SOL White Paper

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White Paper Serial Over LAN (SOL) for

EPSD Server Hardware

1. Introduction

Serial over LAN (SOL) is a mechanism that enables redirection of serial character stream from UART

(Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter aka Serial Port) to a LAN using IPMI RMCP+ session on

a managed server. It provides a means to manage a server remotely by using a command-line

interface (CLI) over a Telnet or Secure Shell (SSH) connection. SOL provides console redirection for

both BIOS as well as the server operating system [text based]. The advantages of SOL include the

following:

• Remote administration without keyboard, video, or mouse (for example, headless servers)

• Reduced cabling by removing the need for a serial connector

• Standard Telnet interface that eliminates the need for special client software

With SOL console redirection system administrators can remotely view the text-based console on

their remote managed servers from anywhere and perform any task that doesn't require a GUI. Some

applications of SOL include:

• Install or reconfigure the OS and run utilities by accessing the Linux* serial console.

• Remote access to Emergency Management Services (EMS) or Special Administration Console

(SAC) for Windows* to remotely view the boot, operating system loader or emergency

management consoles

• Configure BIOS setup options remotely

• Remotely view the EFI console and hence run EFI commands on a remote system.

Thus, SOL out-of-band remote console can be used from any location to diagnose and repair problems

- eliminating the need to physically go to a system. Such access can work within a domain or across

firewalls assuming that UDP (Universal Datagram Protocol) packets are permitted.

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Summary of content (16 pages)

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White Paper 1. Serial Over LAN (SOL) for EPSD Server Hardware Introduction Serial over LAN (SOL) is a mechanism that enables redirection of serial character stream from UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter aka Serial Port) to a LAN using IPMI RMCP+ session on a managed server. It provides a means to manage a server remotely by using a command-line interface (CLI) over a Telnet or Secure Shell (SSH) connection.
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. Overview of SOL SOL is based on RMCP (Remote Management and Control Protocol) request-response protocol delivered using UDP to port 623. SOL needs firmware running on the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC), and client software running on a management workstation and/or central network proxy to work.
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4. System Configuration to Enable SOL Redirection The following section provides step by step instructions to configure BIOS and BMC firmware, and enable SOL using Intel® Deployment Assistant or the Intel® System Configuration Utility. In addition, the BMC can be accessed by any standard, off-the-shelf terminal or terminal emulator utilities such as open source IPMItool or IPMI Utility that allows access to sensor status information, and power controls.
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.2 BMC Firmware Configuration Along with the BIOS configuration, the firmware in the BMC has to be configured for Out-of-band [OOB] communication over LAN Setting Users and Enabling SOL. Following are the BMC settings that can be done using either the Intel® Deployment Assistant or the Intel® System Configuration Utility.
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4.2.2 Enabling and Configuring LAN Channel using Intel® Deployment Assistant Following steps use the Intel® Deployment Assistant (IDA) to set the LAN channel, User, and SOL settings on the BMC, and are an alternative to the previous section. 1.
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2. In the “Edit User Data” pop-up window, you can enable the selected user account and assign user privileges to this user. Make sure to select “Change Username and Password” and enter password/confirm password, then click OK. 3. Using Intel® Deployment Assistant to configure SOL: • Select the “Enable Serial over LAN” option along with the LAN configuration option in the LAN Channel configuration page. This enables the SOL configuration.
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5. Using Intel® Management Module Command Line Interface (DPCCLI) and DPCProxy utility for SOL DPCProxy utility runs a background service in Windows* or as a daemon for Linux*. It can either be installed on the management console or in a centralized server. Serial over LAN mode requires a telnet session from the managing console to the Network Proxy [DPCProxy], regardless of which operating system (Windows® or Linux*) you are running on either system.
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• Monitor the managed system BIOS boot up screen via Serial Over Lan (SOL): Press “F2” go to BIOS menu and select “Discard Changes and Exit” as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3: BIOS menu screen under SOL 7. Configuring Windows Server 2003* to support SOL When you connect to the BMC using the DPCCLI, you can remotely control the text console. With SOL this also includes operating systems such as Windows Server 2003* and Linux*.
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To exit SOL and return to the SMBridge prompt, press the tilde key and the period key (that is, ~.). For more information, see: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/WindowsServ/2003/standard/proddocs/en -us/EMS_SAC_commands.asp To enable EMS on a Windows Server 2003*, do the following: 1. Log in to Windows* as an administrator. 2. Launch a command prompt and enter the command bootcfg, as shown in Figure 4. Figure 4: Windows* EMS screen • • Examine the output.
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• Reissue the bootcfg command to see the result. The changes in the example are highlighted. Figure 5. EMS Setting Results • Reboot the server to have the changes take affect. Note: To turn EMS off again, issue the following command: bootcfg /ems off /id 1 where 1 is the boot entry you have modified in the above steps. Reboot to bring the changes online.
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• • Once you have rebooted and engaged the DPCCLI console, you will see the EMS console. You can now issue the various SAC commands described in above Table. For example, to start a command prompt, the commands are as follows. Tip: After you start the DPCCLI console, if you only get a blank screen, press Enter a few times to get the SAC> prompt. Figure 6.
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• • • 8. To close the command prompt channel, enter exit. To leave the channel open and return to the SAC prompt, press Esc+Tab+0 (the number zero key), three keys in sequence. To leave the remote console and return to DPCCLI press tilde+period (that is, ~.) Configuring Linux* to support SOL You must configure Linux* to expose the Linux initialization (booting) process via SOL. This enables users to log in to the Linux console through an SOL session and directs output to the serial console.
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• • • • • The following action is to enable Linux boot procedure to be displayed also in SOL console by adding “console=ttyS1,115200n” Add the following comment line before the first title line: title SUSE Linux* Enterprise Server 10 SP2 SOL Session Append SOL Monitor to the first title line.
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• Restart Linux Page 14 5/26/2010
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9. Role of BIOS in SOL During POST, BIOS quarries the BMC for the SOL status. If SOL is found active then BIOS forces the console on SOL serial port. BIOS also auto enables redirection of DOS, Linux* shell, Windows* SAC on to the serial port. BMC acts as a bridge between serial data coming from SOL port and the network proxy. BMC picks up the data on serial port and converts them into RMCP+ LAN packets so that the SOL proxy can decode the packets and display the serial data on remote telnet console.
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Disclaimers Information in this document is provided in connection with Intel® products. No license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual property rights is granted by this document.