IBM Management Ports?

[jpn1]

I admin 5 AIX systems:
System Model: IBM,7026-6H1
Processor Type: PowerPC_RS64-IV
Number Of Processors: 6
A sunfire V215 Solaris 9 and 10
3 HPUX servers
The HP and Sun server are newer but they have a seperate port that configs to the Lan that gets pwrd up when you apply AC power. The server is off, but you can still get to the management console. You can pwr cycle and run the front panel virtually, you can also connect to the console as well all while the server is off or on.

I'm wondering what IBM's solution is that is comparable to this. I have a dev box that sometimes gets its resources chewed up until the machine just goes offline. You cant get to it in any way, but the front panel shows nothing wrong. All I can do is push the pwr button to reset and then the logs reveal nothing. If I could remotely pwr cycle the machine I wouldn't have to come in at 3 am to get the over seas dev team back online.
If this is not the proper forum for this request, just point me in the right direction. I'm starting to comb the IBM site for info. Thanks

 

[DukeSSD]

You can set surveillance timeout in the service processor setup menu, then the service processor will monitor the operating system for a heart beat. If it does not get one then it will reboot for you.

Checkout the user guide, chapter 3.

If you have remote serial access you can also do a lot more as you can access the OS while it is up and the service processor while the OS is shut down.

http://publib16.boulder.ibm.com/pseries/en_US/infocenter/base/hardware_docs/pdf/380565.pdf

 

[p5wizard]

Those 6H1s I'm afraid are ancient...

Newer p5 and p6 servers have a service processor that can connect to 1 or 2 Hardware Mgmt Consoles (HMC).

Once power is applied to the server, from an HMC you can power on the server, mostly to Partition Standby Mode and from then you power on idividual partitions (LPARs: some CPU, some memory and some IO slots gathered together into one virtual box that runs its own OS, be it AIX or LINUX - even OS/400) and access the consoles for those LPARs.


HTH,

p5wizard

 

[jpn1]

I've used the HMC before, its just like what I use on my Sun and HP boxes That is what I am looking for. I think the 660 are 11 12 years old. 6 way machines that get abused and dont show any sign of quiting. I knew they wouldn't have that kind of functionality, but I though maybe an add in card or something.
The ASCII service processor will work fine, I'll have to get the telcom guys to drop me an analog line in for the modem.

Could I cable the S1 to a PC and then run an emulator on it to make the ASCII connection. Then I could remote desktop to that machine and avoid the modem??

 

[DukeSSD]

Yeah, terminal servers work OK (or the PC with a terminal emulator) in this setup - vpn to the company LAN, then telnet to the terminal server / PC and then open the serial connection to the S1 TTY on the p660.

I started my last post with:
If you had an HMC managed system...
But you don't, so I started again and remembered the SP monitoring, that's how we used to do it in the old days ;-)

The HMC is handy because you can control the power / force a power off or reboot even if the OS has hung, but without the HMC you can rely on the surveillance timeout.

If they leave the box in a state where it cannot boot then you need to consider configuring it to reboot to SMS, so you can do a service / maintenance boot, or just not reboot so you can dial in and kick off a NIM boot or whatever to recover it.

 

[ogniemi]

you can even use kermit installed on the other AIX box serial cabled to the box you are going to open ASCI terminal...

1. cable boxes serial cable and run

mkdev -c tty -t 'tty' -s 'rs232' -p 'sa1' -w '0' -a speed='9600'

2. prepare /.kermrc file (fore newer boxes eg. P5 speed must be 19200)

# cat /.kermrc
set modem type none
set line /dev/tty1
set speed 9600
set flow xon/xoff
set parity none
set stop-bits 1
connect

3. you can open an ASCI termianal

# /usr/local/sbin/kermit
Connecting to /dev/tty1, speed 9600
Escape character: Ctrl-\ (ASCII 28, FS): enabled
Type the escape character followed by C to get back,
or followed by ? to see other options.
----------------------------------------------------

AIX Version 5
Copyright IBM Corporation, 1982, 2007.
Console login:

 

[ogniemi]

btw.

maybe it would be helpful for you installing Power Management System PM4-IP like:

http://infratec-ag.1a-product.com/catalog/images/pm4ip.jpg

"Remotely controllable 4x socket strip for switching consumers on and off, with LED switching status display via network. Efficient help when a hardware reset or cold start must be performed on network, control or server cabinets, as you can now perform the necessary disconnection from the power supply from your workplace via the network and then resume operation afterwards. You are therefore spared trips to and fro and considerably reduce the downtimes of important EDP components in the event of a malfunction. If necessary, a “power on reset” can be performed at the click of a button over the Internet, even from external decentralised servers."

http://www.infratec-ag.de/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=338

 

[jpn1]

That is a great idea, I will setup the service processor just so its there, but we do have the network controlled and monitored power. Never thought about that I could just unplug it remotely and plug it back in.
This is not a usual occurence, but when it does happen it seems no one is around to fix it.