How To
Summary
Hpe Proliant Gen 8 and Gen 9 with ILO 4 and need to format NAND due to corruption. There are several ways to do it. Follow the following instructions.
Objective
- The user who needs to format the NAND has to log in with administrator permissions.
- NAND formatting is done while the server is running, there is no need to shut down the server.
- There is an exception, for servers that have ESXi installed on the built-in SD card, it is advisable that the NAND formatting be done with the operating system turned off. This recommendation is also for updating the ILO 4 firmware or when restarting the ILO 4.
- There may be times when you may need to turn off the DL and ML server models and remove the power cables for the NAND formatting to complete correctly. For BL model servers, from the OA it would be necessary to execute the following command in the CLI: "reset server XXX", where XXX is the bay number where the server is installed in the chassis.
Environment
The servers that can perform NAND formatting with the following instructions are HPe Proliant Generation 8 and Generation 9 that have ILO 4 installed and the firmware is version 2.61 or higher.
Steps
Method 1: ILO 4 Gui.
1. When starting ILO 4 GUI, a warning appears with an error indicating that the self-test has failed on Embedded Flash/SD-CARD.
2. On the ILO 4 main page, it will show ILO Health in Degraded status.
3. In the Diagnostic tab the ILO 4 will be shown in Degraded status and at the bottom there will be the reset button. The format button will appear at the top but it will only be visible when the ILO is in a degraded state.
5. You must accept the warning message.
6. Once the warning message is accepted, the ILO restarts automatically, there is no need to shut down the server.
Method 2: Onboard Administrator (only for BL model servers)
1. It is necessary to log in to the OA with administrator permission from the PuTTY application.
2. Below I attach the command that needs to be pasted into the putty session. It is only necessary to put in the "#" the bay where the server you want to format is located.
HPONCFG <bahía #> << end_marker
<RIBCL VERSION="2.0">
<LOGIN USER_LOGIN="admin name" PASSWORD="password">
<RIB_INFO MODE="write">
<FORCE_FORMAT VALUE="all"/>
</RIB_INFO>
</LOGIN>
</RIBCL>
end_marker
<RIBCL VERSION="2.0">
<LOGIN USER_LOGIN="admin name" PASSWORD="password">
<RIB_INFO MODE="write">
<FORCE_FORMAT VALUE="all"/>
</RIB_INFO>
</LOGIN>
</RIBCL>
end_marker
Example (bay 5):
HPONCFG 5 << end_marker
<RIBCL VERSION="2.0">
<LOGIN USER_LOGIN="Administrator" PASSWORD="password">
<RIB_INFO MODE="write">
<FORCE_FORMAT VALUE="all"/>
</RIB_INFO>
</LOGIN>
</RIBCL>
end_marker
HPONCFG 5 << end_marker
<RIBCL VERSION="2.0">
<LOGIN USER_LOGIN="Administrator" PASSWORD="password">
<RIB_INFO MODE="write">
<FORCE_FORMAT VALUE="all"/>
</RIB_INFO>
</LOGIN>
</RIBCL>
end_marker
Method 3: Windows (remotely)
1. Download HP Lights-Out Configuration Utility (HPQLOCFG) from the manufacturer's website on the Windows server or on a remote Windows server.
2. It need to put the Force_Format.XML file in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Hewlett-Packard\HPLights-OutConfiguration Utility folder. (Default HPQLOCFG installation folder)
Use the following commands:
Local Server
C:\Program Files (x86)\Hewlett-Packard\HPLights-OutConfiguration Utility>HPQLOCFG.exe-fForce_Format.xml-s <IPofiLO>
Remote Server
C:\Program Files (x86)\Hewlett-Packard\HPLights-OutConfiguration Utility>HPQLOCFG.exe -s <IPofTargetiLO> -u <iLO-Username> -p <Password-For-iLO> -f Force_Format.xml
Method 4: Linux or VMware (local)
1. Download HP Lights-Out Configuration Utility (HPQLOCFG) from the manufacturer's website on the Windows server or on a remote Windows server.
2. It need to put the Force_Format.XML file in the /opt/hp/tools. (Default HPQLOCFG installation folder)
"./hponcfg -f Force_Format.xml"
3. When the NAND formatting is complete, a message similar to "Script for IP: X.X.X.X" will appear.
Method 5: Windows PowerShell (Remote)
1. You need to install "Scripting Tools for PowerShell: ciLO cmdlets" from the manufacturer's page.
2. Execute the following commands on the PowerShell command line.
PS C:\>$xml = ([string](get-content "C:\RIBCL_XML\Force_Format.xml"))
PS C:\>Invoke-HPiLORIBCLCommand -server iLOIP -Username Administrator -Password password -RIBCLCommand $xml -DisableCertificateAuthentication
PS C:\>Invoke-HPiLORIBCLCommand -server iLOIP -Username Administrator -Password password -RIBCLCommand $xml -DisableCertificateAuthentication
3. Next it will show the information of the IP, HOSTNAME, STATUS_TYPE and STATUS_MESSAGE.
Once the NAND is formatted and the firmware version is at version 2.61 or higher, the ILO 4 status should appear as follows.
Additional Information
Document created by the IBM Wintel MVS CoC.
Document Location
Worldwide
[{"Type":"MASTER","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB66","label":"Technology Lifecycle Services"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU058","label":"IBM Infrastructure w\/TPS"},"Product":{"code":"SSIIBK","label":"MVS Server - Hewlett Packard"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"a8m3p000000PCXEAA4","label":"MVS Server-\u003EHPE x86-\u003EService Processors-\u003EILO 4"}],"ARM Case Number":"","Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}]}]
Was this topic helpful?
Document Information
More support for:
MVS Server - Hewlett Packard
Component:
MVS Server->HPE x86->Service Processors->ILO 4
Document number:
7149580
Modified date:
18 February 2025
UID
ibm17149580