PowerScale: Steps to connect to serial port when remote connection is not possible

This article should be followed by a customer when a node is down or unavailable. The following states apply:

• Node down
• Unable to boot up correctly
• Disconnected/unreachable from the network
• Node panicking
• Upgrade issue

Requirements

• Portable computer with Windows, UNIX, or Mac OS X
• 9-pin null modem cable or 9-pin serial cable with a null modem adapter
• USB to RS232 serial adapter (Female to Female) if the laptop does not have a serial port
• Serial communication application (Windows: Putty, HyperTerminal, or SecureCRT/UNIX: Minicom) 

Procedure:

Step 1:- locate the serial port on the node in question.
See the Additional information section below and click on the mode number for the node you must connect to. An image if the back of the node should open in a new window with the serial or management port location described.

Example for Gen6/MLK:


Example of Gen6.5 F200/F600/P100/B100:

Example of Gen 6.5 F900:

Gen 6.5 F210/F710/PA110:

Gen6.5 F910:

Step 2:- connecting to the serial port

• Connect the 9-pin modem cable into the serial port on the back of the node
• Connect one end of the FEMALE to FEMALE serial cable to the laptop usb/serial port
• Identify the serial line (COM port) to connect using the ports tab in the device manager on the PC
• If using the USB to serial you must click on the USB serial port icon to confirm the port to use, see image below for example

Device manager example. *note moving the USB converter to another USB port creates another instance of a COM port on the USB converter.

• Open Putty for example 
• Under session in, the upper left click logging and tick "Printable output". Note the directory where the file is saved using the browser button. (Perhaps move where that is stored to a directory that is easy to access)
• Under the connection tab click on serial
• In the first box "Serial line to connect to" input the COM port name identified previously
• In the "Speed (baud)" box input 115200
• Ensure the "Data bits" box is 8
• Ensure the stop bits is 1
• Parity should be "None"
• Under Flow control check that "XON/XOFF" is selected

Gen6 nodes do not support serial flow control - the flow control setting should be set to 'None' when connecting to Gen6 hardware.

• If using Putty click on the Terminal tab, remove "PuTTY" from the "Answerback to ^E" box
• Click open connection

Step 3 :- collect relevant information.

• Press enter on the keyboard once the putty window opens
• The window should display output from the PowerScale CLI
• If an Engineer is already engaged, they should join a zoom/WebEx session to review the output and help with collecting relevant information
• If not, allow the session to run for between 1 - 5 min then close the session with the X on the upper right hand of the putty window

Step 4 :- share with support
Upload the logs/core/stack to support for review:
Use one of the three options below to share the outputs collected with PowerScale support:

1. Upload the output/putty session to the open support case under the attach files section
2. Upload the output/putty session to the temporary ftp link provided
3. Share the output/putty session over email

Support reviews the shared information and sends an engineer to the site with the most likely needed parts to bring the node back up online.
While support strives to get the issue resolved with the first on-site visit, sometimes this might not always be possible.