URL and log in.
2. Click the ‘Environment’ tab, ‘Configuration’ and then ‘Adapter Instances…’.
3. Click the ‘Green Plus (+)’.
4. Select your collector and then the ‘Cisco UCS Adapter’ resource kind.
5. Give your adapter a name.
6. Enter the hostname or IP address of Cisco UCS Mangager.
7. Select if you want the adapter to automatically discover all resource kinds (Fabric Interconnects, Chassis, Blades, IO Modules, Fans, Power Supplies, and Racks).
8. Select the protocol that Cisco UCSM is using (HTTP or HTTPS).
9. Click ‘add’ to add a new credential set for the Cisco UCS Manager.
10. Select ‘Cisco UCSM Credentials’.  Give the credential set a name.
11. Enter the Cisco UCSM username and password.  The minimal requirements for the UCSM credentals are read-only.
12. Click ‘OK’ to save the credentials.
13. Click ‘Test’ to test the connection to Cisco UCS Manager.
14. Click ‘OK’ to save your adapter instance.

Licensing

1. Log into your Analytics virtual machine.
2. Navigate to $ALIVE_BASE/user/plugins/inbound/cisco_ucs_adapter/conf.
3. Inside this folder there will be a file named license.properties.  Edit that file and ensure it says “licenseKey=<LICENSE_KEY>” where <LICENSE_KEY> is the the license key provided by Blue Medora.
4. Save the file.

Your Cisco UCS Adapter should now be completly setup.  In 10-15 minutes you should start to see metrics across all your resource kinds.

For more information on the Cisco UCS Management Pack, check out the product page.