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Configuring Your Controller

Dell™ Embedded Remote Access/MC User's Guide

  Performing the Initial Configuration

  Using the Serial Command Shell to Configure the Controller

  Updating Your Controller Firmware

  Using the Remote Racadm Utility to Configure Multiple Controllers

  Configuring a Web Browser to Display the Web-Based Remote Access Interface

NOTE: The following steps require that you have already installed the racadm command-line utility software on a management station. See your systems management software documentation for information about installing the software using the Systems Management CD.

NOTE: See "Serial and Remote Racadm Utility Commands" for more information about using racadm commands to configure your controller.

Before using your controller, you must use the serial command shell interface to perform an initial configuration. After the initial configuration, you may use either the serial command shell interface, Web-based remote access interface, or the remote racadm utility to further configure and use your controller. This section provides steps for completing the following configuration tasks.

1. Performing the initial configuration
   
   
2. Using the serial command shell to configure the controller
   
   
3. Updating your controller firmware
   
   
4. Using the Remote racadm Utility to configure multiple controllers
   
   
5. Configuring a Web browser to display the Web-based remote access interface
   
   

Performing the Initial Configuration

This section explains how to perform the following initial configuration tasks:

• Configuring the management station
  
  
• Connecting to a network switch module
  
  
• Configuring the controller IP address
  
  
• Configuring the controller time
  
  

Configuring the Management Station

The following example is the most common way to configure a management station and, in step 4 through step 10, assumes that you are using a Microsoft® Windows® operating system.

NOTICE: Text-based serial redirection requires HyperTerminal 6.1 or higher.

1. Connect an RJ45 cable from the Ethernet management port on the system to an Ethernet port on the management station.
   
   
2. Connect a null modem serial cable from the management serial port on the system to a serial port on the management station.
   
   
3. Turn on the system power supplies before proceeding, and check the following indicators to ensure that the system is operating correctly.
   
   

NOTE: For more information about the system, system management module, or server module indicators, see your system's User's Guide.

• System status indicator (see Figure 1-1) — Blue to signify normal operation.
  
  
• Server module indicator(s) (on each server module) — Blinks blue to indicate that the server module is identifying itself and then becomes solid blue to signify normal operation.
  
  
• Power indicator(s) (on each server module) — Solid green to signify that power is being supplied to the server module and then the module is operational.
  
  

4. On the management station, click Start®Programs® Accessories® Communications® HyperTerminal.
   
   
5. Enter a name for the connection and click OK.
   
   
6. In the Connect using field, click the drop-down menu and select the COM port of the management station serial port.
   
   
7. Click OK.
   
   
8. Set the COM port properties to the following specifications:
   
   
   • Bits per second — 115200
     
     
   • Data bits — 8
     
     
   • Parity — None
     
     
   • Stop bits — 1
     
     
   • Flow control — Hardware
     
     
9. Click OK to connect to the serial command shell.
   
   

The HyperTerminal window appears with the cursor blinking at the serial command prompt.

10. Enter a user name and password at the log in prompt. The default user name and password are "root" and "calvin."
    
    

Connecting to a Network Switch Module

NOTICE: Do not connect the Ethernet management port to the same subnet as switch 1, this may cause a bridge loop which may disable your network.

1. At the serial command prompt, type connect switch-1 and press <Enter>.
   
   

Your controller connects to the switch.

NOTE: See the documentation that came with your system for information about configuring a switch.

2. To disconnect the controller from the switch, press <Enter> and type <~><.>.
   
   

Configuring the Controller IP Address

Configuring the Controller IP Address With DHCP Enabled (Default)

At the serial command prompt, type racadm getniccfg and press <Enter>.

Because your system comes with DHCP enabled, a DHCP server automatically assigns an IP address for the controller. The output displays the current and static IP addresses in the following format:

NIC = Enabled
DHCP = Enabled
Static IP Settings: <IP address>
Current IP Settings: <IP address>

Configuring the Controller IP Address With DHCP Disabled

1. At the serial command prompt, type the following command:
   
   

racadm setniccfg -s [<IP address> <netmask> <gateway>]

The -s option enables static IP settings.

2. Press <Enter>.
   
   
3. Type racadm getniccfg and press <Enter>.
   
   

The output displays the current and static IP addresses.

4. Type racadm racreset and press <Enter> to reset the controller.
   
   

Configuring the Controller Time

NOTICE: You must reconfigure the controller time whenever you perform a firmware update or a RAC reset, or whenever you lose AC power to the chassis.

At the command prompt, enter the following command to configure the controller time, where yyyy is the four digit year, mm is the month, dd is the day, hh is the hour, mm is the minutes, ss is the seconds, mmmmmm is the number of microseconds, s is the sign of the offset value, and offset is the GMT (local time) in minutes:

racadm setractime -d yyyymmddhhmmss.mmmmmms<offset>

For example, Monday, May 25, 2003, at 1:30:15 PM EST would be represented as: 20030525133015.0000000-300. For more information, see "Set/Get RAC Time."

Using the Serial Command Shell to Configure the Controller

NOTE: For a description of each serial command, see "Serial and Remote Racadm Utility Commands."

After performing the initial configuration, it is necessary to configure controller users, alerting capabilities, and networking properties using the serial command shell.

For configuring some chassis options and poll rates, you can use the controller Web-based interface.

NOTE: For more information about the controller Web-based interface, see "Accessing and Using Your Controller."

This section contains information about the following topics:

• Locating the proper user index
  
  
• Adding a user without alert capabilities
  
  
• Deleting a user
  
  
• Adding alerting capabilities to an existing user
  
  

Locating the Proper User Index

The controller allows up to 16 users to be configured into the controller property database. Before manually adding the controller user, you need to know which, if any, users exist. If the controller is new, or the racadm racresetcfg command has been run, then the only user is "root" with the password "calvin." The racresetcfg subcommand resets the controller back to the original defaults.

NOTICE: Use caution when using this command because all configuration parameters are reset to the original defaults; any previous changes are lost.

NOTE: Users can be added and deleted over time, so it is possible that a user may not have the same index number as the same user on a different controller.

To find out if a user exists, enter the following command at the command prompt, once for each index of 1–16.

racadm getconfig -g cfgUserAdmin -i <index>

Over 20 parameters and object IDs are displayed along with their current values. The two objects of interest are:

# cfgUserAdminIndex=XX

cfgUserAdminUserName=

If the cfgUserAdminUserName has no value, that index number, which is indicated by the cfgUserAdminIndex object, is available for use. If a name is after the "=," that index is taken by that user name.

Adding a User Without Alert Capabilities

To add a simple user without any alert capabilities, first locate an available user index following the steps in "Locating the Proper User Index." Next, enter the following command lines with the new user name and password:

racadm config -g cfgUserAdmin -o cfgUserAdminUserName -i 2 adminuser

racadm config -g cfgUserAdmin -o cfgUserAdminPassword -i 2 admin

Example:

racadm config -g cfgUserAdmin -o cfgUserAdminUserName -i 2 john

racadm config -g cfgUserAdmin -o cfgUserAdminPassword -i 2 123456

A user name "john" with the password of "123456" is created. This user name and password can now be used to log in to the Web-based remote access interface. You can verify that a new user has been created by entering either of the following two commands:

racadm getconfig -u john

racadm getconfig -g cfgUserAdmin -i 2

The configuration information for your new user should be displayed.

Deleting a User

All users must be deleted manually. You cannot delete users by specifying them in a racadm.cfg file. To delete the user "john" created in "Adding a User Without Alert Capabilities," enter the following command line:

racadm config -g cfgUserAdmin -o cfgUserAdminUserName -i <index> ""

A null string (two " characters[""]) indicates to the controller to delete the index for the specified group.

Adding Alerting Capabilities to an Existing User

To add a controller user that is able to receive e-mail and SNMP traps, first locate an available controller user index following the steps in "Locating the Proper User Index." The following example has an available user index at index 2.

NOTE: See "Controller Property Database Group and Object Definitions," for details about each specific object.

Example for Configuring a User to Receive E-mail Alerting

At the command prompt, enter the following commands to configure a user to receive e-mail notification:

racadm config -g cfgUserAdmin -o cfgUserAdminEmailAddress -i 2 "Your_Name@Your_Company.com"

racadm config -g cfgUserAdmin -o cfgUserAdminEmailCustomMsg -i 2 "Your_custom_message"

racadm config -g cfgRemoteHosts -o cfgRhostsSmtpServerIpAddr <IP address>

Testing E-mail Alerting

NOTE: The testemail command is only supported using the remote racadm utility, not the serial command shell.

E-mail alerting is enabled by the command that follows. A "0" disables this feature; a "1" enables it.

racadm config -g cfgUserAdmin -o cfgUserAdminEmailEnable -i 2 1

racadm testemail -i 2

Example for Configuring a User to Receive SNMP Trap Alerting

At the command prompt, enter the following command to configure a user to receive SNMP trap notification:

racadm config -g cfgTraps -o cfgTrapsSnmpCommunity -i 2 public

racadm config -g cfgTraps -o cfgTrapsDestIpAddr -i 2 <IP address>

Testing SNMP Trap Alerting

NOTE: The testtrap command is only supported using the remote racadm utility, not the serial command shell.

SNMP traps are enabled by the command that follows. A "0" disables this feature; a "1" enables it.

racadm config -g cfgTraps -o cfgTrapsEnable -i 2 1

racadm testtrap -i 2

Updating Your Controller Firmware

See "Firmware Update" or your Web-based interface online help for more information about updating your controller firmware.

Using the Remote Racadm Utility to Configure Multiple Controllers

NOTE: For more information about using the remote racadm utility to configure multiple controllers, see "Using the Remote Racadm Utility and the racadm.cfg File to Configure the Controller."

To configure multiple controllers to contain the same user configuration settings, you can do either of the following:

• Using the racadm utility examples in this section as a guide, create a Windows batch file of racadm commands, and then execute the batch file on each managed system.
  
  
• Create the controller configuration file as described in "Racadm Subcommand Man Pages"; then execute the racadm config subcommand on each managed system using that same configuration file.
  
  

Configuring a Web Browser to Display the Web-Based Remote Access Interface

If you are connecting to the controller Web-based remote access interface from a client system that connects to the Internet through a proxy server, you need to configure the Web browser to connect properly to the Web-based interface. The following sections provide configuration instructions for both browsers supported by the controller: Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later, and Netscape Navigator 6.1 or later.

Configuring Internet Explorer 5.0 or Later

1. From the Internet Explorer main window, click Tools, and then click Internet Options.
   
   
2. From the Internet Options window, click the Connections tab.
   
   
3. Under Local Area Network (LAN) settings, click LAN Settings.
   
   
4. If the Use a proxy server box is checked, check the Bypass proxy server for local addresses box.
   
   
5. Click OK twice.
   
   

Configuring Netscape Navigator 6.1 or Later

1. From the Netscape Navigator main window, click Edit, and then click Preferences.
   
   
2. From the Preferences window, click the Advanced category arrow.
   
   
3. Select the subcategory Proxies.
   
   
4. If Manual proxy configuration is enabled, append the text localhost to the text in the No proxy for field.
   
   
5. Verify that entries in this text box are separated by commas.
   
   

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