Place controller offline

If you have a two-controller configuration, you must place the affected controller offline so you can safely remove the failed HIC. You must back up the configuration and collect support data first. Then, you can take the affected controller offline.

1. From the Details area of the Recovery Guru, determine which of the controller canisters has the failed HIC.
2. Back up the storage array's configuration database.

   If a problem occurs when you remove a controller, you can use the saved file to restore your configuration.

   1. Open a system terminal and change current directory to the same directory of SMcli executable.
   2. Execute the following SMcli command.

      save storageArray dbmDatabase sourceLocation=onboard contentType=all file="filename";

      In this command, filename is the file path and file name to which you want to save the database. Enclose the file name in backslash following double quotation marks (\"). For example:

       file="C:\Program Files\CLI\logs\dbmdata.zip" 

      This command does not automatically append a file extension to the saved file. You must specify a file extension when entering the file name.

      Note: Under PowerShell, enclose the file name following two quotation marks(""), for example file=\""data.zip\"".

      Note: For more information, see Command Line Interface (CLI) Reference.
3. Collect support data for your storage array using ThinkSystem System Manager.
   1. Select Support > Support Center > Diagnostics.
   2. Select Collect Support Data.
   3. Click Collect.

   The file is saved in the Downloads folder for your browser with the name support-data.7z.

4. If the controller is not already offline, take it offline now using either ThinkSystem System Manager or the SMcli tool.

   • To use ThinkSystem System Manager:

     1. Select Hardware.
     2. If the graphic shows the drives, select Show back of shelf to show the controllers.
     3. Select the controller that you want to place offline.
     4. From the context menu, select Place offline, and confirm that you want to perform the operation.
     Note: If you are accessing ThinkSystem System Manager using the controller you are attempting to take offline, a System Manager Unavailable message is displayed. Select Connect to an alternate network connection to automatically access ThinkSystem System Manager using the other controller.

   • To use SMcli under system terminal:

     1. Open a system terminal and change current directory to the same directory of SMcli executable.
     2. Execute one of the following SMCli commands:

        For controller A: set controller [a] availability=offline;

        For controller B: set controller [b] availability=offline;

        Note: For more information, see Command Line Interface (CLI) Reference.

     The system attempts to take the controller offline.

5. Wait for System Manager to update the controller's status to offline.
   Attention: Do not begin any other operations until after the status has been updated.