Obsolete:IPMI
You might be looking for...
Nowadays see: Management Interfaces, Platform-specific documentation.
If you are looking to manage the Dell C2100 hosts (the only ones with which we use IPMI), see Dell_PowerEdge_C2100 instead or log into sockpuppet and check out RobH's tool /usr/local/sbin/ipmi_mgmt.
orig page
Note: IPMI on srv121-145 has been disabled.
In General
IPMI is how we remotely manage our servers at the lower levels. It allows things like startups, shutdowns, sensors, and serial console access. All servers that have IPMI cards have an ip according to Management IPs. The username is always ADMIN and the password is always ADMIN.
Initial Setup
- Take any server, insert the SuperMicro IPMI cd, reboot.
- Choose "IPMI 2.0" -> "RCMP" -> "H8DAR-T Rev. 2.0 or later" (On the third page).
- After its done flashing, run ipnmac.exe. Type in the ip address you want for the interface. And retype the MAC.
Controlling A Server
The GUI way
java -jar IPMIview.jar
IPMIview is pretty self explainitory.
The CLI way
use SuperMicro's provided ipmicli. There is also a 64 bit version available.
- ./ipmicli
- open (ip address)
- (Type help for all available commands)
IPMI tool
Ipmitool can be used to configure and use the IPMI cards. We need version 1.8.8 or later.
The IPMI card can be used from the host machine itself, or from the network. To use the card from the host machine, the IPMI drivers from a recent 2.6 kernel are required. We use 2.6.17.3 with good results.
Initial configuration needs to be done from the host machine, because the network settings need to be sensible before network access is possible.
Our machines are made by Supermicro, which means that the IPMI ethernet controller is actually a separate ethernet controller that shares one of the onboard network sockets. As a consequence, the IPMI interface needs to have a separate IP and MAC address from the onboard ethernet controller the OS sees.
The wire is shared with the first NIC on the mb, which has the lowest MAC address. The NIC is also marked as eth1 in the back of the machine. It's the left one if you stand behind the machine.
IPMI_PASSWORD=<yourpassword> ./ipmitool -H <ipmi_box_ip> -I lan -U ADMIN -E lan print
SOL: bios is set to COM2, 19200n8
IPMI_PASSWORD=<yourpassword> ./ipmitool -H <ipmi_box_ip> -I lanplus -U ADMIN -E sol activate
Error: Unable to establish IPMI v2 / RMCP+ session Error: No response activating SOL payload
This is an ipmitool v1.8.8/v1.8.9rc1 problem. With the ipmicli tool from supermicro, remote serial just works. There is a caveat: after the bios is done, and hands over to grub, you won't see the 'press any key...' prompt because of redrawing issues. Just press a key for the grub menu!
Cheat sheet
To check status for, say, srv145:
IPMI_PASSWORD=ADMIN ipmitool -I lan -H 10.1.2.145 -U ADMIN -E chassis status
To reboot it:
IPMI_PASSWORD=ADMIN ipmitool -I lan -H 10.1.2.145 -U ADMIN -E chassis power cycle
To turn it off (warning -- can't turn it back on remotely!)
IPMI_PASSWORD=ADMIN ipmitool -I lan -H 10.1.2.145 -U ADMIN -E chassis power off
Hardware
Our servers use an add-in card. And for the servers with dedicated ethernet ports, they use a riser. All of the 64 bit machines can use the same cards.
Hosts using it
Some Toolserver boxes still use it; this link might not be too out of date: Toolserver/Use the SP for remote control