How to configure Power Distribution Units on Exadata X5
I've done several Exadata deployments recently and I have to say of all the components PDUs were hardest to configure. Important to notice that unlike earlier generations of Exadata the PDUs in X5 are Ehnanced PDUs and not Standard.
Reading the public documentation (Configuring the Power Distribution Units) it says that on PDUs with three power input leads you need to connect the middle power lead to the power source. Well I've done that many times and it didn't NOT worked, the documentation says that the PDU should be accessible on 192.168.0.1. I believe the reason for that is because DHCP has been enabled by default and this can be easily confirmed by checking the LCD screen of the PDU. I even tried setting up DHCP server myself to make the PDU acquire IP but that didn't worked either.
To configure the PDU you need to connect through serial management port. Nowadays there are no more laptops with serial ports so you will need USB to RS-232 DB9 Serial Adapter, I bought mine from Amazon. You will also need DB9 to RJ45 cable - these are quite popular and I'm sure you've seen before the blue Cisco console cable.
You need to connect the cable to SET MGT port of PDU and then establish terminal connection (you can use putty too) with the following settings:
9600 baud, 8 bit, 1 stop bit, no parity bit, no flow control
The username is admin and the password is adm1n.
Here are the commands you need to configure the PDU. Each network change requires reboot of the PDU:
Welcome to Oracle PDU
pducli->username: admin
pducli->password: *****
Login OK - Admin rights!
pducli->
set pdu_name=exa01pdu01
set systime_manual_date=2015-06-18
set systime_manual_time=12:45:00
set systime_ntp_server_enable=On
set systime_ntp_server=192.168.1.2
set systime_dst_enable=On
set net_ipv4_dhcp=Off
reset=yes
set net_ipv4_ipaddr=192.168.1.10
set net_ipv4_subnet=255.255.255.0
set net_ipv4_gateway=192.168.1.1
set net_ipv4_dns1=192.168.1.3
set net_ipv4_dns2=192.168.1.4
reset=yes
Regarding the network connectivity - the documentation says you need two additional cables from your management network. However if you have half or quarter rack you can plug-in the PDU network connections to the management/cisco switch. Make a note that if you ever plan to upgrade to full rack you will have to provide the two additional cables from your management network and disconnect PDUs from the management switch.
IMPORTANT: Make sure you don't leave any active CLI sessions, otherwise you won't be able to login remotely and will require data centre visit to reboot the PDU.
Update 09.03.2015:
Unfortunately for PDUs that run firmware 2.02 it is required that the reset=yes be issued after each set command. Until "Enhanced" PDU is upgraded to firmware 2.03, ensure that you issue reset=yes each time the reminder is displayed. "Enhanced" PDU firmware 2.03 is available on MOS as patch 20917482.