SIRIS, ALTO, and NAS: Troubleshooting Check-In Errors

Question

How do I troubleshoot devices that cannot be accessed by Datto Technical Support, have stopped checking in, or refuse all connections?

Environment

• Datto SIRIS
• Datto ALTO
• Datto NAS

Answer

This article discusses troubleshooting in cases where a Datto device does not check in to Datto's monitoring servers, prohibiting Datto technicians from accessing the device.

Troubleshooting Steps

Check Communications

1. Browse to the local IP address assigned to the Datto to see if the Web UI is accessible.
2. If you can access the Web UI, log in with the admin account created during registration, then navigate to Configure > Networking to check that the network settings are correct. Also, make sure that at least one Public DNS is present.
3. Verify that the ports intended for communication on your network (eth0, eth1, eth2, etc) are not disabled.

Figure 1: Communication settings (click to enlarge)

4. Ping the device on the local network. If it does not respond, make sure it has a gigabit connection from the switch to the LAN.

5. Reboot the Datto appliance.

Direct Connection to the Device

You can attempt to connect via IPMI on SIRIS series 2, 3 and 4 devices. See the following articles for more information: 

• IPMI Configuration - SIRIS 2 Hardware
• IPMI on SIRIS 3 Business
• IPMI on SIRIS 3 Professional
• IPMI on SIRIS 4 Professional
• IPMI on SIRIS 4 Enterprise

Local Connection (Putty)

You can try connecting to the Datto device on the local network using putty via the device's local IP address over port 22.

Advanced-trained partners can try accessing the device via SSH. 

If the connection still fails, verify the device can check-in as follows:

1. Connect a keyboard, monitor, and mouse to the Datto device, and open a Terminal session by pressing CTRL+ALT+F2. Once logged in, enter the command: su backup-admin.

2. Enter your backup-admin password.  You can find the backup-admin password on the Partner Portal by clicking on the appliance's name. The password is listed under the Device Overview heading.

Figure 2: Access username and password (click to enlarge)

3. Once logged in as backup-admin, enter the command sudo -i.

The screen should look similar to the example below:

Figure 3: Local command line (click to enlarge)

4. Type checkin, and allow it some time to follow through. If the command returns errors, note the error message.

5. Run the following command to see if another device on your network is using the same IP address of the Datto appliance.
arping -I eth0 -D (IP address of the Datto appliance)

Check the Switch

If your Datto appliance does not complete the registration process or fails to check in, make sure  the port on the switch to which it is connected and the Datto appliance's primary NIC are set to negotiate the appropriate speeds:

On the client's switch:

1. Log into the switch, and make sure that the Datto appliance's dedicated port is set to a specific speed (ie 1000 Mbps). 

On the Datto appliance:

2. Connect a keyboard, monitor, and mouse to the Datto device. Press CTRL + ALT + F1 to access the Command Line Interface (CLI).

3. Log in using the device's backup-admin username and password (if registered), and run the following commands:

sudo -i
ethtool -s eth0 speed 1000 duplex full
ethtool -s eth0 autoneg off
reboot NOW

4. Attempt to register or check the device in again.

Configure NICs

1. If the error involves general connectivity issues, type ifconfig to verify that both the primary NIC and lo are present. If either one is missing, you can manually bring it up:
ifconfig eth# up 
[Example: ifconfig eth0 up]

2. The MAC address of the primary NIC should be the same as the device serial number. If eth0 HWaddr(MAC) shows up differently then what is shown in the Partner Portal, contact Datto Technical Support. 

Figure 4: Device MAC address. (click to enlarge)

3. If the primary NIC is up and has an IP address, it should look similar to:

Figure 5: Primary NIC is up (click to enlarge)

4. If there is no address for the primary NIC, run the following command to bring up the interfaces file: 

nano /etc/network/interfaces 

Figure 6: The interfaces file (click to enlarge)

5. Use the arrow keys to navigate around the file. If the primary NIC is supposed to be on a DHCP instead of static, replace the word static with dhcp. Make sure to also set the address to an IP outside of the DHCP scope.

If the device runs Ubuntu 12.04 (SIRIS Business, SIRIS Enterprise, SIRIS Professional, ALTO /ALTO XL or Datto NAS), the DNS servers are listed under the gateway on a new line, as shown below:

Figure 7: DNS servers on 12.04 devices (click to enlarge)

6. When you finish configuring the file, press ctrl and x to exit the file, and then press Y to save and enter to write it to the file:

Figure 8: Save the file and exit (click to enlarge)

7. If you edited to this file, restart networking and apply the changes:

On devices running Ubuntu 16.04 and up:
service networking restart

On devices running Ubuntu 12.04 and below:
/etc/init.d/networking restart

8. If you want to force a new DHCP address on the primary NIC, type:
dhclient eth#


9. To edit the DNS interfaces, configure the DNS file with:
nano /etc/resolv.conf


Figure 9: Edit the resolv.conf file (click to enlarge)

10. If both interfaces are up and the primary NIC has an IP, verify the primary NIC has a connection:
ethtool eth#

Figure 10: Verify a connection on the primary NIC (click to enlarge)

11. If there is no link detected, check if the ethernet cable is plugged into the wrong port. Switch the port to another onboard port and run ethtool eth# again until you see a link detected. If a link is not detected on any port, try another cable.