“No controllers found” fix: set up Dell OMSA 6.3 32-bit on RHEL / CentOS 5.5 64-bit 15

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged 32-bit 64-bit CentOS CentOS 5.5 Dell No controller found No controllers found OMSA OMSA 6.3 OpenManage PERC 4 PowerEdge RHEL RHEL 5.5 srvadmin Storage Manager yum on by (updated 3841 days ago)

UPDATE: If you’d like to run the newer OMSA 6.4, please read this updated blog post. If you’d rather install OMSA 6.3, then please continue!

If you’re running a 64bit version of RHEL 5.5 or CentOS 5.5 on a slightly older Dell PowerEdge server with a PERC 4 or earlier RAID adapter, then you’re going to have some trouble if you try to use the 64-bit version of Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) 6.3.

What probably happened is that you already installed the 64-bit version of OMSA, started it up, tried to look at your RAID adapter and got an error like:

No controllers found.

Don’t despair. There’s a good reason for that. OK, there’s a reason for that. According to the known limitations of OMSA’s Storage Management:

* Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Storage Management 3.3 does not support PERC 4 controllers and earlier versions on ESXi 4.x and ESX 4.x and all 64 bit Linux Operating System.

Workaround is to install 32bit OMSA 6.3.

Basically, that means that you’re going to have to install the 32-bit version of OMSA if you want everything (especially the ability to monitor your storage controller and RAID arrays) to work.

Since I’m lazy and like to use yum rather than download and install RPMs whenever possible, I like using Dell’s OMSA Repository to install their stuff. The problem is, however, that by default, the Dell repo will try to install the version of OMSA that matches your base architecture. So if you’re running a 64-bit system, you’re going to get 64-bit software… unless you hack your repo file a little as follows.

Step 1: Set up the Dell Repository

You can follow the first part of the directions from Dell’s Linux Wiki and set up the repo with this command:

wget -q -O - http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/OMSA_6.3/bootstrap.cgi | bash

That will download some necessary files, import some PGP keys, and create a new repo file on your server. IMPORTANT: Don’t take the next step as printed in the Dell Wiki! If you use yum to install OMSA now, you’ll install the 64-bit version. You need to edit the newly created repo file first.

Step 2: Edit your Dell OMSA Repo File

Using your favorite text editor, edit /etc/yum.repos.d/dell-omsa-repository.repo. The default file should look like this:

[dell-omsa-indep]
name=Dell OMSA repository - Hardware independent
type=rpm-md
mirrorlist=http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/mirrors.cgi?osname=el$releasever&basearch=$basearch&native=1&dellsysidpluginver=$dellsysidpluginver
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/RPM-GPG-KEY-dell
    http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/RPM-GPG-KEY-libsmbios
enabled=1
failover=priority
bootstrapurl=http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/bootstrap.cgi

[dell-omsa-specific]
name=Dell OMSA repository - Hardware specific
type=rpm-md
mirrorlist=http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/mirrors.cgi?osname=el$releasever&basearch=$basearch&native=1&sys_ven_id=$sys_ven_id&sys_dev_id=$sys_dev_id&dellsysidpluginver=$dellsysidpluginver
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/RPM-GPG-KEY-dell
    http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/RPM-GPG-KEY-libsmbios
enabled=1
failover=priority
bootstrapurl=http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/bootstrap.cgi

Edit the mirrorlist entry in both sections of the file, replacing the $basearch variable with the hard-coded value of i386. That will trick the Dell repo into thinking you’re actually running a 32-bit OS, so it will provide you the 32-bit version of OMSA. Your new mirrorlist directive in [dell-omsa-indep] should now read:

mirrorlist=http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/mirrors.cgi?osname=el$releasever&basearch=i386&native=1&dellsysidpluginver=$dellsysidpluginver

and the mirrorlist directive in [dell-omsa-specific] should now read:

mirrorlist=http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/mirrors.cgi?osname=el$releasever&basearch=i386&native=1&sys_ven_id=$sys_ven_id&sys_dev_id=$sys_dev_id&dellsysidpluginver=$dellsysidpluginver

Now you’re ready for yum.

Step 3: Use Yum to Install OMSA

Type the following:

yum install srvadmin-all

All the appropriate dependencies should be sorted out, and all the 32-bit OMSA packages will be installed on your system. During the install process, you’ll see this message:

**********************************************************
After the install process completes, you may need
to log out and then log in again to reset the PATH
variable to access the Dell OpenManage CLI utilities
**********************************************************

Log out then log back in as suggested, then do:

srvadmin-services.sh start

You should see something like:

Starting mptctl:
Waiting for mptctl driver registration to complete:
                                                           [  OK  ]

Starting Remote Access Controller (RAC4)...                [  OK  ]
Starting Systems Management Device Drivers:
Starting dell_rbu:                                         [  OK  ]
Starting ipmi driver: Already started                      [  OK  ]
Starting Systems Management Data Engine:
Starting dsm_sa_datamgrd:                                  [  OK  ]
Starting dsm_sa_eventmgrd:                                 [  OK  ]
Starting DSM SA Shared Services:                           [  OK  ]

Starting DSM SA Connection Service:                        [  OK  ]

You can verify that the storage controller is accessible by typing:

omreport storage controller

You should get output like:

 Controller  PERC 4e/Si (Embedded)

Controllers
ID                                            : 0
Status                                        : Ok
Name                                          : PERC 4e/Si
Slot ID                                       : Embedded
State                                         : Ready
Firmware Version                              : 5B2D
Minimum Required Firmware Version             : Not Applicable
Driver Version                                : Not Applicable
Minimum Required Driver Version               : Not Applicable
Storport Driver Version                       : Not Applicable
Minimum Required Storport Driver Version      : Not Applicable
Number of Connectors                          : 1
Rebuild Rate                                  : 30%
BGI Rate                                      : Not Applicable
Check Consistency Rate                        : Not Applicable
Reconstruct Rate                              : Not Applicable
Alarm State                                   : Not Applicable
Cluster Mode                                  : Not Applicable
SCSI Initiator ID                             : 7
Cache Memory Size                             : 256 MB
Patrol Read Mode                              : Auto
Patrol Read State                             : Active
Patrol Read Rate                              : Not Applicable
Patrol Read Iterations                        : 479
Abort Check Consistency on Error              : Not Applicable
Allow Revertible Hot Spare and Replace Member : Not Applicable
Load Balance                                  : Not Applicable
Auto Replace Member on Predictive Failure     : Not Applicable
Redundant Path view                           : Not Applicable
Persistent Hot Spare                          : Not Applicable
Security Capable                              : Not Applicable
Security Key Present                          : Not Applicable
Spin Down Unconfigured Drives                 : Not Applicable
Spin Down Hot Spares                          : Not Applicable

You can also log in to the OMSA web interface at https://yourhostname:1311 (be sure to use https).

That’s it! You’re now running the 32-bit version of the latest OMSA on a 64-bit operating system!

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