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How-to setup IPMI SOL for Linux based Dell (and some other) servers

For Fedora/Red Hat/CentOS:

Edit the file /boot/grub/grub.conf, as follows. See the sample file that follows, which shows the changes described in this procedure.
1. Add the following two new lines in the general settings section of the file:

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serial --unit=0 --speed=19200
terminal --timeout=10 serial

2. Append two options to the kernel line:

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kernel …………. console=ttyS#

where ttyS# is dependant on which COM port ...

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Remote-Serial-Console-HOWTO/

Instructions of IPMI Text Console Redirection under Linux

(1) Host A with IPMI BMC installed:
a) BIOS POST:
(i) Enable "Console Redirection" in BIOS Setup.

For example, COM2 / 19.2Kbps / 8N1

(ii) Disable "Enable Console Redirection after POST" in BIOS setup.

b) BOOT LOADER:
(i) For GRUB, add the following TWO lines into /boot/grub/grub.conf, but comment out "splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz"

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serial --unit=1 --speed=19200 --word=8 --parity=no --stop=1
terminal --timeout=10 serial console
#splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz

(ii) Then add "serial console=ttyS1,19200n8" ...

http://ipmiutil.sourceforge.net/docs/UserGuide
http://openipmi.sourceforge.net/IPMI.txt
ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/utility/Supero ... E-IPMI.htm

Links with information related to the IPMI Management Utilities project.

ipmiutil project, sourceforge http://ipmiutil.sourceforge.net (current)
panicsel project, sourceforge http://panicsel.sourceforge.net (old)
IPMI Specification http://www.intel.com/design/servers/ipmi/index.htm
OSDL Carrier Grade Linux http://www.osdl.org/lab_activities/carrier_grade_linux/
Intel imb driver source http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts ... ver*source
Intel imb driver for Windows http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts ...

Sometimes it can be true that ipmitool utility is installed but one can not actually manipulate IPMI device:

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# ipmitool lan print 1
Could not open device at /dev/ipmi0 or /dev/ipmi/0 or /dev/ipmidev/0: No such file or directory
Get Channel Info command failed

First of all check the loaded modules and logs (usually dmesg and messages) whether ipmi is loaded or not:
# lsmod |grep ipmi
ipmi_devintf 13129 0
ipmi_si 42829 0
ipmi_msghandler 39537 2 ...

IPMI update instructions for Supermicro X7DVL:

1. Download firmware update on your local PC:

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wget "ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/CDR-SIMIPMI_1.13_for_SIM_IPMI/Firmware/SIMxx/ugsim160.bin"

2. Print and backup current IPMI settings:

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ipmitool lan print

3. Disable IPMI driver (OpenIPMI or FreeIPMI) on the server and keep it so during the process of firmware update:

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/etc/init.d/ipmi stop
/etc/init.d/ipmievd stop

4. Log into IPMI web interface.
5. Go to the tab 'Maintenance' and click on 'Firmware Update'.
6. Click on the button 'Enter Update Mode'. ...

IPMI

The Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) specification defines a set of common interfaces to a computer system which system administrators can use to monitor system health and manage the system. Several dozen companies support IPMI. Dell, HP, Intel Corporation and NEC Corporation announced IPMI v1.0 on 1998-09-16, v1.5 on 2001-03-01, and v2.0 on 2004-02-14.

IPMI operates independently of the operating system (OS) and allows administrators to manage a system remotely even in the absence ...

With Ubuntu/Debian, the IPMITOOL script seems to have an error with DRAC3, which doesn't work the KCS module.
Here are some instructions that worked for Ubuntu, or might be required for newer versions of Debian on machines with a DRAC3 card:

1. Install IPMI

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apt-get install ipmitool
/usr/share/ipmitool/ipmi.init.basic

If this throws an error as follows ...

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Setting up OpenIPMI driver...
FATAL: Module ipmi_kcs_drv not found.

... then make a new file for debian/ubuntu:

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vi /usr/share/ipmitool/ipmi.init.basic

...