Switching The Controller Mode - Dell iDRAC 8 User Manual

Based on the selected operation mode, the settings are applied.
Resetting controller configuration using RACADM
To reset the controller configuration:
racadm storage resetconfig:<Controller FQDD>
For more information, see the iDRAC RACADM Command Line Reference Guide available at dell.com/idracmanuals.

Switching the controller mode

On PERC 9.1 and later controllers, you can change the personality of the controller by switching the mode from RAID to HBA. The
controller operates similar to a HBA controller where the drivers are passed through the operating system. The controller mode
change is a staged operation and does not occur in real time. Before you change the mode of the controller from RAID to HBA,
ensure that:
• The RAID controller supports the controller mode change. The option to change the controller mode is not available on
controllers where the RAID personality requires a license.
• All virtual disks must be deleted or removed.
• Hot spares must be deleted or removed.
• Foreign configurations must be deleted or cleared.
• All physical disks that are in a failed state, must be removed.
• Any local security key associated with SEDs must be deleted.
• The controller must not have preserved cache.
• You have server control privileges to switch the controller mode.
NOTE: Ensure that you back up the foreign configuration, security key, virtual disks, and hot spares before you switch
the mode as the data is deleted.
NOTE: Ensure that a CMC license is available for PERC FD33xS and FD33xD storage sleds before you change the
controller mode. For more information on CMC license for the storage sleds, see the
Controller Version 1.2 for PowerEdge FX2/FX2s User's Guide available at dell.com/support/manuals.
Exceptions while switching the controller mode
The following list provides the exceptions while setting the controller mode using the iDRAC interfaces such as web interface,
RACADM, and WS-MAN:
• If the PERC controller is in RAID mode, you must clear any virtual disks, hot spares, foreign configurations, controller keys, or
preserved cache before changing it to HBA mode.
• You cannot configure other RAID operations while setting the controller mode. For example, if the PERC is in RAID mode and
you set the pending value of the PERC to HBA mode, and you try to set the BGI attribute, the pending value is not initiated.
• When you switch the PERC controller from HBA to RAID mode, the drives remain in Non-RAID state and are not automatically
set to Ready state. Additionally, the RAIDEnhancedAutoImportForeignConfig attribute is automatically set to Enabled.
The following list provides the exceptions while setting the controller mode using the Server Configuration Profile feature using the
WS-MAN or RACADM interface:
• Server Configuration Profile feature allows you to configure multiple RAID operations along with setting the controller mode. For
example, if the PERC controller is in HBA mode, you can edit the export xml to change the controller mode to RAID, convert
drives to ready and create a virtual disk.
• While changing the mode from RAID to HBA, the RAIDaction pseudo attribute is set to update (default behavior). The attribute
runs and creates a virtual disk which fails. The controller mode is changed, however, the job is completed with errors. To avoid
this issue, you must comment out the RAIDaction attribute in the XML file.
• When the PERC controller is in HBA mode, if you run import preview on export xml which is edited to change controller mode to
RAID, and try creating a VD, the virtual disk creation fails. Import preview does not support validating stacking RAID operations
with changing controller mode.
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