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Dell XC 6320 - How to reimage the CVM ?

jaffer
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Hi all,

We have a Dell XC6320 demo box. I would like to know how to reimage the CVM of the node/factory reset ?

I found a document online and followed the procedure still the CVM is broken state. Could someone tell me how to reimage the CVM in Dell XC6320 ?
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Best answer by bezeddin 13 April 2017, 14:02

jaffer use your idrac and mount phoenix iso. please boot through it. have your contact support or vendor to fix it?
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29 replies

patrbng
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If you don't need to re-image the hypervisor, you could just destroy the cluster and then recreate it.

If you want to be completely fresh, I would suggest looking for the field installation guide on the support site and re-foundationing the hosts. The foundation guide walks you through the process. Otherwise, reach out to the vendor that sold you the hardware or your local Nutanix SE and they should be able to help you out.
jaffer
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Hi,

Thanks for your reply. The installation cancelled in between and I am not able to destroy the cluster. Even the cluster status throwing an error. I will check the field installation guide.

Cheers,
Jaffer
patrbng
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If you were in the middle of installation, you might run into the problem of the nodes not showing available to be imaged. In that case, I would suggest using the foundation VM as with it you can manually add the nodes and use the IPMI mac address to start the process. If this is your first time with Nutanix. I would REALLY suggest reaching out to a NutanixSE or partner that has experience to help you through the process as it is not always intuitive.

Good luck and sorry for the hiccup.
jaffer
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Hi

Thanks. but I am not able to find the download for foundation. I am able to see only the applet. Do you have the location of the file ?
patrbng
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If you log onto support and click on downloads, do you see "Foundation"
https://
If you click on it, you should see the foundation VM files on the page. It might be hidden unless you are are partner or someone who has gone through the NSS class.

https://
jaffer
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hi,

We are customers. I don't have access to download 😞.

Lets give a try with my colleagues ID.

Cheers,
Jaffer
patrbng
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Your other option would be to contact support. Since it's Dell, call them first and they should either be able to help or pass you through to Nutanix.
jaffer
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Thanks. Will do the same.
B
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jaffer
Dell XC provided with RASR feature. Performing factory reset with self restore. Just boot to internal SD Card
It would be nice to ask your partner to check and reimage the box for you
jaffer
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bezeddinThank you. We are following the RASR procedure to reset but it is mentioned for this model we should have created a RASR USB recovery which we didn't. Initially when we tried to image (AOS +ESXi) the nodes via foundation applet, it progress until 88% and failed and I retried still no use.I was able to login to all the CVM's with the new IP's and I can see ESXi installed in all the nodes and I tried assessing the CVM's without any issue. The cluster status throwed me an error. Even I tried to use the command to destroy the cluster and it thows me the same error. We tried the possible options to destroy/reset the cluster and we were getting the same error.
After that I tried to factory reset the first node and I lost the CVM. Now If I tried to discover using the applet I am able to see only 2 nodes and not the first node.
B
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jafferhave you boot to internal sdcard what is the output?I've used same model also 730XD and performing RASR without external USB needed
jaffer
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bezeddinTried booting from the internal SD card, it took less than 10 minutes and it boots with the hypervisor but the CVM is broken. I can login to the ESXi host and had a look at the CVM, found its broken.
B
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jaffer you need to perform cvm repair thenthe best way is to open case and let support perform it for you
jaffer
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bezeddinSure will do the same.. thanks for your valuable time and info.
B
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jaffer applet will utiilize foundation service running on CVM. since one cvm failed you can only see two nodes
have you try to boot using phoenix.iso ? it will give an option to repair/reinstall CVM
jaffer
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bezeddinHaven't try that. Do you have the procedure or document ? Please share.
B
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jaffer please refer to https://portal.nutanix.com/#/page/docs/details?targetId=Field-Installation-Guide-v3-7:Field-Installation-Guide-v3-7
jaffer
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bezeddinpatrbngDo you have an idea how to launch the RASR utility from XC6320-6 model ?

I am not able to find how to get into the RASR utility. There is some docs how to create RASR recovery USB but I am not able to find anyway to launch the utility.
B
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jaffer when you boot to internal SDCard you will have an option to reimage the node thats RASR
please boot to internal SDCard and post the output here
B
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jaffer please refer to http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20443403
both RASR and RASRUSB was mentioned
jaffer
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bezeddinThe model which I am using is XC6320-6 which is different from rest of the Dell XC models. In this model I am not able to see the SD card.Please find the screenshot.


PS: I am following the doc "Rapid Appliance Self Recovery (RASR) for Dell EMC XC Series Web-Scale Hyperconverged Appliance – Windows 2012 R2For the Dell EMC XC Series XC430-4, XC630-10, XC630-10AF, XC730xd-12, XC730xd-24, XC730xd-12c, XC730-16G, XC6320-6 and XC6320-6AFDell EMC EngineeringDecember 2016"
B
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jaffer boot to embedded disk storage device and see the output
jaffer
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bezeddinI did that and lost my CVM. After I found that the document says the below 😞."WARNING: Do not boot to the Embedded Disk Storage Device on XC6320 nodes. This can lead to erasing the operating system and the Nutanix CVM. For recovery on XC6320 refer to Using RASR for Dell EMC XC Series for XC6320."

Now I am not able to launch RASR, I think I have lost the recovery partition. One strange, still I am able to see my ESXi and Broken CVM which keeps rebooting.

There is nowhere I can see the document to launch RASR without USB or do re-imaging (Factory reset). Even for factory reset I need RASR.
B
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jaffer use your idrac and mount phoenix iso. please boot through it. have your contact support or vendor to fix it?
jaffer
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bezeddinThanks. Will try and let you know.