If
a blade server with SOL enabled in the management module indicates an SOL
status of Not Ready, check the following items:
Make sure that an Ethernet switch module is installed in I/O-module bay
1. An Ethernet switch module needs to be installed in I/O module bay 1; pass-thru
modules do not support SOL.
Make sure that the SOL port assignment is set to blade server NIC 1, the
default SOL port assignment that connects to the switch module in bay 1.
The Type 8832 blade server provides a jumper to change the SOL port assignment.
All blade servers except the HS40 and JS2x blade servers provide a
setting in the network controller firmware to change the SOL port assignment.
This setting can be changed only when flashing the NIC firmware on the blade
server. If SOL traffic has been assigned to NIC 2, then the switch module
in I/O-module bay 2 needs to be an Ethernet switch module and additional configuration
of this switch module might be required. See General configuration, Operating system configuration,
and Special component requirements for
more information.
Make sure that SOL is properly set up in the blade server system firmware
(BIOS). Only the JS2x family of blade servers do not require system
firmware configuration to enable SOL. See Updating and configuring the blade server BIOS and Special component requirements,
for information about setting up blade server BIOS for SOL operation.
Note: A
blade server might start slowly or become unresponsive if COM 1 is configured
for SOL instead of COM 2.
Make sure that the SOL IP address range (for the BSMP) is not already
in use on the external network. The default SOL BSMP address range starts
at 10.1.1.80 and ends at 10.1.1.93 for all 14 blades in the BladeCenter unit.
If any blade servers or other external devices use this range of IP addresses
for production traffic, an IP address conflict will occur and SOL traffic
might be blocked. The SOL BSMP starting address can be changed using the
management module Web interface and any IP address range can be used that
is not being used for production traffic.
If the blade server has an operating system loaded, verify that the Broadcom
NIC drivers are loaded and up to date. A downlevel NIC driver loaded in Linux
can cause SOL to go into the Not Ready state.
Make sure that the blade server is powered up. Some blade servers need
to be powered up for SOL to indicate a status of Ready. It can take up to
60 seconds after some blade servers are powered up for SOL to indicate that
they are Ready.
Make sure that the management module can communicate with the switch module
in I/O-module bay 1. Verify communications by pinging the I/O module from
the management module. See the Management Module User's Guide for additional
information.
Make sure that the Ethernet switch module in I/O-module bay 1 is configured
for SOL operation. For most switch modules, the default configuration settings
for the management module and the switch module are fine; however, if the
switch module in I/O-module bay 1 is a Cisco Systems Intelligent Gigabit Ethernet
Switch Module for the IBM BladeCenter, make sure that it has a firmware level
of 12.1(22)EA6a or later. (This is the minimum firmware level that the switch
module requires to support a management module default SOL VLAN of 4095.)
If the Cisco Gigabit Ethernet Switch Module has a firmware level older than
12.1(22)EA6a, then the SOL VLAN must be set to a value between 1 and 1001
and the Cisco switch needs to be configured for these setting (see Configuring the Cisco Systems Intelligent Gigabit Ethernet Switch Module for the IBM BladeCenter). If the BladeCenter I/O module internal ports are VLAN enabled (‘trunked’
in Cisco terms), then these ports must be configured to pass traffic from
the SOL VLAN ID.
Restart the blade server system management processor (see the Management
Module User's Guide or the Management Module Command-line Interface
Reference Guide for instructions). Make sure that the blade server is
turned on when restarting the management processor. After the restart is complete,
check the blade server SOL status; if the status indicates Ready, then try
to start an SOL session.
Disable SOL for the blade server; then, re-enable it (see the Management
Module User's Guide or the Management Module Command-line Interface
Reference Guide for instructions). Make sure that the blade server is
turned on when disabling and re-enabling SOL. After the disable and re-enable
is complete, check the blade server SOL status; if the status indicates Ready,
then try to start an SOL session.
Restart the management module (see the Management Module User's Guide or
the Management Module Command-line Interface Reference Guide for instructions).
After the restart is complete, check the blade server SOL status; if the status
indicates Ready, then try to start an SOL session.
Restart the switch module in I/O-module bay 1 (see the Management Module
User's Guide or the Management Module Command-line Interface
Reference Guide for instructions). After the restart is complete, check
the blade server SOL status; if the status indicates Ready, then try to start
an SOL session.
Turn off the blade server, remove it from the BladeCenter unit, reinstall
it, and turn it back on. After doing this, check the blade server SOL status;
if the status indicates Ready, then try to start an SOL session.