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We have a Dell PowerEdge R720XD server and want to setup iDRAC, but this is a production server so we need to do it without a reboot if possible.

We just need to set the IP address on the iDRAC but the servers do not have a front LCD panel so we cannot use this. The iDRAC will currently have the default 192.168.0.120 IP address but we are not on this IP range so cannot use this. We need to change it to 192.168.5.x.

I've seen racadm mentioned, but before I start messing around installing this on Ubuntu, is this what we need? and will we be able to set the IP address on the DRAC with this?

Thanks

Edit - The dedicated iDRAC port seems to be completely disabled until you enable the enterprise license, so I think we need to used a shared NIC for now. We don't know any way of enabling enterprise without first gaining access to it via the web GUI. The server is in production with bonded network interfaces, so we can't change the server IP to 192.168.0.x while we do this, or we might as well reboot into the BIOS and do it.

BT643
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2 Answers2

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I work for dell. Yes you can use racadm to set the IP address. racadm can work over 3 different interfaces (ssh/telnet, https, IPMI). The one that will work in your situation is IPMI directly from the server to it's iDRAC.

Install srvadmin-idrac7 as root run racadm config -g cfgLAnNetworking -o cfgNicSelection 2 (1 = Dedicated, 2 = LOM1, 3 = LOM2, 4 = LOM3, 5 = LOM4)

then racadm setniccfg to enable DHCP or set a static IP.

Ubuntu Open Manage information http://linux.dell.com/repo/community/ubuntu/

Information about RACADM http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/systems-management/w/wiki/3205.racadm-command-line-interface-for-drac.aspx

Mark Henderson
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Lee Ballard
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  • Just so you know, I'm not ignoring your answer, I'm just trying to find a convenient time to try this on our systems. When I've had chance I'll mark this as the correct answer. Thanks for taking the time to answer! – BT643 Jul 04 '14 at 09:03
  • I installed `srvadmin-idrac7` as root, but when I try and run any racadm command like `./racadm getsysinfo` I just get `ERROR: Unable to perform requested operation`. – BT643 Oct 08 '14 at 15:08
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    Was finally able to do this! Additionally, before a restart, I had to `cd /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/` (for it to find the racadm commands) and `sudo service dataeng start`. Thank you so much! Saved us some downtime! – BT643 Oct 09 '14 at 08:46
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Since you know the current IP address, just manually set a computer on the same LAN as the idrac interface to an IP address in that subnet (eg. 192.168.0.50), login, and change the IP to whatever you desire.

Grant
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  • The dedicated iDRAC port seems to be completely disabled until you enable the enterprise license, so I think we need to used a shared NIC for now. We don't know any way of enabling enterprise without first gaining access to it via the web GUI. The server is in production with bonded network interfaces, so we can't change the server IP to 192.168.0.x while we do this, or we might as well reboot into the BIOS and do it :( – BT643 Jun 09 '14 at 15:19
  • @bt643 you don't need to change the server ip. Just set a laptop to the 192.168.0.x subnet and connect to the shared drac port. Bonding probably wont interfere, but if it does you can plug the laptop directly into the first port for a few minutes, since the servers connection is redundant. – Grant Jun 09 '14 at 15:41
  • Ok thanks for your answer. I can't risk doing this on these servers just in case it interferes with the bonding for whatever reason (I know it shouldn't). Next time we're at the data centre stood next to the machine I'll try this method (if I find no other way in the meantime). I'll mark this as the answer if no one comes up with anything with racadm. Thanks. – BT643 Jun 09 '14 at 15:52
  • It can be done with racadm - I've done it before. When I get back to the office I will look up how to do it. – Grant Jun 09 '14 at 15:54
  • Don't suppose you ever got chance to look this up? – BT643 Jun 18 '14 at 10:33