Using IBM RSA with MCS 7825 I4: Doesn't work

[schemberg]

Hi anybody,

we are going to buy IBM servers 7825 I 4 V03 and we want to have a remote option. We tried two different RSA adapters with no success. After installing the adapter the server stops during system check (BIOS). May be this is related to the Cisco test equipment ... may this is a general problem.

Has anybody experience with RSA?

Kind regards

Axel

p.s. The adapter has P/N 39Y9566, onboard FRU 13N0833

[schemberg]

After a lot of time, we found the solution. IBM has made a bad job developing the RSA II slimline adapter. You can't reset them to factory default + they download once(!) a special firmware from the servers BIOS. So a RSA from a 3250 will not work in a 3650 ... great!

Because the RSA is only orderable as refurbished hardware you run into trouble. If you have standard passw0rd on these cards, you can use them, but you have to flash it.

It goes something like this: RSA does DHCP and you can access the webinterface, you can upload the correct firmware after that the server will start with RSA.

Regards

Axel

[Kevin Spicer]

Hi,

We're running into the same issue.  Please can you tell me where the firmware you mention can be downloaded (specifically) - I cannot locate it on IBM's website.

Regards

Kevin

[Kevin Spicer]

Okay, I eventually found it.  Here is the location for others who may be looking...

http://www.ibm.com/support

'manage my product list' (link on left)

Search for 3250 M2  and check 'System x3250 M2', click '>>' & 'Finish'

Back on the main page the product is now displayed in the 'Choose your Products' bar.  Select 'Downloads' in the 'Choose your Page' bar

Select 'View System x3250 M2 downloads'

Fix Central opens with most fields pre-populated.  Under Operating System select 'All'

'Select Fixes' Opens, click the 'RSA 2' link to jump down the page

Ther file you want is the IBM eServer x Series x3250 M2 Remote Supervisor Adapter II Update with 'anyos_noarch' in the name - this is a zipfile containing the files you need.  (also you can download a text file which explains the order to install them in).

[Brett Hanson]

Hi Kevin,

Really appreciate you taking the time to write back location and method to get the firmware update.

Can I ask though - did you actually get remote management working with the above method using RSAII after all?

If so, can you please confirm that you had the following:

• MCS 7825-I4 v03?
• RSAII adapter part number 39Y9566, onboard FRU 13N0833 (as Schemberg mentioned)?

Or did you have different part numbers and / or server?

On this page here: https://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/voicesw/ps6790/ps5748/ps378/product_solution_overview0900aecd80091615.html

There are 2 types of RSA II

1. 39R9504 "Remote Supervisor Adapter II Slimline"
2. 39Y9566 "Remote Supervisor Adapter II Slimline Refresh 1" (the one mentioned by Schemberg)

Many thanks in advance.

Cheers,

Brett

39Y9566, onboard FRU 13N0833

[Kevin Spicer]

Hi Brett,

Sorry, I don't know the exact part number as I encountered the issue on a customer site and so don't have access now to the hardware to check.

I did get the cards working once I had installed the firmware update.  It is worth mentioning that on one system the server would not boot with the RSA card in until after the RSA firmware had been flashed - so its a bit of a rigmarole - but does work eventually.

Regards

Kevin

[Brett Hanson]

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for your quick reply.

Appreciate the additional info.

Thanks to Schemberg for posting the info too,.

Cheers,

Brett

[Brett Hanson]

Hi Kevin,

One more question if I may...

In the RSA II firmware update instruction text file it says:

"The IBM Remote Supervisor Adapter II requires a Linux Daemon for proper operation.

For 64 bit Linux, the correct daemon is IBM Remote Supervisor Adapter II USB Daemon for Linux x86 64 bit, version 1.04 or newer.

For 32 bit Linux, the correct daemon is IBM Remote Supervisor Adapter II USB Daemon for Linux - Servers , version 1.20 or newer.

Multi-lun support is needed in order to mount more then one remote drive simultaneously. The linux kernel 2.4.20 and later have the appropriate multi-lun support, however this support needs to be enabled at kernel build time.  Currently, only the SLES 8.0 SP3 distribution has multi-Lun support available and enabled.  RedHat AS 3.0 has a 2.4.21 kernel, but does not have multi-lun support enabled by default. 

For the Windows operationg system, the installation of the IBM Remote Supervisor Adapter II Server Software for Microsoft Windows is required."

We're using CUCM/Unity 8.02 on our MCS 7825-I4boxes.

What version of the Cisco product was running on your boxes? Did you have to install some daemon?

Cheers,

Brett

[Brett Hanson]

Hi Schemberg,

We're using CUCM/Unity 8.02 on our MCS 7825-I4boxes.

What version of the Cisco product was running on your boxes?

Did you have to install some daemon on the server operating system to do what you needed to do?

Can it still run without the Daemon - for the purposes or powering the server up and down/restarting it, etc.?

Cheers,

Brett

[alanparr12]

I was able to get this to work on my MCS 7825-I4 servers. In my case, they are the equivalent of the IBM 3250 M2, machine ID 4194. The machine ID is on a label on the underside of the MCS Chassis. I used the RSA II Slimline Revision 1 cards. When I inserted them into the server, it hung at the BIOS startup screen. It turns out the cards I had were refurbished, and needed to be re-initialized.

First, I had to get the IP address of the card. The default 192.168.70.125 did not respond. I connected my laptop directly to the management port and used Wireshark to watch the traffic. I saw the server broadcasting a different address, so I changed my address to the same subnet. I was then able to get into the GUI using the standard USERID / PASSW0RD login.

Next step was to upgrade the firmware. I downloaded the RSA II (DOS) firmware - latest seems to be from March 2009. You need the DOS version, not Windows or Linux. The download will include a ZIP file. You need to extract the ZIP file. If you try to upload the ZIP file to the server it will load, but then give "permission denied". What you need to upload and install are the two individual firmware files - PAETBRUS.PKT  and then PAETMNUS.PKT (in that order). The trick is that you need to select the "Advanced Option" and tell it to "Change Server Platform and Flash" or else it will fail.  Restart the adapter, then remove the power from the server and plug it back in. Once you do that the card should see stats from the system, and be able to power the box on/off.  So far, it seems that in order to do a "graceful" OS shutdown you would need LINUX support, which the generic version does not provide.

Hope that helps. How did it work for you on v8 ?

[Brett Hanson]

Wow - that's an awesome breakdown of the process - many thanks Alan for taking the time to document so well.

Your information will be very helpful for me to get this done (I have 3 servers across the country I want to do this to).

RE: version 8 - I've not gone ahead yet...the process was still a bit too murky for me to risk it.

One question if possible - where did you go for your refurbished RSAII's?

Did you just Google?

Or can you recommend a site/store where you grabbed yours from?

[alanparr12]

Sorry, I don't know where they came from. I gave the part number to purchasing and a month later they showed up. I was carefull to get the Refresh 1 version as I heard conflicting reports about the non-Refresh 1 parts. This is what I sent to purchasing:

The part is the Remote Management Adapter Slimline [Refresh 1] (RSA II), IBM part 39Y9566

Note that there is another part with a similar name - Remote Management Adapter Slimline, part 73P9324, RSA II but it is not clear if it is really the same. There are indications that it is not compatible.

The REFRESH 1 version is what is needed.

I did run into another issue, in that I had six servers to install, but could only get four completed. On two of the cards, the default username / password did not work, so I could not login to update the firmware. Apparently you can factory reset it from BIOS Setup, but since the card with the wrong firmware hangs before I can get into that screen, I couldn't do that either. I will see if I can RMA those two units and get two more. Maybe I will get lucky with the next two.