-C H A P T E R

C H A P T E R 10

System Functions and Event Logs

This chapter contains a discussion of system functions and configuration information, and shows you how to view event logs. Topics covered include:

Muting the Beeper

To Change the Beeper Setting

Setting and Changing the Controller Password

To Set a New Password

To Disable the Password

Resetting the Controller

Shutting Down the Controller

To Shut Down a Controller

Saving Your Configuration (NVRAM) to a File

To Save Your Configuration (NVRAM) to a File

Restoring Your Configuration (NVRAM) From a File

Restoring Your Configuration (NVRAM) From a File

To View the Event Logs

Muting the Beeper

An audible alarm indicates that either a component in the array has failed or a specific controller event has occurred. Error conditions and controller events are reported by event messages and event logs. Component failures are also indicated by LED activity on the array.

For information about failed component alarms, refer to the Sun StorEdge 3000 Family Installation, Operation, and Service Manual for your array. For information on controller events, see Event Messages.

Note - It is important to know the cause of the error condition because how you silence the alarm depends on the cause of the alarm.

If the alarm is caused by a controller event, use the "Mute beeper" menu option to disable the system alarm until another error event occurs. If the alarm is caused by a failed component, push the Reset button on the right ear of the array..

Note - If the alarm is caused by a failed component, using the "Mute beeper" menu option has no effect.

To Change the Beeper Setting

1. Choose "system Functions right arrow Mute beeper."

A confirmation message is displayed.

Screen capture showing submenu with "Mute beeper" chosen. The prompt is "Mute Beeper?"

2. Choose Yes to turn the beeper off until the next event occurs.

Setting and Changing the Controller Password

Use the controller's password to protect the array from unauthorized entry. Once the controller's password has been set, the user can configure and monitor the RAID controller only after providing the correct password.

Note - The controller is able to verify the password when entering the Main Menu from the initial screen or making configuration changes. If the controller will be left unattended, "Password Validation Timeout" can be set to "Always Check." Setting validation timeout to "Always Check" protects the controller configuration from any unauthorized change.

Note - The controller password and controller name share a 16-character space. The maximum characters for the controller password is 15. When the controller name occupies 15 characters, there is only one character left for the controller password, and vice versa.

To Set a New Password

1. Choose "system Functions right arrow change Password."

If a password has previously been set, the controller prompts you for the old password first. If a password has not been set, the controller prompts you for the new password. The password cannot be replaced unless a correct old password is provided.

2. Type the old password (if any) and press Return.

If the password is incorrect, the controller will not allow you to change the password. Instead, it will display a "Password incorrect!" error message and return to the previous menu.

If the password is correct, or there is no preset password, you are prompted for the new password.

Screen capture showing the submenu shows "change Password" chosen and the prompt is for a New Password.

Note - The controller password is case-sensitive.

3. Type the desired password in the column and press Return.

You are prompted to type the new password again.

4. Type the password again to confirm and press Return.

The new password now becomes the controller's password.

To Disable the Password

To disable or delete the password, press Return without typing anything in the text area used for entering a new password. The existing password is deleted and no password checking occurs when entering the Main Menu from the initial screen.

Resetting the Controller

It is sometimes necessary after changing controller parameters to reset the controller before the parameter changes can take effect. However, there are two ways of resetting a controller from the firmware application, the "Reset Controller" menu option and the "Shutdown Controller" menu option. It is important that you distinguish between the results of these two menu options.

Use the "Reset Controller" menu option to reset the controller without saving the contents of the controller's cache to disk. This can be desirable if you believe that a software crash or hardware fault might have corrupted the cached data.

Caution - If you want to write the cache contents to disk, do not use the "Reset Controller" menu option while the controller is connected to host systems. Instead, use the "Shutdown Controller" menu option and choose Yes when you see the "Reset Controller?" prompt. See Shutting Down the Controller for more information.

To Reset the Controller Without Saving Cache Contents

1. Choose "system Functions right arrow Reset Controller."

A confirmation prompt is displayed.

Screen capture showing the submenu with "Reset controller" chosen. The prompt "Reset Controller?" is displayed.

2. Choose Yes.

The controller is now reset.

Caution - Resetting the controller does not preserve the contents of the cache or write them to disk. When the controller is reset, all cache contents are lost. See Shutting Down the Controller for information about writing the contents of cache to disk before resetting the controller.

Shutting Down the Controller

The "Shutdown Controller" menu option first halts all I/O activity. It should be used only when all I/O activity from hosts to and from the controller has already been halted.

The "Shutdown Controller" menu option writes the contents of the cache to the drives.

Note - If you want to restart the controller after shutdown, confirm when prompted that you want to reset the controller after the shutdown function has completed.

To Shut Down a Controller

1. Choose "system Functions right arrow Shutdown Controller."

A confirmation prompt is displayed.

2. Choose Yes.

A status and confirmation message tells you that the controller shutdown is complete and asks if you want to reset the controller.

Screen capture showing a "Reset controller?" confirmation message

3. Choose Yes to reset the controller.

Note - If you choose No, you lose access to the controller and must power it up manually or use the CLI to restart it.

Saving Your Configuration (NVRAM) to a File

Back up your controller-dependent configuration information. Use the "save nvram to disks" function to save configuration information whenever a configuration change is made, and record the configuration information.

When you save your configuration, it is stored in a logical drive.

Note - A logical drive must exist for the controller to write NVRAM content onto it.

Saving your NVRAM controller configuration to a file provides a backup of the controller-dependent configuration information such as channel settings, host IDs, FC protocol, and cache configuration. It does not save LUN mapping information. The NVRAM configuration file can restore all configuration settings but does not rebuild logical drives.

The firmware menu options whose parameter settings are saved when you save your NVRAM controller configuration to disk include:

logical drive Assignments

logical volume Assignments

view and edit Host luns

view and edit Scsi channels

Baud-rate 38,400

Data Routing Direct to Port

Terminal Emulation Enabled

Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

Write-Back Cache

Optimization for Sequential or Random I/O

Maximum Queued I/O Count

Luns per Host SCSI ID

Max Number of Concurrent Host-LUN Connections

Peripheral Device Type

Peripheral Device Qualifier

Device Supports Removable Media

LUN Applicability

Host Cylinder/Head/Sector Mapping Configuration

Head Ranges

Cylinder Ranges

Fibre Connection Option

SCSI Motor Spin-Up

SCSI Reset at Power-Up

Disk Access Delay Time

SCSI I/O Timeout

Maximum Tag Count

Periodic Drive Check Time

Periodic SAF-TE and SES Device Check Time

Periodic Auto-Detect Failure Drive Swap Check Time

Auto-Assign Global Spare Drive

Rebuild Priority

Verification on LD Initialization Writes

Remote Redundant Controller

Controller Name

LCD Title Display

Password Validation Timeout

SDRAM ECC

change Password

The firmware menu options whose parameter settings are not saved when you save your NVRAM controller configuration to disk include:

Delete logical drive

Partition logical drive

logical drive Name

Delete logical volume

Partition logical volume

Edit Host-ID/WWN Name List

disk Reserved space

Global spare

PPP Configuration

Modem Operation

SNMP Configuration

Controller Unique Identifier (Hex)

UPS Status

UPS Power Fail Signal Active

View Peripheral Device Status

Trigger Thresholds for +3.3V Events

Upper Threshold for +3.3V Event

Lower Threshold for +3.3V Event

Trigger Thresholds for +5V Events

Upper Threshold for +5V Event

Lower Threshold for +5V Event

Trigger Thresholds for +12V Events

Upper Threshold for +12V Event

Lower Threshold for +12V Event

Trigger Thresholds for CPU Temperature Events

Upper Threshold for CPU Temperature Event

Lower Threshold for CPU Temperature Event

Trigger Thresholds for Board Temperature Events

Upper Threshold for Board Temperature Event

Lower Threshold for Board Temperature Event

If you prefer to save and restore all configuration data, including LUN mapping information, use Sun StorEdge Configuration Service and CLI software in addition to saving your NVRAM controller configuration to disk. The information saved this way can be used to rebuild all logical drives and therefore can be used to completely duplicate an array configuration to another array.

Refer to the Sun StorEdge 3000 Family Configuration Service User's Guide for information about the "save configuration" and "load configuration" features. Refer to the sccli man page for information about the "reset nvram" and "download controller-configuration" commands.

To Save Your Configuration (NVRAM) to a File

1. Choose "system Functions right arrow Controller maintenance Save nvram to disks."

A confirmation prompt is displayed.

Screen capture shows the "Save nvram to disks" command accessed through the "system Functions" command and "Configuration Parameters" command.

2. Choose Yes to confirm.

A message confirms that the NVRAM information has been successfully saved.

To restore the configuration, refer to Restoring Your Configuration (NVRAM) From a File.

Restoring Your Configuration (NVRAM) From a File

If you have saved a configuration file and want to apply that same configuration to another array (or reapply it to the array that had the configuration originally) you must be certain that the channels and IDs in the configuration file are correct for the array where you are restoring the configuration.

The NVRAM configuration file restores all configuration settings (channel settings, host IDs, etc.) but does not rebuild logical drives. See Saving Your Configuration (NVRAM) to a File for information about how to save a configuration file, including advice about saving controller-dependent configuration whenever a configuration change is made.

Caution - Before restoring a configuration file, be certain that the configuration file you apply matches the array to which you apply it. If host IDs, logical drive controller assignments, or other controller-dependent configuration information has changed since the configuration file was saved, you might lose access to mismatched channels or drives. You will have to change cabling or host or drive channel IDs to correct this mismatch and restore the access you have lost. The address of the RAID controller channel must also match what is described in /etc/vfstab.

Note - In the Sun StorEdge Configuration Service program, you can save a configuration file that can restore all configurations and rebuild all logical drives. However, it will also erase all data when it rebuilds the logical drives. Only perform this operation if no data has been stored or all data has been transferred to another array.

To Restore Configuration Settings from a Saved NVRAM File

1. Choose "system Functions right arrow Controller maintenance Restore nvram from disks."

A confirmation message is displayed.

Screen shot shows the "Restore NVRAM From Disks?" prompt with "Yes" chosen.

2. Press Yes to confirm.

A prompt notifies you that the controller NVRAM data has been successfully restored from disks.

Viewing Event Logs

The controller event log records an event or alarm that occurs after the system is powered on. The controller can store up to 1,000 event logs. An event log records a configuration or operation event as well as an error message or alarm event.The SES logic in each FC array and Event Monitoring Units in each SCSI array send messages to the controller log that report problems and status of the fans, temperature, and voltage.

Caution - f you power off or reset the controller, all recorded event logs are deleted.

To View the Event Logs

1. Choose "view and edit Event logs" from the Main Menu.

A log of recent events is displayed.

Screen capture shows the "Event Log" with a list of recent events.

2. Use your arrow keys to scroll up and down through the list.

3. To clear the events from the log once you've read them, use your arrow keys to move down to the last event you want to clear and press Return.

A "Clear Above xx Event Logs?" confirmation message is displayed.

Screen capture shows the "Clear Above 14 Event Logs?" prompt displayed and "Yes" chosen.

4. Choose Yes to clear the recorded event logs.

Note - Resetting the controller clears the recorded event logs. If you want event logs to persist after controller resets, refer to Sun StorEdge 3000 Family Configuration Service User's Guide for information about how to install and configure the Sun StorEdge Configuration Service software.