How to restart UCSC-C240-M5S remotely via CIMC

[Hamidsattarrana]

Hello Everyone,

I need to remotely shut down and power on a Cisco UCSC-C240-M5S server. I’m familiar with performing this task on Dell servers via iDRAC, but I'm not experienced with Cisco UCS.

I’d like to confirm:
If I shut down this server remotely, will I be able to power it back on via CIMC? I’m planning to initiate the restart through CIMC — I’ve attached a screenshot for reference.

Additionally, the server has a RAID battery that needs replacement. In this case, if I power down the server, will I still be able to power it back on even if the RAID battery is not functional?

Your guidance on this would be much appreciated.

[Steven Tardy · Accepted solution]

From the screenshot this looks to be a UCSM Managed C-Series.

Cisco UCS has plenty of docs regarding all of the things you are asking.

To answer your questions directly:

Yes. You can power the server back on, not via CIMC directly, but via UCS Manager (which in turn talks to CIMC).

Yes. You can power the server back on if the RAID battery is dead/non-functional.

[Chris Cartier · Accepted solution]

Hi there!

The screenshot you have provided is not of CIMC, but rather UCSM (Unified Computing System Manager), which is software for managing an entire domain of UCS servers. 

This software runs independently of the servers, and is hosted through a pair of Fabric Interconnects. 

To answer your question in short, yes, if you shut down the server via this software, you will still retain a connection to the server and be able to power it on again the same way. (Boot Server option, greyed out here, just above your red line)

This software differs a bit from CIMC, which you mentioned also. CIMC runs locally on the server itself, and is generally only used in UCS standalone applications (where the server is not managed by a higher level of software). However, CIMC operates very similarly, albeit for only one server. 

The RAID battery should not affect the servers boot operations. The RAID battery is generally only used when caching data within the RAID controller for performance purposes. 

[Hamidsattarrana]

Thank-you guys for your quick response 

[Hamidsattarrana]

Hello,

One more question do you know what is this error about and how to fix it? it's on fabric interconnect A (Primary)

Affected object : sys/switch-A/mgmt-db-state
Description : High number of management database corruption events on Fabric Interconnect A. Number of corruption events: 2. Number of corruption events: 2. Last corruption event timestamp: 2023-11-21T03:19:14.128
ID : 1997774
Type : management
Cause : mgmt-db-corruption
Created at : 2023-11-21T03:19:14Z
Code : F1900
Number of Occurrences : 1
Original severity : Major
Previous severity : Major
Highest severity : Major