TYAN - FT48B8812 IKVM AST2050 non-functional, workarounds, alternatives

Question

I've bought a FT48B8812 system. It contains an IKVM chipset. However the software is really poor quality. The main things that don't work are:

Supposed to provide SSL web interface - doesn't exist.
Java based Remote console, code-signing expired a year ago.

The reason I chose this system was that I wanted to still be able to access it in the situation where the operating system configuration became messed up - so it's pretty much useless now.

I can reboot the system, great - but can't access the console without driving a couple of hundred miles to the data-center.

Lots of other people must use this system - anyone got a comment?

The following is the error output from Java Web Start

javaws -verbose -nosecurity ./jviewer.jnlp
No User level deployment.properties found.
Starting security dialog thread
java.io.EOFException
    at java.io.DataInputStream.readUnsignedShort(DataInputStream.java:340)
    at java.io.DataInputStream.readUTF(DataInputStream.java:589)
    at java.io.DataInputStream.readUTF(DataInputStream.java:564)
    at sun.security.provider.JavaKeyStore.engineLoad(JavaKeyStore.java:744)
    at sun.security.provider.JavaKeyStore$JKS.engineLoad(JavaKeyStore.java:55)
    at java.security.KeyStore.load(KeyStore.java:1201)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.security.KeyStores.createKeyStoreFromFile(KeyStores.java:369)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.security.KeyStores.getKeyStore(KeyStores.java:135)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.security.KeyStores.getKeyStore(KeyStores.java:114)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.security.KeyStores.getCertKeyStores(KeyStores.java:168)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.security.VariableX509TrustManager.<init>(VariableX509TrustManager.java:93)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.security.VariableX509TrustManager.getInstance(VariableX509TrustManager.java:407)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPRuntime.initialize(JNLPRuntime.java:224)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.Boot.run(Boot.java:174)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.Boot.run(Boot.java:51)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.Boot.main(Boot.java:165)
Using firefox's profiles file: /home/mysteron/.mozilla/firefox/profiles.ini
Found preferences file: /home/mysteron/.mozilla/firefox/chlkb0d8.default/prefs.js
Read 191 entries from Firefox's preferences
JNLP file location: ./jviewer.jnlp
Status: CONNECTED DOWNLOADED STARTED +(CONNECTED DOWNLOADED STARTED) @ /home/mysteron/Downloads/./jviewer.jnlp
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
line: 2 
line: 3 <jnlp spec="1.0+" codebase="https://192.168.21.16/Java" >
line: 4      <information>
line: 5         <title>JViewer</title>
line: 6         <vendor>American Megatrends, Inc.</vendor>
line: 7         <description kind="one-line">JViewer Console Redirection Application</description>
line: 8         <description kind="tooltip">JViewer Console Redirection Application</description>
line: 9         <description kind="short">
line: 10             JViewer enables a user to view the video display of managed server via KVM.  
line: 11             It also enables the user to redirect his local keyboard, mouse for managing the server remotely.
line: 12         </description>
line: 13     </information>
line: 14    <security>
line: 15        <all-permissions/>
line: 16    </security>
line: 17     <resources>
line: 18         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 19         <jar href="release/JViewer.jar"/>
line: 20     </resources>
line: 21     <resources os="Windows" arch="amd64">
line: 22        <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 23        <nativelib href="release/Win64.jar"/>
line: 24     </resources>
line: 25     <resources os="Windows" arch="x86">
line: 26        <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 27        <nativelib href="release/Win32.jar"/>
line: 28     </resources>    
line: 29     <resources os="Linux" arch="x86">
line: 30         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 31         <nativelib href="release/Linux_x86_32.jar"/>
line: 32     </resources>
line: 33     <resources os="Linux" arch="i386">
line: 34         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 35         <nativelib href="release/Linux_x86_32.jar"/>
line: 36     </resources>
line: 37     <resources os="Linux" arch="x86_64">
line: 38         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 39        <nativelib href="release/Linux_x86_64.jar"/>
line: 40     </resources>
line: 41     <resources os="Linux" arch="amd64">
line: 42         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 43         <nativelib href="release/Linux_x86_64.jar"/>
line: 44     </resources>
line: 45     <resources os="Mac OS X" arch="i386">
line: 46         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 47         <nativelib href="release/Mac32.jar"/>
line: 48     </resources>
line: 49     <resources os="Mac OS X" arch="x86_64">
line: 50         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 51         <nativelib href="release/Mac64.jar"/>
line: 52     </resources>
line: 53     <application-desc>
line: 54         <argument>192.168.21.16</argument>
line: 55 <argument>7578</argument>
line: 56 <argument>slGBvTC6DXbWPOWN</argument>
line: 57 <argument>0</argument>
line: 58 <argument>0</argument>
line: 59 <argument>5120</argument>
line: 60 <argument>5123</argument>
line: 61 <argument>255</argument>
line: 62 <argument>EN</argument>
line: 63 <argument>RBS725390tZi76ow1bYFHYem46uxBHnK000</argument>
line: 64 
line: 65     </application-desc>
line: 66 </jnlp>
line: 67 UNIQUEKEY=1326800893352-163177367-file:/home/mysteron/Downloads/./jviewer.jnlp
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
line: 2 
line: 3 <jnlp spec="1.0+" codebase="https://192.168.21.16/Java" >
line: 4      <information>
line: 5         <title>JViewer</title>
line: 6         <vendor>American Megatrends, Inc.</vendor>
line: 7         <description kind="one-line">JViewer Console Redirection Application</description>
line: 8         <description kind="tooltip">JViewer Console Redirection Application</description>
line: 9         <description kind="short">
line: 10             JViewer enables a user to view the video display of managed server via KVM.  
line: 11             It also enables the user to redirect his local keyboard, mouse for managing the server remotely.
line: 12         </description>
line: 13     </information>
line: 14    <security>
line: 15        <all-permissions/>
line: 16    </security>
line: 17     <resources>
line: 18         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 19         <jar href="release/JViewer.jar"/>
line: 20     </resources>
line: 21     <resources os="Windows" arch="amd64">
line: 22        <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 23        <nativelib href="release/Win64.jar"/>
line: 24     </resources>
line: 25     <resources os="Windows" arch="x86">
line: 26        <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 27        <nativelib href="release/Win32.jar"/>
line: 28     </resources>    
line: 29     <resources os="Linux" arch="x86">
line: 30         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 31         <nativelib href="release/Linux_x86_32.jar"/>
line: 32     </resources>
line: 33     <resources os="Linux" arch="i386">
line: 34         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 35         <nativelib href="release/Linux_x86_32.jar"/>
line: 36     </resources>
line: 37     <resources os="Linux" arch="x86_64">
line: 38         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 39        <nativelib href="release/Linux_x86_64.jar"/>
line: 40     </resources>
line: 41     <resources os="Linux" arch="amd64">
line: 42         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 43         <nativelib href="release/Linux_x86_64.jar"/>
line: 44     </resources>
line: 45     <resources os="Mac OS X" arch="i386">
line: 46         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 47         <nativelib href="release/Mac32.jar"/>
line: 48     </resources>
line: 49     <resources os="Mac OS X" arch="x86_64">
line: 50         <j2se version="1.5+"/>
line: 51         <nativelib href="release/Mac64.jar"/>
line: 52     </resources>
line: 53     <application-desc>
line: 54         <argument>192.168.21.16</argument>
line: 55 <argument>7578</argument>
line: 56 <argument>slGBvTC6DXbWPOWN</argument>
line: 57 <argument>0</argument>
line: 58 <argument>0</argument>
line: 59 <argument>5120</argument>
line: 60 <argument>5123</argument>
line: 61 <argument>255</argument>
line: 62 <argument>EN</argument>
line: 63 <argument>RBS725390tZi76ow1bYFHYem46uxBHnK000</argument>
line: 64 
line: 65     </application-desc>
line: 66 </jnlp>
line: 67 UNIQUEKEY=1326800893406-1138262138-file:/home/mysteron/Downloads/./jviewer.jnlp
Acquired shared lock on /tmp/mysteron/netx/locks/netx_running to indicate javaws is running
call privileged method: checkSingleInstanceRunning
           arg: net.sourceforge.jnlp.JNLPFile@1dec1dd
        result: null
New classloader: file:/home/mysteron/Downloads/./jviewer.jnlp
Status: CONNECT STARTED +(CONNECT STARTED) @ /Java/release/JViewer.jar
Status: CONNECT DOWNLOAD STARTED +(DOWNLOAD) @ /Java/release/JViewer.jar
Status: STARTED +(STARTED) @ /Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar
Status: CONNECT STARTED +(CONNECT) @ /Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar
Status: CONNECT DOWNLOAD STARTED +(DOWNLOAD) @ /Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar
Status: CONNECTING DOWNLOAD STARTED +(CONNECTING) -(CONNECT) @ /Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar
Status: CONNECTING DOWNLOAD STARTED +(CONNECTING) -(CONNECT) @ /Java/release/JViewer.jar
All possible urls for location=https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/JViewer.jar state=CONNECTING DOWNLOAD STARTED : [https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/JViewer.jar, https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/JViewer.jar]
All possible urls for location=https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar state=CONNECTING DOWNLOAD STARTED : [https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar, https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar]
Selecting proxy for: https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/JViewer.jar
Selecting proxy for: https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar
Browser selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Browser selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selecting proxy for: socket://192.168.21.16:443
Browser selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selecting proxy for: socket://192.168.21.16:443
Browser selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selecting proxy for: https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/JViewer.jar
Browser selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selecting proxy for: https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar
Browser selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selecting proxy for: socket://192.168.21.16:443
Browser selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selecting proxy for: socket://192.168.21.16:443
Browser selected proxies: [DIRECT]
Selected proxies: [DIRECT]
java.lang.NullPointerException
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.cache.ResourceTracker.initializeResource(ResourceTracker.java:778)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.cache.ResourceTracker.processResource(ResourceTracker.java:611)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.cache.ResourceTracker.access$500(ResourceTracker.java:72)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.cache.ResourceTracker$Downloader$1.run(ResourceTracker.java:1115)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.cache.ResourceTracker$Downloader$1.run(ResourceTracker.java:1113)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.cache.ResourceTracker$Downloader.run(ResourceTracker.java:1113)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:679)
Status: CONNECTING DOWNLOAD ERROR STARTED +(ERROR) @ /Java/release/JViewer.jar
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.cache.ResourceTracker.initializeResource(ResourceTracker.java:778)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.cache.ResourceTracker.processResource(ResourceTracker.java:611)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.cache.ResourceTracker.access$500(ResourceTracker.java:72)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.cache.ResourceTracker$Downloader$1.run(ResourceTracker.java:1115)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.cache.ResourceTracker$Downloader$1.run(ResourceTracker.java:1113)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.cache.ResourceTracker$Downloader.run(ResourceTracker.java:1113)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:679)
Status: CONNECTING DOWNLOAD ERROR STARTED +(ERROR) @ /Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar
JAR https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/JViewer.jar not found. Continuing.
JAR https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar not found. Continuing.
Activate jar: https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/JViewer.jar
Activate native: https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/JViewer.jar
Activate jar: https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar
Activate native: https://192.168.21.16/Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar
Permission added: (java.io.FilePermission /home/mysteron/.icedtea/cache/2/https/192.168.21.16/Java/release/JViewer.jar read)
Permission added: (java.io.FilePermission /home/mysteron/.icedtea/cache/0/https/192.168.21.16/Java/release/Linux_x86_32.jar read)
net.sourceforge.jnlp.LaunchException: Fatal: Initialization Error: Could not initialize application.
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.createApplication(Launcher.java:776)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.launchApplication(Launcher.java:552)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher$TgThread.run(Launcher.java:887)
Caused by: net.sourceforge.jnlp.LaunchException: Fatal: Application Error: Cannot grant permissions to unsigned jars.
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.setSecurity(JNLPClassLoader.java:261)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.<init>(JNLPClassLoader.java:181)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.getInstance(JNLPClassLoader.java:295)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.createApplication(Launcher.java:767)
    ... 2 more
Caused by: 
net.sourceforge.jnlp.LaunchException: Fatal: Application Error: Cannot grant permissions to unsigned jars.
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.setSecurity(JNLPClassLoader.java:261)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.<init>(JNLPClassLoader.java:181)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.getInstance(JNLPClassLoader.java:295)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.createApplication(Launcher.java:767)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.launchApplication(Launcher.java:552)
    at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher$TgThread.run(Launcher.java:887)
Release shared lock on /tmp/mysteron/netx/locks/netx_running
Other instances of netx are running

I've also upgraded it to the latest firmware from the Tyan website. http://tyan.com/support_download_IPMI.aspx?model=B.FT48B8812 — Bryan Hunt, Jan 17 '12 at 12:32

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 17 '12 at 13:23

1

First of all, I'd try to access the IPKVM page using IE, on a windows desktop with Java installed - lots of these systems are not really Linux friendly unfortunately.

Besides, since it's a new system, you should have support - have you contacted the hardware vendor or Tyan directly?

answered Jan 17 '12 at 13:23

dyasny

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I'm an administrator, we do high-performance web services, we don't run any Windows here, besides which it was written in Java and has been built to run on a variety of platforms. The problem is caused by an out of date code signing certificate which expired in 2011, despite me updating the IPMI firmware to a version released the same year. – Bryan Hunt Jan 17 '12 at 15:30
Sometimes muppets have answers ready at hand, especially when an issue is common. Looking at the actual traceback, I would try and find a way to run a javaws app without checking the signature at all (maybe icedtea or something in openjdk or sun-java can be tweaked enough for that?). If you're really desperate for IPKVM (and I can't blame you there) then you could just buy a cheap IPKVM separately, and use the built-in module for IPMI (read power management) only – dyasny Jan 17 '12 at 15:56
Have tried running javaws -nosecurity ./jviewer.jnlp. Above script output is from it. – Bryan Hunt Jan 17 '12 at 16:55
Yeah, wondering if anyone is recommending a particular IPKVM switch? I don't want to get burned twice. – Bryan Hunt Jan 17 '12 at 16:56
Intel are building this stuff into the BIOS for new machines, my guess is, given the state of the competition they are going to mop up. Their implementation will also run with an open-standards VNC implementation. – Bryan Hunt Jan 17 '12 at 16:57
What Intel are building is part of vPro called AMT. It's proprietary and totally unsupported by Linux (you won't find a fence_amt fence agent for example). When it comes to IP-KVMs, you're usually OK trusting Avocent, because most of the enterprise class solutions (DRAC, RSA, IMM etc), afaik are simply Avocent rebranded. I would really have just replaced Tyan with something of a more prominent brand, with a native IPKVM and IPMI card, but I'm not sure that would be an option for you – dyasny Jan 17 '12 at 18:39
The VPro/AMT combination involves an Intel partnership with RealVNC, my understanding is that it uses open-standards and will be accessible using a Linux native client. Thanks for the Avocent tip. – Bryan Hunt Jan 18 '12 at 13:10
1

http://www.howtogeek.com/56538/how-to-remotely-control-your-pc-even-when-it-crashes vPro/AMT tutorial – Bryan Hunt Jan 18 '12 at 13:15
As I understood it (and I recently researched the validity of AMT for a micro-server lab), the VNC variant used will be proprietary, hence the client will also have to be. As for linux based fencing, it will not be possible at all – dyasny Jan 18 '12 at 13:16
thanks for the article, guess I was mistaken about the VNC side of things – dyasny Jan 18 '12 at 13:21
I think it is only the Aster based IPMI/IVKM systems which are (proprietary). I don't fancy the chances for those existing products once Intel introduces this into the marketplace. I love AMD,though, hoping something compelling will be introduced for them... – Bryan Hunt Jan 18 '12 at 13:54

TYAN - FT48B8812 IKVM AST2050 non-functional, workarounds, alternatives

1 Answers1