First Steps to Troubleshoot a Remote System

The following questions are commonly used to troubleshoot high-level problems in the managed system:

1Is the system powered on or off?

2If powered on, is the operating system functioning, crashed, or just frozen?

3If powered off, did the power turn off unexpectedly?

For crashed systems, you can check the last crash screen (see "Viewing the Last System Crash Screen"), and use console redirection ("Using Console Redirection") and remote power management (see "Managing Power on a Remote System") to restart the system and watch the reboot process.

Managing Power on a Remote System

The DRAC 4 allows you to remotely perform several power management actions on the managed system to try and recover after a system crash or other problem. Use the Server Control page to perform an orderly shutdown through the operating system when rebooting, and power the system on or off.

NOTE: You must have Execute Server Action Commands permission to perform power management actions.

Selecting Server Control Actions

1Select whether to perform an Operating System Shutdown (only for the Reboot System, and Power Off System, Server Control Actions).

If you want to make the system perform an orderly shutdown through the operating system before the selected Server Control Action, select Operating System Shutdown.

NOTE: To use the Operating System Shutdown option, you must first install the DRAC 4 managed system software, otherwise this option will be unavailable. For more information, see your

Dell OpenManage Server Administrator’s User’s Guide.

2Select one of the following Server Control Actions.

Reboot System — Resets the system (equivalent to pressing the reset button); the power is not turned off by using this function.

Power Cycle System — Turns off the system power and turns it on again (equivalent to pressing the power button twice).

Power Off System — Turns off the system power (equivalent to pressing the power button when the system power is on).

Power On System — Turns on the system power (equivalent to pressing the power button when the system power is off).

3Click Apply to perform the power management action (for example, cause the system to power cycle).

Managing and Recovering a Remote System

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Dell Remote Access Controller 4 Firmware Version 1.30 manual First Steps to Troubleshoot a Remote System