7 Replies Latest reply on Apr 11, 2018 9:06 PM by roman79

Dell Servers - Retrieve IPMI SEL request to host failed

MTomasko Sep 20, 2017 11:49 AM

I have a Dell R520 and a Dell R730 with Enterprise iDrac cards. I'm running VMware 6.5U1 on both servers. Servers have been up about 14 days and I just started getting an error in vCenter "A general system error occurred: Retrieve IPMI SEL request to host failed.". Nothing has changed in my configuration that caused this.

I ran Update Manager with the Dell repository added on the R730 and I see there is iSM 3.0.1 for ESXi600 available, but when I look up the release notes it doesn't list the R730 as being supported, but it lists the R740. Would update manager show an update if it wasn't compatible? Any ideas how to fix the IPMI error? I have an R320 with the basic iDrac and it does not give the error.

1. Re: Dell Servers - Retrieve IPMI SEL request to host failed

parmarr Sep 26, 2017 3:45 AM (in response to MTomasko)

This issue occurs when the IPMI System Event log file is full, which triggers the alarm that monitors the log file.
Please refer "Host IPMI system event log status" alarm in vCenter Server (1033725) to clear the IPMI System Event log file.
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2. Re: Dell Servers - Retrieve IPMI SEL request to host failed

MTomasko Sep 26, 2017 6:00 AM (in response to parmarr)

I tried KB 1033725 when I had the error, but even trying to clear the logs generated an error.
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3. Re: Dell Servers - Retrieve IPMI SEL request to host failed

Beata Sep 26, 2017 7:54 AM (in response to MTomasko)

"A general system error occurred: Retrieve IPMI SEL request to host failed" is quite common observed error in vSphere 6.5 together with:

https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2151238

Regards,
Beata
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4. Re: Dell Servers - Retrieve IPMI SEL request to host failed

pwolf Sep 26, 2017 12:20 PM (in response to MTomasko)

Take a look at the log settings for vpxa (/etc/vmware/vpxa/vpxa.cfg). I have found on my 6.5 servers, that the vpxa log-level was set to verbose. Thus the vpxa log fills quite quickly and if it is full you get those errors. Restarting vpxa is one method, but that is only temporary as you are hit by the next full log in foreseeable future.

I set the log-level of vpxa to info and restarted vpxa. Since this change all seems to work.

Maybe this helps in your situation, too,
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5. Re: Dell Servers - Retrieve IPMI SEL request to host failed

MTomasko Sep 26, 2017 7:28 PM (in response to pwolf)

Here's what I found in the VPXA.CFG

<log>
    <level>verbose</level>
    <maxFileNum>10</maxFileNum>
    <maxFileSize>1048576</maxFileSize>
    <memoryLevel>verbose</memoryLevel>
    <outputToConsole>false</outputToConsole>
    <outputToFiles>false</outputToFiles>
    <outputToSyslog>true</outputToSyslog>
    <syslog>
      <facility>local4</facility>
      <ident>Vpxa</ident>
      <logHeaderFile>/var/run/vmware/vpxaLogHeader.txt</logHeaderFile>
    </syslog>
</log>
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6. Re: Dell Servers - Retrieve IPMI SEL request to host failed

pwolf Sep 29, 2017 5:07 PM (in response to MTomasko)

For me it was sufficient to set the general log level in the second row of your file to <level>info</level> instead of verbose. You can further set the loglevel for memory (<memoryLevel>...</memoryLevel>) to info, as that is set to verbose now.

Probably the verbose setting is now default for new installations, which can lead to the problems described by you.

HTH
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7. Re: Dell Servers - Retrieve IPMI SEL request to host failed

roman79 Apr 11, 2018 9:06 PM (in response to MTomasko)

"A general system error occurred: Retrieve IPMI SEL request to host failed" - looks like this has been resolved in the latest update of ESXi 6.5 (build 7967591).

I've done upgrade using DellEMC-ESXi-6.5U1-7967591-A10 ISO (VMware ESXi 6.5 U1 Driver Details | Dell Australia), and now it works as expected:

Previously, with DellEMC-ESXi-6.5U1-7388607-A07 it was still generating an error message:

Hope this information helps.
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