Cisco UCS Tools
Cisco UCS Tools is a host utility vSphere Installation Bundle (VIB) that collects information about the Operating System and driver versions and makes this information available in Cisco Intersight.
This information helps Cisco Intersight evaluate compliance with the Hardware Compatibility Tool (HCL). Cisco UCS Tools uses Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) over Keyboard Controller Style (KCS) to send the information collected to Cisco IMC.
Cisco UCS Tools includes the following:
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Scripts to collect the ESXi driver inventory and OS information using esxcli commands and send this information to Cisco IMC
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Scripts to read configuration files from Cisco IMC and use it to configure the management network on the ESXi host
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The ipmitool binary, customized by Cisco to read or write files on Cisco IMC
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init scripts to invoke the inventory collection and network configuration during boot. The host inventory is collected every 24 hours starting with version 1.0.3-1OEM for ESXi 6.0/6.5 and 1.1.0-1OEM for ESXi 6.7 and above.
Revision History
If your ESXi version did not previously include UCS Tools, you can download and install it manually. The following table shows the release history of Cisco UCS Tools VIB Versions and the compatibility information with the ESXi versions. Ensure that you install the appropriate version of UCS Tools that corresponds to your Cisco OEM ESXi version to evaluate HCL compliance of your systems. If you want to download a Cisco Custom ESXi OEM image bundled with UCS Tools, search for the Cisco Custom OEM Images for preferred ESXi version on the VMware software download site.
Important |
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ESXi Version |
Latest Compatible VIB Version available on Cisco.com |
Download location of the Cisco Custom Images on VMware.com |
Download location of HyperFlex Upgrade bundles on Cisco.com |
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6.0 |
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6.5 |
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6.7 |
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7.0 |
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8.0 |
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8.0U3 |
Note |
1Starting from Cisco UCS Tools VIB version 1.0.12-1OEM VMware ESXi 6.0 will be not be supported. 2UCS Tools VIB version 1.4.1-1OEM is compatible with VMware ESXi version 8.0U3 only and is not supported on any of the previous VMware ESXi versions. |
System Requirements
Supported Operating Systems
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Cisco OEM VMware ESXi image
For information about the exact versions of the supported Operating System, see https://intersight.com/help/resources#compliance_with_hardware_compatibility_list_(hcl).
Driver Requirements
Cisco UCS Tools needs IPMI drivers to communicate with Cisco IMC. The following IPMI drivers are installed and enabled by default on the ESXi system:
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ipmi-ipmi-devintf
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ipmi-ipmi-msghandler
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ipmi-ipmi-si-drv
New Software Features
New Software Features in Cisco UCS Tools VIB Version 1.4.1-1OEM
VMware ESXi Support
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UCS Tools is supported on ESXi version 8.0U3
Note |
UCS Tools VIB version 1.4.1-1OEM is compatible with VMware ESXi version 8.0U3 only and is not supported on any of the previous VMware ESXi versions. |
New Software Features in Cisco UCS Tools VIB Version 1.3.3-1OEM
VMware ESXi Support
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UCS Tools is supported on ESXi version 8.0U2
New Software Features in Cisco UCS Tools VIB Version 1.3.1-1OEM
VMware ESXi Support
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UCS Tools is supported on ESXi version 8.0
New Software Features in Cisco UCS Tools VIB Version 1.0.12-1OEM, 1.1.12-1OEM, and 1.2.1-1OEM
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Added the ability to inventory management network information such as uplink, vSwitch and port group information.
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Added the ability to change network configuration without requiring a full host reboot.
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Added the ability to rename Management vSwitch.
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Added optimization to reduce the number of periodic inventory updates.
New Software Features in Cisco UCS Tools VIB Version 1.0.7-1OEM and 1.1.5-1OEM
HCL GPU Support
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Capability to determine hardware compliance for Cisco UCS and Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series servers with GPUs.
New Software Features in Cisco UCS Tools VIB Version 1.1.2-1OEM
VMware ESXi Support
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UCS Tools is supported on ESXi version 7.0
New Software Features in Cisco UCS Tools VIB Version 1.0.3-1OEM and 1.1.0-1OEM
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Cisco UCS Tools enhanced to support GPU driver inventory collection.
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Enhanced driver inventory collection to occur daily.
Install and Upgrade Guidelines
Downloading Cisco UCS Tools VIB
The Cisco UCS Tools VIB is packaged in the Cisco ESXi OEM images and is also available for download on Cisco.com. The location for each VIB version is available in the Revision History table.
Installing and Upgrading UCS Tools
Attention |
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After downloading the appropriate version of the Cisco UCS Tools VIB, use the instructions below to install it on the supported ESXi hosts.
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Run the command esxcli software acceptance get to obtain the current ESXi host acceptance level. To install the UCS Tools VIB, you must set the ESXi host acceptance level to PartnerSupported.
The following example shows that the supported current acceptance level is set to VMwareAccepted:
[root@hx-ucsm-qa-node-1:/opt/ucs_tool_esxi] esxcli software acceptance get VMwareAccepted
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Run the command esxcli software acceptance set --level=PartnerSupported to set the current ESXi host acceptance level.
The following example shows that the supported current acceptance level is set to PartnerSupported:
[root@hx-ucsm-qa-node-1:/opt/ucs_tool_esxi] esxcli software acceptance set --level=PartnerSupported Host acceptance level that is changed to 'PartnerSupported'
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Download or copy the VIB onto the ESXi host and run the command. Copy the VIB to /tmp.
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For ESXi versions prior to 7.0
Run the command esxcli software vib install -v <path pointing to location of VIB>
--viburl|-v Specifies the URLs to the VIB packages to install.
The following example shows the command for ESXi versions prior to 7.0:
[root@localhost:~] esxcli software vib install -v /tmp/ucs-tool-esxi-1.0.4.vib Installation Result Message: Operation finished successfully. Reboot Required: false VIBs Installed: CIS_bootbank_ucs-tool-esxi_1.0.4-1OEM VIBs Removed: VIBs Skipped: [root@localhost:~]
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For ESXi version 7.0 and higher
Run the command esxcli software component apply -d /tmp/ucs-tool-esxi.zip
--depot | -d Specifies the full remote URL to the depot's index.xml, or a local file path to an offline bundle .zip file
The following example shows the command for ESXi version 7.0 and higher:
[root@localhost:~] esxcli software component apply -d /tmp/ucs-tool-esxi.zip Installation Result Components Installed: CIS-ucs-tool-esxi_1.1.2-1OEM Components Removed: Components Skipped: Message: Operation finished successfully. Reboot Required: false [root@localhost:~]
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Verify if the installation was successful and obtain more information about the installed VIBs.
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For ESXi versions prior to 7.0
Run the command esxcli software vib list to obtain more information about the installed VIBs.The following example shows the list of VIBs installed on the ESXi host.
[root@hx-ucsm-qa-node-1:/opt/ucs_tool_esxi] esxcli software vib list ucs-tool-esxi 1.0.1-1OEM Cisco_Systems_Inc. PartnerSupported 2017-11-06
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For ESXi version 7.0 and higher
Run the command
esxcli software component list | grep ucs
to obtain more information about the installed VIBs.esxcli software component get -n CIS-ucs-tool-esxi
[root@localhost:~] esxcli software component list | grep ucs CIS-ucs-tool-esxi 1.1.2-1OEM Cisco 06-04-2020 PartnerSupported
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Get detailed information about the VIB.
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For ESXi versions prior to 7.0
Run the command esxcli software vib get --vibname ucs-tool-esxi to view detailed information about the VIB.
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For ESXi version 7.0 and higher
Run the command
esxcli software component get -n CIS-ucs-tool-esxi
to view detailed information about the VIB.root@localhost:~] esxcli software component get -n CIS-ucs-tool-esxi CIS-ucs-tool-esxi_1.1.2-1OEM Name: CIS-ucs-tool-esxi Display Name: CIS-ucs-tool-esxi Version: 1.1.2-1OEM Display Version: 1.1.2-1OEM VIBs: CIS_bootbank_ucs-tool-esxi_1.1.2-1OEM Vendotr: Cisco Summary: ucs_tool_esxi: [Fling] Cisco Out-of-band Host Inventory and Network Configuration Severity: general Urgency: important Category: enhancement Release Type: extension Kburl: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/release/notes/UCS-Tools-ESXi-RN.html Description: Out-of-band host inventory and network configuration using Cisco CIMC. Contact: Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) http://tools.cisco.com/ServiceRequestTool/create/ ReleaseDate: 06-04-2020
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Note |
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Viewing Logs
You can view the following logs in syslog (/var/log/syslog.log):
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Run the command cat /var/log/syslog.log | grep ucs-tool-esxi-inv to obtain the logs for inventory collection.
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Run the command cat /var/log/syslog.log | grep ucs-tool-esxi-cfg to obtain the logs for host configuration.
Manually Trigerring Inventory Collection
Run the command python /opt/ucs_tool_esxi/ucs_host_inventory.py to manually trigger inventory collection.
[root@localhost:~] python /opt/ucs_tool_esxi/ucs_host_inventory.py
Resolved Caveats
Version 1.1.6-1OEM
The following caveats are resolved in Version 1.1.6-1OEM.
Defect ID |
Description |
First Bundle Affected |
Resolved in Release |
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CSCvw46864 |
VMware vSphere 7.0 shows incorrect UCS Tools version. |
1.1.2 |
1.1.6 |
Version 1.1.0-1OEM
The following caveats are resolved in Version 1.1.0-1OEM.
Defect ID |
Description |
First Bundle Affected |
Resolved in Release |
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CSCvo23711 |
GPU driver inventory is collected from Cisco UCS Tools. |
1.0.1 |
1.0.3, 1.1.0 |
Version 1.0.3-1OEM
The following caveats are resolved in Version 1.0.3-1OEM.
Defect ID |
Description |
First Bundle Affected |
Resolved in Release |
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CSCvo23711 |
GPU driver inventory must be collected from Cisco UCS Tools. |
1.0.1 |
1.0.3 |
Version 1.0.1-1OEM
The following caveats are resolved in Version 1.0.1-1OEM.
Defect ID |
Description |
First Bundle Affected |
Resolved in Release |
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CSCvf53511 |
UCS tools host inventory needs ESXi update version, patch version. Network config should set gateway. |
1.0.1 |
1.0.1 |