HP Smart Storage Admin CLI (ssacli) installation and usage on Proxmox PVE (6.x)

PVE-HP-ssacli-smart-storage-admin.md

HP Smart Storage Admin CLI (ssacli) installation and usage on Proxmox PVE (6.x)

Why use HP Smart Storage Admin CLI?

You can use ssacli (smart storage administrator command line interface) tool to manage any of supported HP Smart Array Controllers in your Proxmox host without need to reboot your server to access Smart Storage Administrator in BIOS. That means no host downtime when managing your storage.

CLI is not as convenient as GUI interface provided by BIOS or desktop utilities, but still allows you to fully manage your controller, physical disks and logical drives on the fly with no Proxmox host downtime.

ssacli replaces older hpssacli, but shares the same syntax and adds support for newer servers and controllers.

Installation

Installation process of the ssacli package on Proxmox is the same as on any other Debian based system.

NOTE: HP does not provide Buster repository for Debian 10/Proxmox 6.x, but we can still use Stretch repository even that it's targeted for Debian 9/Proxmox 5.x.

Add HP's MCP repository

To add HP's MCP repository to apt sources list use this command:

echo "deb http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/repo/mcp stretch/current non-free" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hp-mcp.list

Download and add public keys for the MCP repository

Public keys are needed by apt to verify repository signatures, so we need to download and add them. There are four of them and we need to download and them all:

wget -q -O - http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/hpPublicKey1024.pub | apt-key add -
wget -q -O - http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/hpPublicKey2048.pub | apt-key add -
wget -q -O - http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/hpPublicKey2048_key1.pub | apt-key add -
wget -q -O - http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/hpePublicKey2048_key1.pub | apt-key add -

Installing the ssacli package

First, we need to update available packages:

apt update

And then we can install the ssacli package:

apt install ssacli

Using the ssacli tool

Command short and long names All commands have a short name to reduce the length of the total input provided to the ssacli tool. You can use short or long name. Here is a list of all commands and their long and short names:

• chassisname = ch
• controller = ctrl
• logicaldrive = ld
• physicaldrive = pd
• drivewritecache = dwc
• licensekey = lk

You can specify disks also as:

• A range of drives (bay 1 to 3): 1I:1:1-1I:1:3
• Drives that are unassigned: allunassigned

Command examples

Here are few examples of ssacli commands that you can use to diagnose and manage your HP Smart Storage Controller.

Show available controllers

ssacli ctrl all show

Show controllers status

ssacli ctrl all show status

Show detailed controllers information

ssacli ctrl all show detail

Show controllers configuration

ssacli ctrl all show config

Rescan for new devices Useful after swapping disks in bays, etc...

ssacli rescan

Show all physical disks (or their status) (controller slot 0)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 pd all show
ssacli ctrl slot=0 pd all show status

Show all physical disks detailed information (controller slot 0)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 pd all show detail

Show logical drives (or their status) (controller slot 0, all or specific logical drive(s))

ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld all show
ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld all show status

ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 1 show
ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 1 show status

Show detailed logical drives information (controller slot 0, all or specific logical drive(s))

ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld all show detail
ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 1 show detail

Show array information (controller slot 0, array A)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 array a show

Show array status (controller slot 0, all arrays)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 array all show status

Create new RAID 0 logical drive (controller slot 0, disk in port 1I:box 1:bay 1)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 create type=ld drives=1I:1:1 raid=0

Create new RAID 1 logical drive (controller slot 0, disks in port 1I:box 1:bay 1 and 2)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 create type=ld drives=1I:1:1,1I:1:2 raid=1

Create new RAID 5 logical drive (controller slot 0, diks in port 1I:box 1:bay 1 to 4)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 create type=ld drives=1I:1:1-1I:1:4 raid=5

Delete logical drive (controller slot 0, logical drive 1)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 1 delete

Add new physical disks to logical drive (controller slot 0, logical drive 1, disks in port 1I:box 1:bay 6 and 7)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 2 add drives=1I:1:6,1I:1:7

Add spare disks (controller slot 0, logical drive 1, array A, disks in port 1I:box 1:bay 6 and 7)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 array a add spares=1I:1:6,1I:1:7

Add global spare disks (controller slot 0, logical drive 1, all arrays, disks in port 1I:box 1:bay 6 and 7)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 array all add spares=1I:1:6,1I:1:7

Turn on/off blink logical drive LED (controller slot 0, logical drive 1)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 1 modify led=on
ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 1 modify led=off

Turn on/off blink physical disk LED (controller slot 0, physical disk port 1I:box 1:bay 1)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 pd 1I:1:1 modify led=on
ssacli ctrl slot=0 pd 1I:1:1 modify led=off

Modify smart array cache read and write ratio (controller slot 0, cacheratio 80% read/20% write)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify cacheratio=80/20

Show physical drive write cache status (controller slot 0)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify dwc=?

Enable/disable physical drive write cache (controller slot 0) Important: Because physical drive write cache is not battery-backed, you could lose data if a power failure occurs during a write process. To minimize this possibility, use a backup power supply.

ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify dwc=enable
ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify dwc=disable

Show status of smart array write cache when no battery is present (no-battery write cache option, controller slot 0)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify nbwc=?

Enable/disable smart array write cache when no battery is present (no-battery write cache option, controller slot 0)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify nbwc=enable
ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify nbwc=disable

Enable/disable smart array cache for certain Logical Volume (controller slot 0, logical drive 1)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 1 modify arrayaccelerator=enable
ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 1 modify arrayaccelerator=disable

Enable/disable SSD Smart Path (controller slot 0, array A)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 array a modify ssdsmartpath=enable
ssacli ctrl slot=0 array a modify ssdsmartpath=disable

Show spare activation mode

ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify spareactivationmode=?

Set spare activation mode

ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify spareactivationmode=predictive
ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify spareactivationmode=failure

Show rebuild priority

ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify rp=?

Modify rebuild priority

ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify rp=low
ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify rp=medium
ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify rp=mediumhigh
ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify rp=high

Erase Physical Drive (controller slot 0, physical disk port 1I:box 1:bay 1)

ssacli ctrl slot=0 pd 1I:1:1 modify erase

I've updated the commands a bit to mitigate the apt-key depreciation. Hope it helps!

Tested on Debian Bookworm.

wget http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/hpPublicKey1024.pub
wget http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/hpPublicKey2048.pub
wget http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/hpPublicKey2048_key1.pub
wget http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/hpePublicKey2048_key1.pub
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --import hpPublicKey1024.pub
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --export --output hpPublicKey1024.gpg
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --import hpPublicKey2048.pub
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --export --output hpPublicKey2048.gpg
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --import hpPublicKey2048_key1.pub
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --export --output hpPublicKey2048_key1.gpg
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --import hpePublicKey2048_key1.pub
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --export --output hpePublicKey2048_key1.gpg
rm hpPublicKey1024.pub hpPublicKey2048.pub hpPublicKey2048_key1.pub hpePublicKey2048_key1.pub temp-keyring.gpg temp-keyring.gpg~
mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
mv -f hpPublicKey1024.gpg hpPublicKey2048.gpg hpPublicKey2048_key1.gpg hpePublicKey2048_key1.gpg /etc/apt/keyrings/
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/hpPublicKey1024.gpg,/etc/apt/keyrings/hpPublicKey2048.gpg,/etc/apt/keyrings/hpPublicKey2048_key1.gpg,/etc/apt/keyrings/hpePublicKey2048_key1.gpg] http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/repo/mcp stretch/current non-free" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hp-mcp.list
apt update
apt install ssacli -y

I

I've updated the commands a bit to mitigate the apt-key depreciation. Hope it helps!

Tested on Debian Bookworm.

wget http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/hpPublicKey1024.pub
wget http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/hpPublicKey2048.pub
wget http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/hpPublicKey2048_key1.pub
wget http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/hpePublicKey2048_key1.pub
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --import hpPublicKey1024.pub
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --export --output hpPublicKey1024.gpg
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --import hpPublicKey2048.pub
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --export --output hpPublicKey2048.gpg
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --import hpPublicKey2048_key1.pub
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --export --output hpPublicKey2048_key1.gpg
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --import hpePublicKey2048_key1.pub
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring ./temp-keyring.gpg --export --output hpePublicKey2048_key1.gpg
rm hpPublicKey1024.pub hpPublicKey2048.pub hpPublicKey2048_key1.pub hpePublicKey2048_key1.pub temp-keyring.gpg temp-keyring.gpg~
mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
mv -f hpPublicKey1024.gpg hpPublicKey2048.gpg hpPublicKey2048_key1.gpg hpePublicKey2048_key1.gpg /etc/apt/keyrings/
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/hpPublicKey1024.gpg,/etc/apt/keyrings/hpPublicKey2048.gpg,/etc/apt/keyrings/hpPublicKey2048_key1.gpg,/etc/apt/keyrings/hpePublicKey2048_key1.gpg] http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/repo/mcp stretch/current non-free" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hp-mcp.list
apt update
apt install ssacli -y

I am sorry, not that im knowledge linux user, but can you please confirm this line:

echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/hpPublicKey1024.gpg,/etc/apt/keyrings/hpPublicKey2048.gpg,/etc/apt/keyrings/hpPublicKey2048_key1.gpg,/etc/apt/keyrings/hpePublicKey2048_key1.gpg] http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/repo/mcp stretch/current non-free" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hp-mcp.list

This URL goes nowhere:

http://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/repo/mcp stretch/current non-free

Should that be:

https://downloads.linux.hpe.com/SDR/repo/mcp/debian/dists/bookworm/current/non-free

Thay stated:

"Notices

To enhance security, please ensure that you access our website using HTTPS rather than HTTP.

We will no longer guarantee access through HTTP. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation."

might be they change also paths too? Im trying to install this on DL380 G7 with P410i. But mine knowledge is so low that i dont dare to do it if its not 1000% correct.

Again,

i dont want to be smart ass, it just look strange to me. And i would someone whos smarter than me confirm.

Thanks

EDIT: Forgive me for my curiosity. I set up another HP DL380 G7, installed Proxmox 8.2 and after install by this guide all works fine. Thank you :)

Same issue here - any pointers?! Thanks!

Hello, I am on HP DL385 Gen10 Plus V2 with HP 416a-i Tri-mode controller in RAID 1 for OS and RAID-0 for the other drives. with Proxmox 8.1.3

but i get error - no controllers detected possible causes: .... I have done modprobe sg to load the scsi generic module ? see the attached screenshot.

Thanks in advance.