topic Re: Serial Number and System ID change in Simulator Discussions

Serial Number and System ID change

paultodd99 — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 22:44:59 GMT

I'm building the second node as per the install instructions but am getting a system id mismatch error after setting the env variables SYS_SERIAL_NUM and bootarg.nvram.sysid. Any suggestions? This is the 8.2.1RC1 version of the simulator in cluster-ontap mode.

Thanks

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

shatfield — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 05:31:24 GMT

Did you start with a fresh copy of the sim? Try replacing the cf vmdk and var vmdk with clean copies from the tgz.

I wish they would ship it with autoboot turned off.

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

paultodd99 — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 16:14:29 GMT

I didn't see a cf vmdk, but I did replace the DataONTAP-var.vmdk and DataONTAP-sim.vmdk files with original ones from the tgz package. I had also found and edited a file called env within the cfcard\env directory of the virtual machine folder. Replacing just the -var.vmdk didn't work, but after editing the env file with the updated serial info I used in the instructions and replacing the -sim.vmdk file, I got past the error that prevented the simulator from booting. I don't know if editing the env file directly had anything to do with this, but this file still contained the original SYS_SERIAL_NUM and bootarg.nvram.sysid.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

shatfield — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 06:11:33 GMT

Glad you got it working. The env file is a remnant of the build process, and not actually used by the simulator. A copy of it lives on the boot device, DataONTAP.vmdk - historically a compactflash card, and represents the initial boot environment for the simulator. If you are going to make changes, such as modifying the serial, switching modes or adjusting the simdisk inventory, its best to catch the very first boot. During the first boot, the nvram is discarded, /var is populated, and /sim is populated with simdisks. If you miss the first window and have problems its easier to start over with clean files than it is to reset and re-arm those initialization processes.

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

viana — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 15:52:13 GMT

Hi, Sean.

So how can I edit a Serial Number if my second node is getting it's serial duplicated (same serial as 1st node?)

I've tried paultodd99 proccess but of course that didn't work based on what you explained.

Thanks,

Patricia

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

shatfield — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 16:48:26 GMT

Here's an example:

vSim was originally built with sn:4034389062, I'll change it to 4079432753. (Need to stick to serial numbers with published license key sets)

From the VLOADER>

Set the new serial number in both places:

setenv bootarg.nvram.sysid 4079432753

setenv SYS_SERIAL_NUM 4079432-75-3

If I boot now, I'll see:

WARNING: System id mismatch. This usually occurs when replacing CF or NVRAM cards!

Override system id? {y|n} [n]

pick y

Now you'll get a system panic:

PANIC: Can't find device with WWN 0x1649431296. Remove '/sim/dev/,disks/,reservations' and restart

Don't panic, lets do that:

reboot again, this time Ctrl-C to bring up the boot menu

When the boot menu appears, type:

systemshell

now we're in the systemshell, aka the BSD shell

Enter the command:

rm /sim/dev/,disks/,reservations

poof, no more reservations. But we still need to reassign disk ownership to our new vsim sysid. So exit the systemshell:

exit

and now you're back at the boot menu, so its option 5 - Maintenance mode

when you eventually get to the *> prompt, type:

disk assign all

halt

Then reboot the sim, and it should be up and running on the new sysid. All you have left is to apply the corresponding license keys for the serial number.

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

viana — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 18:48:17 GMT

Sean, your procedure is PERFECT! Thank you sooo much!

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

srikanthmutyala — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 17:37:18 GMT

Perfect Sean Hatfield you're solution worked awesome. Thanks

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

whoami — Mon, 16 May 2016 17:35:12 GMT

Awesome. Thanks a lot.

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

tdada — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 20:27:07 GMT

THANKS A LOT!!!! After spending 4 hours on Google. i stumbled on this and It WORKED!!!

i had followed various posts and messed up the 2nd node, so your post didnt do the magic iniially.

i had to delete and re-import the Ova and followed your posts step by step and wheew!!!! Game on.

Apprecaite a lot! Bless! now i can start my journey into SAN world. i would appreciate any links for Netapp for Dummies tho. LOL.

Cheers.

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

SeanHatfield — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 00:37:12 GMT

Glad to see this old post is still helping people.

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

rsankuru — Sat, 07 Jan 2017 08:46:03 GMT

Thank you much. your soluction really worked for my issue.

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

avilix — Sun, 28 Jul 2019 21:30:59 GMT

Amazing, you helped me so much, I really appreciate your post. This is the best solution after 1 day of searching. Congratulations and thank you so much!!!!

@shatfield wrote:

Here's an example:

vSim was originally built with sn:4034389062, I'll change it to 4079432753. (Need to stick to serial numbers with published license key sets)

From the VLOADER>

Set the new serial number in both places:

setenv bootarg.nvram.sysid 4079432753

setenv SYS_SERIAL_NUM 4079432-75-3

If I boot now, I'll see:

WARNING: System id mismatch. This usually occurs when replacing CF or NVRAM cards!

Override system id? {y|n} [n]

pick y

Now you'll get a system panic:

PANIC: Can't find device with WWN 0x1649431296. Remove '/sim/dev/,disks/,reservations' and restart

Don't panic, lets do that:

reboot again, this time Ctrl-C to bring up the boot menu

When the boot menu appears, type:

systemshell

now we're in the systemshell, aka the BSD shell

Enter the command:

rm /sim/dev/,disks/,reservations

poof, no more reservations. But we still need to reassign disk ownership to our new vsim sysid. So exit the systemshell:

exit

and now you're back at the boot menu, so its option 5 - Maintenance mode

when you eventually get to the *> prompt, type:

disk assign all

halt

Then reboot the sim, and it should be up and running on the new sysid. All you have left is to apply the corresponding license keys for the serial number.

Re: Serial Number and System ID change

Alexxus — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 04:56:51 GMT

Absolutely brilliant. I have been trying to get this fixed for a while now. Use to revert my snapshot after changing the serial number and the system went into panic. Thank you for this Shatfield