Introduction
Using IPMI it’s possible to get some remote management features without having a DRAC card in the server. At least remote power control and serial over LAN are available.
Setting up IPMI using ipmitool:
Configure LAN
Change ip, netmask and defgw to match your network.
ipmitool lan set 1 ipsrc static ipmitool lan set 1 ipaddr 10.1.2.3 ipmitool lan set 1 netmask 255.255.255.0 ipmitool lan set 1 defgw 10.1.2.1 ipmitool lan set 1 auth callback md5 ipmitool lan set 1 auth operator md5 ipmitool lan set 1 auth admin md5 ipmitool lan set 1 auth user md5 ipmitool lan set 1 access on ipmitool lan set 1 arp respond on # If needed configure vlan id ipmitool lan set 1 vlan id 100
Configure users
ipmitool user set name 2 admin ipmitool user set password 2 SecretPassword1 ipmitool user enable 2 ipmitool user priv 2 4 1 ipmitool user priv 2 4 2 # List enabled users ipmitool user list 1 ipmitool user list 2
Enable serial over lan
ipmitool sol set privilege-level admin 1 ipmitool sol set force-encryption true 1 ipmitool sol set force-authentication true 1 ipmitool sol set non-volatile-bit-rate 57.6 1 ipmitool sol set volatile-bit-rate 57.6 1 ipmitool sol set enabled true 1 ipmitool sol payload enable 1 2
To connect to the serial over lan console use the following command:
ipmitool -I lanplus -H 10.1.2.3 -U admin -P SecretPassword1 sol activate
The serial console supports some escape sequences, which can be checked by typing ~?
Supported escape sequences: ~. - terminate connection ~^Z - suspend ipmitool ~^X - suspend ipmitool, but don't restore tty on restart ~B - send break ~? - this message ~~ - send the escape character by typing it twice (Note that escapes are only recognized immediately after newline.)
Examples of common operations
- Reseting power over the network
ipmitool -H 10.1.2.3 -U admin -P SecretPassword1 chassis power reset
ipmitool chassis identify
ipmitool sensor
All except serial over lan should work on all servers with IPMI.
Serial over LAN requires IPMI 2.0.