[Info-vax] Integrity iLO Configuration?

[chris]

On 06/27/21 12:36, Norbert Schönartz wrote:
> I have worked with many different VAX, Alpha and three Itanium (rx2620,
> rx2660 ans rx2800i6) systems. Once you know iLO, wou don't want to miss
> it. And it is really not that complicated.
>
> For some iLO variants ssh support required an extra license, so maybe
> your machine does not support it. Then I recommend using telnet, if your
> environment is sufficiently isolated from the internet.
>
> However, for both ssh and telnet you must have the login credentials and
> know the network configuration. If you don't, you should use the serial
> iLO console which always works (normally at 9600 baud) if you have
> physical access to the system. From the serial console you can then set
> the parameters for ssh or telnet access through the network port.
>
> For the rx2620 you need a special cable to access the serial port since
> the serial port is part of a special connector which has some other
> additional functionality (don't rember which). Maybe I could find out
> how to solder a suitable cable if you need it. For the rx2660 and rx2800
> the serial iLO port has a standard 9 pin connector, if I remember
> correctly.
>
> And I would use RAID unless the machine is a rx2660 with only the
> onboard RAID controller which has very poor performance. The performance
> with a good RAID controller is much better and it is really easy to
> recover from a disk failure even if your backup is not quite current.
> Boot the distribution media and use MSA$UTIL to configure the RAID setup
> which best fits your needs. And believe me, the noise of the disks is
> negigible compared to the noise of the system.

If there is a hardware raid controller on the system, I would always
choose a mirrored system root. Very convenient and robust. For example,
on Proliants if a disk fails, just plugin another disk to replace the
failed item and the system automatically rebuids the raid with no
further input. Depending on the controller, hot swap spares can be
configured as well. Have chosen hardware raid in the past even when
modern file systems like zfs are available, for convenience reasons.

Nothing more irritating that having to reinstall a complete system,
configuration and apps...

Chris