PERC CLI (perccli) basics: check controller, disk and virtual disk status

PERC CLI (perccli / perccli64) is Dell's command-line tool for PowerEdge RAID Controllers. It runs inside the installed operating system (Windows, Linux or VMware ESXi), so you can check RAID health over SSH or a console without rebooting into System Setup. This guide sticks to the read-only show commands from Dell's PowerEdge RAID Controller 9, 10, and 11 Command Line Interface Reference Guide and lists the commands that change data separately, so you know which ones to avoid while you are only checking status.

Step 1 — Install PERC CLI and open a prompt

Dell knowledge base article 000217748 describes the install for each OS:

• Red Hat and similar (RPM): extract the downloaded tarball and install the RPM with rpm -ivh (use rpm -Uvh to upgrade). The tool installs to /opt/MegaRAID/perccli.
• Ubuntu (DEB): install the .deb package with dpkg -i. The tool is also in /opt/MegaRAID/perccli.
• VMware ESXi: enable the ESXi Shell or SSH, upload the package to a datastore, extract it and install the .vib for your ESXi version with esxcli software vib install -v followed by the full path to the file. Dell's KB says the tool is then in /opt/lsi/perccli64, while the reference guide says /opt/lsi/perccli. Check which folder exists on your host.
• Windows Server: run the downloaded package to extract it. The reference guide says to copy perccli.exe and perccli64.exe to C:\Windows\System32, then run the commands from an Administrator command prompt.

cd /opt/MegaRAID/perccli
./perccli64 show

The examples below use perccli as the command name, as in the reference guide. On 64-bit systems the binary is usually perccli64. The tool is not case sensitive, but Dell warns that options must be in the same order as in the guide's examples, or the command fails.

Step 2 — Find the controllers

perccli -v
perccli show ctrlcount
perccli show
perccli show all

• perccli -v shows the version of the tool.
• show ctrlcount shows how many controllers were detected.
• show gives a summary: number of controllers, host name, OS and an overview of the configuration.
• show all adds the drives that need attention and the advanced software options.

Controllers are numbered from 0. Use that index as /c0, /c1 and so on in the next commands.

Step 3 — Check the controller summary

perccli /c0 show
perccli /c0 show all
perccli /c0 show personality
perccli /c0 show freespace

/c0 show is the best single status command. It shows the controller, foreign configurations, drive groups, virtual drives, physical drives, enclosures and battery information. /c0 show all adds bus information, policies, defaults, capabilities and scheduled tasks. show personality shows the controller mode (eHBA mode is listed as eHBA), and show freespace shows usable free space on the disk groups.

Step 4 — Check virtual disks and their background tasks

perccli /c0/v0 show
perccli /c0/v0 show all
perccli /c0/dall show

/c0/v0 show summarises virtual drive 0; show all adds its physical drives and properties. /c0/dall show shows the drive group topology. In the VD list, check the State column and the legend printed under the table. In Dell's sample output, healthy RAID 5 and RAID 0 virtual disks show an optimal state; any other state needs investigation.

To see the progress of tasks running on a virtual disk, use:

Step 5 — Check physical disks

perccli /c0/eall/sall show
perccli /c0/e32/s4 show all

The first command lists every drive behind every enclosure. The second shows full details for one drive (here enclosure 32, slot 4). Take the enclosure ID and slot from the EID:Slt column of the first command. If no enclosure is used, give only the controller and slot, for example /c0/s4. The guide notes that enclosure IDs can change if cables fail or are removed.

The legend printed under the drive table includes these states:

Non-RAID disks show up with perccli /c0/eall/sall show jbod. To find a drive in the rack, turn on its LED with perccli /c0/e32/s4 start locate and turn it off with perccli /c0/e32/s4 stop locate.

Step 6 — Watch rebuilds and scheduled checks

perccli /c0/e32/s4 show rebuild
perccli /c0 show rebuildrate
perccli /c0 show patrolread
perccli /c0 show cc

show rebuild gives the rebuild progress of a drive in percent. show rebuildrate shows the rebuild task rate as a percentage; Dell notes that a high rebuild rate slows I/O. show patrolread and show cc show the patrol read and consistency check settings, such as the state and start time. For the full rebuild procedure, see replace a failed disk on Dell PERC.

Step 7 — Battery, preserved cache and foreign configuration

perccli /c0/bbu show status
perccli /c0 show preservedCache
perccli /c0/fall show all

/c0/bbu show status shows battery summary information. show preservedCache shows any virtual disk whose dirty cache was preserved after it went offline or missing. /c0/fall show all shows any foreign configuration, which is common after moving disks between servers. These commands only read; deciding whether to import or clear is covered in import or clear a PERC foreign configuration.

Step 8 — Save the controller event log

When you open a case with Dell or your support provider, export the controller events to a file:

perccli /c0 show events file=/tmp/perc-c0-events.txt
perccli /c0 show eventloginfo

On Windows the guide's example is perccli /c0 show events file=C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\eventreport. The command also accepts a type= option (sincereboot, sinceshutdown, includedeleted, latest=x) and a filter= option (info, warning, critical, fatal). In Dell's definitions, critical means a component failed but no data was lost; fatal means data loss has occurred or will occur.

Commands that change data

• perccli /cx/vx|vall del and del force — delete one or all virtual drives; the data is no longer accessible.
• perccli /cx/fx|fall del — deletes the foreign configuration.
• perccli /cx/vx delete preservedcache — discards the preserved cache.
• perccli /cx[/ex]/sx set offline and set missing — take a member drive out of its array.
• perccli /cx delete events — deletes all records in the controller event log. Export the log first.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use the same perccli commands on a PERC 12 controller?

No. PERC 12 and PERC 13 controllers have their own CLI Reference Guide, which uses PERCCLI2. Use that guide's syntax instead of the PERC 9, 10 and 11 guide.

Why does a perccli command fail with correct-looking options?

Dell's reference guide says options must be given in the same order as in its examples; otherwise the command fails. Copy the order from the guide.

Checklist

• Right tool for the controller: perccli for PERC 9, 10 and 11, PERCCLI2 for PERC 12 and 13.
• perccli show finds every controller.
• /c0 show reviewed: virtual disk state, drive states, battery.
• No drives in UBad or Offln state; rebuilds tracked with show rebuild.
• Foreign configuration and preserved cache checked before any change.
• Event log exported to a file before opening a support case.
• No delete or set commands run without a verified backup.

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