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Hi All,

Is there anyone has any ideas how can I remotely power off/on those
6H1 machines running on AIX4.3.3. I have configured a CSM server but
it only supports machines running AIX5.1 and above. Pls help.

Thanks in advance.

In article <bc917e10.0410010741.1408267d@posting.google.com >, ColdMan <alvintsh@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Is there anyone has any ideas how can I remotely power off/on those
> 6H1 machines running on AIX4.3.3. I have configured a CSM server but
> it only supports machines running AIX5.1 and above. Pls help.

Via serial console, you need to go into the service processor (SvP) menu
on the first serial port, I believe.

You can only access the SvP menu when the machine is powered down
('shutdown -Fh now' if it's running AIX) and then press the enter key a
few times to get the SvP's attention on the serial console.

Then you can configure a reset string, which should be a long sentence
of nonsense letters, characters, and numbers, and also of mixed case.

Choose it well, because the SvP will not be able to tell the difference
between your commands, output, or text files output on the screen, so if
you use a reset string with words in it, it increases the risk of an
inadvertent power cycle when using the serial console.

So make sure it's a long string with nonsense letters, numbers,
capitalization and punctuation. A reset string of perhaps at least 20
characters is good.

Note: write down this string, and make sure any other admins also knows
this string and how to use it!

After that, just power on the machine via the serial console.

From that point on... whenever you need to halt, power off, or power
cycle the 6H1 then you would be able to:

1) connect to the serial console
2) type (or paste) the reset string
3) the SvP will immediately halt the 6H1 without a graceful shutdown
(it is the equivalent of yanking the power)
4) lets you enter the SvP menu or power on/off the 6H1

It works great, even with AIX 4.3.3 (the original OS on our 6H1).

Just make sure you have a serial console, so that you can connect to the
machine remotely and do this stuff, for both setup and future need.

-Dan

Dan Foster <usenet@evilphb.org> wrote in message news:<slrnclr1ql.rsp.usenet@gaia.roc2.gblx.net>...
> In article <bc917e10.0410010741.1408267d@posting.google.com >, ColdMan <alvintsh@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Is there anyone has any ideas how can I remotely power off/on those
> > 6H1 machines running on AIX4.3.3. I have configured a CSM server but
> > it only supports machines running AIX5.1 and above. Pls help.
>
> Via serial console, you need to go into the service processor (SvP) menu
> on the first serial port, I believe.
>
> You can only access the SvP menu when the machine is powered down
> ('shutdown -Fh now' if it's running AIX) and then press the enter key a
> few times to get the SvP's attention on the serial console.
>
> Then you can configure a reset string, which should be a long sentence
> of nonsense letters, characters, and numbers, and also of mixed case.
>
> Choose it well, because the SvP will not be able to tell the difference
> between your commands, output, or text files output on the screen, so if
> you use a reset string with words in it, it increases the risk of an
> inadvertent power cycle when using the serial console.
>
> So make sure it's a long string with nonsense letters, numbers,
> capitalization and punctuation. A reset string of perhaps at least 20
> characters is good.
>
> Note: write down this string, and make sure any other admins also knows
> this string and how to use it!
>
> After that, just power on the machine via the serial console.
>
> From that point on... whenever you need to halt, power off, or power
> cycle the 6H1 then you would be able to:
>
> 1) connect to the serial console
> 2) type (or paste) the reset string
> 3) the SvP will immediately halt the 6H1 without a graceful shutdown
> (it is the equivalent of yanking the power)
> 4) lets you enter the SvP menu or power on/off the 6H1
>
> It works great, even with AIX 4.3.3 (the original OS on our 6H1).
>
> Just make sure you have a serial console, so that you can connect to the
> machine remotely and do this stuff, for both setup and future need.
>
> -Dan



Hi Dan,

Thanks for the info.

One question here is we do have a serial conenction to the remote
machine but via a terminal switch. However, I have to telnet to the
terminal switch first before I can logon to the server. We often
encounter the remote machine hang and we are not able to telnet to it
as the connection will be rejected by the server.
As such, we normally need to send someone down to press the reset
button.

Do you think your solution will fit into my environment.

Rgds.

In article <bc917e10.0410020813.3f624b97@posting.google.com >, ColdMan <alvintsh@hotmail.com> wrote:
> One question here is we do have a serial conenction to the remote
> machine but via a terminal switch. However, I have to telnet to the
> terminal switch first before I can logon to the server. We often
> encounter the remote machine hang and we are not able to telnet to it
> as the connection will be rejected by the server.
> As such, we normally need to send someone down to press the reset
> button.
>
> Do you think your solution will fit into my environment.

It should. The beauty is that the Service Processor is an independent
CPU chip running its own small mini-OS from firmware.

So it doesn't matter if the machine is hung or not, because a system
hang does not affect the service processor at all.

The SvP is silently waiting and watching the system at all times. It
jumps to life in two general situations:

a) system is halted or powered down
b) it sees the reset string transmitted through the serial console

So it doesn't matter if the system is hung. All that matters is if you
paste the reset string (sometimes it may take a few tries) through the
serial console. It doesn't matter if you see it echoed to screen or not.
It just has to be transmitted through the first serial port.

The SvP will see it, and take over, and bring up a SvP menu.

From there, you can power up the machine if you want.

The only way this will not work for you is if you do not have a remote
serial console to tty0. If you do, it will work as you desire.

-Dan