5. IPMI Configuration

While IPMI is not required for proper realm functionality, you may wish to use this feature for remote power control, remote sensor monitoring, or the serial-over-LAN console. To use IPMI with your VDURA system, you must first configure it using the ipmi_setup configuration script.

The ipmi_setup script is used to configure baseboard management controllers (BMCs) for remote IPMI access. This script can either be run manually for each BMC you wish to configure or in batch mode to configure multiple units at once. For all valid commands, the BMC is reset to factory defaults before the desired configuration is applied.

Note: A node may go into Non-reconciled state while being configured.

Important: IPMI passwords must meet the following criteria:

• Length of 8 to 20 characters
• Cannot be reverse of username
• Includes characters from at least three of these character classes: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, special characters

Modes

You can choose from three configuration modes for each BMC.

• Static IP: Use ipmi_setup followed by the BMC IP address, netmask, and gateway IP address. The script will then prompt for a new BMC password.
• DHCP: Use ipmi_setup dhcp to automatically configure the BMC for DHCP. The script will then prompt for a new BMC password.
• Factory reset: Use ipmi_setup factory to reset the BMC to its factory default configuration, including the BMC password.

Argument Styles

You can run the script in two different ways.

• Command-line: Enter arguments via the command line. If needed, the script asks for a password to assign to the BMC.
• Batch: Enter the command-line argument batch followed by the path to a batch file you have previously created and copied to all nodes you are modifying. This file must contain one configuration line for each node on which the script is to be run. Each line must start with a node-id that designates what node the line applies to. The node-id can be either the node’s IP address, data serial number, or hardware serial number of the node. After the node-id, the line contains a list of arguments equivalent to the command-line version. For options that require an IPMI password, the password is included in the configuration file in plain text. Since it contains cleartext passwords, the batch file will be deleted after use.

To configure a static IPMI SOL IP address in batch mode, each line must contain the following:

[Node Identifier] [IPMI IP address] [IPMI netmask] [IPMI gateway IP address] [IPMI password]

To configure IPMI SOL to obtain an IP address via DHCP in batch mode, each line must contain the following:

[Node Identifier] dhcp [IPMI password]

To reset the IPMI SOL configuration to the factory default in batch mode, each line must contain the following:

[Node Identifier] factory

Examples

Static IP, command-line: Configure the BMC to use IP address 1.2.3.4, netmask 255.255.255.0, and gateway (router) 1.2.3.255. The script will also prompt for a password to apply to the BMC.

ipmi_setup 1.2.3.4 255.255.255.0 1.2.3.255

DHCP, command-line: Configure the BMC to obtain IP address, netmask, and gateway (router) via DHCP. This configuration requires an appropriately-configured DHCP server on the broadcast domain. As a final step, the script will prompt for a password to apply to the BMC.

ipmi_setup dhcp

Factory reset, command-line: Reset the BMC to its factory default configuration.

ipmi_setup factory

Batch: Configure three nodes using three different modes:

• Node 1: Configure the BMC for static IP using IP address 10.11.12.13 as the node-id.
• Node 2: Configure the BMC for DHCP using data serial number 4a7a2042a1ae36 as the node-id.
• Node 3: Reset the BMC to factory defaults using hardware serial number 42af0001302001001 as the node-id.

Create a batch file containing one line for each node; this example will use /tmp/ipmi_setup.cfg. Note that any type of node_id may be used, and that the desired BMC password is included for each node if the command requires it.

10.11.12.13 1.2.3.4 255.255.255.0 1.2.3.255 password1
4a7a2042a1ae36 dhcp password2
42af0001302001001 factory

Use scp to copy /tmp/ipmi_setup.cfg to all three nodes:

diag_exec " scp root@[director IP address]:/tmp/ipmi_setup.cfg /tmp" all

Note that director IP address above is the address of the node where you created the config file:

diag_exec " scp root@192.168.52.10:/tmp/ipmi_setup.cfg /tmp" all

After all nodes have the configuration file, run ipmi_setup on all nodes to be configured. To run the command in the background simultaneously on the nodes, use an ampersand (&):

diag_exec -timeout 600 "ipmi_setup batch /tmp/ipmi_setup.cfg &" all

When run, ipmi_setup will read the batch file, find the specified configuration for each node, and apply it.

Once finished, you should verify that all nodes have been configured successfully. If any node(s) failed, either re-run ipmi_setup with just the failed node(s) or manually run ipmi_setup on the affected node(s).