step by step help needed to get ipmi working

[ethereal]

i have had the server for years but i could never get the ipmi to work.
my m/b is Supermicro X9SCL-F

1. do i need static or dhcp?

2. i tried static with these settings -
Station IP 192.168.1.103

Suibnet 255.255.0.0

Gateway 192.168.1.1

on monitor the web user interface is at 192.168.1.102 and 192.168.1.2 the second one was never there before.
i can logon at both addresses in my browser but no ipmi

3. do i need two cables to make my ipmi work. at the moment the at the moment my one cable is plugged into one of my two lan ports.
i have 2 lan and an ipmi.

thanks for your help

 

[GBillR]

1. do i need static or dhcp?

IPMI defaults to DHCP if I recall correctly. Just plug a LAN cable into the IPMI port.

2. i tried static with these settings -
Station IP 192.168.1.103

Suibnet 255.255.0.0

Gateway 192.168.1.1

Where did you set this? In FreeNAS? I have never used the IPMI settings in FreeNAS, and based on what is written in the guide, I don't understand it's purpose... But what the guide does say is that you need to have the IMPI interface connected to your network...

Once you have IPMI working (as in you can connect with a web browser from another machine on your network, you should add whatever the IP address is to the IPMI here in the FreeNAS GUI. Also, I suspect your subnet is incorrect or you have a typo in your post... 255.255.255.0 is probably what you intended.

3. do i need two cables to make my ipmi work. at the moment the at the moment my one cable is plugged into one of my two lan ports.
i have 2 lan and an ipmi.

Yes, unless your MB has some type of failover, which I am not sure, but this should tell you: https://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/C202_C204/MNL-1270.pdf

 

[ThreeDee]

just read the manual on your motherboard .. get that sorted out and go from there .. I guess I'm just echoing what GBillR just posted

 

[Redcoat]

I have 2 X9SCM-F board-based servers - IPMI worked "out of the box" with both.

There is an additional manual for the embedded IPMI which I suggest you get as a useful reference: https://www.supermicro.com/manuals/other/Embedded_BMC_IPMI.pdf

With respect to cables: If you only have one ethernet cable and it's connected to the LAN1 port, the IPMI NIC will be available on that port as well as the LAN1 NIC .

If you use a second cable, attached to the IPMI port, then, after a cold start or a reset, the IPMI NIC will only be available on the IPMI port. This is all described on page 2-5 of the manual I just linked for you. I prefer to use the two cable approach and I think it might be less confusing for you if you do so,.

I'm unsure how you have two IP's through which you can address the GUI. but that's something that can be cleaned up later (when you answer @GBillR's question about where you applied settings and how you did it).

So, for now, leave your router set to hand out IP's (act as a DHCP server) and connect a second cable to your IPMI port. Look in your router's table off assigned interfaces and find the IP address of the new port that has shown up since you connected the new cable. Use that address in your browser to pull up the IPMI login page. The default user name is ADMIN, password is ADMIN.

I you don't see a new IP address in your router, check your BIOS to ensure that BMC Support is enabled (it is by default, but it can be turned off). Your mb manual adresses this on page 4-16.

Ultimately I suggest that you use a static IP for both your FreeNAS box and IPMI, but that can be saved for another day - just ensure that you can get to IPMI first.

 

[ethereal]

I have 2 X9SCM-F board-based servers - IPMI worked "out of the box" with both.

There is an additional manual for the embedded IPMI which I suggest you get as a useful reference: https://www.supermicro.com/manuals/other/Embedded_BMC_IPMI.pdf

With respect to cables: If you only have one ethernet cable and it's connected to the LAN1 port, the IPMI NIC will be available on that port as well as the LAN1 NIC .

If you use a second cable, attached to the IPMI port, then, after a cold start or a reset, the IPMI NIC will only be available on the IPMI port. This is all described on page 2-5 of the manual I just linked for you. I prefer to use the two cable approach and I think it might be less confusing for you if you do so,.

I'm unsure how you have two IP's through which you can address the GUI. but that's something that can be cleaned up later (when you answer @GBillR's question about where you applied settings and how you did it).

So, for now, leave your router set to hand out IP's (act as a DHCP server) and connect a second cable to your IPMI port. Look in your router's table off assigned interfaces and find the IP address of the new port that has shown up since you connected the new cable. Use that address in your browser to pull up the IPMI login page. The default user name is ADMIN, password is ADMIN.

I you don't see a new IP address in your router, check your BIOS to ensure that BMC Support is enabled (it is by default, but it can be turned off). Your mb manual adresses this on page 4-16.

Ultimately I suggest that you use a static IP for both your FreeNAS box and IPMI, but that can be saved for another day - just ensure that you can get to IPMI first.

thanks for help i will follow your advice i will use two cables. thanks also for you tip on using the router to get the ip address of the lan and also the ADMIN ADMIN advice. when i get a chance i will change it from static to dhcp.

the first time - years ago when i was in the ipmi settings i screwed things up so bad i could not connect to the freenas gui. the only way i could get to the gui i set the bios to default settings. since then i have run the server with no ipmi.

hopefully i will get it working with your advice.

 

[Spearfoot]

@ethereal - you asked about this back in July of '20:

IPMI help for a newbie

I had a X9SCL-F motherboard and the IPMI was broken. My server has crashed and failed to start again. I have purchased a new X9SCL-F. The new board should have a functioning IPMI. It has been years since I setup and used an IPMI. Hopefully someone will help me. I thought it would be easy enough...

www.truenas.com

I will make the same suggestion now that I did back then:

• Plug a cable between your X9SCL-F motherboard's IPMI LAN port and your switch.
• Plug another cable between your X9SCL-F motherboard's LAN port and your switch (I assume you already have this installed).
• In the BIOS, configure a static or DHCP IP address for your IPMI LAN connection, as you prefer. I always use a static IP address. If you use a static IP address, make sure it's unique.

If your router/gateway/switch does not provide DHCP services, then you will have to use static IP addresses.

Good luck!

 

[ethereal]

@ethereal - you asked about this back in July of '20:

IPMI help for a newbie

I had a X9SCL-F motherboard and the IPMI was broken. My server has crashed and failed to start again. I have purchased a new X9SCL-F. The new board should have a functioning IPMI. It has been years since I setup and used an IPMI. Hopefully someone will help me. I thought it would be easy enough...

www.truenas.com

I will make the same suggestion now that I did back then:

• Plug a cable between your X9SCL-F motherboard's IPMI LAN port and your switch.
• Plug another cable between your X9SCL-F motherboard's LAN port and your switch (I assume you already have this installed).
• In the BIOS, configure a static or DHCP IP address for your IPMI LAN connection, as you prefer. I always use a static IP address. If you use a static IP address, make sure it's unique.

If your router/gateway/switch does not provide DHCP services, then you will have to use static IP addresses.

Good luck!

i have a new cable and will try getting the ipmi working on tuesday thank you

 

[ethereal]

i used a second cable - static and changed 255.255.0.0 to 255.255.255.0 now the ipmi works.

thanks for everybody's help

 

[Redcoat]

Well done!

If I were you, now I'd work on getting the GUI on a static address too, to give yourself a stable, predictable, server.

 

[ethereal]

Well done!

If I were you, now I'd work on getting the GUI on a static address too, to give yourself a stable, predictable, server.

it is thank you

 

[pschatz100]

I think you must have had network set up issues. There is no need to use a second cable. A single cable into the Lan1 port will be sufficient. However, even with a single cable the IPMI must have its own IP address and networking must be set up properly. The manuals explain this.

Anyway, glad you got it working.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Sometimes it is still preferrable to have a seperate cable and use the designated IPMI port. E.g. I use the first and second regular network port as an lagg and all VLANs over that. While IPMI on e.g. Supermicro boards can use tagged frames, I doubt you will be able to piggyback the LACP port group.

 

[pschatz100]

Sometimes it is still preferrable to have a seperate cable and use the designated IPMI port. E.g. I use the first and second regular network port as an lagg and all VLANs over that. While IPMI on e.g. Supermicro boards can use tagged frames, I doubt you will be able to piggyback the LACP port group.

I don't disagree that there are situations where using the dedicated port makes sense. But, strictly speaking, it is not required. For the majority of users out there who are supporting "simple" systems, a single cable is just fine.