(R720)iDRAC does not work with dedicated NIC

GuoZongbo · February 6

I have got a Dell PowerEdge R720 which has a right Enterprise Lisense of iDRAC.The dedicated iDRAC NIC does not work weather it‘s in DHCP mode which would not get any IP address nor it’s in static mode.In a nutshell,it doesn‘t work.I've tried a lot of things to fix the problem.Not noly did I replace the Ethernet cable and switch but also I reflash both iDRAC and BIOS with the latest firmware from official support website.Last but not least,iDRAC works pretty well with the LOM,but I really want access iDRAC with its dedicated NIC.I would be extremely grateful if you could solve my problem.

Jarsky · February 6

Does the link light flash on the iDRAC port when you plug the ethernet cable in?

Sounds like the ethernet port might have a issue (be dead). As you discovered you can use LOM; but if the ethernet port is dead then if you want it to work thats possibly as far as a motherboard replacement since its integrated on the R720.

Needfuldoer · February 7

Under iDRAC Settings in the BIOS setup (get there by mashing F12 on boot to bring up the one-time menu), make sure "NIC" is enabled and set to "Dedicated".

https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/l/management-networks-for-dell-emc-networking-configuration-guide/connecting-to-dell-emc-servers-idrac-10/

If that doesn't work, you can set it to the shared setting, which makes iDRAC share one of the ports on the network mezzanine card. (I believe it uses port 1 by default.)

You can also try restoring all the default settings. That should enable and select the dedicated NIC, set the IP address to 192.168.0.120, and reset the login to root/calvin. (Side note: I have never found a good explanation as to why the default iDRAC root password is "calvin".) If this is just a homelab, you're really not losing any important functionality.

18 hours ago, GuoZongbo said:

also I reflash both iDRAC and BIOS with the latest firmware from official support website

From which version, to which version?

Dell changed the partition mapping on the onboard flash halfway through the 12th gen PowerEdge lifecycle. (It became iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller, in line with the 13th gen.) If you were before 1.66.65, you have to upgrade to that version specifically, then to 2.10.10.10, then the latest.

If you reflashed the latest firmware on top of 1.anything, it could potentially brick the management controller.