Overview
This document provides essential guidelines, best practices, and prerequisites for performing firmware upgrades within Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) environments. It aims to ensure a smooth and successful upgrade process, minimizing potential disruptions and risks.
Key Topics Covered
- Best practices and limitations for firmware upgrades.
- Hardware-related considerations impacting upgrades.
- Configuration changes that may affect the upgrade process.
- Managing fabric interconnect traffic during upgrades, including evacuation procedures.
- Guidelines for secure firmware updates for adapters and storage disks.
- Cautions and recommendations for using the Auto Install feature.
- Detailed pre-upgrade validation checks and backup procedures.
- Verifying the status and operability of fabric interconnects, I/O modules, and servers.
- Ensuring data path readiness for Ethernet and Fibre Channel connections.
Important Recommendations
Key recommendations include configuring the default maintenance policy for user acknowledgment to control server reboots, avoiding simultaneous infrastructure and server firmware upgrades, and performing thorough pre-upgrade validation and backups. Administrators should also be aware of specific bug information, such as the one referenced at https://tools.cisco.com/bugsearch/bug/CSCup57496.
Target Audience
This guide is intended for IT professionals and system administrators responsible for managing and maintaining Cisco UCS infrastructure.
