Users Guide

• All the physical disks in a configuration are removed and re-inserted.
• Some of the physical disks in a configuration are removed and re-inserted.
• All the physical disks in a virtual disk are removed, but at different times, and then re-inserted.
• The physical disks in a non-redundant virtual disk are removed.
The following constraints apply to the physical disks that are considered for import:
• The drive state of a physical disk can change from the time the foreign configuration is scanned to
when the actual import occurs. The foreign import occurs only on drives that are in the Unconfigured
Good state.
• Drives in the failed or offline state cannot be imported.
• The firmware does not allow you to import more than eight foreign configurations.
Importing foreign configuration using web interface
To import foreign configuration:
1. In the iDRAC Web interface, go to Overview → Storage → Controllers → Setup.
The Setup Controllers page is displayed.
2. In the Foreign Configuration section, from the Controller drop-down menu, select the controller
that you want to configure.
3. From the Apply Operation Mode drop-down menu, select when you want to import.
4. Click Import Foreign Configuration.
Based on the selected operation mode, the configuration is imported.
To automatically import foreign configurations, in the Configure Controller Properties section,
enable the Enhanced Auto Import Foreign Config option, select the Apply Operation Mode and
click Apply.
NOTE: You must reboot the system after enabling Enhanced Auto Import Foreign Config
option for the foreign configurations to be imported.
Importing foreign configuration using RACADM
To import foreign configuration, use the following command:
racadm storage importconfig:<Controller FQDD>
For more information, see the iDRAC RACADM Command Line Reference Guide available at dell.com/
esmmanuals.
Clearing foreign configuration
After moving a physical disk from one controller to another, you may find that the physical disk contains
all or some portion of a virtual disk (foreign configuration). You can identify whether a previously used
physical disk contains a foreign configuration (virtual disk) by checking the physical disk state. If the
physical disk state is Foreign, then the physical disk contains all or some portion of a virtual disk. You can
clear or erase the virtual disk information from the newly attached physical disks.
The Clear Foreign Configuration operation permanently erases all data residing on the physical disks that
are added to the controller. If more than one foreign virtual disk is present, all the configurations are
erased. You may prefer to import the virtual disk rather than destroy the data. An initialization must be
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