[I've added a few notes on F85 and F87 to Guy's text below.]
Guy Harris wrote: On Fri, Mar 08, 2002 at 02:46:25PM -0800, Jay Soffian wrote:
- Where does DOT grab the SYSTEM_ID from? The NVRAM card? The motherboard?
There are, for various historical reasons, several different system identification numbers for NetApp systems.
I will give details on all of them, but will assume that by "SYSTEM_ID" you mean what is reported as "SYSTEM_ID=XXX" in autosupport mail; that comes from the NVRAM card.
The original one, which is what is reported as "SYSTEM_ID=XXX" in autosupport mail, comes, on any NetApp system with an NVRAM card, *purely* from the NVRAM card - *none* of it comes from the motherboard or the chassis.
On NetApp systems *without* NVRAM cards - i.e., C1100 and C1105 NetCache appliances - the "SYSTEM_ID" value is generated from the system serial number. That is not the case on any other platforms.
That serial number, obviously, is not guaranteed to remain the same throughout the life of the system, as the NVRAM card can be replaced if it fails.
With the F7xx/C7xx series, a serial number was put on the motherboard. Unfortunately, that's subject to change over the life of the system as well, as the motherboard is also replaceable.
The C1100 and C1105 also have a serial "number" on the motherboard (I put "number" in quotes as it's not numeric - it includes letters); however, as the only replaceable unit on a C1100 or C1105 is the entire system, that number won't change for a system. (That's the number used to generate the "SYSTEM_ID" value.)
The F85 and F87 do not have motherboard serial numbers that are reported.
The motherboard serial number shows up in "sysconfig -v" output under "slot 0: System Board" as "Serial Number" on those platforms, at least in ONTAP 6.0/6.1 and NetCache 5.0/5.1/5.2 (I haven't checked what earlier releases do).
With the F8xx/C3xxx/C6xxx series, a serial number was also put on the chassis. If you replace the chassis, you've replaced the system, so that number doesn't change over the life of the system. (Those machines also have a motherboard serial number.)
On the C1100/C1105, I no longer remember whether separate motherboard and system serial numbers exist (not that it matters in the grander scheme of things, given that the motherboard isn't replaceable).
The F85 and F87 have system serial numbers that are actually stored on the motherboard.
If you swap motherboards on an F85, the system serial number will change so we provide a utility you can use to set it back to the sticker that's on the back of the chassis. Note that this serial number is alphanumeric.
We don't support motherboard swaps on F87 so no matter where the number is actually stored, it should always match the sticker on the back of the chassis. This is a numeric-only serial number.
At least in ONTAP 6.1 and NetCache 5.0/5.1/5.2, if a system has a chassis (system) serial number, it'll be reported by "sysconfig" (with or without "-v") as "System Serial Number".
In autosupport mail in ONTAP 6.0/6.1 and NetCache 5.0/5.1/5.2:
on systems with a chassis serial number, that number will be reported after the
===== SYSTEM SERIAL NUMBER =====
line as
system serial number = XXX
on systems *without* a chassis serial number, but with an "/etc/serialnum" file, the text in the first line of that file will be reported after the
===== SYSTEM SERIAL NUMBER =====
line as
system serial number = XXX
on systems with neither a chassis serial number nor an "/etc/serialnum" file, there will be no
===== SYSTEM SERIAL NUMBER =====
or
system serial number = XXX
line in the autosupport mail.
("/etc/serialnum" will *not* override the chassis serial number.)
- Is the SYSTEM_ID burned electronically into the system at NetApp, or can it be reset in the field?
The NVRAM serial number is burned electronically into the NVRAM card, and isn't reset in the field.
- Are the duplicate SYSTEM_ID's an accident?
Yes. It's not supposed to happen.