Cisco UCS Rack servers

Acquired a Cisco UCS C220 M5 on 2026-03-10. Here are some notes.

Network based management

CIMC, the Cisco Integrated Management Controller. On the machine I have obtained, this was not configured to use the dedicated management Ethernet interface on the back of the server. This is easily corrected while the machine starts up. Pressing F8 from a USB keyboard during the server's power on self test sequence will bring up the CIMC configuration screen. From there, the dedicated NIC option, IPv4 option, and DHCP enabled can be selected to do the expected things. After those are selected, press the <F1> key and fix the dedicated NIC port properties if the need any adjustment.

The CIMC is accessible over https and SSH. At first login (at least by HTTPS), a new password must be set. None of Dell's just warning "Heh, you have the default credentials. Not recommended!" warning stuff.

Firmware updates

As acquired, server s/n WZP22040X50 is running BIOS version C220M5.3.1.2b.0.1025170315 and CIMC version 3.1(2c). Cisco's firmware update process is heavier weight than some other vendors'. More like HP(E)'s Service Pack for Proliant than Dells "get iDRAC to download update images from an FTP or web server." An ISO image must be downloaded and booted from. (This is maybe avoidable. And if is, updates will be made to document the process here.) As we are running 3.1 release code now, download the final update ISO image, 3.1(3k). This is free-as-in-beer with an account on Cisco's support site. No $$$ required. I have not read every line of the release notes to understand whether entire release trains can be skipped in the upgrade process.

After the ISO is downloaded, open the KVM on the server's CIMC and attach it to the server using the appropriate item in the "Virtual Media" menu. Reboot server and press the <F6> key at the appropriate time to invoke the boot device selection menu. From there, boot from the Cisco vKVM attached ISO image. Wait patiently. After several minutes, you might catch Linux kernel boot messages. And shortly after that, something about the Cisco UCS Host Upgrade Utility Version 3.1.3k doing its work. Then wait some more. The Host Update Utility is not very good about giving progress updates. At least not this version. After 5-10 minutes an "accept the license" screen will appear. Do the obvious. And then, the easy thing is to use the "Update All" button and get all updates applied. Wait patiently some more. But at least we get some progress reports as the actual updates are applied. After all desired updates are complete, select "Exit" The CIMC will reboot if its code was updated. And the server will as well.

If the paranoia is very strong with you, Host Upgrade Utility ISO can be booted from a second time, and all updates verified. The boot and utility loading are just as excruciatingly slow as the actual update, but the verification itself goes swiftly.

First thing of note with going from CIMC 3.1(2c) to 3.1(3k) is that the CIMC's SSH server now supports more modern SSH host keys. No more need for -o HostKeyAlgorithms=+ssh-rsa when pointing an SSH client at the CIMC.

Also, following the release notes, jumping straight from 3.1(2c) to the most recent 4.3(2.260007) is almost certainly not a thing. I have been doing it in increments so far: 3.1(2c) -> 3.1(3k) -> 4.0(4n) -> 4.1(3n) -> 4.2(3l)