Dell Remote Access Controller
Dealing with Dell iDRACs is always fun. Here are some notes on how to use it.
Tasks
Access the serial console
Access RAC via SSH, then run:
$ console com2
Hit Ctrl - \ to exit.
Restart the server
$ racadm serveraction powercycle
Other actions include:
- powerdown to halt system
- powerup to start the system
- powercycle to stop and start the system
- powerstatus to display the system status (either ON or OFF)
- hardreset to force a power reset
Restart the remote access controller
$ racadm racreset soft
You may also choose to use a hard reset or force the reset with -f. Eg:
$ racadm racreset hard -f
Troubleshooting
Older iDRACs require Java. That's always fun.
Network connection has dropped
Install icedtea-web or the official JDK from oracle. Because the iDRAC uses RC4 for SSL/TLS, you will get an error "The viewer has terminated. Reason: The network connection has dropped." if you try to connect. To work around this, you will need to edit /usr/java/jdk1.8.0_202-amd64/jre/lib/security/java.security (change the java version as required) and edit jdk.tls.disabledAlgorithms to not include RC4. Save the file and try launching the java web start applet again.
644 #jdk.tls.disabledAlgorithms=SSLv3, RC4, DES, MD5withRSA, DH keySize < 1024, \
645 # EC keySize < 224, 3DES_EDE_CBC, anon, NULL
646 jdk.tls.disabledAlgorithms=SSLv3, DES, MD5withRSA, DH keySize < 1024, \
647 EC keySize < 224, 3DES_EDE_CBC, anon, NULL
Java application blocked
On an even older Dell iDRAC (version 2.2), when trying to launch the java web start application, I got an "Application Blocked by Java Security".
To fix this, you need to open the Java security control panel by running /usr/java/jdk1.8.0_202-amd64/jre/bin/ControlPanel, go to the "Security" tab, and then click 'Edit Site List...'. Add your iDRAC's address into the exception list. For example, http://ipmi-nn1:80 or https://ipmi-nn1:443.