Use the IPMI BMC configuration page to customize settings
for communicating with IPMI-enabled devices. The features described
below are available for in-band devices; if a device is out of
band, only the power configuration and BMC user settings are
available.
CAUTION: It is
strongly recommended that you do not change IPMI settings unless
you are familiar with the IPMI specification and understand the related
technologies involved in these settings. Improper use of these
configuration options may prevent Management Suite from successfully
communicating with IPMI-enabled devices.
The following configuration options are available:
IPMI provides an interface for the BMC watchdog timer. This
timer can be set to expire periodically, and is configured to
initiate certain actions if it expires (such as power cycling).
Management Suite is
configured to reset the timer periodically so it does not expire;
if the device becomes unavailable (for example, it is powered down
or hangs), the timer is not reset and it then expires, which
initiates the action.
You can specify how much time to allow before the timer expires
and select an action to perform if it does expire. You can choose
to take no action, do a hard reset (shut down and restart of the
device), power down the device gracefully, or run a power cycle
(power down gracefully and then start up again).
You can also set the BMC to stop broadcasting ARP (Address
Resolution Protocol) messages while the watchdog timer is enabled,
which can reduce the amount of network traffic being generated. If
you suspend ARPs, they will automatically resume if the watchdog
timer expires.
To change watchdog timer settings
In the Management Suite network view,
right-click the IPMI device and select Real-time inventory and
monitoring.
In the left navigation pane of the real-time
inventory console, click Hardware configuration.
Expand IPMI BMC configuration and click
Watchdog timer.
Select
Turn on the watchdog timer to enable the timer.
Specify the frequency of checking the timer (number
of minutes or seconds).
Select an action to initiate when the watchdog timer
expires.
If you want the BMC to stop broadcasting ARP messages
while the watchdog timer is enabled, select
Suspend BMC ARPs.
Click Apply.
If you have changed the watchdog timer settings, you
can revert to the default settings by clicking Restore
defaults.
Changing power configuration settings
When power is lost on an IPMI-enabled computer, you can specify
what action should be taken when power is restored. We recommend
that you restore the computer to whatever state it was in at the
time power was lost, but you can also choose to keep it powered off
or always power up the computer.
To change power configuration settings
In the Management Suite network view,
right-click the IPMI device and select Real-time inventory and
monitoring.
In the left navigation pane of the server information
console, click Hardware configuration.
Expand IPMI BMC configuration and click
Power configuration.
Select an option for when power is restored.
Click Apply.
If you have changed the power configuration settings,
you can revert to the default settings by clicking Restore
defaults.
Changing BMC user settings
Management Suite
authenticates to a BMC with a user name/password combination that
is unique to the BMC (separate from any other Management Suite user names).
Management Suite
reserves the first user name so it can always communicate with the
BMC. If the BMC allows other user names to be defined, you can
define user names with passwords for BMC authentication.
You can also specify privilege levels for each user. For
advanced IMMs, you can specify protocol privilege levels (telnet,
http, and https) for each channel.
CAUTION: Use extreme
caution when making changes to these settings. Erroneous settings
can disable the device's BMC communication with this product.
To change BMC user settings
In the Management Suite network view,
right-click the IPMI device and select Real-time inventory and
monitoring.
In the left navigation pane of the server information
console, click Hardware configuration.
Expand IPMI BMC configuration and click
User settings.
To clear the data for a user name, click the index
number and click Clear.
To add or change a username, click the index number
and click Edit.
Type a user name.
To set a password, select the Set password
check box, then type the password and confirm it.
Select the privilege levels for LAN and serial
access.
Click Save changes.
Changing the BMC password
Management Suite
authenticates to a device's BMC using the default user name (user 1
and password). You can't change the user name but you can change
its password. When you change this password setting, the change is
saved in the database and on the BMC.
To change the default BMC password
In the Management Suite network view,
right-click the IPMI device and select Real-time inventory and
monitoring.
In the left navigation pane of the server information
console, click Hardware configuration.
Expand IPMI BMC configuration and click
Password.
Type the new password and then confirm it.
Click Apply.
Changing LAN configurations
IPMI messages can be carried directly from the BMC over a LAN
interface in addition to the device's system interface. Enabling
LAN communication allows the core server to receive IPMI-specific
alerts even if the device is powered down. The core server
maintains this communication as long as the device has a physical
network connection with a valid network address, and as long as the
device's main power remains connected.
CAUTION: If you
choose to set a custom configuration for LAN or serial
communication to the BMC, use extreme caution when making changes
to the settings. Erroneous settings can disable the device's BMC
communication with this product.
If you have a LAN channel defined, you can use the default
settings for the device's BMC, or you can change the IP address and
gateway settings. Use these options to configure destinations for
the SNMP traps sent by the BMC for each platform event trap (PET)
event.
You can also change SNMP community string settings for sending
alerts over LAN. When configuring these settings, you must specify
the SNMP community string used for SNMP authentication. For each
configuration, you can edit the trap destination information to
specify where and how traps are sent, and whether they are
acknowledged.
To set properties for LAN channel configuration
In the Management Suite network view,
right-click the IPMI device and select Real-time inventory and
monitoring.
In the left navigation pane of the server information
console, click Hardware configuration.
Expand IPMI BMC configuration and click LAN
configuration.
Select Always available in the LAN
communication list to keep access to the BMC open. If you select
Disabled you will not have LAN access to the BMC when the
device is out of band.
Select the User privilege level for the
channel: Administrator-level has access to all commands,
while User-level is limited to read-only access (you will
have a restricted feature set if you select User-level).
Select Permanently turn off BMC ARPs to turn
off Address Resolution Protocol messages from the BMC. This reduces
network traffic but can prevent communication with the BMC when the
device is out of band.
Select Turn off ARP responses to stop the BMC
from sending ARP message responses when the OS is not available. If
you enable this setting you might prevent communication with the
BMC when the device is out of band.
IP settings for the LAN channel are automatically set
if the BMC is in sync with the OS channel. If not, the check box
under the IP settings tab is selected. You can leave the box
selected to use DHCP settings provided automatically, or you can
clear the check box and edit the text fields with static settings.
It is generally preferable to use automatic settings.
Click the Send alerts over LAN tab to
configure SNMP community string settings (see details below).
Click Apply to save your changes.
NOTE: If you click
the Restore defaults button on this page, the settings under
the Properties for LAN channel heading are reset to their
default values, but other settings on the page are not changed. If
you change any data on the IP settings tab and click
Apply, you would need to manually reset those settings.
To change Send alerts over LAN properties
Open the LAN
configuration page (steps 1-3 above).
Click the Send alerts over
LAN tab.
Select the Enabled check
box to enable sending SNMP alerts.
Specify the SNMP community
string to be used for SNMP authentication.
To configure the trap
destinations, double-click the index number to open a
Properties dialog box.
Select Enable this alert
destination. Specify the IP address to which the BMC will send
alerts, as well as the corresponding MAC address.
Specify the number of times to
retry, how frequently to retry, and the preferred gateway to
use.
If you want the alerts to be
acknowledged (which increases the amount of network traffic that is
generated), select the Acknowledge alerts check box.
Click OK.
At the LAN configuration page,
click Apply when all settings are complete.
Changing Serial Over LAN (SOL
configurations)
Use SOL (Serial Over LAN) configuration options to customize
serial modem settings for special uses, such as redirecting BIOS
POST messages to the serial port. If the BMC is required to dial
out over a modem connection, specific modem settings such as
initialization strings and dial strings must also be specified.
For serial modem operation, you may need to configure the device
board's BIOS and jumper settings. See the documentation for the
particular device for details.
CAUTION: If you
choose to set custom configuration for LAN or serial communication
to the BMC, use extreme caution when making changes to the
settings. Erroneous settings can disable the device's BMC
communication with this product.
To change SOL configuration settings
In the Management Suite network view,
right-click the IPMI device and select Real-time inventory and
monitoring.
In the left navigation pane of the server information
console, click Hardware configuration.
Expand IPMI BMC configuration and click SOL
configuration.
Select Turn on Serial-over-LAN communications
to enable SOL.
Select the minimum User level required to activate
SOL.
Select the Baud rate for SOL sessions that is
appropriate to the device's hardware configuration.
Click Apply.
Changing IMM configurations
The IMM configuration page is displayed only for IPMI
devices that are equipped with an advanced IMM add-in card. The
options on this page let you enable or disable protocols and
features for use with the IMM-enabled device. Consult the
manufacturer's documentation for the IMM before you make changes to
these settings.
To change IMM configuration settings
In the Management Suite network view,
right-click the IPMI device and select Real-time inventory and
monitoring.
In the left navigation pane of the server information
console, click Hardware configuration.
Expand IPMI BMC configuration and click IMM
configuration.
Select the check boxes for protocols and features
that you want to enable, and add any settings that are required.
Available options include: