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Peter Valadez
Asked: 2012-02-29 15:44:41 +0800 CST

Install MegaCli to Monitor Perc 5/i in Nexentastor 3

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I have a Dell 2950 with a Perc 5/i Raid controller that we've already installed Nexentastor 3 Community Edition on. We setup a raid-10 array that and put a ZFS pool on top of the hardware. As I understand, in this configuration ZFS/Nexentastor will not be able to tell when a disk fails in the array. Obviously, this is not optimal.

Since the Dell Perc 5/i controller is a rebranded LSI controller, you should be able to use the MegaCli utility to manage the array and monitor its condition. I had seen in a separate forum that the Perc 5/i is very similar to the LSI MegaRAID 8480E, so I tried installing the MegaCli utility at the link below. However, I have not been able to successfully install the utility.

http://www.lsi.com/support/products/Pages/MegaRAIDSAS8480E.aspx

Here is what happened when I tried to install MegaCli:

root@Nexenta2:/files# pkgadd -d MegaCli.pkg
Warning: unable to relocate '$BASEDIR'
mv: cannot move `solmegacli-8.02.16/' to a subdirectory of itself, `solmegacli-8.02.16//var/lib/dpkg/alien/solmegacli/reloc/solmegacli-8.02.16'
mv: cannot move `solmegacli-8.02.16/' to a subdirectory of itself, `solmegacli-8.02.16//opt/solmegacli-8.02.16'
822-date: warning: This program is deprecated. Please use 'date -R' instead.
822-date: warning: This program is deprecated. Please use 'date -R' instead.
solmegacli_8.02.16-1_all.deb generated
(Reading database ... 41397 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace solmegacli 8.02.16-1 (using solmegacli_8.02.16-1_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement solmegacli ...
Setting up solmegacli (8.02.16-1) ...

In /var/logs/dpkg.log:

2012-03-23 20:40:19 status unpacked solmegacli 8.02.16-1
2012-03-23 20:40:19 configure solmegacli 8.02.16-1 8.02.16-1
2012-03-23 20:40:19 status unpacked solmegacli 8.02.16-1
2012-03-23 20:40:19 status half-configured solmegacli 8.02.16-1
2012-03-23 20:40:19 status installed solmegacli 8.02.16-1

So... I've got three questions:

  1. Is it possible to install and use MegaCli in Nexentastor 3?
  2. If so, how can I install MegaCli on Nexentastor 3? Suggestions welcome!!!
  3. If not, is there a better way to monitor the condition of the Perc 5/i hardware raid? Our 2950 does have a DRAC card, so can I use that to monitor the raid condition?
drac dell-poweredge megaraid dell-perc nexenta

2 Answers

  1. Since I haven't gotten anywhere trying to monitor the condition of the PERC 5i with MegaCLI in Nexentastor (I also tried Dell's Openmanage software but they don't have a version for Solaris), I've since installed a Dell SAS 6/ir controller in the 2950. This allows Nexentastor to see the disks individually in JBOD mode, and therefore Nexentastor can directly monitor the condition of each disk and the array.

    I had seen on some other forums that you had to flash the firmware on the SAS 6/ir in order for it to support JBOD mode. But I just didn't create any raid arrays in the 6/ir bios setup, and Nexentastor saw all the disks individually. So it seems that the SAS 6/ir does support JBOD with the stock firmware- there just isn't an option that says "JBOD" in the bios setup.

    Technically everyone may not consider this exactly an answer to the question asked, but I think it is ultimately the best way to address the problem of not being able to monitor the condition of raid arrays created by Dell Perc controllers in Nexentastor/Opensolaris. And as I was able to find two SAS 6/ir cards on Ebay for $30 each, this seems to be the best way to avoid having to use third party software to monitor the raid condition. Also, JBOD is the preferred way to present disks to Nexentastor/Solaris anyway.

    However, I know I’ve seen many others say they are using Perc controllers with Nexentastor, so some insight into how to install MegaCLI on Nexenta would definitely be welcome.

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  2. Found this while hunting for the same problem. Installing the package has the same output as the above,

    pkgadd -d MegaCli.pkg

    Warning: unable to relocate '$BASEDIR' mv: cannot move solmegacli-8.07.14/' to a subdirectory of itself,solmegacli-8.07.14//var/lib/dpkg/alien/solmegacli/reloc/solmegacli-8.07.14' mv: cannot move solmegacli-8.07.14/' to a subdirectory of itself,solmegacli-8.07.14//opt/solmegacli-8.07.14' 822-date: warning: This program is deprecated. Please use 'date -R' instead. 822-date: warning: This program is deprecated. Please use 'date -R' instead. solmegacli_8.07.14-1_solaris-i386.deb generated (Reading database ... 45151 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to replace solmegacli 8.07.14-1 (using solmegacli_8.07.14-1_solaris-i386.deb) ... Unpacking replacement solmegacli ... Setting up solmegacli (8.07.14-1) ...

    think the issue is due to the $BASEDIR path. A simple way to install it however is to just extract it and stick the binary in place yourself.

    To do this run,

    mkdir /tmp/megacli

    pkgtrans MegaCli.pkg /tmp/megacli/ all

    Then then simply,

    /tmp/megacli/SOLMEGACLI/reloc/\$BASEDIR/MegaRAID/CLI/MegaCli -PDList -aALL

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