Dell iDRAC: The Virtual Media native library cannot be loaded

If you get the above error when trying to open the virtual media on a Dell iDRAC console session (Virtual Media --> Launch Virtual Media) and you're running 64-bit Linux, you may need to install 32-bit Java. Here's what I did on Ubuntu 12.04:

1. First of all, I happened to run into this issue on an iDRAC that was running old firmware, so before continuing, I'd recommend updating to the latest firmware if possible and seeing if that fixes the issue.


2. If that didn't fix it or you're unable to update to the latest iDRAC firmware, install 32-bit Java on your workstation:
   sudo apt-get install openjdk-6-jdk:i386


3. Next, download the viewer.jnlp file from the iDRAC web interface by clicking the link to launch the virtual console/viewer. If the viewer.jnlp file you downloaded has a really long name, you might want to rename it to make the next step easier.


4. Open the viewer.jnlp file with the 32-bit javaws (Java Web Start) binary:
   /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-i386/jre/bin/javaws /path/to/viewer.jnlp

RHEL 6 kickstart maps first hard drive to /dev/sdc

I was installing RHEL 6 on a Dell PowerEdge R610, and for some strange reason the first drive was mounted as /dev/sdc instead of /dev/sda. I saw someone else had the same issue on CentOS 6:

https://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=36632

The solution: disable the iDRAC virtual media. I had to press Ctrl-E to get into the DRAC menu when it prompted me during the boot process, then I had to arrow down to Virtual Media Configuration and change the Virtual media setting from attached to detached.

Or from the iDRAC web interface: System --> Console/Media --> Configuration --> Virtual media --> Status --> change to Detach --> Apply

Now the first drive is mapped as /dev/sda again.

Dell DSET: Failed to gather Chassis/Storage data.

Trying to run Dell's DSET tool on Linux (RHEL), if it fails with the following error after entering the root password:

Failed to gather Chassis/Storage data. Check the IP Address, credentials and namespace.

Make sure you entered the root password correctly. Reset the root password if you're not 100% sure.

DBAN *ERROR /dev/sda (process crash)

So I was using DBAN 2.2.6 beta to wipe the drives on a Dell PowerEdge 860. After typing "autonuke," DBAN would load, but instead of starting the wipe I would get these errors:

DBAN finished with non-fatal errors.
*ERROR /dev/sdb (process crash)
*ERROR /dev/sda (process crash)
Press and hold power button to shut down

When I loaded DBAN manually (by pressing enter at the boot prompt instead of typing "autonuke"), I would see an "unrecognized device" in the device list.

I finally figured out what it was: the DRAC had set up some kind of virtual drives. I had to go into the DRAC menu (Ctrl-D when it asks you at the boot prompt), page down until I saw the virtual drives, and then I pressed E to disable them. Once I did that, DBAN ran just fine.

Edit:
I just ran into this same problem on a Dell PowerEdge 1950, but it must have had a different DRAC version because the process of disabling of the virtual drives was a little different. I had to press Ctrl-E to get into the DRAC menu when it prompted me, then I had to arrow down to Virtual Media Configuration and change the Virtual media setting from attached to detached.