I had the pleasure of spending time yesterday evening with a great customer in the Carolinas (thanks guys) working on a Cisco UCS C series server, where the goal was to install the P81E Cisco Virtual Interface Card (VIC) and carve up some virtual interfaces.

First, we had to shut down the server and assign it an address for use with CIMC so we could hit the server directly. Once this was done, we saw the firmware version of the CIMC was at 1.1.1. One of the requirements of the P81E is firmware for the CIMC specifically at 1.2.x or greater. On the Cisco website when downloading the latest firmware all that was offered for the 1.4 code was the Cisco Host Update Utility, which downloads as an ISO.

When using this, it clearly states that you CANNOT upgrade the BIOS or CIMC versions with the Utility until you’re at 1.2 or later. Since we were at 1.1, we had to download the BIOS / CIMC upgrades separately (which download as ZIP files containing the necessary BIN files). While that was downloading we updated all the other components using the Host Update Utility by mounting the ISO as Virtual Media via the CIMC interface– love this interface by the way.

When trying to upload the new firmware for the CIMC, we used the Browser Client, which lets you browse to a file on your local hard drive and upload it. This method failed several times, with only an “HTTP ERROR” status. When we switched over and used the TFTP server option, it worked without issues, and got our CIMC to the 1.2.x code desired. Finally.

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Many times this has been a sticking point for ASA code upgrades, but the time is coming where the 8.3 code update is going to be a requirement (as I have found with the AIP modules).

HUGE reminder that the upgrade from 8.2 to 8.3 is not an easy or simple upgrade.

There is also no skipping ahead.  You have to go from 8.2 to 8.3, you can’t jump over 8.2, you have to upgrade to 8.2 first if you aren’t already there.

There are a lot of changes to the code, but none as noticeable as the new NAT statements.

Another big reminder is to disable nat-control BEFORE you perform the upgrade.  This is the feature that made it so that you had to configure NAT statements between the different interfaces.

Below is a chart comparing the configuration steps from 8.2 to 8.3 for NAT statements.

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eGroup Certified to Sell, Design and Deploy Cisco Unified Data Center Solutions

Mt. Pleasant, SC – September 19, 2011 – eGroup, Inc., providing Technology Solutions for Serious Competitors, announced today that it has achieved the Advanced Data Center Architecture Specialization from Cisco. This specialization recognizes eGroup as having fulfilled the training requirements and program prerequisites to sell, design and deploy comprehensive Cisco® Unified Data Center solutions.

The specialization provides role-based training in three essential areas: Unified Fabric for optimizing data and storage needs; Unified Computing for streamlining data center resources and uniting network, computational, storage and virtualization platforms; and Unified Network Services for advancing the way application delivery and security services are provided in the data center network or computing environment. Read more >>

Cisco has really made configuring a WLAN controller and the associated access points simple. Today I configured a Cisco 2504 WLAN controller and 6 1242AG’s with 2 SSID’s in less than 2 hours. That is including the time it took to un-pack everything. I love it when a product works and makes my job easier.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6302/Products_Sub_Category_Home.html

Cisco makes it very simple to convert an autonomous AP to lightweight mode.

Step 1- Ensure the autonomous AP is running version 12.3(7)JA or later. If not upgrade to this version.
Step 2- Download the upgrade tool and upgrade image by going to http://www.cisco.com/cisco/software/navigator.html, and selecting your product.
Step 3- Install the tool on your computer.
Step 4- Fill in the information for your AP, file location, and controller and then press the start button.

For more detailed information http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/wireless/access_point/conversion/lwapp/upgrade/guide/lwapnote.html