ONTAP commands for remote node management

09/09/2025 Contributors

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You can remotely perform node-management tasks by either accessing its SP and running SP CLI commands, or accessing the BMC and running BMC CLI commands. For several commonly performed remote node-management tasks, you can also use ONTAP commands from another node in the cluster. Some SP and BMC commands are platform-specific and might not be available on your platform.

Certain command types can be used in both SP and BMC command sets. The differences between them will be shown when entering the command line.

Examples

The help command in SP: SP> help
The help command in BMC: BMC> help

Learn more about the help command options available for SP and BMC in View the help information in the ONTAP SP/BMC CLI.

Learn more about corresponding ONTAP BMC CLI in Supported CLI commands for the ONTAP Baseboard Management Controller.

If you want to… Use this SP command… Use this BMC command… Use this ONTAP command…

Display available commands or subcommands of a specified command for SP/BMC/ONTAP

help [command]

N/A

Display the current privilege level for the SP/BMC/ONTAP CLI

priv show

priv show

N/A

Set the privilege level to access the specified mode for the SP/BMC/ONTAP CLI

priv set

{admin | advanced | diag}

priv set

{admin | advanced | diag | test}

N/A

Display system date and time

date

Display events that are logged by the SP/BMC/ONTAP

events

{all | info | newest number | oldest number | search keyword}

events

{all| info | newest | oldest | search }

N/A

Display SP/BMC/ONTAP status and network configuration information

sp status

[-v | -d]

The -v option displays SP statistics in verbose form.
The -d option adds the SP debug log to the display.

bmc status

[-v | -d]

The -v option displays SP statistics in verbose form.
The -d option adds the SP debug log to the display.

system service-processor show

Display the length of time the SP/BMC/ONTAP has been up and the average number of jobs in the run queue over the last 1, 5, and 15 minutes

sp uptime

bmc uptime

N/A

Display system console logs

system log

[-a]

system log

(prints system console logs)

Display the SP/BMC/ONTAP log archives or the files in an archive

sp log history show

[-archive {latest | all | archive-name}] [-dump {all | file-name}]

bmc log history show

[-archive {latest | all | archive-name}] [-dump {all | file-name}]

N/A

Display the power status for the controller of a node

system power status

system node power show

Display battery information

system battery show

N/A

Display ACP information or the status for expander sensors

system acp

[show | sensors show]

N/A

List all system FRUs and their IDs

system fru list

N/A

Display product information for the specified FRU

system fru show fru_id

system fru show

[ show <id> ]

N/A

Display the FRU data history log

system fru log show

(advanced privilege level)

system fru log show

N/A

Display the status for the environmental sensors, including their states and current values

system sensors

system sensors show

system sensors

{show | filter <sensor_string> }

system node environment sensors show

Display the status and details for the specified sensor

system sensors get sensor_name

You can obtain sensor_name by using the system sensors or the system sensors show command.

system sensors

[ get ]

N/A

Display the SP/BMC/ONTAP firmware version information

version

system service-processor image show

Display the SP/BMC/ONTAP command history

sp log audit

(advanced privilege level)

bmc log audit

(advanced privilege level)

N/A

Display the SP/BMC/ONTAP debug information

sp log debug

(advanced privilege level)

bmc log debug

(advanced privilege level)

N/A

Display the SP/BMC/ONTAP messages file

sp log messages

(advanced privilege level)

bmc log messages

(advanced privilege level)

N/A

Display the settings for collecting system forensics on a watchdog reset event, display system forensics information collected during a watchdog reset event, or clear the collected system forensics information

system forensics

[show | log dump | log clear]

N/A

system console

system node run-console

You should press Ctrl-D to exit the system console session.

Turn the node on or off, or perform a power-cycle (turning the power off and then back on)

system power on

system node power on

(advanced privilege level)

system power off

N/A

system power cycle

N/A

The standby power stays on to keep the SP running without interruption. During the power-cycle, a brief pause occurs before power is turned back on.

Using these commands to turn off or power-cycle the node might cause an improper shutdown of the node (also called a dirty shutdown) and is not a substitute for a graceful shutdown using the ONTAP system node halt command.

Create a core dump and reset the node

system core [-f]

The -f option forces the creation of a core dump and the reset of the node.

system core

system node coredump trigger

(advanced privilege level)

These commands have the same effect as pressing the Non-maskable Interrupt (NMI) button on a node, causing a dirty shutdown of the node and forcing a dump of the core files when halting the node. These commands are helpful when ONTAP on the node is hung or does not respond to commands such as system node shutdown. The generated core dump files are displayed in the output of the system node coredump show command. The SP stays operational as long as the input power to the node is not interrupted.

Reboot the node with an optionally specified BIOS firmware image (primary, backup, or current) to recover from issues such as a corrupted image of the node's boot device

system reset

{primary | backup | current}

system reset

{ current | primary | backup }

system node reset with the -firmware {primary | backup | current} parameter

(advanced privilege level)

This operation causes a dirty shutdown of the node.

If no BIOS firmware image is specified, the current image is used for the reboot. The SP stays operational as long as the input power to the node is not interrupted.

Compare the current battery firmware image against a specified firmware image

system battery verify [image_URL]

(advanced privilege level)

If image_URL is not specified, the default battery firmware image is used for comparison.

system battery verify [image_URL]

(advanced privilege level)

If image_URL is not specified, the default battery firmware image is used for comparison.

N/A

Update the battery firmware from the image at the specified location

system battery flash [image_URL]

(advanced privilege level)

You use this command if the automatic battery firmware upgrade process has failed for some reason.

N/A

Update the SP/BMC/ONTAP firmware by using the image at the specified location

sp update

image_URL

image_URL must not exceed 200 characters.

bmc update

image_URL

image_URL must not exceed 200 characters.

system service-processor image update

Reboot the SP/BMC/ONTAP

sp reboot

bmc reboot

system service-processor reboot-sp

Erase the NVRAM flash content

system nvram flash clear

(advanced privilege level)

This command cannot be initiated when the controller power is off (system power off).

N/A

Exit the SP/BMC/ONTAP CLI

exit

N/A

Related information

ONTAP command reference

ONTAP commands for remote node management

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