Servers

Cisco UCS Reset FlexFlash Controller

Cisco UCS Reset FlexFlash Controller

Cisco UCS can sometimes trigger a false positive alert of FFCH_ERROR_CARDS_ACCESS_ERROR on the FlexFlash controller, which typically has the fault ID of F1262.

Cisco UCS with the FFCH_ERROR_CARDS_ACCESS_ERROR alarm.

Depending on your setup, you should investigate the alarm appropriately. If, after your investigation, you determine that the fault is a false positive, the first step is to reset the FlexFlash controller.

In this post, I will show you step-by-step how to reset the FlexFlash controller to clear the FFCH_ERROR_CARDS_ACCESS_ERROR alert.

The Process

  • Log in to the Cisco UCS Manager.
  • Click on the Equipment tab.
  • Select the chassis and blade that has the FlexFlash fault.

I will select chassis 2 and blade 1.

…

Read More Read More

PowerShell ProgressPreference Issue

PowerShell ProgressPreference Issue

PowerShell is a wonderful tool built into Microsoft Windows. Both Windows and Windows Server come with PowerShell version 5.1 pre-installed.

PowerShell version 5.1 was initially released in 2016. Since then, there have been many improvements to PowerShell. However, many of those improvements are only available in newer versions of PowerShell and aren’t always backported to PowerShell 5.1, even though PowerShell 5.1 is still actively supported.

PowerShell has a variable called ProgressPreference. This variable tells PowerShell how to handle progress updates, such as rendering progress bars when downloading a file.

By default, ProgressPreference is set to Continue, which will display progress bars when possible, and usually isn’t an issue until you start running your scripts outside of PowerShell ISE, as even a headless script needs to calculate a progress bar even if it isn’t displayed, which can cause significant slowdowns.

ProgressPreference Continue

To help illustrate this issue, I created a PowerShell script called download-tester on my GitHub https://github.com/thedxt/Download-Tester

The script will download a 512MB test file from ThinkBroadband and will calculate how long the download took.

  • In PowerShell ISE, the script ran in 35 seconds.
  • In PowerShell 5.1, the script ran in 5 minutes and 35 seconds.
  • In PowerShell 7, the script ran in 32 seconds.

From the results, we can see a significate slowdown in downloads in PowerShell 5.1 when used outside of PowerShell ISE.

The ProgressPreference Continue download slowdowns have been resolved in newer versions of PowerShell. However, PowerShell 5.1 is left behind with this issue.

…

Read More Read More

Moving Windows Recovery Partition Correctly

Moving Windows Recovery Partition Correctly

Recently I needed to expand a disk on a Windows 10 VM and a Windows Server 2022 VM, but I couldn’t because the Recovery Partition was in the way.

When searching for a way to do this I discovered that the internet is full of posts about simply deleting the Windows Recovery Partition. I am not a fan of simply deleting a recovery tool. On numerous occasions the recovery partition has been instrumental in helping me to fix a system.

If you search for how to move the Windows Recovery Partition the internet has many posts of fake ways to do it or ways to do it with third-party tools like GParted. I have nothing against third-party tools or GParted and I don’t doubt some of those methods do work. The issue I have with those methods is that you have to take the system offline in order to do them or the tools cost money.

Now yes you could just delete the Windows Recovery partition, but before you do that make sure you understand that you will lose a bunch of recovery options. You can read more about the recovery options you’ll lose in an earlier post I made about the Windows Recovery Partition.

Here’s how to correctly move the Windows Recovery Partition on a Windows server or a normal Windows system.

This is what my partitions look like in Disk Management.

We will move the 1 GB recovery partition to the end of the disk allowing us to add the 50 GB of unallocated space to the C drive.

The Process

  • Make sure you have a backup of the system you are going to edit the partitions on.
  • Open Command Prompt as admin
Run CMD as admin
…

Read More Read More

Cisco UCS Upgrade with Firmware Auto Install

Cisco UCS Upgrade with Firmware Auto Install

Recently I needed to upgrade a Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) system and while Cisco does have documentation about it. The process can be scary and could use more screenshots. Here is my step by step guide on how to upgrade a Cisco UCS via the Firmware Auto Install with the Cisco UCS Manager.

Fully planning your Cisco UCS upgrade is very important. There are a lot of things that need to be checked to make sure the upgrade is a success and that everything is compatible. In the past I’ve needed to upgrade my ESXi to as high as they can go based on the VMware and Cisco Compatibility Matrix and then upgrade the Cisco UCS. Then go back and upgrade ESXi again and then upgrade Cisco UCS again.

Quick Cheat Sheet

…

Read More Read More