In the last few days, I encountered some physical issues with a Nexus Dashboard cluster node. After replacing the UCS node (C225-M6, also known as ND-NODE-L4), I tried to perform the initial configuration through the node’s CIMC page (hostname, addressing, timezone, NTP, DNS, etc.).
During these activities, I noticed that the CIMC version was very old, so I decided to upgrade it. The first step was to determine the target version; I decided to use version 4.3(4.241063) as a temporary measure, since this was the version used by the other cluster nodes.
By browsing the Cisco support download pages, you can find the relevant file called HUU (Host Upgrade Utility). With this single file, you can upgrade the CIMC version, the UCS BIOS version, and all the necessary hardware drivers (disks, VIC, etc.).
The next step is to map the ISO file as virtual media. After logging into the CIMC main page, we can use the vKVM tool to map the file.
IIn the vKVM tool, select the “Virtual Media –> vKVM-Mapped vDVD” menu and then select the ISO file. Think of this operation as if you were inserting a physical DVD disc into the server’s DVD player without having the physical components.
You can validate the mapping by checking the Virtual Media menu.
At this stage, you need to tell the server to boot from the ISO file. Reset the server and, when the Cisco logo appears, press F6 to enter the boot menu.
Recent CIMC versions will ask you to enter a password to access the boot menu; typically, this is “password”!
Once inside the boot menu, simply choose the DVD entry and press Enter.
A few minutes later, the Host Upgrade Utility will start. It will load all components until a graphical prompt appears.
The graphical tool will ask you to accept the license agreement and will then provide a list of components to upgrade. When you are ready, simply press the “Update and Activate” button in the upper-right corner. This utility will automatically check which components need an upgrade and will then start the process. Before the process begins, a prompt appears to let you decide whether or not to exclude the storage drives from the upgrade process and whether to reboot the server to activate the new software version.
Once the process is complete, the server will reboot and display the new software version on the CIMC homepage.
