Methods to reset iDRAC and restart PTAgent for Dell VxRail
Summary: Instructions to reset Dell VxRail iDRAC and restart PTAgent including remotely, at the box, and other methods.
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Instructions
The following commands are run from the ESXi BASH shell.
Reset the iDRAC from the ESXi node
"/opt/dell/DellPTAgent/bin/ipmitool_static mc reset cold"
If you cannot find the ipmitool_static tool in the above path, check the below paths:
/opt/vxrail/tools//opt/vxrail/tools/ipmitool/opt/dell/DellPTAgent/tools//scratch/dell/DellPTAgent/bin/ipmitool_static(for old PTAgent versions)
Restart the PTAgent process
# /etc/init.d/DellPTAgent stop
# /etc/init.d/DellPTAgent start
Manually kill all PTAgent watchdog processes
# kill -9 [PID of the PTAgent watchdog process]
Reset using the iDRAC UI (13G)
The user interface of the iDRAC provides an option to perform a soft reset.
Figure 1: 13G reset iDRAC option.
- Connect to the iDRAC.
- Log in to the interface by entering the username and password.
- In the lower-right corner of the overview screen, the Quick Launch Tasks are shown.
- Click Reset iDRAC.
- Confirm the action. The iDRAC is unable to be reached for a few minutes while it resets. The system performance is unaffected.
Reset using the iDRAC UI (14G)
The user interface of the iDRAC provides an option to perform a soft reset.
Figure 2: 14G reset iDRAC option.
- Connect to the iDRAC.
- Log in to the interface by entering the username and password.
- Click the Maintenance tab on top.
- Click the Diagnostics subtab.
- Click Reset iDRAC.
- Confirm the action. The iDRAC is unable to be reached for a few minutes while it resets. The system performance is unaffected.
Reset using the front panel (VxRail E460)
The appliance identification button of the iDRAC allows administrators to perform a hard reset.
Figure 3: VxRail E460 iDRAC reset button.
To reset the iDRAC (if not disabled in F2 iDRAC setup), press and hold the appliance identification button (marked 5 in Figure 3) for more than fifteen seconds. If you have a model other than the VxRail E460, refer to an appropriate hardware owner's manual to locate an identification button.
Additional Information
Related Resources
Here are some recommended resources related to this topic that might be of interest to you:
- Dell EMC VxRail: How to update the PTAgent certificate for a VxRail node
- Dell EMC VxRail: How to update PTAgent certificates with ESXi host certificates
- Dell Technologies VxRail: iDRAC settings that cannot be changed
- Dell EMC VxRail: iSM is not running on IDRAC of the node Dell EMC VxRail: Upgrade failure with error "Failed upgrade firmwares via PTAgent" because of an iDRAC issue
- Dell EMC VxRail: Upgrade failure with error "Failed upgrade firmwares via PTAgent" because of an iDRAC issue
Refer to this video:
You can also refer to this video on YouTube.
Affected Products
VxRail, VxRail Appliance FamilyArticle Properties
Article Number: 000023663
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 10 Nov 2023
Version: 12
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