hide or disable LSI MegaRaid Controller BBU Status

[DIS201110141]

Hi,

I´ve installed ESXi with all the latest patches on a system with LSI MegaRAID SAS 9260-4i RAID-10.

The Controller has NO BBU installed at the moment.

The vSphere Client shows all kind of Information about the Controller and the RAID Status but unfortunately it gives me an Alert for the missing BBU (Battery Status: unknown).

Therefore I want to disable / hide the BBU Information in vSphere Client.

Can anyone tell me how to do that?

Kind Regards

Buxus

[caraboy]

Hello,

Did you manage to disable this alarm? I got the same problem with an IBM ServeRAID m1015. This controller does not support a battery backup unit, and I can`t find a way to disable this annoying alarm.

Thank you!

[RaraAvis]

The same annoyance with mine m1015, so I tried to search a little...

Using slightly modified script from http://blogs.vmware.com/esxi/2010/07/hardware-health-monitoring-via-cim-part-5.html one can see some values returned  by LSI SMIS Provider:

LSIESG_Battery

      BatteryOperationalStatus =  Disabled

                 BatteryStatus = 2  (Unknown)

                   BatteryType = 0

                     Chemistry = 1  (Other)

             CreationClassName =  LSIESG_Battery

                DesignCapacity = 0

                 DesignVoltage = 0

                      DeviceID = 0

                   ElementName = Controller  Battery

                EnabledDefault = 2  (Enabled)

                  EnabledState = 3  (Disabled)

      EstimatedChargeRemaining = 0

              EstimatedRunTime = 0

            FullChargeCapacity = 0

             OperationalStatus =  [12L]

             PredictiveFailure = 0

                 RechargeCount = 0

             RemainingCapacity = 0

                   ReplacePack = 0

                RequestedState = 12 (Not  Applicable)

                 RetentionTime = 0

       SystemCreationClassName =  LSIESG_MegaRAIDHBA

                    SystemName =  500605B00443C190

              TimeToFullCharge = 0

          TransitioningToState = 12 (Not  Applicable)

vSphere Client toggle alert on "BatteryStatus = 2 (Unknown)".

But there are (IMHO) several indirect signs of BBU being absent at all - colored green.

I also found one document from NEC - http://www.58support.nec.co.jp/global/download/NECO-420458-B01/SMI-S_Provider_vSphere_Client_Notification.pdf containing:

RAID Controller without battery

The status of the battery indicates “Alert” on the Hardware Health Status  window.

Check  the label of the Server tree to find whether the battery is not   connected or fails when the status of the battery indicates Alert.

 Battery 0: No battery is connected. Ignore the status.

 Battery XXX (values other than 0): The battery is connected. Replace the  battery if the status is Alert.

So, from NEC's point BatteryType=0 means no battery is connected.

Though they name it "just cosmetic problem", I don't think false alert (and it IS) can be so rated.

As for me, vSphere Client  must handle BBU absence by BatteryType=0 (or on set of other signs - VMWare do have ful info from LSI, I hope).

The question is whether they would be kind enough to take into consideration "poor man's" setup - no BBU, no vCenter...

[caraboy]

RaraAvis, I am also running a poor mans setup. One System x 3550 running all my small company apps. :smileylaugh:

The annoyng problem is when using Veeam Monitor, that reports the sensor status at every refresh as changed.

Did you managed to get LSI MegaRaid Storage Manager to work with the m1015 controller?

[RaraAvis]

Yes, it works, and, BTW, shows BBU as Ok :

I used this one - http://www-947.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-5077712#DOCOS  if this does matter.

The only thing is long start of MSM console for the first time, but I am not surprised with my setup:

1. ESXi installation to USB stick was very slow (in my case about 30-40 min, and this is not  the stick speed issue).
2. Long ESXi boot - "loading megaraid_sas" stage lasts about 4.5 min.

So I know - I need to be patient....

[caraboy]

Hello,

I have downloaded the MegaRaid Storage Manager from the link you provided, installed on my PC, but yet I cannot access my server. I click discover, and nothing is found on my network.

My server is running ESXi 5 IBM customized, installed on a USB stick. This is the image I used, it includes all IBM drivers for m1015: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/x/os/vmware/esxi/

Yet, I cannot connect. :smileyplain: Any ideas? Did you open any firewall ports?

Kind regards!

[RaraAvis]

Well, I was following http://kb.lsi.com/KnowledgebaseArticle16430.aspx .

1. Assuming You already installed MSM (complete install or at least server part) to VM on ESXi host and got name to IP address resolution for both of them working (as described in KB).
2. Yes, You need to open "CIM SLP" (TCP/UDP 427) and "CIM Secure Server" (TCP 5989) for incoming connections in ESXi host firewall.
3. Start MSM client.
4. Check  "Configure Host" part of LSI KB article done.
5. Enter IP address of the VM with MSM server part from step 1 and press "Discover host":
   

   

6. Click on discovered ESXi host address link
7. Despite of LSI calling it "server" (and suggesting login to "MSM server") - enter username and password of the selected ESXi host and click "Login":
   

   

[caraboy]

Hello,

Thanks for the KB, it was helpfull! I was missing a DNS entry, so I had 0.0.0.0 showing up in my MSM discover session. :smileygrin:

I can see the raid 1 mirror now, also, about the BBU, it`s the same here. The battery seems to be fine, though I have no battery installed.

Another funny thing, I am running a mirror1 from 2 hdds, identical, one shows 32C celsius temperature, the other 65C. Strange, as it says the raid is in optimal shape, one is in port0, the other in port1.  :smileyhappy:

Anyways, thanks, finally got it working!