MegaCli conventions
While there are a lot of different parameters for MegaCli, some of them are always identical. These are described here in short.
Adapter parameter -aN
The parameter -aN (where N is a number starting with zero or the string ALL) specifies the PERC5/i adapter ID. If you have only one controller it’s safe to use ALL instead of a specific ID, but you’re encouraged to use the ID for everything that makes changes to your RAID configuration.
Physical drive parameter -PhysDrv [E:S]
For commands that operate on one or more pysical drives, the -PhysDrv [E:S] parameter is used, where E is the enclosure device ID in which the drive resides and S the slot number (starting with zero). You can get the enclosure device ID using MegaCli -EncInfo -aALL. The E:S syntax is also used for specifying the physical drives when creating a new RAID virtual drive (see 5).
Virtual drive parameter -Lx
The parameter -Lx is used for specifying the virtual drive (where x is a number starting with zero or the string all).
Gather information
Controller information
MegaCli -AdpAllInfo -aALL MegaCli -CfgDsply -aALL MegaCli -AdpEventLog -GetEvents -f events.log -aALL && cat events.log
Enclosure information
MegaCli -EncInfo -aALL
Virtual drive information
MegaCli -LDInfo -Lall -aALL
Physical drive information
MegaCli -PDList -aALL MegaCli -PDInfo -PhysDrv [E:S] -aALL
Battery backup information
MegaCli -AdpBbuCmd -aALL
Controller management
Silence active alarm
MegaCli -AdpSetProp AlarmSilence -aALL
Disable alarm
MegaCli -AdpSetProp AlarmDsbl -aALL
Enable alarm
MegaCli -AdpSetProp AlarmEnbl -aALL
Use WB cached mode even if BBU is bad
MegaCli -LDSetProp CachedBadBBU -Lall -aAll
Use “WriteBack, ReadAdaptive, Direct, No Write Cache if Bad BBU” policy
MegaCli -LDSetProp WB -Lall -aAll MegaCli -LDSetProp ADRA -Lall -aAll MegaCli -LDSetProp Direct -Lall -aAll MegaCli -LDSetProp NoCachedBadBBU -Lall -aAll
Virtual drive management
Create RAID 0, 1, 5 drive
MegaCli -CfgLdAdd -r(0|1|5) [E:S, E:S, ...] -aN
Create RAID 10 drive
MegaCli -CfgSpanAdd -r10 -Array0[E:S,E:S] -Array1[E:S,E:S] -aN
Remove drive
MegaCli -CfgLdDel -Lx -aN
Physical drive management
Set state to offline
MegaCli -PDOffline -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
Set state to online
MegaCli -PDOnline -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
Mark as missing
MegaCli -PDMarkMissing -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
Prepare for removal
MegaCli -PdPrpRmv -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
Replace missing drive
MegaCli -PdReplaceMissing -PhysDrv [E:S] -ArrayN -rowN -aN
The number N of the array parameter is the Span Reference you get using MegaCli -CfgDsply -aALL and the number N of the row parameter is the Physical Disk in that span or array starting with zero (it’s not the physical disk’s slot!).
Rebuild drive
MegaCli -PDRbld -Start -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN MegaCli -PDRbld -Stop -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN MegaCli -PDRbld -ShowProg -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
Clear drive
MegaCli -PDClear -Start -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN MegaCli -PDClear -Stop -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN MegaCli -PDClear -ShowProg -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
Bad to good
MegaCli -PDMakeGood -PhysDrv[E:S] -aN
Changes drive in state Unconfigured-Bad to Unconfigured-Good.
Hot spare management
Set global hot spare
MegaCli -PDHSP -Set -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
Remove hot spare
MegaCli -PDHSP -Rmv -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
Set dedicated hot spare
MegaCli -PDHSP -Set -Dedicated -ArrayN,M,... -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
Walkthrough: Change/replace a drive
Set the drive offline, if it is not already offline due to an error
MegaCli -PDOffline -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
Mark the drive as missing
MegaCli -PDMarkMissing -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
Prepare drive for removal
MegaCli -PDPrpRmv -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
Change/replace the drive
If you’re using hot spares then the replaced drive should become your new hot spare drive
MegaCli -PDHSP -Set -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
In case you’re not working with hot spares, you must re-add the new drive to your RAID virtual drive and start the rebuilding
MegaCli -PdReplaceMissing -PhysDrv [E:S] -ArrayN -rowN -aN MegaCli -PDRbld -Start -PhysDrv [E:S] -aN
