Q01What is an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)?
SuperMicro’s Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IMPI) is SuperMicro’s version of a ‘Remote Management’ tool. Remote management tools have been developed to enable their users to have greater administrative control over their devices remotely.
SuperMicro’s IPMI is a hardware and software component which exist on most SuperMicro rack-mount servers. If you request to have Remote Management installed on your server, and your server is a SuperMicro server, it will be configured with IPMI.
When IPMI is configured on a SuperMicro, the user can access the IPMI remotely through a web-based GUI portal, through a dedicated IPv4 address configured on the IPMI. Once you have accessed and logged in to a server’s IPMI control panel, you can use the IPMI portal to check the current status of your server and its hardware, to run operations/tasks on your server, and to start a Remote Console.
We encourage our clients to order Remote Management with their server (thus IMPI with a SuperMicro server), as it allows the device’s administrator to check the status of their hardware and as it can be used to identify hardware related issues. SuperMicro’s IPMI also allows the device’s administrator to be able to start a remote console at any time; providing the user greater control over their device, 24/7, and replaces the need for KVMoIP devices.
Please note that the IPMI component is unique to SuperMicro servers, so IPMI is only available on our SuperMicro servers. Servers manufactured by other companies use other forms of remote management, similar to IMPI. Some other examples include iLO for HPE ProLiant servers and iDRAC for Dell EMC PowerEdge servers. This means that the form of remote management provided depends on the make and model of the server.
If you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
Q02How do I access IPMI?
When an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IMPI) is configured on a SuperMicro server, the IPMI is accessed through any compatible web-browser, using the IPMI’s dedicated configured IPv4 address. As long as there are no firewall rules associated with the IPMI’s connection or IPv4 address, or as long as the firewall rules are configured to allow you to access the IPMI from your device, you should be able to access the IPMI remotely on your home/work computer, or on another device configured within the same network as the server. Simply enter the IPMI’s configured IPv4 Address into your web-browser’s URL box.
If you are presented with any security warnings, you should be able to proceed beyond them. You should now be presented with the SuperMicro IPMI control panel login screen. You can now enter the Username and Password for the IPMI, and then press Submit. If the IPMI connection has recently been configured on your device by one of our technicians, you will be able to find the credentials of the IPMI in the MyServers panel, in the Credentials section of the IS page for the server, under the name of LOM/https.
Once you have entered the credentials and pressed submit, you will be presented with the IPMI’s control panel home page. You can now use the IPMI to check the health of your server and the device’s hardware, to run operations/tasks on the server, or to start a virtual console. We would recommend familiarising yourself with the control panel and the configuration of the server, once you have logged in to it for the first time, so if an error does occur in future, you already understand how your server should be configured and how to use the IPMI application.
If you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
Q03How do I use IPMI to check my server’s hardware?
One of the main benefits of IPMI is that it allows you to check the current health of your server and allows you to check the current status of your server’s hardware.
Once you have logged into the IPMI portal, to navigate to the section regarding the server’s current status, click on Server Health. You will now see on the left hand side that Sensor Readings, Event Log, and Power Consumption appears. You can use the Sensor Readings and Event Log pages to evaluate the current status of the server and to check for historical issues. First, click on Sensor Readings.
You will now be presents with a list of all the components/services monitored by the system, their status and their readings. You will be able to use the information in this table to determine if any of the components currently have any errors. Please note that the server’s sensor reading page may not always be able to detect the status of the drives within the chassis. In my example below, you can see that the HDD Status reading is Not Present and its status is N/A.
Once you have checked the server’s current health, you should also check the event log of the server. It is good practice to check the event log, as errors that have occurred historically but then cleared will not show in the server health section. To do this, click on Event Log.
You will now be presented with a table that lists all the events, picked up by the server’s sensors, since the server was first powered on or since the event log was last cleared. You should be able to use this table to ascertain whether any components/services have recently developed any errors. Please note that if a component/service is not monitored by the server (e.g. as shown in my earlier example, the server’s drive status was not shown), it will most likely also not be shown in the server’s Event Log.
If an error does appear within either the Server Health or within the Event Log, please feel free to raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help. You can also supply us with a screenshot of where the error appears within IPMI, as this may help our team troubleshoot this issue.
If you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
Q04How do I use IPMI to Start a Virtual Console?
One of the main benefits of having an IPMI configured on your server is that it allows you to stat a Remote Console.
To start a remote console through IPMI, first log in to the control panel. Then press Remote Control, then Console Redirection and then press Launch Console.
A jnlp file will now download. Open the jnlp file.
The IPMI console uses the Java application to work. What happens now depends on your Java version and your Java setup on the PC you are accessing the IPMI on. Depending on the Java settings, a Security Warning box may now appear. If this is the case press Continue. Then an option to run the application may appear; press Run until the remote console starts, accepting any security risks.
The remote console should now start.
If you encountered any security errors, which meant that you could not start the remote console, you may have to add the IPMI’s IP to the list of excepted sites. To do this, follow these instructions:
Open "Configure Java”.
Select the "Security" tab. Then press "Edit Site List" under "Exception Site List".
You now need to add the URL for the IPMI to the exception site list. To do this, first press “Add”. Then type in the URL of your IPMI, which will be the IPMI’s IP address proceeded by “https://” (e.g. https://1.1.1.1).
Once you have done this, you should also add the IPMI’s URL again, however, this time with the http protocol (opposed to https); by pressing “Add” and then entering the IPMI’s IP address proceeded by “http://” (e.g. http://1.1.1.1). When adding an http address, it will bring up a security message as this is a less secure protocol, so you will need to press Continue to proceed.
Once you have entered both exceptions, press OK on the Exception list and then on the Java Control Panel.
If you are still experiencing problems once you have applied the above, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.
If you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.
Q05How do I Use IPMI to Remotely Attach an ISO File?
Another advantage of having IPMI configured on your server is that it allows the user to attach media remotely. One example of when this would be used is to upload an operating system ISO file, to install an operating system remotely, through the IPMI.
To attach an ISO file through IMPI, first login to the IPMI’s control panel and then start a remote console. If you are not sure how to do this, please use our FAQ to find information on how to perform these actions. Now click Virtual Media at the top of the remote console’s screen. Then click on Virtual Storage.
A Virtual Storage window will now appear. To attach an ISO file you now click on CDROM&ISO and then select the ISO File in Logical Drive Type (you can also select Web ISO if you are installing an ISO directly from a website; however, this guide will show you how to upload an ISO file locally stored on your PC).
Now press Open Image. You will now be able to use the Open window to select the ISO file you wish to attach. Navigate through your home/work computer’s files, select the ISO file, and then press Open.
The file’s name and location will now appear under Image File Name and Full Path. Next, press Plug in to attach the file.
You should now see a message appear under connection status history, which shows as “Plug-In OK!!”. You can now press OK.
You have now mapped the virtual media to the server. You should now be able to access this content through the server. If you have attached an ISO to install a new operating system, you should now be able to access this media through the boot menu.
If you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.