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iDRAC-SMIv2.mib
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Check iDRAC

Version 2.3.0 — Nagios/Icinga monitoring plugin for Dell iDRAC 7–10 hardware status monitoring via SNMP

Author: Nguyen Duc Trung Dung License: GPLv3 Status: Production-ready

Overview

check_idrac is a lightweight, single-file Python 3.11+ monitoring plugin that remotely checks Dell iDRAC 7–10 hardware status via SNMP. It integrates seamlessly with Nagios/Icinga to monitor:

  • Physical Components: Memory, CPU, Power Supply, Fan, Battery, Temperature Sensor, Physical Disk
  • Virtual Components: Virtual Disk
  • System Health: Global system status

Key features:

  • Dual alert system (state-based + threshold-based)
  • SNMPv2c and SNMPv3 authentication support (SHA-384/SHA-512 for iDRAC 10)
  • Flexible configuration (CLI args and/or INI config file)
  • Nagios/Icinga standard output format with performance data

Quick Start

Prerequisites

# Install net-snmp (provides snmpwalk, snmpget)
# Requires net-snmp >= 5.8 for SHA-2/AES-256 (iDRAC 10 SNMPv3)
apt-get install snmp         # Debian/Ubuntu
yum install net-snmp          # RHEL/CentOS

# Ensure iDRAC-SMIv2.mib is in standard location
cp iDRAC-SMIv2.mib /usr/share/snmp/mibs/

Basic Usage

# Check all hardware (SNMPv2c)
./check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -v 2c -c public

# Check specific hardware type (Memory)
./check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -v 2c -c public -w MEM

# Check specific device (Fan #1)
./check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -v 2c -c public -w FAN#1

# SNMPv3 with auth + privacy (iDRAC 7/8/9)
./check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -v 3 -u drac_user \
  -l authPriv -a sha -A authpass -x aes -X privpass

# SNMPv3 with SHA-512 + AES-256 (iDRAC 10)
./check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -v 3 -u drac_user \
  -l authPriv -a sha-512 -A authpass -x aes-256 -X privpass

# With config file
./check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -f check_idrac.conf

# With thresholds
./check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -v 2c -c public \
  --fan-warn=4000,6000 --fan-crit=3000,7000

# Output performance data for graphing
./check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -v 2c -c public -p

# Debug output
./check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -v 2c -c public -d

Documentation

Full documentation available in docs/:

File Purpose
docs/project-overview-pdr.md Project overview, requirements, stakeholders
docs/codebase-summary.md Repository structure, architecture, data flow
docs/code-standards.md Code conventions, naming, patterns, error handling
docs/system-architecture.md Detailed architecture, component interactions, diagrams
docs/project-roadmap.md Current status, future enhancements, roadmap
MANUAL.md User manual with detailed examples
CHANGELOG.md Version history

Configuration

INI Config File (Optional)

Sample config provided in check_idrac.conf:

[host]
ipaddress = 10.10.10.20

[snmp]
version = 2c
community = public

[fan]
thresholds = 4000,6000,3000,7000

[fan1]
# Override for specific fan
thresholds = 4500,5500,3500,6500

[sensor]
thresholds = 29,61,25,65

[state]
OK = ok|online|enabled|spunup|full|ready|presence
WARN = $ALL$
CRIT = critical|nonRecoverable|fail

Notes:

  • CLI arguments override config file values
  • Per-device overrides via [hardware#number] sections (e.g., [fan1], [watt1])
  • Threshold format: minWARN,maxWARN,minCRIT,maxCRIT
  • Use none to disable specific threshold boundary

Hardware Types Supported

Code Hardware Metrics
GLOBAL Global System Status System state
MEM Memory Size, speed, status
CPU Processor Cores, threads, brand, status
PS Power Supply Voltage I/O, current, wattage
PU Power Unit Status, redundancy, board consumption
FAN Cooling/Fan RPM, status, location
SENSOR Temperature Reading (°C), location, status
BATTERY Battery (CMOS/ROMB) Status, presence
DISK Physical Disk Capacity, state, power status, hot spare
VDISK Virtual Disk RAID level, capacity, state, bad blocks

CLI Options Reference

Required:
  -H, --host HOST          iDRAC IP address or hostname

SNMP Authentication:
  -v, --snmp-version {2c,3}         SNMP version (required)
  -c, --community COMMUNITY         SNMPv2c community string
  -u, --username USERNAME           SNMPv3 username
  -l, --security-level LEVEL        SNMPv3: authNoPriv|authPriv|noAuthNoPriv
  -a, --auth-protocol PROTOCOL      SNMPv3: sha|md5
  -A, --auth-password PASSWORD      SNMPv3: authentication passphrase
  -x, --privacy-protocol PROTOCOL   SNMPv3: aes|des
  -X, --privacy-password PASSWORD   SNMPv3: privacy passphrase

Configuration:
  -f, --config FILE        INI config file path
  -m, --mib FILE          Custom MIB file path

Filtering:
  -w, --hardware TYPE      Check only specific hardware (e.g., FAN, MEM#2)

Thresholds:
  --fan-warn MIN,MAX       Fan RPM warning threshold
  --fan-crit MIN,MAX       Fan RPM critical threshold
  --temp-warn MIN,MAX      Temperature warning threshold (°C)
  --temp-crit MIN,MAX      Temperature critical threshold (°C)
  --volt-warn MIN,MAX      Voltage warning threshold (V)
  --volt-crit MIN,MAX      Voltage critical threshold (V)
  --cur-warn MIN,MAX       Current warning threshold (A)
  --cur-crit MIN,MAX       Current critical threshold (A)
  --wat-warn MIN,MAX       Wattage warning threshold (W)
  --wat-crit MIN,MAX       Wattage critical threshold (W)
  --pwr-alert MIN,MAX      Power consumption warning
  --vdisk-bad MIN,MAX      Virtual disk bad blocks threshold

State Alerts:
  --ok PATTERN             Regex pattern for OK state
  --warn PATTERN           Regex pattern for WARN state
  --crit PATTERN           Regex pattern for CRIT state

Other:
  -n, --no-alert           Disable alerting (always exit 0)
  -p, --perf-data          Output performance data for graphing
  -d, --debug              Enable debug output
  --mem-modules N          Expected memory module count

Examples:
  ./check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -v 2c -c public
  ./check_idrac -H iDRAC1 -v 2c -c public -w FAN
  ./check_idrac -H iDRAC1 -v 2c -c public --fan-warn=4000,6000
  ./check_idrac -H iDRAC1 -f /etc/check_idrac.conf -p
  ./check_idrac -H iDRAC1 -v 3 -u user -l authPriv -a sha -A pass -x aes -X pass

Alert System

State-Based Alerts

Status strings are matched against regex patterns (OK/WARN/CRIT). Example:

OK = ok|online|enabled|spunup|full|ready|presence
WARN = $ALL$          # Anything not in OK or CRIT
CRIT = critical|nonRecoverable|fail

Special $ALL$ wildcard matches any unclassified status.

Threshold-Based Alerts

Numeric metrics checked against min/max pairs:

Threshold: minWARN,maxWARN,minCRIT,maxCRIT

Example: --temp-warn=29,61 --temp-crit=25,65
  WARN if temperature < 30 OR > 60
  CRIT if temperature < 26 OR > 64

Use 'none' to disable a boundary:
  --fan-warn=4000,none   WARN if RPM < 4000 only

Output Format

Status Line:

OK - FAN
WARN - SENSOR: Excessive temperature on CPU1
CRIT - VDISK: Bad blocks detected
UNKNOWN - GLOBAL: SNMP query failed

Device Details:

--Fan1: 2760 RPM - OK
--Fan2: 3500(!) RPM - WARNING [threshold: 4000 RPM min]
--Fan3: 500(!!) RPM - CRITICAL [threshold: 3000 RPM min]

Alert Markers:

  • (!) = WARNING
  • (!!) = CRITICAL
  • (?) = UNKNOWN

Performance Data (with -p flag):

OK - FAN|fan1_rpm=2760;4000;3000;0;5000 fan2_rpm=3500;4000;3000;0;5000

Exit Codes

Code Meaning Nagios Status
0 All hardware OK OK
1 Some hardware WARNING WARNING
2 Some hardware CRITICAL CRITICAL
3 Parse error, SNMP timeout, UNKNOWN state UNKNOWN

Configuration File Syntax

See check_idrac.conf for complete example.

Key Sections:

  • [host] — iDRAC IP/hostname
  • [snmp] — SNMP version, authentication
  • [state] — State alert patterns (OK/WARN/CRIT)
  • [fan], [voltage], [current], [sensor], [watt], [consumption], [vdisk] — Global thresholds
  • [fan1], [fan2], etc. — Per-device overrides

Threshold Format: minWARN,maxWARN,minCRIT,maxCRIT

Nagios Integration

Service Definition

define service {
  service_description  Check iDRAC Hardware
  host_name            iDRAC1
  check_command        check_idrac!2c!public
  check_interval       5
  retry_interval       1
  max_check_attempts   3
  notification_period  24x7
}

Command Definition

define command {
  command_name    check_idrac
  command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_idrac \
                  -H $HOSTADDRESS$ \
                  -v $ARG1$ \
                  -c $ARG2$ \
                  -p
}

With Config File

define command {
  command_name    check_idrac_conf
  command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_idrac \
                  -H $HOSTADDRESS$ \
                  -f /etc/check_idrac.conf \
                  -w $ARG1$ \
                  -p
}

# Usage:
check_command check_idrac_conf!FAN,MEM,PS

Troubleshooting

SNMP Timeout

Symptom: UNKNOWN - SNMP query timeout

Solutions:

  • Verify iDRAC is accessible: snmpwalk -v 2c -c public 10.10.10.20 systemStateGlobalSystemStatus
  • Increase Nagios timeout in service definition: check_timeout 30
  • Check network connectivity: ping -c 3 10.10.10.20
  • Verify SNMP access: Check firewall rules on iDRAC

Authentication Failed

Symptom: UNKNOWN - SNMP query failed

Solutions:

  • SNMPv2c: Verify community string in config/CLI
  • SNMPv3: Check username, auth protocol, auth password, privacy protocol, privacy password
  • Test with net-snmp directly: 
    snmpwalk -v 3 -u myuser -l authPriv -a sha -A authpass \
  -x aes -X privpass 10.10.10.20 systemStateGlobalSystemStatus

Missing MIB File

Symptom: Numeric OID output instead of names

Solutions:

  • Copy iDRAC-SMIv2.mib to /usr/share/snmp/mibs/
  • Or specify path: ./check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -m /path/to/iDRAC-SMIv2.mib

No Data Returned

Symptom: UNKNOWN - No data from SNMP query

Solutions:

  • Enable debug: ./check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -v 2c -c public -d
  • Verify iDRAC has been initialized (new hardware)
  • Check iDRAC SNMP settings: Enable SNMP, allow v2c/v3

Performance

  • Execution time: 4-5 seconds per full check (10 hardware types)
  • Single device check: ~1 second
  • Memory: ~10MB resident
  • Network: Single SNMP query per hardware type (no polling)

Requirements

  • Python: 3.11 or higher
  • net-snmp: snmpwalk, snmpget binaries
  • iDRAC: Version 7+ (tested on R640, R650 servers)
  • Network: SNMP access to iDRAC (UDP port 161)

Installation

# Copy plugin
cp check_idrac /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/
chmod 755 /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_idrac

# Copy config (optional)
cp check_idrac.conf /etc/
chmod 600 /etc/check_idrac.conf

# Copy MIB
cp iDRAC-SMIv2.mib /usr/share/snmp/mibs/

# Test
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_idrac -H 10.10.10.20 -v 2c -c public

Support & Contributing

  • Issues: Report on GitHub or email author
  • Requests: Describe use case and iDRAC model
  • Contributing: Pull requests welcome (GPLv3 license)

Author: Nguyen Duc Trung Dung ([email protected])

License

GPLv3 — See LICENSE.md for details

See Also

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