Replacing HP P440 controller in VSAN Setup

A year ago I posted a blog about replacing a failed array controller, only it turned out the array controller didn’t really fail. The array controller needed firmware.

This year I actually have an array controller fail so I can share a few extra tips.

The Hardware, 5 of the following:

DL380 Gen9

3 disk groups of:
1x800gb SSD, 7×1.2TB HDD
1 Disk Group connected to the P440ar
1 Disk Group connected to a P440
1 Disk Group connected to another P440

All of the array controllers are in HBA mode, meaning the disks are passed directly to ESXi for VSAN’s consumption.

So I noticed that I was missing a diskgroup on one of the hosts, and traced that back to one of the controllers.
The ILO and IML both noted a bad controller. The Storage tab had a red X on the controller. I noted the PCI location and the SN.

Once I received the replacement part, I did the following:

1. Put the host into maintenance mode
2. Replace the failed card
3. Powered on the host
4. Set the card back into HBA mode
   1. Enable SSH
   2. SSh into box
   3. /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl all show statusSmart Array P440 in Slot 3 (HBA Mode)Controller Status: OK

      Smart Array P440 in Slot 4

         Controller Status: OK

         Cache Status: Not Configured

         Battery/Capacitor Status: OK

      Smart Array P440ar in Slot 0 (Embedded) (HBA Mode)

      Controller Status: OK

   4. /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=4 modify hbamode=on forced
5. Reboot Host
6. Exit Maintenance Mode

At this point the host should find the diskgroup and disks and start resyncing.