racadm commands for health checks, logs and storage status on PowerEdge

When a PowerEdge server raises an alert, a quick way to see what is wrong is often a few racadm commands against its iDRAC9. Every command in this guide only reads: system information, sensor readings, the System Event Log (SEL), the Lifecycle Log, firmware inventory and RAID status. They are safe to run on production servers. The syntax is copied from the iDRAC9 RACADM CLI Guide 7.xx. Output fields can differ slightly between firmware versions. For configuration commands (network, users, BIOS, RAID creation, firmware), see Configure Dell PowerEdge iDRAC with racadm.

racadm -r 192.0.2.10 -u monitor -p 'xxxx' getsysinfo
racadm -r 192.0.2.10 -u monitor -p 'xxxx' getsysinfo --nocertwarn

--nocertwarn hides the certificate warning when iDRAC still uses its self-signed certificate.

Step 1 — Identify the server and its overall state

racadm getsvctag
racadm getsysinfo
racadm getversion
racadm getremoteservicesstatus

• getsvctag prints the Service Tag, which you need for any Dell support case.
• getsysinfo shows the iDRAC firmware, MAC address, DNS name, IPv4/IPv6 settings and system information. Options: -d iDRAC only, -c common settings, -4 or -6 for IP settings, -A without labels (for scripts). Host name and OS fields are accurate only with OMSA installed, except for VMware and Windows OS names.
• getversion lists BIOS, iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller versions. Narrow it with -b (BIOS), -c (CPLD) or -f idrac, -f lc, -f bios.
• getremoteservicesstatus shows the host status (for example Out of POST, halted at an F1/F2 error prompt, no bootable device) and whether Lifecycle Controller is Ready. Run it before any inventory or export command.

Step 2 — Read the sensors

racadm getsensorinfo
racadm getsensorinfo -c

This shows the status of the system sensors, grouped by type: power, temperature, fan, current, processor, memory, battery, intrusion, redundancy and others, depending on the model. -c gives a compact layout. Look for any sensor that is not OK, and for PSU or fan redundancy that is no longer Full. For fan and temperature alerts, see troubleshooting fan and thermal alerts.

Step 3 — Read the System Event Log and the iDRAC log

racadm getsel -i
racadm getsel -o
racadm getsel -s 1 -c 20
racadm getraclog -c 20

• getsel -i counts the SEL entries. -o prints one record per line, which is good for grep. -s and -c choose the starting record and how many to show. --more pages the output (press Q to quit).
• getraclog shows iDRAC's own log: logins, failed logins and licence messages, with message IDs such as USR0005. Local racadm returns 100 records by default.

Step 4 — Filter the Lifecycle Log

The Lifecycle Log records hardware events, configuration changes, updates and audit entries. lclog view filters it by category (System, Storage, Worknotes, Config, Updates, Audit), by severity (Critical, Warning, Info), by time or by text:

racadm lclog view -i
racadm lclog view -c storage,system -s warning,critical
racadm lclog view -n 20
racadm lclog view -k session
racadm lclog view -r "2026-10-01 00:00:00" -e "2026-10-31 23:59:59"

If a remote query returns nothing, Dell suggests asking for fewer records or raising the remote racadm timeout. To archive the whole log (for example for Dell support), export it to a share:

racadm lclog export -f lclog.xml.gz -u user -p pass -l //192.0.2.20/logs --complete

For reading the entries and message IDs, see iDRAC9 SEL and Lifecycle Log.

Step 5 — Check RAID controllers, virtual disks and drives

The storage subcommand (also accepted as raid) reads the status of the storage controllers, virtual disks, enclosures and drives that iDRAC manages:

racadm storage get status
racadm storage get controllers -o -p name,status
racadm storage get vdisks -o -p layout,status
racadm storage get pdisks -o -p State
racadm storage get batteries --refkey RAID.Integrated.1-1 -o -p status,state,name

• -o prints full objects with their properties. -p limits the output to the properties you name (up to 10). --refkey scopes the query to one controller or enclosure (up to 3 FQDDs). First run racadm storage get controllers to list the FQDDs on your server, such as RAID.Integrated.1-1 or RAID.SL.3-1.
• Controller fields include Status, RollupStatus, firmware and driver version and patrol read state. Drive output includes State, Status, FailurePredicted, MediaType and, for SSDs, RemainingRatedWriteEndurance.
• Run racadm storage help get for every object type and its properties.

A degraded virtual disk or a drive with FailurePredicted = YES needs action. See degraded or offline virtual disks. From inside the OS, perccli status commands give the same information.

Step 6 — Firmware inventory and jobs

racadm swinventory
racadm hwinventory
racadm jobqueue view

swinventory lists each component's FQDD, current version and, where one is stored, the previous version. hwinventory lists the hardware inventory by device. jobqueue view shows pending and completed jobs, such as a firmware update stuck in Scheduled.

Step 7 — Collect a SupportAssist bundle for Dell

racadm supportassist accepteula
racadm supportassist collect -t sysinfo -l //192.0.2.20/logs -u user -p pass
racadm supportassist exportlastcollection -l //192.0.2.20/logs -u user -p pass

collect exports to the share given with -l, and exportlastcollection re-exports the last bundle. Log types for -t include sysinfo (system information), ttylog (storage logs), osAppAll (OS and application data, needs the iDRAC Service Module), Debug and TelemetryReports. The guide notes that register, collect -upload and the auto-collection scheduler are not supported on iDRAC 7.00.00.00 and later. The full workflow is in SupportAssist collection from iDRAC9.

Frequently asked questions

Do these commands change anything on the server?

No. They only display information. The export and SupportAssist commands write a file to the share you name, and the server keeps running.

Why are host name and OS blank in getsysinfo?

Dell notes that these fields need OpenManage Server Administrator in the OS. The exception is VMware and Windows OS names, which show anyway.

Checklist

• Access method chosen (SSH, remote or local racadm) with a dedicated account
• Service Tag, versions and LC status captured
• Sensors checked for anything not OK and for lost redundancy
• SEL and Lifecycle Log filtered for Critical and Warning events
• Controller, virtual disk and drive status reviewed
• SupportAssist bundle exported if you are opening a Dell case