Here’s a structured guide on setting up a serial connection to Vess R3600 and collecting all logs using the Command Line Interface (CLI).

1. Hardware Requirements

  • RJ11-to-DB9F cable (provided in the accessories box).
  • Computer (PC, Mac, Linux) with:
    • Embedded Serial Port or
    • USB-to-Serial Adapter for computers without serial ports.
  • Terminal Emulation Application such as:
    • PuTTY (Windows)
    • Tera Term (Windows)
    • Minicom (Linux)
    • Screen (Mac/Linux).

Promise RJ11-to-DB9F Cable

2. Connecting the Serial Cable

  1. Plug the RJ11 end of the cable into the Vess RAID controller (left-hand serial connector).

     2. Plug the DB9F end into your computer’s serial port or USB-to-Serial adapter.

USB-Serial Adapter

Computer Serial Port

3. Configuring the Terminal Emulator

  1. Launch your terminal application.
  2. Locate and select the appropriate COM port assigned to your serial connection. (For USB adapters, check your device manager to identify the assigned COM port).
  3. Set the following serial communication settings:
    • Baud Rate: 115200
    • Data Bits: 8 bits
    • Parity: None
    • Stop Bits: 1
    • Flow Control: None
  4. Open the connection.
  5. Press Enter or Return—you should see a login prompt.

4. Logging in to CLI

  1. Enter your username and password.(Note: The default user name is administrator.The default password is password)
  2. You will be greeted with the CLI prompt: 
    administrator@cli

5. Collecting Log Data

Enable session logging (if supported by the terminal application) or manually copy outputs into a text file.

Run the following commands one by one and save the outputs:

  1. System Information

    subsys -v
ctrl -v
enclosure -v
battery -v
net -v

  2. Background Activities

    bga

  3. Fibre Channel Information

    fc -v
fc -a list -t device
fc -a list -t initiator

  4. Physical Drives

    phydrv
phydrv -v

  5. Array Information

    array
array -v

  6. Logical Drive Details

    logdrv
logdrv -v

  7. LUN Mapping

    lunmap

  8. Event Logs

    event
event -l nvram

    (Note: Last command has a lowercase 'L', not number '1').

6. Saving Logs

  • Enable Log Capture in the terminal emulator to save logs directly to a file.
  • Or, copy-paste the session output into a text document.

7. Provide Logs to Support

Send the saved log file to the Promise Technical Support Team as part of your support request.

Start Support Request Online:

Additional Notes

  • Custom Cable Requirements:
    If building your own cable, refer to the serial pinout diagram below or attached in this article

  • Network Unavailability:
    Serial access is a reliable fallback if network access is down.
  • Permissions:
    Ensure you have administrator-level access to the RAID system for complete log collection.

This process ensures you can securely gather logs for troubleshooting even without network access.