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Been trying to configure remote access and IPMI on this server, but the BIOS inexplicably does not have a space to configure an IP address. The screen shots in the manual show spaces for putting in the IP Address settings, and intuitively, they should be on this screen (Lan Settings menu).

Anyone run into a situation like this? I feel like there may be something off with the configuration elsewhere or perhaps even a jumper cable on the motherboard that needs to be adjusted?

More information

  • This is from a Supermicro board: X8DTT-F

enter image description here

This is the screen shot from the manual: enter image description here

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Chris Dutrow
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    Try looking for different LAN / IP settings on other pages in the BIOS. I think some settings disable the one you're trying to change. Also: what brand is the IPMI-card / mainboard? For some of them there exist tools to configure your IP etc. from the command line ([this](http://www.supermicro.com/solutions/SMS_IPMI.cfm) one for Supermicro, for example) – Lenniey Apr 12 '16 at 07:08
  • @Lenniey - This is from Supermicro board: X8DTT-F. I also added this information to the question, I should have included that originally. – Chris Dutrow Apr 12 '16 at 17:07
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    Are you able to change the channel number? 01 could refer to the onboard default NIC, maybe you have to change it to 03 by using the + key – Lenniey Apr 13 '16 at 08:33
  • @Lenniey - No, that option was not editable, the only thing in the options that was editable was the static/DHCP option. – Chris Dutrow Apr 13 '16 at 18:28
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    In the Supermicro X8 motherboards, the BIOS does not always have an option to configure the BMC. In those old servers, IPMI & the BIOS were not always well integrated, and the level of integration was pretty variable across their product lines. Supermicro may have used 2-3 different BMCs from different vendors across the X8 product line, and Supermicro's support was *very* sloppy. This situation improved with the X9 motherboards. – Stefan Lasiewski Apr 13 '16 at 18:47
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    @Stefan Lasiewski - Thanks so much for your response. This added context is super helpful and now I understand a lot more about what I'm working with. – Chris Dutrow Apr 13 '16 at 23:49
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    That generation of Supermicro's IPMI had many security vulnerabilities (See https://community.rapid7.com/community/metasploit/blog/2013/07/02/a-penetration-testers-guide-to-ipmi , & look under https://www.google.com/search?q=supermicro+ipmi+security ), and IIRC Supermicro only patched some of them, and didn't think it was worth it to patch all of the problems. Make absolutely sure that the BMC is on a private, secure network. See [Supermicro's BMC Security Best Practices](https://www.supermicro.com/products/nfo/files/IPMI/Best_Practices_BMC_Security.pdf). – Stefan Lasiewski Apr 14 '16 at 15:58

1 Answers1

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I was not able to edit this information in the BIOS, instead I installed CentOS 7, then did this:

Install ipmi tool

yum install ipmitool

load ipmi modules I still don't fully understand why I had to load the ipmitools modules separately here:

modprobe ipmi_devintf
modprobe ipmi_msghandler
modprobe ipmi_si
modprobe ipmi_poweroff

Configure IPMI using ipmitool instead of through the BIOS

ipmitool lan set 1 ipsrc static            # <-- Set static IP address instead of DHCP
ipmitool lan set 1 ipaddr <ip_address>     #<-- Put the ip address you want it to have here, probably a local one like 10.x.x.x or 192.168.x.x
ipmitool lan set 1 netmask <network mask>  #<-- Set your netmask here (like 255.255.0.0) 
ipmitool lan set 1 defgw ipaddr <gateway> #<-- Set your gateway here (something like 10.1.1.1 or 192.168.1.1)
ipmitool lan set 1 access on
ipmitool user set name 5 <username>        #<-- Set user name for IPMI
ipmitool user set password 5 <password>    #<-- set password

At this point, you should be able to access the IPMI through a web browser:

enter image description here

Chris Dutrow
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    Great you found an answer :) But be careful: I worked with different SM boards (x7/8/9/10) and their IPMIs, and on some of the older ones the configuration via ipmitool didn't stick. After 2-3 "reconfigurations" everything was stable. – Lenniey Apr 14 '16 at 07:31