Set up iDRAC9 email alerts, SNMP traps and remote syslog

A failed disk or a lost power supply should reach you as an alert, not as an outage. iDRAC9 watches the hardware even when the OS is down, and it can send alerts by email, SNMP trap, IPMI trap, remote syslog, Redfish event or OS log. This guide covers the three that most teams use (email, SNMP and syslog), based on the iDRAC9 7.xx User's Guide and RACADM CLI Guide. Page names under Configuration > System Settings differ slightly between firmware versions.

How iDRAC alerting works

Every event belongs to a category: System Health, Storage, Updates, Audit, Configuration or Work notes. Each event also has a severity: Critical, Warning or Info. An event filter decides what happens when a matching event occurs: which notifications go out (email, SNMP, IPMI, remote syslog, Redfish, OS log, WS events), and optionally one action (reboot, power cycle or power off). Nothing is sent until global alerting is enabled, and that switch overrides all the individual filters.

Step 1 — Enable alerts and choose what to send

1. Go to Configuration > System Settings > Alert Configuration. Under Alerts, select Enable and click Apply.
2. For a fast setup, use Quick Alert Configuration on the same page. Select at least one category, one severity and one destination (for example System Health and Storage, Critical and Warning, Email and SNMP), then click Apply. The result appears under Alerts Configuration Summary.
3. For finer control, open Alerts and Remote System Log Configuration and tick Email, SNMP Trap, IPMI Alert, Remote System Log, WS Eventing, OS Log or Redfish Event for each event type.

From racadm, the global switch and the filters look like this (syntax from the guides):

racadm set iDRAC.IPMILan.AlertEnable 1
racadm eventfilters get -c idrac.alert.all
racadm eventfilters set -c idrac.alert.storage.critical -a none -n email,snmp

The -n option takes all, snmp, ipmi, ws-events, redfish-events, oslog, email, remotesyslog or none. Use -a none unless you really want iDRAC to act on the server.

Step 2 — Configure the SMTP server and email recipients

1. Go to Configuration > System Settings > SMTP (E-mail) Configuration. The 7.xx guide also shows this page under Alert Configuration.
2. Under SMTP (Email) Server Settings, enter the SMTP (Email) Server IP Address or FQDN/DNS Name. Set Custom Sender Address if your relay only accepts known senders, and optionally a Custom Message Subject Prefix.
3. Choose the port and Connection Encryption: None on port 25 (default) or SSL on port 465. If the relay needs a login, enable Authentication and enter the user name and password.
4. Add up to four destination email addresses, click Apply, then click Send under Test Email.

If the test fails with RAC0225, iDRAC cannot reach the SMTP server. Check routing, the firewall and the DNS name. From racadm:

racadm set iDRAC.RemoteHosts.SMTPServerIPAddress 192.0.2.25
racadm set iDRAC.EmailAlert.Address.1 servers@example.com
racadm set iDRAC.EmailAlert.Enable.1 1
racadm testemail -i 1

Step 3 — Configure SNMP trap destinations

1. Go to Configuration > System Settings > SNMP and E-mail Settings.
2. Set State on a destination and enter the IPv4, IPv6 or FQDN address of your SNMP manager. You can define up to eight destinations.
3. For SNMPv1 and v2c, enter the community string. It must match the one on your manager. The default is public, so change it. For SNMPv3, select the iDRAC user to send traps as. That user needs SNMPv3 enabled in its account settings.
4. Under SNMP Trap Format, choose SNMP v1, v2 or v3 and click Apply. IPMI traps always use v1.
5. Click Send under Test SNMP Trap and confirm the trap arrives.

racadm set idrac.SNMP.Alert.1.DestAddr 192.0.2.50
racadm set idrac.SNMP.Alert.1.Enable 1
racadm testtrap -i 1

Load the Dell iDRAC MIBs on your SNMP manager so the traps decode properly. Dell's SNMP reference guide lists them.

Step 4 — Send logs to a remote syslog server

With remote syslog, every entry written to the Lifecycle Log is also sent to your syslog server(s). That keeps a copy of the log off the server.

1. Go to Configuration > System Settings > Alert Configuration > Remote Syslog > Settings.
2. Choose Basic Settings (classic syslog), Secure Settings (syslog over TLS: upload your CA certificate first) or None.
3. Fill in your syslog server details (the iDRAC Online Help describes each field), then click Apply.

From racadm, use the set command with the objects in the iDRAC.SysLog group (listed in the RACADM CLI Guide). To enable secure syslog, upload the Syslog CA certificate before you set iDRAC.syslog.Securesyslogenable.

Step 5 — Test end to end

Pick a real message ID and simulate it, then confirm it arrives through every channel you configured:

racadm eventfilters test -i FAN0001

In the web interface, enter the message ID in Message ID to Test Event on the alerts page and click Test. Dell's Event and Error Message Reference Guide lists the message IDs. To get repeated reminders while a server keeps running above its inlet temperature threshold, set Configuration > System Settings > Alert Recurrence (default 30 days, 0 disables it).

Frequently asked questions

Why does iDRAC not send any alerts after I added recipients?

The global Alerts setting is probably still disabled, or no event filter sends to that channel. Both must be enabled.

Can I use a cloud email service?

Yes. The SMTP settings support SSL on port 465 with authentication for cloud SMTP relays.

Checklist

• Global alerting enabled
• Event filters set for System Health and Storage, at least Critical and Warning
• SMTP server, sender and recipients set, and the test email received
• SNMP destinations, community or v3 user and trap format set, and the test trap received
• Remote syslog configured (Enterprise or Datacenter licence)
• A simulated event such as FAN0001 received everywhere
• Logs reviewed regularly: SEL and Lifecycle Log