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We have a DRAC IPMI, and after several weeks it gets very unresponsive. Its own web interface sometimes fails to display any information. The only choice is to pull the power plug out, wait, and plug this back. From this moment it starts living a new life. Until next reboot.

I was trying to find on the internet an answer to see if there is a way to reboot ipmi itself, but all answers gets me "how to reboot server using ipmi".

I hope there is someone here that had the same problem and knows the answer. In the meantime I go back googling...

(Note: I am working with Linux but Wes' answer works there too.)

Grzegorz
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2 Answers2

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To just add some additional information for anyone coming upon this question. Independent of the vendor implementation, one can typically also "cold reset" the service processor via standard IPMI mechanisms. With FreeIPMI:

bmc-device --cold-reset

with ipmitool

ipmitool mc reset cold

Albert Chu
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This is definitely doable, but the procedure differs depending on the server model.

If you have the OpenManage application installed on the server, you can use it to reset the iDrac. Under the System node, Main System Chassis, you will see the iDrac in the hardware monitor list. One of the tabs for the iDrac node will have a reset option. The precise location varies by model and version of OpenManage installed, so just keep poking around until you find it.\

You can also do this from the command line. CD into the OpenManage directory and type:

racadm racreset soft

On my system, it's in C:\Program Files\Dell\SysMgt\rac5

For blade servers, you can open up the chassis's web console. Under Chassis Overview, go to the Troubleshooting tab. Select the blade you want to reset and choose "iDrac Reset" from the dropdown on the right, then hit Apply.

Also most rackmount server models have a physical button on the front of the chassis marked with a lower-case 'i'. On newer models, the button will be a blue light. On older ones, it's just a small gray button. Holding this button down for (~10 seconds?) will reset the Chassis Management Controller (CMC), of which the iDrac is a part. Some models just have a light with no button.

If all else fails, you can SSH into the iDrac via PuTTY or Telnet and issue the following command:

racreset soft

I got this all from Google, BTW. I've used the chassis console to do a reset before, but we've moved away from Dell in recent years so I can't find one with an iDrac right now to give more detailed info.

Wes Sayeed
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  • Dear Wes. Thank you so much for the information. Our system comes with racadm preinstalled, and your command work :) Thank you again! –  Apr 27 '16 at 14:33