Adaptec CIM and server health

[matthewk]

ESXi looks interesting, but I'm very concerned with monitoring my RAID array. Since there's no Service Console, I can't install Adaptec Storage Manager (ASM). Does the current revision of ESXi support monitoring Adaptec 5 series SAS cards? If not, what comparable card would have support?

Just to clarify, I'm not asking about driver support - the 5 series is on the HCL - I'm concerned with monitoring in case a drive needs replacement.

[molko]

Hello!

I removed adpt-aacraid-1.1.7 and VMW_ARC_CLI_1.0-ESX-4.1.0-1.0 and installed  all again.

In my previous post under

#-esxupdate query --vib-view|grep aacraid -> Output
#deb_vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-aacraid_400.4.1.1.5.1-1vmw.1.4.348481        installed     2011-01-13T01:34:35+00:00       
#cross_vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-aacraid_400.4.1.7.28000-1OEM                 installed     2011-04-14T10:49:32.121619+00:00

I wrote that I checked this point.

But the issue is, that I not install directly the "vmware-esxi-drivers-scsi-aacraid-400.4.1.7.28000-1.0.4.260247.x86_64.vib", but the adpt-aacraid-1.1.7-offline_bundle-374162.zip with esxupdate. Output of "esxupdate query --vib-view|grep aacraid" is for both the same, the effect is definitive not the same.

Now it works ! (after a new Installation of arcconf-18781.zip)

Thanks!

[DaveVsTheWorld]

I just read through this whole post and I'm not sure what you guys accomplished or how you did it.  I have an ESXi 4.1 server with an adaptec 5805 raid card, and was wondering how do I manage the RAIDs from within it.  Is the Storage Manager installed directly on the ESXi OS?  Or does somehow one of my VMs connect to the card and configure within a windows session?

What I'm doing right now is I have a separate hard drive with XP to which I boot to configure the RAIDs.  It'd be nice if I didn't have to shutdown the entire server just to check on the RAIDs or reconfigure them.

[molko]

Hi, see http://download.adaptec.com/pdfs/installation_guides/vmware_esxi_41_cim_remotearcconf_installation_g....

First you have to install aacraid driver (Version 1.1.7.28000) and the cim-provider (arcconf-18781.zip) on the esxi os

(with esxupdate, you must reboot the Hypervisor after that) and then the RemoteArcconf-Utility on one of your VMs (Windows or Linux)

and configure it .

Now you can run arcconf on your VM (Guest OS / in your windows session) and arcconf will connect to the Hypervisor machine (esxi os).

[DaveVsTheWorld]

Ok, I installed both drivers on ESXi, and installed that thing on a guest xp OS.

-----

C:\>arcconf getversion
Controllers found: 0
Command completed successfully.

-----

Shouldn't I see the controller right about now?  What am I missing here?

~ # esxupdate query
---------Bulletin ID--------- -----Installed----- --------------Summary--------------
VMW_ARC_CLI_1.0-ESX-4.1.0-1.0 2011-04-18T12:37:43 ARC CLI provider: ESX release
adpt-aacraid-1.1.7            2011-04-19T07:20:46 aacraid: scsi driver for VMware ESX

[molko]

Try

arcconf getconfig 1

or

arcconf getconfig 1 LD

[DaveVsTheWorld]

C:\>arcconf getversion

Controllers found: 0

Command completed successfully.

C:\>arcconf getconfig 1
Controllers found: 0
Invalid controller number.

C:\>arcconf getconfig 1 LD
Controllers found: 0
Invalid controller number.

I'm gonna go back through all the driver installation steps and see if I missed anything.

[jmorgan21]

I don't quite understand step #3 in that pdf. What does the filepath "\B18781\ASM‐CIMPROVIDER‐ESXI41‐ADAP\cdrom5\esxi4_1\cim\arcconf‐18781.zip" mean? I searched on the support page and found these two downloads which I think is what I need?

http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/speed/raid/storage_manager/cim_vmware_v7_00_18781_zip.htm

http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/speed/raid/aac/linux/aacraid_vmware_esx_esxi_drivers_1_1_7-28000_tgz.ht...

I downloaded these two files, but whenever I try to use esxupdate command to install the CIM Provider, I get this error:

/tmp # esxupdate --bundle=cim_vmware_v7_00_18781.zip --nodeps --nosigcheck --maintenancemode update
Encountered error MetadataDownloadError:
The error data is:
   Url         - zip:cim_vmware_v7_00_18781.zip?metadata.zip
   Localfile   - /var/tmp/cache/metadata1514310839/metadata.zip
   Message     - Error extracting metadata.zip from cim_vmware_v7_00_18781.zip:
                 "There is no item named 'metadata.zip' in the archive"
   Errno       - 4
   Description - Failed to download metadata.

I have no idea how to install the aacraid driver. Even when I attempt to untar it, esx sits there for a long time without doing anything.

[Truelies]

Ciao and thanks for your e-mail!

I am out of the office, I will come back the 26th of April.

Your message will not be forwarded to any other mailbox.

See ya!

Gianluigi

[molko]

1. aacraid-driver for the esxi-host

Download aacraid_vmware_esx_esxi_drivers_1.1.7-28000.tgz (not on your esxi-Host, there is no zip or tar available!)

# tar -xvf aacraid_vmware_esx_esxi_drivers_1.1.7-28000.tgz

copy vmware-esxi-drivers-scsi-aacraid-400.4.1.7.28000-1.0.4.260247.x86_64.vib to your esxi-host

#esxupdate -b  vmware-esxi-drivers-scsi-aacraid-400.4.1.7.28000-1.0.4.260247.x86_64.vib  --nodeps --maintenancemode --nosigcheck update

update check
#esxupdate query --vib-view | grep -i aacraid

2. arcconf for the esxi-host

If you download http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/speed/raid/storage_manager/cim_vmware_v7_00_18781_zip.htm and unzip (again not on your esxi-Host!) cim_vmware_v7_00_18781.zip you shoud have a subfolder cim_vmware_v7_00_18781/esxi4_1/cim. There should be the file arcconf-18781.zip. Copy that on your esxi-Host and run

#esxupdate --bundle=arcconf-18781.zip --nodeps --nosigcheck --maintenancemode update

(not esxupdate --bundle=cim_vmware_v7_00_18781.zip --nodeps --nosigcheck --maintenancemode update!)

After that reboot your system

To verify arcconf provider package is installed, use ‘esxupdate query’ to list the package:
~ # esxupdate query
VMW_ARC_CLI_1.0-ESX-4.1.0-1.0 2011-03-21T18:06:36 ARC CLI provider: ESX release

3. Finally install cim_vmware_v7_00_18781/esxi4_1/remote_arcconf/setup_remote_arcconf_x32.exe (or cim_vmware_v7_00_18781/esxi4_1/remote_arcconf/remote-arcconf-7.00-18781.i386.bin on linux system) on your GuestOS

[jmorgan21]

I got the CIM to install and the ESXi drivers without issue.

Can I install arcconf on a freebsd GuestOS machine instead of linux?

I tried this one:

http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/speed/raid/storage_manager/asm_freebsd_x86_v7_00_18781_tgz.htm

but arcconf sees no controllers:

root@www$: /opt/StorMan/arcconf getconfig 1 ad
Controllers found: 0
Invalid controller number.

I get this output when attempting to execute the remote arcconf binary on freebsd 8:

root@www:~$ ./remote-arcconf-7.00-18781.i386.bin
error: failed dependencies:
        /bin/sh   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        /bin/sh   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        /bin/sh   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        /bin/sh   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libc.so.6   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.0)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.1)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.1.2)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.1.3)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.2)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.3)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.3.2)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.3.4)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.4)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libcrypt.so.1   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libcrypt.so.1(GLIBC_2.0)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libdl.so.2   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libdl.so.2(GLIBC_2.0)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libdl.so.2(GLIBC_2.1)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libgcc_s.so.1   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libgcc_s.so.1(GCC_3.0)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libgcc_s.so.1(GLIBC_2.0)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libm.so.6   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libpthread.so.0   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libpthread.so.0(GLIBC_2.0)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libpthread.so.0(GLIBC_2.1)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libpthread.so.0(GLIBC_2.2)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libpthread.so.0(GLIBC_2.3.2)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libstdc++.so.6   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libstdc++.so.6(CXXABI_1.3)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        libstdc++.so.6(GLIBCXX_3.4)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781
        rtld(GNU_HASH)   is needed by remote-arcconf-7.00-18781

Am I really missing this many dependancies? I've already installed the compat6x-i386 port and I know I have /bin/sh and /lib/libc.so.6

Why can't it find these?

[gadina]

On one of my ESXi 4.1 servers with Adaptec 2405 after some time I've got such output from Remote ArcConf:

# /usr/RemoteArcconf/arcconf setvmcredential esxi-server3 5989 root password

Command completed successfully.

# /usr/RemoteArcconf/arcconf GETCONFIG 1 LD

Controllers found: 0

Invalid controller number.

at the same time the controller on that server is working properly.

output from esxi-server3:

~ # lspci

000:000:00.0 Bridge: Intel Corporation Sandy Bridge DRAM Controller

000:000:01.0 Bridge: Intel Corporation Sandy Bridge PCI Express Root Port [PCIe RP[000:000:01.0]]

000:000:02.0 Display controller: Intel Corporation Sandy Bridge Integrated Graphics Controller

000:000:22.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point HECI Controller #1

000:000:26.0 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #2

000:000:28.0 Bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 1 [PCIe RP[000:000:28.0]]

000:000:28.2 Bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 3 [PCIe RP[000:000:28.2]]

000:000:28.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 4 [PCIe RP[000:000:28.3]]

000:000:29.0 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #1

000:000:31.0 Bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point LPC Controller

000:000:31.2 Mass storage controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point 6 port SATA AHCI Controller [vmhba0]

000:000:31.3 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point SMBus Controller

000:001:00.0 Mass storage controller: Adaptec ASR-2405 [vmhba1]

000:002:00.0 Bridge: Integrated Technology Express, Inc.

000:004:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation 82574L Gigabit Network Connection [vmnic0]

000:005:00.0 Serial bus controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller

~ # ls -la /dev | grep aac

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root                 19 May 27 12:42 aac0 -> char/vmkdriver/aac0

~ # esxupdate query --vib-view|grep aacraid

deb_vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-aacraid_400.4.1.1.5.1-1vmw.1.6.381591          installed     2011-03-18T22:18:41+00:00    

cross_vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-aacraid_400.4.1.7.28000-1OEM                 installed     2011-04-26T15:42:28.551548+00:00

~ # esxupdate query                    

---------Bulletin ID--------- -----Installed----- -------------Summary-------------

VMW_ARC_CLI_1.0-ESX-4.1.0-1.0 2011-04-26T15:54:25 ARC CLI provider: ESX release 

ESXi410-Update01              2011-05-24T07:54:47 VMware ESXi 4.1 Complete Update 1

ESXi410-201104401-SG          2011-05-24T07:55:14 Updates Firmware              

ESXi410-201104402-BG          2011-05-24T07:55:14 Updates VMware Tools          

server restart fixes this problem, but it's a bad decision.

Pls advice.

[keebs201110141]

Gadina,

Using the remote Arcconf and updated driver from Adaptec has made my raid unstable and now my patched arcconf no longer will work either. I am trying to find another <=2gb USB drive to reiinstall ESXi & prove it is Adaptec's new driver causing the problem. Also, My remotearcconf would work for a period of time and then drop off - no longer finding the controller - just like you reported

[gadina]

Keebs,

I confirm that patched arcconf doesn't work on ESXi with adaptec CIM and updated driver installed.

Also I have other ESXi servers with the same RAID controller (2405) that works without any problems.

On problematic ESXi server I have found only one difference - it is temperature of RAID controller - it is higher than on other servers > 60 C

But I don't think that it may be problem..

[keebs201110141]

Can you define "problematic"? What are you experiencing?

[gadina]

sorry for my bad english.

I mean - server with problem. Server, on which the RAID controller is no longer detected by the remote arcconf.

[tom666620111014]

I have ARCCONF connecting to my ESXi 4.1 host however there is nothing showing up in the Hardware Status tab in VC.

Has anyone managed to come up with a script that can automatically poll my adaptec 2405 and perhaps fire off an email if the array is not Optimal?

Also why do LSI cards show up on the Hardware status page but yet no other major RAID controller company have this. Do Vmware own LSI or something lame?

[keebs201110141]

Gadina,

Symantec Backup Exec 2010 R1 & R2 was causing the system to become unstable after running a full Exchange 2010 backup. Within 12 hours after running the backup, VSphere and all the vms would crash as well as the logical drive the os's were on would go offline and all the raid sets would become degraded. During this time, RemoteArcconf also could not find the controller. A manual upgrade to Backup Exec 2010 R3 has returned the system to stability; the raid, the VMs, Vsphere, and RemoteArcconf. Been running 10 days now stable, with 4 of those days running a full exchange backup under BackupExec R3. prior to R3, Server would crash every 12-18 hours.

[davidemiccone]

Does someone alredy try Adaptec CIM provider with vSphere 5? I tried and dont't works

Someone know if is there a new version of cim_vmware_v7_00_18781 ?

Any conseil will be appreciated...

[Firemike1]

Hi David,

at  http://ask.adaptec.com   you can read, that Adaptec plans supporting ESXi-5 from "August".

Now - i think it refers to 2011 ... so we dont have to wait any longer.

VMware Support Matrix:

Adaptec by PMC Product	VMware Version	Driver inbox / planned / available?	Management Tool planned / available?
Series 6	VMware ESXi 4.x	Not planned	Not planned
	VMware ESX 4.x	Available	Available: CLI & ASM
	VMware ESX 5.0	Planned (August)	Planned: CLI (CIM)
Series 2, 5, 5Z and Q	VMware ESXi 4.x	Available	Available: CLI (CIM)
	VMware ESX 4.x	Inbox	Available: CLI & ASM
	VMware ESX 5.0	Planned (August)	Planned: CLI (CIM)
Series 3, legacy Adaptec and ICP SAS, SATA, SCSI RAID products	VMware ESXi 4.x	Inbox	Not planned
	VMware ESX 4.x	Inbox	Available: CLI & ASM
	VMware ESX 5.0	Not planned (inbox driver might work)	Not planned

[kop]

They post poned. It is planned to November now.