SNMP and iDrac version strings

Question

Hey there Dell Denizens,At the dayjob, we have lots of dells we monitor with SNMP to the idrac (it sees hardware state way better than the OS can, and works no matter what OS we're running), and in order to discover *which* type of idrac we're using (and which OIDs to query), we use code like this:snmpget -Oqv -c $comm -v 2c $host DELL-RAC-MIB::drsProductShortName.0For years, this would return a string like 'iDRAC6' or 'iDRAC8'When you ask an idrac 9, you know what that returns? 'iDRAC'. Just iDRAC. No number. Way to break expectations.So, okay, if we get that, we've taken to asking for IDRAC-MIB-SMIv2::racShortName.0 which, at least on my R440, returned 'iDRAC9'. (Not every dell supports this out of the box, we can't just start by asking for it).Until we come to the R6525 with the latest idrac firmware. Now IDRAC-MIB-SMIv2::racShortName.0 also just returns 'iDRAC'. On a full SNMP walk of every OID on the card, I don't see anything that says any kind of version number that says '9' on it.Worse still, if I look at the racName, on my 440, I see:IDRAC-MIB-SMIv2::racName.0 = STRING: 'Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 9'But on my 6525, I see:DELL-RAC-MIB::drsProductName.0 = STRING: 'Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller '(a quoted string with a space at the end). This feels like a bug.I suspect someone broke something on this firmware rev. We're running firmware version 5.00.10.20

Origin3k · Answer

All of our (Intel) Dell 14Gen. based Poweredge returns 'SNMP OK - Typ "iDRAC"' with FW 4.40.x and 5.x. IIRC this would also be true when first 14Gen. comes to the market 4 years ago with FW 3.x. We have also T440/R440 and dozens of R740.

All 11,12 and 13.Gen Servers returnung "iDracX" where X is the iDRAC generation like 6,7,8.

We must use a different OID as you because i dont get any

Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller

but the problem seems similar.

Btw. its not the first time Dell removed or changed a OID because i remember about problems fetching the STAG from various dell devices some time ago.

Regards,
Joerg

TheGushi · Answer

I've got three servers here to offer a comparison.

The DELLRAC-MIB is older and works all the way back to the iDrac 6 or even 5. The iDrac-MIB-SMIv2 is newer. I basically run snmpwalk -c community -m all .1.3.6 and capture the entire thing to do these comparisons.

First, an R430:

DELLRAC-MIB::drsProductName.0 = STRING: "Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 8"
DELLRAC-MIB::drsProductShortName.0 = STRING: "iDRAC8"

IDRAC-MIB-SMIv2::racName.0 = STRING: "Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 8"
IDRAC-MIB-SMIv2::racShortName.0 = STRING: "iDRAC8"

See, everything there says iDrac8.

On an idrac 9, on.a 14th gen server (R440) with 5.00.10.20:

DELL-RAC-MIB::drsProductName.0 = STRING: "Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller " <-- empty space
DELL-RAC-MIB::drsProductShortName.0 = STRING: "iDRAC" <-- no 9

IDRAC-MIB-SMIv2::racName.0 = STRING: "Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 9"
IDRAC-MIB-SMIv2::racShortName.0 = STRING: "iDRAC9" <-- has a 9

And finally, on a 15th gen server (an R6525):

DELL-RAC-MIB::drsProductName.0 = STRING: "Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller " <-- empty space
DELL-RAC-MIB::drsProductShortName.0 = STRING: "iDRAC"

IDRAC-MIB-SMIv2::racName.0 = STRING: "Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller " <-- empty space
IDRAC-MIB-SMIv2::racShortName.0 = STRING: "iDRAC"

I've opened a ticket with Dell. I'm not screaming for a fix, but I'm hoping this makes it into a newer firmware, since obviously it breaks prior expectations.

TheGushi · Answer

One more.  An R440 with 4.00.00.00:DELL-RAC-MIB::drsProductName.0 = STRING: 'Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 'DELL-RAC-MIB::drsProductShortName.0 = STRING: 'iDRAC'(So, exactly the same as a 440 with latest firmware)IDRAC-MIB-SMIv2::racName.0 = STRING: 'Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 9'IDRAC-MIB-SMIv2::racShortName.0 = STRING: 'iDRAC9'

DELL-Young E · Answer

Hi, thanks for choosing Dell. From what I gather :

"there was access the iDrac version using SNMP server configuration , the earlier versions shows iDracX versions but the latest iDRAC versions not display the version as " iDRACX""

I'll try to ask if this is a simple cosmetic issue. But you also open a formal ticket. Great.

In the meantime, there's a lot of information here you can get:

https://dell.to/3GiwCOc

https://dell.to/3pxmCcW

https://dell.to/3Gfxkvt

TheGushi · Answer

Yeah, let's see how the ticket goes.But the basest version of this complaint is 'on the 6525, the SNMP responses have NOTHING that says any version or string that looks like '9' or 'iDRAC 9'', when other iDRAC 9's do.It's been escalated up to Level 3, who came back and said I was using the old MIBS.  I sent them a dump with ALL THE MIBS.Hopefully there's traction.  The alternative is having to parse the model number of the machine to figure out which generation of Dell I have and then make decisions based on that.

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