Software Guide MegaRAC™ - AMI · 2014. 11. 18. · MegaRAC™ Software Guide 2 Overview, Continued MegaRAC™ Functions The MegaRAC™ card can alert you before a probable server

MegaRAC™Software Guide

MAN-788-SW09/09/01

MegaRAC™ Software Guideii

© Copyright 1985-2010 American Megatrends, Inc.All rights reserved.American Megatrends, Inc.5555 Oakbrook Parkway, Building 200,Norcross, GA 30093

This publication contains proprietary information which is protected by copyright. No part of thispublication can be reproduced, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, translated into anylanguage or computer language, or transmitted in any form whatsoever without the prior writtenconsent of the publisher, American Megatrends, Inc. American Megatrends, Inc. acknowledges thefollowing trademarks:Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.MS-DOS and Microsoft are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Windows 95,Windows 98, Microsoft Windows, and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.SCO, UnixWare, and Unix are registered trademarks of the Santa Cruz Operation. Inc.Novell NetWare is a registered trademark of Novell Corporation.IBM, AT, VGA, PS/2, and OS/2 are registered trademarks and XT and CGA are trademarks ofInternational Business Machines Corporation.Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entitiesclaiming the marks and names or their products. American Megatrends, Inc. disclaims anyproprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.

Revision History

6/10/99 Initial release.9/22/99 Updated several screens with format changes, and the Server

Management screen with content changes. Added UnixWare andLinux information.

09/11/00 Updated as per the functionality in Version 2.309/09/01 Removed Solaris UnixWare and Linux Version support.

Preface iii

Table of Contents

1 Overview..................................................................... 1How MegaRAC™ Works................................................. 3MegaRAC™ Software Modules....................................... 7MegaRAC™ Technical Specifications............................. 9MegaRAC™ Features .................................................... 10

2 Using MegaRAC™ ................................................... 17Using MegaRAC™ ........................................................ 17MegaRAC™ Graphical User Interface........................... 17Address Book Section .................................................... 18Discover Management Stations Section ......................... 21Favorite Management Stations Section........................... 22Login Screen................................................................... 26Default Health Screen..................................................... 27System Health Screen ..................................................... 28System Information Screen............................................. 33Event Log Screen............................................................ 34Console Redirection Screen............................................ 35Power Management Screen ............................................ 37Installing the Software .................................................... 38Installing the System BIOS............................................. 38Installing MegaRAC™ for Windows ............................. 38Installing MegaRAC™ for Novell.................................. 39

3 Troubleshooting ...................................................... 41Connection Errors........................................................... 41Connection lost errors, once established......................... 46Possible Reasons and solutions: ..................................... 47Console Redirection Errors ............................................ 47

Index ............................................................................ 49

MegaRAC™ Software Guideiv

PrefaceThe MegaRAC™ (Remote Access Companion) providesserver management capabilities. You can use the card tomanage and monitor nonstorage components in your serversthrough a modem or direct serial connection, even when yournetwork is down. MegaRAC™ offers hardware and softwaresolutions to server management.

Limited Warranty The buyer agrees if this product proves to be defective, thatAmerican Megatrends is obligated only to repair or replacethis product at American Megatrends’ discretion according tothe terms and conditions of the warranty registration card thataccompanies this product. American Megatrends shall not beliable in tort or contract for any loss or damage, direct,incidental or consequential resulting from the use of thisproduct. Please see the Warranty Registration Card shippedwith this product for full warranty details.

Limitations of Liability American Megatrends, Inc. shall in no event be heldliable for any loss, expenses, or damages of any kindwhatsoever, whether direct, indirect, incidental, orconsequential (whether arising from the design or use of thisproduct or the support materials provided with the product).No action or proceeding against American Megatrends maybe commenced more than two years after the delivery ofproduct to Licensee of Licensed Software.

Licensee agrees to defend and indemnify AmericanMegatrends from any and all claims, suits, and liabilities(including attorney’s fees) arising out of or resulting from anyactual or alleged act or omission on the part of Licensee, itsauthorized third parties, employees, or agents, in connectionwith the distribution of Licensed Software to end-users,including, without limitation, claims, suits, and liability forbodily or other injuries to end-users resulting from use ofLicensee’s product not caused solely by faults in LicensedSoftware as provided by American Megatrends to Licensee.

Cont’d

Preface v

Preface, Continued

CD Contents The CD contains:

• Documentation• Firmware• Host Software (Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0)• Client & Management Station

(Win2000/NT4.0/Win98/Win95)• Client only software (Win98/Win95)• Novell Host (NW 4.x/NW 5.x)• Hardware health function SDK

Technical Support If you need help installing, configuring, or running theMegaRAC™ card, call your American Megatrends OEMTechnical Support representative.

Web Site We invite you to access the American Megatrends world wideweb site at:http://www.ami.com

FTP Site The address of the American Megatrends FTP site is:ftp://ftp.megatrends.com

Cont’d

MegaRAC™ Software Guidevi

Preface, Continued

Disclaimer This manual describes the operation of the AmericanMegatrends MegaRAC™ card. Although efforts have beenmade to assure the accuracy of the information containedhere, American Megatrends expressly disclaims liability forany error in this information, and for damages, whether direct,indirect, special, exemplary, consequential or otherwise, thatmay result from such error, including but not limited to theloss of profits resulting from the use or misuse of the manualor information contained therein (even if AmericanMegatrends has been advised of the possibility of suchdamages). Any questions or comments regarding thisdocument or its contents should be addressed to AmericanMegatrends at the address shown on the cover.

American Megatrends provides this publication “as is”without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied,including, but not limited to, the implied warranties ofmerchantability or fitness for a specific purpose.

Some states do not allow disclaimer of express or impliedwarranties or the limitation or exclusion of liability forindirect, special, exemplary, incidental or consequentialdamages in certain transactions; therefore, this statement maynot apply to you. Also, you may have other rights that varyfrom jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

This publication could include technical inaccuracies ortypographical errors. Changes are periodically made to theinformation herein; these changes will be incorporated in neweditions of the publication. American Megatrends may makeimprovements and/or revisions in the product(s) and/or theprogram(s) described in this publication at any time.

Requests for technical information about AmericanMegatrends products should be made to your AmericanMegatrends authorized reseller or marketing representative.

Chapter 1 Overview 1

1 OverviewOverview The American Megatrends® MegaRAC™ Remote Access

Companion provides ultimate server management capabilities.You can use MegaRAC™ to manage and monitor importantcomponents in enterprise servers through a modem ordedicated Ethernet even when your network is down. Thisguide contains information about how to use the MegaRAC™interface.

Dead Server Management MegaRAC™ offers a complete server managementsolution through dedicated hardware and software duo. Onemajor feature of MegaRAC™ is the ability to manage a"dead" server and get the server up and running as quickly aspossible, remotely, even anywhere in the world.

MegaRAC™ provides alert notification when the server isdown or any critical error happens to the server and gives fullaccess to the dead server. In addition, MegaRAC™ logs theprobable cause of the server crash and saves the current errordisplay.

Technical Specifications The MegaRAC™ hardware is a PCI card, with itsown processor and memory. The card is normally powered bythe bus when the server has power or it can operate with anonboard battery backup while server looses the power. Thecard can also draw the power from the optional wall adapter.

MegaRAC™ is used by the software modules, such as the on-board intelligent firmware. In addition, MegaRAC™ comeswith a user interface program. The user interface is known asthe MegaRAC™ Management Console. The firmware isbased on a multitasking RTOS. The primary tasks of thefirmware are:

• Initialize the hardware at startup,• Run a quick self test,• Monitor and report critical server health parameters, and• Provide services to the user interface application

Cont'd

MegaRAC™ Software Guide2

Overview, Continued

MegaRAC™ Functions The MegaRAC™ card can alert you before aprobable server crash. Onboard intelligent firmware can sensevoltages, temperatures, and fan speeds from the surroundingenvironment, and the MegaRAC™ contains these informationwith battery backup. The basic input/output system (BIOS)supports MegaRAC™ initialization and the drivers thatinterface with the operating systems.

Mega Station Address Book Screen The Mega Station Address Bookscreen is used to manage the servers, and managementstations. You can use this screen to:

• view the server list for a management station• edit a server list• add or delete servers• connect to servers• view the list of management stations• add or delete management station• copy and paste server list from one management station

to another• import management station• add new management station

MegaRAC™ Management Console After you connect to a server, youcan use the monitoring screens to:

• View system health information• View system information• View the event log• Perform Console Redirection


How MegaRAC™ Works

Introduction The MegaRAC™ is a hardware and software solution of theDead Server Management (DSM). When a server is down andnot running this is the panacea of an MIS manager’s headacheto have the server back up and running. MegaRAC™ givesfull access to the dead server. MegaRAC™ also offers thealert notification when the server is down.

At the same time MegaRAC™ logs the probable cause of theserver crash and saves the current error display. MegaRAC™is battery backed and so it never goes down and loses anyvaluable information. The main intention of usingMegaRAC™ is to add manageability to a dead server.

Building Blocks MegaRAC™ has two major components: hardware andsoftware.

Hardware This is a PCI card. The card has its own processor and ownmemory. The card takes the power from the bus when theserver has the power. Otherwise it works from the onboardrechargeable battery or it can take power from wall adapter

Software MegaRAC™ is used by the software modules. One module isthe onboard intelligent firmware. Besides that there is a userinterface program comes with the MegaRAC™. The firmwareis based on a multitasking RTOS. The primary jobs of thefirmware are initialize the hardware at the time of power up,runs a quick self test and provide the services to the userinterface application. The user interface is known asMegaRAC™ Management Console. Following is the simplemodel of the MegaRAC™ in operational.

How does it work? The MegaRAC™ comes with a set of OS specific services.These services are the software modules, which run underspecific operation system. These services interface with theMegaRAC™ hardware and provide accessibility of the serverfrom the hardware. The onboard firmware providesfunctionality to the Management Console for accessing theserver using the server side services.

Cont'd


How MegaRAC™ Works, Continued

When the server is up and running This time MIS manager can access anyremote server using the MegaRAC™. The ManagementConsole provides option to see the remote server’s graphicsscreen as well as to send the keyboard and mouse activities tothe remote server. This way user gets a full control over theremote server. User is now free to do administrative tasks onthe server, for example, running diagnostic programs,analyzing the server etc.

In this scenario MIS manager can also perform the periodicmaintenance of the server. It is possible to reboot the system(a graceful shutdown) and watch the boot process and boot toa separate system partition to load the diagnostic environmentand run the special diagnostic programs

Note: This feature is known as Console Redirection Service (CRS).

When the server is dead This time MegaRAC™ takes the most important roleto make the server back up and running. MegaRAC™ isdesigned mainly for the Dead Server Management. To servethis purpose MegaRAC™ can send an alert notification to itsadministrator. This alert can be in several forms. MegaRAC™card can send an Alert notification to administrator’s pager, orit can send an SNMP trap to the specified destination or else itcan dial out to the Managed Console and finally it can alsosend an E-mail to Administrator. After sending the alert,MegaRAC™ waits for the inbound connection from theadministrator. After successful session, the MegaRAC™provides a set of services to make the server up and runningagain. These services include server reset and completepower cycle (with proper hardware support) of the server.MegaRAC™ also captures the text screen at the time ofserver crash (in case of Windows NT, the blue screen) andallows administrator to watch and analyze the cause of crash.

Note: This feature is known as Console Command Service (CCS).Cont'd



Alert notification MegaRAC™ is designed to solve dual-purpose servermanagement. It can:

• Help the supervisor to know before a probable servercrash

• Help the supervisor to get the server back up and runningwhile crashed

To solve this MegaRAC™ caters two types of alertgeneration. One is called “WARNING” and the other one is“CATASTROPHIC”.

The warning alerts are used to take any action to save theserver from the possible crash. The example is, one of theprocessor fan is stuck. Eventually the processor will be hotenough to be non-functional. MegaRAC™ can monitor thatand sends the alert as “Type: WARNING”. With this warningit also tells about the severity of that alert. Severity level canbe from one of the followings - HIGHEST, HIGH, NORMALand LOW. Severity level allows supervisor to react fast orslow on that alert.

On the other hand, when the server is dead, MegaRAC™sends an alert message to the supervisor as “Type:CATASTROPHIC”. Severity level is always set to HIGHESTin this case.

Alert Path When an alert situation happens, MegaRAC™ reaches to thesupervisor by in-band and/or out-of-band way. The followingsection will describe these two alert paths.

In-band path This path is the normal way to access the server. The serverwill initiate an alert using the server’s in-band network, forexample the LAN or the WAN. One of the MegaRAC™services, the SNMP agent will generate a trap over theLAN/WAN. This way any management application (such asHP OpenView) will receive the trap and take correspondingaction. In-band path can be used if the server is up andrunning and there is an alert condition as of type“WARNING”.

Cont'd



Out-of-band path In severe condition, while the server is not running,MegaRAC™ uses this path. The MegaRAC™ hardware isnow active and uses another path other than the LAN/WANthat connects the server. Rather it uses a telephone line or aseparate network line (ATM) to send its “SOS” message. Thispath can be used both when the server is running and alsowhen the server is dead. The MegaRAC™ solely uses the out-of-band path.

Accessing MegaRAC™ MegaRAC™ can be accessed by the Out-of-bandpath, which can be telephone line and/or a separate networkline other than LAN/WAN. The out-of-band session is theonly way to access the MegaRAC™ functionality. TheMegaRAC™ Management Console will provide the userinterface to access the MegaRAC™ hardware and use theConsole Command Service and Console Redirection Service.


MegaRAC™ Software Modules

The MegaRAC™ software architecture is built upon severalindependent software modules that run under specificoperating systems. The modules include hardware services,application services, management services, and userinterfaces. The following table displays the software modulesfor MegaRAC™:

Software Module Description LocationHardware Services MegaRAC™ card interface driver under

Microsoft® Windows NT4.0, Windows2000, Novell® NetWare 4.11, 5.X, andLinux

Server node

Application Services Graphics capture service under WindowsNT 4.0 and Windows 2000onlyVirtual mouse service under WindowsNT 4.0 and Windows 2000 only

Server node

ManagementServices

SNMP agent under Windows NT andNovell NetWare

Server node

User Interface GUI based under Windows NT 4.0,W2000, Windows 95 and Windows 98

Client

Address book server Contains the IP address/phone number ofthe MegaRAC™ card. This moduleworks under Windows NT 4.0 andWindows 2000

Managementstation

Alert Center Collects the alerts from the MegaRAC™card through modem and logs in theevent log. For Windows NT 4.0 andW2000

Managementstation


MegaRAC™ Software Modules, Continued

Hardware services Hardware services are the drivers running under eachoperating system. The drivers allow applications and othersystem-level services to access the MegaRAC™ hardware.These services are operating system specific and differ fromone operating system to another.

Application services Application services are the drivers that work betweenthe hardware services and the upper-level user interface. Oneexample is the driver that captures the graphics screencontent. Application services maintain the MegaRAC™features and the implementation of the console services.

Operating system-specific management services The operating system-specific management services support the standardmanagement protocols. An enterprise network system istypically run by a management application. This application isbased upon certain management standards such as SimpleNetwork Management Protocol (SNMP.) Managementthrough SNMP uses the in-band network.

User interface The user interface is the interaction between MegaRAC™ andthe user. The interface is an intuitive GUI based application.This 32-bit application runs under Windows NT 4.0,Windows 2000, Windows 95 and Windows 98. The main userinterface for MegaRAC™ is the Management Console. Themanagement console lets the user access the MegaRAC™card and use the Console Redirection Service, and ConsoleCommand Service.


MegaRAC™ Technical Specifications

The technical specifications for the MegaRAC™ card andother technical information are:

Item DescriptionProcessor The MegaRAC™ card has an Intel® 80L960JA 3.3V embedded

32-bit processor running at 16 MHz. This processor includes 2KB of instruction cache and 1 KB of data cache with write-through operation. The MegaRAC™ card has an AMI MG9063ASIC that interfaces between the host PCI bus and the locali960JA processor.

Memory MegaRAC™ includes 2 MB flash ROM that contains thefirmware image and DRAM for operational memory. TheMegaRAC™ card includes 16MB DRAM memory. Thefirmware will operate from this memory. The firmware willmaintain adequate stack and heap for all internal processing. A128 KB NVRAM area provides storage for configurationinformation, event logs, and captured text screens.

Out-of-bandAccess

Out-of-band access is established through a path other than theserver's own LAN or WAN, such as a telephone line or aseparate network connection to the dedicated Ethernet port ofthe MegaRAC™ card. It requires the use of the onboard 10Mbps LAN adapter or an onboard serial port.

HardwareHealthParameterMonitoring

Monitors hardware health parameters (voltages, temperatures,fan status, and chassis intrusion). By default MegaRAC™monitors ambient temperature, PCI bus voltage, onboard batterystatus and external power supply. For additional I2C device-monitoring MegaRAC™ must be connected to the servermotherboard through the feature connector using the specialcable provided with the card.

Hard Resetand PowerCycle

Used to initiate an immediate server boot. The MegaRAC™card can detect when the server has lost power or has been resetby a watchdog timer it provides to the firmware. For this featureMegaRAC™ card must be connected to the server motherboardusing a special cable through the onboard feature connector.

BIOSFunctions

The BIOS on the server motherboards allows you to capturevideotext sequences the firmware stores in NVRAM. The bootsequences and I/O Port 0080h outputs are captured and storedin NVRAM. The BIOS contains descriptive strings that expandthe captured codes.


MegaRAC™ Features

DSM (Dead Server Management) What is the DSM? As the name goes, it isthe management of the server while it is dead or non-functional. As a dead server has its own processor stoppedand not executing any code, an independent computer shouldbe present to help in this scenario. And that independentcomputer is the MegaRAC™.

MegaRAC™ acts like a computer inside a computer. It isbattery backed so it never goes down. MegaRAC™ alwayskeeps monitoring the server whether it is up and running ornot. As soon as it finds the server is dead, it sends the messageout to the supervisor to manage the dead server immediately.MegaRAC™ provides a set of commands to be executed uponuser’s request to manage a dead server.

A graphical user interface program will allow user to connectremotely or locally to the MegaRAC™ hardware. Theonboard firmware of the MegaRAC™ will start functioning tomanage the dead server at this time.

Cont'd


MegaRAC™ Features, Continued

How it is achieved? When an important server is up and running, there are lotsof ways to monitor the server and manage it. But when theserver is not functional and its processor quits working,MegaRAC™ becomes the only answer to manage it at thattime. Following is the major features of MegaRAC™’s DeadServer Management.

• Constantly monitor server’s health• Send heartbeat to the supervisor - with status (OK,

Warning, Catastrophic) and severity level (Highest, High,Normal and Low)

• Send “Catastrophic” alert to the supervisor in case ofserver crash

• Playback server’s last crash screen• View event log history• View server’s current health status and the histogram• Perform RESET/POWER CYCLE at the server• Auto server recovery without supervisor’s assistance to

minimize server downtime• Send SNMP trap over the out-of-band network to other

management applications• Independent pager alert in case of server crash• Dial out to Managed console• Send E-mail to Administrator

Cont'd



Health Monitoring The MegaRAC™ management console graphical userinterface (GUI) is the medium through which you performmost of your server monitoring tasks. MegaRAC™ cardmonitors two categories of system health parameters. Theyare described below. Onboard health The card by defaultmonitors the following parameters.

• Ambient temperature - This provides the in-cagetemperature of the server.

• PCI bus voltage - This provides whether server losespower or not.

• External power supply - An optional power supply can beconnected through the external power connector. Thiscould be the supplied AC wall adapter.

• Battery charge status - This provides the charge status ofthe on board battery. This also provides the informationabout the battery condition.

These parameters above are displayed anytime (whetherserver is running or crashed) at the remote managementconsole program.

Server health MegaRAC™ card can also monitor servertemperature, voltage, fan status, chassis intrusion etc. throughspecial connector called "feature connector". For this featureonboard firmware has to be configured properly. To do soMegaRAC™ implements an SDK and set of tools for easycustomization. This monitoring is done on I2C bus present inthe feature connector. The server motherboard also has tohave the similar interface. Without configuring the firmwareusing SDK, management console will not show the server'shealth information.

Playback server’s last crash screen When the server is crashed MegaRAC™management console can get the last crashed screens and playthem back. This way MIS manager can analyze the cause ofthe crash and fix that in future.

Cont'd



View Event log The MegaRAC™ hardware will have a considerable size ofnonvolatile storage. All the events can be logged there. Theseevents come from the MegaRAC™ itself or even from theoutside, for example BIOS.

SNMP trap When there is a crisis, MegaRAC™ can generate a trap overthe network from its embedded SNMP agent. This trap goesto the SNMP manager. This trap comes through the out-of-band network from the MegaRAC™. This way anymanagement application on that network (for example, HPOpenView etc.) will get that trap and let the MIS manager tohandle that situation.

Independent paging So far MegaRAC™ was described to report to thesupervisor. The supervisor is actually a management stationthat can be a management server in the distributed enterprisenetwork system. But MegaRAC™ can also page using itsonboard modem independently to any MIS manager for anykind of alert notification. On the other hand managementstation can also send that page by itself. This is what theMegaRAC™ is setup to work.

Dial out to Managed Console When there is an Alert, the modem connectedwith the MegaRAC™ card can dial out to the specifiedManaged Console. This way the supervisor is immediatelynotified for every event happening on the server.

E-mail notification MegaRAC™ card can send an e-mail to the Administrator,when there is an Alert. The severity of an Alert can be set asError, Fatal, Warning, and Information. This is done throughthe out of band Management.

Cont'd



Console Redirection Service MegaRAC™ offers full graphics and textredirection from the server side to the remote managementconsole. In this service it also provides the facility to send keypress sequence and mouse activity from the remotemanagement console to the server side. The reason of thisservice is to gain full control over the server from a remotelocation. The main features of this service are as follows.

• Screen redirection (graphics/text)• Keyboard/mouse redirection• Graceful shutdown• Watch boot process including the POST progress (port

80)• Access BIOS setup remotely• Remote server maintenance• Remote diagnostics• File Transfer and• Floppy Redirection

Cont'd



Screen and keyboard/mouse redirection Management console program offersthe ability to view the server’s graphics or text screen at theremote side. It also sends the keyboard and mouse activitiesfrom the remote side to the server. This way it gains the fullcontrol over the server at the remote side.

Graceful shutdown At anytime user can do a graceful shutdown at the server.This way MIS manager can manage the server better andremotely. It is possible to control the server prior to boot withthe MegaRAC™.

Watch boot progress If there is any problem, MIS manager can perform agraceful shutdown and start watching the boot process of theserver. This allows user to view the server’s screen displayand the checkpoint port 80(hex) code. Upon customization ofthe MegaRAC™, user can get the details of the checkpointcode with description at the management console.

Access BIOS setup This is one of the important administrative features ofMegaRAC™. MIS manager can enter into the BIOS setup tosetup the CMOS properly or change the setup accordingly.This can also be done from the management console program.

Remote Server Maintenance and diagnostic From the management consolepanel user can gracefully shutdown the server and boot to aseparate system partition which loads a maintenanceenvironment (for example, DOS). The user can execute a setof maintenance software like to scan and check the disk or todiagnose the server hardware/software. This feature helps inclean up and periodic maintenance of the server from theremote location.

File Transfer From the management console panel, the user can transfer filesfrom console machine to the remote server. This helps inmaintaining the server remotely and quickly as possible.

Cont'd



Floppy Redirection This is one of the important administrative features ofMegaRAC™. MIS manager can boot the Remote server withthe floppy in the console machine that acts as a servers floppyand can boot the server from it. This is useful in the eventwhen there is a problem in servers hard disk and the server isnot booting at all. In this case, the floppy re-direction is themost useful and the administrator can boot the server withconsole floppy and can perform the diagnostics on the server.

Reporting crash while not connected to the console MegaRAC™ reports thecrash of the server immediately to the MIS personnel infollowing ways.

• SNMP TRAP - The card can send up to eight SNMPtraps to the community using the onboard Ethernet port.

• Numeric/Alphanumeric Paging - The card can page up tosixteen administrators.

• Report to Management station - The card can dial usingthe onboard modem, up to eight management stations tolog the event

• E-mail notification - The card can send E-mail up tosixteen Administrator using on board Ethernet port

Reporting crash while connected to the console MegaRAC™ card reports tothe management console application about the server crash.User gets the notification immediately through a flashing redsignal. This flashing red light is also used to report anywarning/informational/critical event from the card. Uponseeing this flashing light user may view the correspondingevent by clicking the "Event Log" button. After viewing theevent the flashing light goes off.

Chapter 2 Using MegaRAC™ 17

2 Using MegaRAC™

Using MegaRAC™

The MegaRAC™ card extends your server managementcapabilities to help you monitor your server environment.With the installation of the MegaRAC™, you can use thesoftware to monitor temperature, voltage, and fan status, andto view system logs. You can also specify the warningthresholds for thermal and voltage probe monitoring areas.

For a discussion of how to install and use the MegaRAC™software as a DOS utility, see your MegaRAC™Configuration Utility Guide. The Utility Guide includes:

• installation and operation procedures,• screen shots and menu information on the screens, and• alert messages and system messages you may encounter

while using the software to monitor your network

MegaRAC™ Graphical User Interface

MegaRAC™ management console, an intuitive graphical userinterface, lets user to monitor server health parameters, viewcritical events, gain full control over the server.

If the user wants to see the server health information and otherparameters from remote site, he can do through MegaRAC™management console.

In order to connect, user has to click on Connect menu andthen start the new session (Ctrl-S), then MegaStation addressbook dialog will appear.


Address Book Section

The MegaStation Address Book is used to manage the list ofMegaRAC™ card's connection information. Using this dialoguser can view all management stations running in the LAN,connect to them, view and edit each management stationsaddress book.

The Address Book of the MegaStation Address Book Serverscreen displays the servers associated with the managementstation that you select in the Favorite Management Stationssection.

The headings in the Address Book section display the servername, IP (Internet protocol) address, modem, and theconnection method.

This icon indicates a modem connection.This icon indicates a network connection.

The buttons on the right of the screen are used to connect tothe server, edit or add to the list of servers, and delete serversfrom the Address Book. The Address Book screen section isshown below.

Cont'd


Address Book Section, Continued

Followings are the features of this dialog.

• Add/Edit card's connection information• Delete card's connection information• Connect to MegaRAC™ card• Copy and paste Server List• View the list of favorite management stations• Import Station• Add or delete management stations• Discover Management Stations

When you select a server from the list in the address bookwindow and click connect button or double click on the servername, the selected server would try to establish theconnection to the server's MegaRAC™ card, using the waydefined in the "connect using" column. Once the connection isfound, it displays the login screen, otherwise it displays theappropriate connection failure message.

Cont'd


Address Book Section, Continued

When you press Edit or Add, the following screen displays:

After you enter information on this screen and press OK, thenew or updated information displays in the list of servers.To delete an entry in the Address Book, press the Deletebutton. The following dialog box displays for you to confirmyour choice.


Discover Management Stations Section

The Discover Management Stations section of the AddressBook screen contains a directory that lists the managementstations on the system. For example, the directory shownbelow lists the departments on the network, along with themanagement stations set up in each department. The iconbeside the station name is green if the station is active andblue if it is not active.

When you select a management station, and click on Add tofavorite station, an icon for that station displays in theFavorite Management Stations section of the screen. TheDiscover Management Station section is shown below.


Favorite Management Stations Section

The Favorite Management Stations section displays themanagement stations that are in use. When you click on amanagement station icon, the servers associated with thatstation display in the Address Book section of the screen.

The buttons in this section are used to add or deletemanagement stations. If you add more management stationsthan can fit in the window, a scroll bar displays so you canscroll down to see all the management station icons. TheFavorite Management Stations sections is shown below.

You can add a management station from the list of stations inthe Discover Management Stations section of the screen. Todo so, select management station from the list and press thebutton in the Add to Favorite Management Stations section:

Cont'd


Favorite Management Stations Section, Continued

To import the Favorite Management Stations. The followingdialog boxes displays for you to confirm your choice.

It is recommended that user first save the current FavoriteManagement Station before importing. If user select "Yes"then user gets the following dialog box:

Cont'd



User can save the current management stations to specifiedfile. Once file has been saved user would be prompted withsecond dialog box as below:

Now user can specify to import the new address book file.When you click Add New Station button, the following dialogdisplays for you to enter the address of a new managementstation:

Cont'd



To delete a management station, select the managementstation you wish to delete and then click on the Delete Stationbutton in the Favorite Management Stations section. Whenyou click this button, the following dialog box displays:

If you click on a management station that has no serversassociated with it, the following dialog box displays:


Login Screen

After you use the MegaStation Address Book Server toconnect to a server, the Login screen displays. This screenasks for user name and password in order to authenticate theuser. Enter user name and password and click OK button. TheLogin screen is shown below.


Default Health Screen

After you enter the login information, the System Healthscreen displays. Click on the System Health button to accessthe MegaRAC™ System Health screen

You can use the MegaRAC™ monitoring screens to:

• display system health• display system information• display the event log• display POST Codes• display Console redirection


System Health Screen

Click on the System Health button to access the MegaRAC™System Health screen. This screen displays monitoringinformation for the MegaRAC™ card, and the server.

MegaRAC™ Health Information By default this section displays:

• MegaRAC™ card temperature,• Wall adapter voltage,• PCI 5 volt reading, and• Battery status and charge information

Cont'd


System Health Screen, Continued

Health information icons The icons for health information display as green,yellow or red to show the health status. Green stands fornormal operation, yellow for a warning condition, and red fora fatal or alert condition.

Icon DescriptionTemperature condition - normal (green)

Temperature condition - warning (yellow)

Temperature condition - critical (red)

PCI bus voltage normal (green)

PCI bus voltage warning (yellow)

PCI bus voltage critical (red)

Adapter Voltage normal

Adapter Voltage warning

Adapter Voltage critical

Cont'd



Battery status icons The battery status reading has two parts:the battery status and the charge status. The battery status canbe:

Icon DescriptionBattery condition - normal (not charging or tricklecharging)Battery condition - warning (could be fast charging also)

Battery life - warning, 75% life remaining

Battery condition - critical, 25% life remaining

• Needs to be replacedChecking battery state or indeterminate state

Battery is completely discharged and dead.

• Must be replacedCont'd



Server Health Information This section monitors server temperature,voltage, fan status, chassis intrusion etc., and displays thefollowing details about the health parameters:

• High and low warning limits,• High and low critical limits, and• Poll period.

The icons for health information display as green, yellow orred to show the health status. Green stands for normaloperation, yellow for a warning condition, and red for a fatalor alert condition.

Following icons are displayed at the main level of the healthparameter in SDK health tree. Each symbol shows the eitherof item's status under the category.

Icon DescriptionAll the items under this category are in normal state.

Either of the items under this category is in warning state.

Either of the items under this category is in alert state.

Either of the items under this category is in unknown state.

The following icons are displayed under each category ofhealth parameter in SDK health tree. The icons are:

Icon DescriptionItem is in normal state.

Item is in warning state.

Item is in fatal state.

Item is in unknown state.

For this item the monitoring has been disabled.

Cont'd



The user can change the warning limits, alert limits as well aspoll period as per requirement for any health parameter.Beside this Enable/Disable monitoring of parameter is alsopossible. To accomplish this after doing the changes, userneeds to click on SET button.

The "Set Refreshing Interval" button is for setting therefreshing interval for the screen. It pulls out the data from thecard and refreshes the screen at the set refreshing interval rate.

Note: If no health information comes, then health-monitoring SDKis not implemented in the MegaRAC™ card firmware. Pleasecheck whether SDK image is flashed or not.


System Information Screen

Click on the System Information button to access the SystemInformation screen. This screen displays detailed systeminformation about the following:

• System• BIOS• Baseboard• Processor• Slots• Port connector• Chassis

Note: If no information comes and all the buttons are disabled, thatmeans either the NT driver is not running or the BIOS doesnot support DMI (Desktop Management Interface) / SMBIOS(System Management BIOS). Please check with the BIOSimplementation.


Event Log Screen

Click on the Event Log button to access the MegaRAC™Event Log and Server POST Code Log screen. You can clickon the Copy to clipboard button to copy the log information toclipboard.

The Event Log displays messages, such as warnings, andalerts. Icons display to the left of the message to indicatenormal operation (green), a warning (yellow) or an alert (red.)

The Server POST Code Log display is to show the systemBIOS POST (Power On Self Test) progression. Thesecaptured codes might help to detect any problem that mayoccur during the boot, such as RAM, the disk drives, andkeyboards, are tested during the POST.

Note: If POST code display says "String not found" that means, userneeds to enter the BIOS specific strings corresponding tocodes in the POSTDEF.INI file (under %SystemRoot%directory, e.g. C:\WINNT). Each BIOS has different strings tobe displayed for corresponding POST codes. Check with theBIOS vendor.


Console Redirection Screen

Click on the Console Redirection button to access the consolewindow of the server. To start the console redirection click onstart console this screen is used to start and stop ConsoleRedirection. Use Console Redirection to:

• reboot the system (a graceful shutdown)• watch the boot process• boot to a separate system partition to load the diagnostic

environment• run special diagnostic programs

Cont'd


Console Redirection Screen, Continued

Icons The following icons display at the top of the screen, from leftto right:

• Start or stop Console Redirection• Power Management• Snapshot of screen (creates a text file if in DOS, and a

bitmap file if in Windows 95)• Crash screen button to show the screen at the time of the

last crash (this button is enabled when the ConsoleRedirection screen is disabled)

• Alt key• Control (Ctrl) key• Alt-Ctrl-Delete key combination

Note: In case of error, see the trouble shooting section.


Power Management Screen

On the Console Redirection screen, click on the Managementicon to access the Server Management window. The optionson this screen are:

• System Reset• Power Off• Power Cycle• Power On• Graceful OS Restart• Start Floppy Redirection• File Transfer

If you select Power Off, you must also select Power On forthe system to reboot. Power Cycle does the same thing atPower Off and Power On. Graceful Shutdown is for NT andNovell servers. Start Floppy Redirection, when checked,enables the Host to boot from the Client floppy drive.

File Transfer transfers files from the Client to Host.

Note: If System reset, Power off, Power Cycle or Power on does notwork, check the MegaRAC™ feature cable connection to theserver motherboard. It is either not connected or incorrectlyconnected.


Installing the Software

After you install the MegaRAC™, you must upgrade thesystem BIOS.

Installing the System BIOS

StepAction1Obtain a copy of the most current version ofyour system’s BIOS. Upgrades are available on AMI’s WorldWide Web site (http://www.megatrends.com) and on AMI’sweb site.2Download the BIOS to your hard disk drive or to adiskette.3Boot your system to MS-DOS®, and run thedownloaded executable file.4Follow the instructions on theBIOS file menu.

Installing MegaRAC™ for Windows

For Windows NT4.0 & 2000 use the following procedure toinstall the MegaRAC™ device driver, SNMP agent andutilities

Windows NT 4.0 For Windows NT 4.0, driver and software is automaticallyinstalled when you install the software

Windows 2000 You need to install the driver Manually for Windows 2000and then need to install the software. To install the driver inWindows 2000, follow the steps below

Steps for installing MegaRAC™ card driver in Windows 2000

Step Action1 Boot to Windows 2000. Go to Device Manager & select Base

system Device.2 Click properties & then click Re-install Driver. This will Pop up

Add New Wizard. Click Next.3 Browse the CD & select the MegaRAC™.inf file, which is located in

D:\host\Winsdows2000 directory. Where D: is the CD ROM drive4 Click Next5 AMI MegaRAC™ 78x will now appear in he Device list of Device

Manager.Cont'd


Installing MegaRAC™ for Windows, Continued

To install the Software in NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 followthe steps below:

Step Action1 Insert the CD in the CD ROM drive. This will Autorun the CD &

set up screen will appear2 Click NT Host3 Select the path where you wish to install MegaRAC™. By default

the program creates C:\Program Files\Host directory. Click Next4 Click Finish to Reboot the computer

Installing MegaRAC™ for Novell

For Novell use the following procedure to install theMegaRAC™ device driver, SNMP agent and utilities.

Step Action1 First Map the Novell Network drive.2 Insert the CD in the CD ROM drive of the client machine. This

will Autorun the CD & set up screen will appear Click NovellHost

3 Select the mapped drive and go to systems directory and lick Next4 Click Finish to Reboot the computer


Chapter 3 Troubleshooting 41

3 TroubleshootingConnection Errors

The connection errors are:• Card discovery failed• Card is discovered, failed to establish session,• MegaStation not running• Dialing Errors• Connection lost errors, once established

Card discovery failed

Possible reasons and solutions:• IP address assigned to the card and the entry in the

address book are different.• Network connection may be broken. Check the network

cable connected to the card.• Card could be in Shutdown State. Which can happen

either due to low battery charge or external power supplyfailure while host experiences a power outage at the sametime. Please check through "ping" application - Clickstart button of Windows NT, click on Run menu, type"ping IP address" (e.g. ping 111.222.333.444) and enter.

• If ping is successful, then try to run "RACCONF"(MegaRAC™ configuration program) at the server sideand hard/soft reset the card and reboot the server. Softreset or hard reset to the card is also possible remotelythrough the in-band SNMP agent. This can be done usingany standard SNMP browser, go to the "Control" sectionin the MegaRAC™ MIB, set a value "1" to thecorresponding reset variable.

• If none of this above works, the card could be in a faultystate. Please contact your vendor

Cont'd


Connection Errors, Continued

Card is discovered, failed to establish session

Possible reasons and solutions:• Card could be in Shutdown State. Which can happen

either due to low battery charge or external power supplyfailure while host experiences a power outage at the sametime. Please check through "ping" application - Clickstart button of Windows NT, click on Run menu, type"ping IP address" (e.g. ping 111.222.333.444) and enter.

• If ping is successful, then try to run "RACCONF"(MegaRAC™ configuration program) at the server sideand hard/soft reset the card and reboot the server. Softreset or hard reset to the card is also possible remotelythrough the in-band SNMP agent. This can be done usingany standard SNMP browser, go to the "Control" sectionin the MegaRAC™ MIB, set a value "1" to thecorresponding reset variable.

• If none of this above works, the card could be in a faultystate. Please contact your vendor.

Cont'd



MegaStation not running

Possible Reasons and solutions:• "RAC CardObject Server" is not running. Please check

NT services whether this service is running or not.Following picture is the correct scenario. Make sure"Stop" button is enabled. If both "Start" and "Stop"button is disabled, then the service is hung. In this caseyou need to restart the system.

Cont'd



• The reason "RAC CardObject Server" might not start is,NT RAS is not installed in the management station or ithas not been started successfully. Following is the rightscenario for RAS service.

• In case of error in RAS service, user will get thefollowing error upon trying to start the "RAC CardObjectServer" service. For this error please consult with NTRAS trouble shooting document.

Cont'd



• In some condition RAS starts but due to some error couldnot allocate communication port. In such conditionMegaRAC™ console will not be able to successfully dialthe card. Following is one of the right scenario for RASservice. Check with "Remote Access Admin" program(under Administrative tools). "Total ports" columnshould show a nonzero value (=1). In such case tryrestarting the RAS service.

Dialing Errors There are numerous errors that could happen while trying toconnect the card via modem. User gets an error message boxsaying "Undefined PPP error", shown below.

One of the following connection status will be displayed inthe dialing status window. The probable cause and solutionsare described below.

Connection Status Possible Reasons• Dialing ... This could happen if there is a problem

with the modem or the phone number iswrong.

• Opening the port May be Remote Access Admin does nothave any port to open.

• Dialing port opened Modem port is working, but the phonenumber in the address book could bewrong.

• Verifying user name Either user name or the password is


Connection Status Possible Reasonsand password wrong.• Authenticationprojection

Started authenticating using PAP(Password Authentication Protocol).

• AuthenticatingConnection

Either user name/password is wrong orsecurity option is not set properly inRAS-Phonebook entry.

• Waiting for call back The phone number for the call backcould be wrong in the card. Check withRACCONF (MegaRAC™ configurationprogram).

• Connecting There could be a line error.• Waiting for modemto reset

Modem port was opened prior to thiscall. Try resetting the modem.

• Retryingauthentication

Failed to authenticate user. Either username/password is wrong or the securityoption in the RAS-Phonebook entry iswrong.

If nothing is shown in the connection status, which meansthere is no entry in the RAS-phonebook or the entry name iswrong.

Connection lost errors, once established

One of the following error messages can be displayed if theconnection is lost while the card session was going on:

• The Windows Sockets implementation detected that thenetwork subsystem failed.

• The connection was reset by the remote side.• The connection was aborted due to timeout or other

failure.• Unknown socket error occurred.• The socket is not connected.• A blocking Windows Sockets operation is in progress.• The descriptor is not a socket.• The socket has been shut down; it is not possible to call.• The socket is marked as non-blocking and the Receive

operation would block.Cont'd


Connection lost errors, once established, Continued

• The datagram was too large to fit into the specified bufferand was truncated.

• The socket has not been bound with Bind.• The requested address is a broadcast address, but the

appropriate flag was not set.• The connection must be reset because the Windows

Sockets implementation dropped it.• The Windows Sockets implementation reports a buffer

deadlock.

Possible Reasons and solutions:

• Network connection may be broken. Check the networkcables, Hub, connector connected to the card.

• Card has been soft/hard reset. Close the current sessionand try to reconnect.

• Card has been shut down. Restart the host machine andtry to reconnect.

Console Redirection Errors

This section defines possible error conditions and solutionsfor console redirection through MegaRAC™ card.

Mouse is not functioning This situation will occur under Windows NT in twoplaces. One is initial user login screen and other one isWindows NT Security screen (by pressing Ctrl+Alt+DelKey). In this case use the keyboard only.

Text redirection is not happening This situation may occur if the system isusing AGP, and not the standard VGA. Without proper BIOScustomization AGP system will not be able to do the consoleredirection through the MegaRAC™ card. Check with thevendor for proper AGP support.This situation may also occur if the MegaRAC™ card is notinstalled in the primary PCI bus. MegaRAC™ card must siton one of the primary PCI bus to snoop the bus. Check withthe installation procedure of the card.

Cont'd


Console Redirection Errors, Continued

Windows NT Graphics redirection is not happening This situation mayoccur if "RAC Console Redirection Service" is not installedproperly or not started. Check with the NT services. If it isstated properly, then try stopping and starting the serviceagain. If still problem persists, reboot the system.

No console redirection is happening This could happen if the MegaRAC™card is installed on a PCI bus other than primary PCI bus.

DOS graphics redirection is not working This is not supported.

Mouse redirection is not happening This situation may occur if a componentcalled "DRACHLPR.EXE" in the server is in "nonresponding" state. Kill the process from the NT task manager.Stop and start the "RAC Console Redirection Service". If theproblem persists, reboot the server.

DOS Mouse redirection does not work This is not supported.

Display crash screen does not show anything This happens when the card didnot get any crash screen yet.

Index 49

Index

AAccess BIOS setup, 15Accessing MegaRAC™, 6Adapter Voltage, 29Address Book, 2, 18Address book server, 7Alert Center, 7Alert notification, 5Alert Path, 5Alphanumeric Paging, 16Application services, 8Application Services, 7

BBattery condition, 30Battery life, 30BIOS Functions, 9Boot progress, 15

CCard discovery failed, 41Card is discovered, failed to establish

session, 42CCS, 4Checking battery state, 30Client, 7Connection Errors, 41Connection lost errors, once

established, 46Console Command Service, 4Console Redirection Errors, 47Console Redirection Screen, 35Console Redirection Service, 4, 14CRS, 4

DDead Server Management, 1, 3, 10, 11Default Health Screen, 27Desktop Management Interface, 33Dial out to Managed Console, 13

Discover Management Stations, 21Display crash screen does not show

anything, 48DMI, 33DOS graphics redirection is not

working, 48DOS Mouse redirection does not work,

48DSM, 1, 3, 10

EE-mail notification, 13, 16Event Log Screen, 34

FFavorite Management Stations, 22File Transfer, 15Floppy Redirection, 16FTP Site, v

GGraceful shutdown, 15

HHard Reset and Power Cycle, 9Hardware, 3Hardware Health Parameter

Monitoring, 9Hardware services, 8Hardware Services, 7Health information icons, 29Health Monitoring, 12How it is achieved, 11How MegaRAC™ Works, 3

IIn-band path, 5Independent paging, 13Installing MegaRAC™ for Novell, 39


Installing MegaRAC™ for Windows,38

Installing the Software, 38Installing the System BIOS, 38

KKeyboard redirection, 15

LLogin Screen, 26

MManagement Console, 2Management Services, 7Management station, 7Mega Station Address Book Screen, 2MegaRAC™ Building Blocks, 3MegaRAC™ Features, 10MegaRAC™ Functions, 2MegaRAC™ Graphical User Interface,

17MegaRAC™ Health Information, 28MegaRAC™ Introduction, 3MegaRAC™ Management Console, 2MegaRAC™ Overview, 1MegaRAC™ Software Modules, 7MegaRAC™ Technical Specifications,

9MegaStation not running, 43Memory, 9modem connection, 18Mouse is not functioning, 47Mouse redirection, 15Mouse redirection is not happening, 48multitasking RTOS, 1

Nnetwork connection, 18No console redirection is happening,

48Numeric/Alphanumeric Paging, 16

OOperating system-specific management

services, 8Out-of-band Access, 9Out-of-band path, 6

Ppager, 4Paging, 16PCI bus voltage, 29Playback server’s last crash screen, 12Power Management Screen, 37Processor, 9

RRACCONF, 41Redirection, 15Redirection Screen, 35remote server, 4Remote Server Maintenance and

diagnostic, 15Report to Management station, 16Reporting crash while connected to the

console, 16Reporting crash while not connected to

the console, 16RTOS, 1

SScreen redirection, 15SDK health tree, 31Server Health, 31Server node, 7Shutdown, 15SNMP, 39SNMP trap, 4, 13SNMP TRAP, 16Software, 3System Health Screen, 28System Information Screen, 33System Management BIOS, 33

TTechnical Specifications, 1

Index 51

Technical Support, vTemperature condition, 29Text redirection is not happening, 47Troubleshooting, 41

UUser interface, 8User Interface, 7Using MegaRAC, 17

VView Event log, 13

WWarranty, ivWatch boot progress, 15Web Site, vWindows 2000, 38Windows NT 4.0, 38Windows NT Graphics redirection is

not happening, 48

Documents

Software Guide MegaRAC™ - AMI · 2014. 11. 18. · MegaRAC™ Software Guide 2 Overview, Continued MegaRAC™ Functions The MegaRAC™ card can alert you before a probable server