Installation Manual

Using a text-based Remote Console
iLO supports a true text-based Remote Console. Video information is obtained from the server,
and the contents of the video memory are sent to the iLO management processor, compressed,
encrypted, and forwarded to the management client application. iLO uses a screen-frame buffer
that sends the characters (including screen positioning information) to text-based client
applications. This method ensures compatibility with standard text-based clients, good
performance, and simplicity. However, you cannot display non-ASCII or graphical information,
and screen positioning information (displayed characters) might be sent out of order.
iLO uses the video adapter DVO port to access video memory directly. This method increases
iLO performance significantly. However, the digital video stream does not contain useful text
data, and text-based client applications such as SSH cannot render this data.
There are two text-based console options, as described in the following sections:
• “Using the iLO Virtual Serial Port” (page 224)
• “Text-based Remote Console (Textcons)” (page 228)
Using the iLO Virtual Serial Port
You can access a text-based console from iLO using a standard license and the iLO Virtual Serial
Port.
The iLO Virtual Serial Port is one type of iLO text-based remote console. The iLO Virtual Serial
Port gives you a bidirectional data flow with a server serial port. Using the remote console, you
can operate as if a physical serial connection exists on the remote server serial port.
The iLO Virtual Serial Port is displayed as a text-based console, but the information is rendered
through graphical video data. iLO displays this information through an SSH client when the server
is in a pre-operating-system state, enabling a nonlicensed iLO system to observe and interact
with the server during POST.
By using the iLO Virtual Serial Port, the remote user can perform operations such as the following:
• Interact with the server POST sequence and the operating system boot sequence.
IMPORTANT: To start iLO RBSU during a Virtual Serial Port session, enter the key
combination ESC+8.
To start the UEFI System Utilities during a Virtual Serial Port session, enter the key
combination ESC+9.
• Establish a login session with the operating system, interact with the operating system; and
execute and interact with applications on the operating system.
• For an iLO system running Linux in a graphical format, you can configure getty() on the
server serial port, and then use the iLO Virtual Serial Port to view a login session to the Linux
OS. For more information, see “Configuring the iLO Virtual Serial Port for Linux” (page 226).
• Use the EMS Console through the iLO Virtual Serial Port. EMS is useful for debugging
Windows boot issues and kernel-level issues. For more information, see “Windows EMS
Console with iLO Virtual Serial Port” (page 227).
Configuring the iLO Virtual Serial Port in the host system RBSU
The following procedure describes the settings you must configure before you can use the iLO
Virtual Serial Port. This procedure is required for both Windows and Linux systems.
This procedure is for systems that support the legacy system RBSU. For systems that support
the UEFI System Utilities, see “Configuring the iLO Virtual Serial Port in the UEFI System Utilities”
(page 225).
1. Optional: If you access the server remotely, start an iLO remote console session.
224 Using the iLO Remote Consoles