3 Posts
0
3011
June 19th, 2021 08:00
iDRAC not available after ESXi boot
Hello Everyone,
I have, in my homelab, a Poweredge R320 for more than a year now and it always worked well.
Two days ago, the server rebooted suddenly with an PWR2402 error. After this reboot, the error disappeared, but the iDRAC interface was not available, neither by the webinterface nor by ping. (iDRAC 7 Express).
After several tests, the iDRAC seems to be working when the server is powered off or when it starts for the first time after plugging power cords, but as soon as ESXi boots, the iDRAC interface is not responding anymore.
I already tried to:
- Change iDRAC IP and even put in a VLAN with only my PC and the iDRAC interface (to avoid a possible IP conflict). Same problem
- Dedicate a NIC for iDRAC and another one for ESXi Mgt Network (all my VM already had a dedicated NIC). Same problem
- Soft resetting iDRAC from "Racadm" utility in VMWare.
- Update iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller to latest version available for my server (2.65.65). Same problem
- Power off the server and unplug power cords for 1 min, while pressing the power button. iDRAC works until ESXi boots up
- Boot a Windows PE on a USB stick. iDRAC works even after Windows booting.
My last changes on this server was last month, but I don't think that's the cause:
- Changing CPU to a E5-2470V2
- Updating ESXi 6.7 to 6.7U3, enabling SNMP on the iDRAC interface to monitor it.
Do you think that a full iDRAC reset (and wiping my config) will be a solution? Have you ever heard about this problem? Do you have any ideas or recommandations?
Thank you in advance for all your answers.
Have a nice day.
DELL-Charles R
Moderator
•
4.7K Posts
•
25.5K Points
0
June 22nd, 2021 08:00
Hello gabriel-d,
Do you have a DRAC Dedicated port you can try?
It looks like this could be due to an unsupported operating system. You indicate it does not occur when booting to Windows. Dell has only validated up to ESXi 6.5 for the R320. I do understand you say you have had ESXi 6.7 working, however this is an unsupported OS and do not know what the behavior would be on this OS.
Supported OS : https://dell.to/3d3lOaa
VMware ESXi 6.5
If you roll back the U3 update does it run like it did before the update?
If you don't have one, you may look at getting a dedicated port card. If this OS has a lock on the NIC ports then giving the DRAC a dedicated port may help.
Pn#2827M - ASSY Riser Card, Server Chassis, Advanced Management Expansion Adapter , iDRAC Port Card
DELL-Young E
Moderator
•
5.4K Posts
•
37 Points
0
June 20th, 2021 19:00
Hi, thanks for choosing Dell.
From what you said
My last changes on this server was last month, but I don't think that's the cause:
- Changing CPU to a E5-2470V2
- Updating ESXi 6.7 to 6.7U3, enabling SNMP on the iDRAC interface to monitor it.
This “updating and enabling part” I’m wondering how you proceeded, if you could give us more detail.
One thing I could think of now is to reset idrac to troubleshoot.
https://dell.to/3wNiUOI
gabriel-d
3 Posts
0
June 22nd, 2021 08:00
Hi,
First, thank you for your response.
I updated ESXi by SSH with the following command: "esxcli software profile update".
For the SNMP part, I simply enabled the service option in the iDRAC webUI.
I tried the RACADM resets (racreset and even racresetcfg) but the problem is sill present.
I'm not particularly familiar with the RACADM utility but I tried some "get" command to view config and I noticed that the link to the LOM interface seems to be not detected when ESXi is running:
LOM Status:
NIC Selection = LOM1
Link Detected = No
Speed = Unknown
Duplex Mode = Unknown
Active NIC = None
Active LOM in Shared Mode = None
FailOver LOM in Shared Mode = None
I have 2 build-in NIC connected to a switch (first used for iDRAC & ESXi Management, second for generic VM Network). I also have 2 PCIe network cards with 4xGbE for my others VMs in my VLAN.
I tried to change the ESXi Management NIC in to another interface not used by iDRAC but the problem persists.
gabriel-d
3 Posts
0
June 29th, 2021 12:00
Hello,
Thanks for your response. Effectively, I haven't checked the compatibility with the version 6.7 and it's probably the problem. The network drivers seems to have changed between the 6.7U1 and the U3.The new drivers seems to have a lock on the NICs, like you said.
I tried to rollback my updates but I always got an error, so I tried another thing:
I changed the ESXi "ntg3" driver with the old "tg3" driver, I rebooted twice and then the iDRAC started to respond again. It has been working for 3 days now. I did not dare to reboot one more time, but now I know that is probably a driver problem.
I might consider getting a dedicated iDRAC card if the problem persists. As long as it works like this, I won't change anything. It is anyway a homelab and not a production server.
Thank you again for helping me!