PE 2950, 64-bit linux, dell utilities...

[Andreas_Fuchs at Dell.com]

Latest OMSA version 5.1 support officially the following OS's:

Red Hat(r) Enterprise Linux (version 3) Update 6 for Intel(r) x86 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (version 3) Update 6 for Intel EM64T 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (version 4) for Intel x86 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (version 4) for Intel EM64T 
SUSE(r) Linux Enterprise Server version 9 (SP3) x86_64 
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 10 x86_64 
VMware(r) ESX Server 3.0 on the service console 

On all others you might have problems to get it to run.

And I wondows why you try to run an AMD kernel, the PE1950 is an Intel
based system.

Andreas
 

-----Original Message-----
From: linux-poweredge-bounces at dell.com
[mailto:linux-poweredge-bounces at dell.com] On Behalf Of sean finney
Sent: Donnerstag, 9. November 2006 09:28
To: linux-poweredge-Lists
Subject: PE 2950, 64-bit linux, dell utilities...

hi folks,

first time post, so please excuse me if i'm beating a dead horse.  also,
i apologize for the length :)

we've just recieved two new PE 2950's at $work, and before i put them
into production i'd like to get some level of hardware monitoring on
them.  the problem is most of the binaries made available on dell's site
and elsewhere seem to be 32-bit only.  i've attempted to get them
working on this 64-bit machine with no success (even with the requisite
32-bit libraries present).

most critically, i need something to monitor the status disk/controller
for the PERC 5 raid device.  i haven't been able to get *any* of the
dell-provided tools to work at all for this.  the only luck i've had so
far is with the MegaCli program provided by LSI.  i believe it provides
enough info that i could throw together a nagios plugin to monitor it,
but i'm wondering if i'm just overlooking something horribly obvious...

in case it matters, we're attempting to have the server installed with
ubuntu dapper or similar debian/debian-derived, running
2.6.15-26-amd64-server.  if we must, switching distros/kernels is an
option for us at this point (though  i don't think running 32-bit only
is).

as for what i attempted:

- MegaMon (dell)

  can't get it to work at all.  if you really want to scratch your head,
  take a look at the postinst script in the package:

#!/bin/sh
chkconfig --add raidmon
case `uname -m` in
        "ia64" )
                echo "Copying 64-bit components..."
                ln -s /usr/sbin/MegaCt32 /usr/sbin/MegaCtrl
                #rm -f  /usr/sbin/MegaCt32
                ;;
        * ) case $HOSTTYPE in
                "ia64" ) echo "Copying 64-bit components..."
                 ln -s /usr/sbin/MegaCt32 /usr/sbin/MegaCtrl
                 #rm -f  /usr/sbin/MegaCt32
                ;;
                *) echo "Copying 32-bit components..."
                   ln -s /usr/sbin/MegaCt32 /usr/sbin/MegaCtrl
                   #rm -f  /usr/sbin/MegaCt64
                ;;
            esac
            ;;
esac

  a gold star goes to whoever wrote that.  seriously, who does the QA
  for this stuff?

- percsnmp (dell)

  can't get it to work.  it looks like a dell-rebranded version of the
  LSI-provided sassnmp, which doesn't work either.  the only difference
  from what i can tell is that the comments are removed from the   
  scripts.

- dellmgr (dell)

  can't get it to work.  it immediately dies for lack of a megadev
  device.  i *do* have a megadev_sas_ioctl_node, though i'm not sure
  it's the same thing (and no, symlinking doesn't fix it :)

- sassnmp (lsi)

  can't get it to work.  even after installing the requisite libraries,
  it forks off a child which tries to connect to an impossibly large
  socket number (guessing 32-vs-64-bit problem) and dies.  also,  if you
  want to talk about sketchy stuff:
  - all files in the package are shipped in /etc
  - a postinst script calls /etc/sassnmp/install, which copies files 
    elsewhere in the system
  - the install script references files in /etc/sassnmp that don't exist
  - the program has hardcoded paths to snmptrap etc, and during the
    install script will move files around on your filesystem to
    accomodate this.
  - yes, the dell version has all these features too.

- megaCli (lsi)

  - finally, something that works.  it isn't pretty but i can hide in in
    a perl wrapper if necessary.

- dell omsa (dell)

   - haven't tried this yet, but i've heard negative reports elsewhere
     about 64-bit support.  will this work for the PERC devices or only
     for the rest of the chassis components?


furthermore, i can't help but notice none of the software uses LSB
features (init scripts, for example)....

but i'll stop this now before i get into full-on-rant-mode.  i'd
appreciate any feedback.


thanks.
	sean