# Chapter 8

# Platform Specific Information

> This chapter discusses specific information on how RSC works on the following server platforms:

- Sun Enterprise 250 Servers
- Sun Fire V480 Servers

## Sun Enterprise 250 Servers

> The RSC firmware and communication ports on Sun Enterprise 250 servers differ from those on other platforms, so RSC functions slightly differently on the Sun Enterprise 250 servers. This section summarizes the differences in hardware functionality and describes the software commands and functions that are specific to the Sun Enterprise 250 servers.

### Hardware and Configuration Issues

> The RSC hardware for Sun Enterprise 250 servers differs from the hardware on other platforms, and the configuration script differs somewhat. TABLE 8-1 describes those differences.

> TABLE 8-1 Sun Enterprise 250 Hardware Differences
> Issue | Description
> Backup battery/ Modem | RSC hardware for Sun Enterprise 250 servers does not include a backup battery or internal PCMCIA modem. You can connect an external modem to the RSC serial port. For more information on configuring the external modem, refer to Appendix B.
> RSC ports | Sun Enterprise 250 servers have an RSC Ethernet port and an RSC serial port. If you are configuring RSC on a Sun Enterprise 250 server, the configuration script asks if you want to enable the RSC serial port. If you respond yes, it prompts for a value for serial port baud rate, serial data bits, serial parity, serial stop bits, whether to use hardware handshaking, and whether to enable PPP over the RSC serial port.

> TABLE 8-2 describes the differences in functionality.

> TABLE 8-2 Sun Enterprise 250 Functionality Differences
> Issue | Description
> Telnet and GUI sessions | Sun Enterprise 250 servers support two concurrent telnet sessions and three active concurrent RSC GUI sessions.
> Hostname and customer information strings | Limited to eight characters.
> Alerts | Verbose alerts are enabled. You cannot limit the length of pager alert messages.
> Number of user accounts | Sun Enterprise 250 servers support four user accounts.

### Software Issues

> RSC software on Sun Enterprise 250 servers uses some commands that differ from the commands used on other servers. This section describes some procedures where RSC requires different commands. It also describes some shell commands unique to RSC on Sun Enterprise 250 servers.

> This section includes the following topics:

- Redirecting the console to RSC
- Software commands and shell command aliases
- Serial connections
- OpenBoot PROM environment variable properties

#### Redirecting the Console to RSC

> After RSC software is installed and configured, the system console is still available as on any normal Sun machine. To enable RSC as the system console device instead, you must access the server console, shut down the system, and type the following commands at the `ok` prompt:

> ok `diag-output-to-rsc`
> ok `setenv input-device rsc`
> ok `setenv output-device rsc`

> After the next server reset, use the following commands to remove RSC as the default console:

> ok `diag-output-to ttya`
> ok `setenv input-device keyboard`
> ok `setenv output-device screen`

#### Software Commands and Shell Command Aliases

> The following list describes how RSC software functions on Sun Enterprise 250 servers:

- For Sun Enterprise 250 servers, the following shell command aliases are not available: `showenvironment`, `showdate`, `setdate`, and `showsc`.
- The `poweroff` command does not perform a graceful shutdown of the system.
- When using the `useradd` username command to add an RSC user account, the username field has a maximum length of eight characters. The Sun Enterprise 250 supports up to 4 users.
- The following `rscadm` subcommands are not available on Sun Enterprise 250 servers: `shownetwork`, `loghistory`, and `version`. For more information about the `rscadm` subcommands, refer to `rscadm` Subcommands.

> For more information about the equivalent commands on other Sun servers, refer to Chapter 4.

> Resetting RSC Using `rscadm`

> The `rscadm` subcommand `resetrsc` resets the RSC software immediately. On the Sun Enterprise 250, you must reset the server whenever you use the resetrsc subcommand.

> When you reset RSC on a Sun Enterprise 250 server without also resetting the server, RSC time defaults to 1/1/70. To synchronize RSC time with server time, reset the server, use the `rscadm` command `rscadm date -s` or run the script `/usr/platform/`platform-name`/rsc/rsc-initscript`. You can obtain the string to use for platform-name by using the Solaris command `uname -i`.

#### Serial Connections

> The modem variables used with other Sun servers are not available for Sun Enterprise 250 servers. Instead, you connect an external modem to the RSC serial port and use the serial port variables described in this section. For more information about configuring the external modem, refer to Appendix B.

> To log in to your RSC account using a modem on a Sun Enterprise 250 server, you must disable PPP by using the RSC shell, RSC GUI, or the `rscadm` utility to set the `ppp_enabled` configuration variable to false.

> For Sun Enterprise 250 servers, you can set RSC to disconnect a session connected to the serial port after 10 minutes of inactivity. See information for the configuration variable `serial_hw_handshake`.

> Each buffer can contain up to 16 Kbytes of information. On Sun Enterprise 250 servers, the `boot` and `oboot` buffers can contain up to 8 Kbytes of information.

> Serial Port Variables

> Serial port variables are available only for Sun Enterprise 250 servers. RSC uses modem variables with other Sun servers. Refer to Chapter 4 for more information.

> RSC on the Sun Enterprise 250 servers uses the following serial port variables:

- `serial_baud`
- `serial_parity`
- `serial_stop`
- `serial_data`
- `serial_hw_handshake`

> The following sections describe these variables.

> `serial_baud`

> This variable sets the RSC serial port baud rate. Valid values are as follows:

- `9600`
- `19200`
- `38400`
- `57600`
- `115200`

> The default setting is `9600`. Changes to this variable take effect on the next login connection over the RSC serial port.

> Note - If you set up pager alerts using the `page_baud1` or `page_baud2` variables, the baud settings for these variables revert to the setting specified for the `serial_baud` variable. Refer to Pager Variable Settings for more information.

> If you change the serial baud rate after configuring the serial port modem, you must reconfigure the modem. Refer to Appendix B.

> `serial_parity`

> This variable sets the RSC serial port parity. Valid values are `none`, `odd`, or `even`. The default setting is `none`. Changes to this variable take effect on the next login connection over the RSC serial port.

> Note - If you set up pager alerts using the `page_parity1` or `page_parity2` variables, the baud settings for these variables revert to the settings specified for the `serial_parity` variable. Refer to Pager Variable Settings for more information.

> If you change the serial parity setting after configuring the serial port modem, you must reconfigure the modem. Refer to Modem Reconfiguration Required After Changing RSC Serial Port Settings.

> `serial_stop`

> This variable sets the number of RSC stop bits. Valid values are `1` or `2`. The default setting is `1`. Changes to this variable take effect on the next login connection over the RSC serial port.

> Note - If you set up pager alerts using the `page_stop1` or `page_stop2` variables, the baud settings for these variables revert to the settings specified for the `serial_stop` variable. Refer to Pager Variable Settings for more information.

> If you change the serial stop bits setting after configuring the serial port modem, you must reconfigure the modem. Refer to Modem Reconfiguration Required After Changing RSC Serial Port Settings.

> `serial_data`

> This variable sets the number of RSC data bits; valid values are `7` and `8`. The default setting is `8`. Changes to this variable take effect on the next login connection over the RSC serial port.

> If you change the serial data bits setting after configuring the serial port modem, you must reconfigure the modem. See Modem Reconfiguration Required After Changing RSC Serial Port Settings.

> `serial_hw_handshake`

> This variable controls whether RSC uses hardware handshaking on the RSC serial port. Valid values are `true` and `false`. The default setting is `true`. If set to `true`, hardware flow control and modem control are enabled. If set to `false`, RSC disconnects a session connected to the serial port after 10 minutes of inactivity.

#### OpenBoot PROM Environment Variable Properties

> For Sun Enterprise 250 servers, the OpenBoot PROM environment variables are slightly different from those for other Sun servers.

> Two environment variable properties are available for specifying the RSC console to OpenBoot PROM. Define these variables at the `ok` prompt. For example:

> `ok` `setenv input-device rsc` `ok` `setenv output-device rsc`

> These properties take effect after the next server reset.

> For more information about OpenBoot PROM commands and environment variables, refer to Chapter 6.

## Sun Fire V480 Servers

> This section contains the following topics:

- Controlling the Locator LED
- Fault and Failure Terminology

### Controlling the Locator LED

> The Sun Fire V480 server has a front panel Locator LED. You can use the RSC software (either the command-line interface or the GUI) to turn the Locator LED on and off, or to show the state of the Locator LED. This function is useful for locating a particular server in a large installation or rack tower configuration.

> The instructions in this section explain how to control and monitor the Locator LED using the command line interface. For more information on the Locator LED, refer to the Sun Fire V480 Administrator's Guide.

> To control the locator LED, perform the following procedure and press return after each command.

1. From the `rsc` prompt, type `showlocator`.
   This command shows the state of the system Locator LED on the Sun Fire V480 server.

       rsc> showlocator
       Locator LED is OFF

2. Type `setlocator on`.
   This command turns the Locator LED on. Note that the RSC CLI (command-line interface) does not show a response when you type the `setlocator` command.

       rsc> setlocator on

3. Type `showlocator`.
   This time, the RSC CLI shows that the locator LED is on.

       rsc> showlocator
       Locator LED is ON

4. Type `setlocator off`.

       rsc> setlocator off

5. Type `showlocator`.
   This time, the RSC CLI shows that the locator LED is off.

       rsc> showlocator
       Locator LED is OFF

### Fault and Failure Terminology

> All Sun server platforms show two operational states that you can view and monitor using RSC: `ok` and `failed`, or `failure`. The Sun Fire V480 server has an additional operational state: `fault`. This section explains the differences between the `fault` state and the `failed` state.

> A fault indicates that a device is operating in a degraded state, but is still fully operational. Due to this degradation, the device may not be as reliable as a device that does not show a fault, but it will still be able to perform its primary function. For example, a power supply would show a fault state if an internal fan has failed; however, it can still provide regulated power as long as itstemperature does not exceed the critical threshold. In this faulted state, the power supply may not be able to function indefinitely, depending on the temperature, load, and efficiency; therefore, it is not as reliable as a non-faulted power supply.

> A failure indicates that a device is no longer operational as required by the system. A device will fail due to some critical fault condition or combination of fault conditions. When a device enters a failed state, it ceases to function and is no longer available as a system resource. Using the example of the power supply in the previous paragraph, the power supply is considered failed if it ceases to provide regulated power.

Copyright © 2001 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.