Embedded Lights Out Manager Overview

C H A P T E R 1

This chapter serves as an overview to the Embedded Lights Out Manager (ELOM). It contains the following sections:

Embedded Lights Out Manager Features

ELOM Common Tasks.

Embedded Lights Out Manager Default Settings.

Embedded Lights Out Manager Features

Embedded Lights Out Manager provides a dedicated system of hardware and supporting software that allows you to manage your Sun server independently of the operating system.

This management system is comprised of a system on a chip that includes the following:

Service processor (SP) -This is the hardware that consists of a dedicated processor that communicates through the system serial port. The SP can also communicate through an Ethernet port that is shared with the OS.

Note - Throughout this document the terms SP and BMC (baseboard management controller) are used interchangeably. In some instances, the user interface refers to BMC. SP is the preferred term.

Embedded server management software - This is embedded software running on the SP.

Command line interface (CLI) - The command-line interface is a dedicated software application that enables you to operate the SP and associated software using keyboard commands. You can use the command-line interface to send commands to the SP. You can connect a terminal or emulator directly to the system serial port or connect over the Ethernet using a Secure Shell (SSH).

To log in to and use the CLI, see Chapter 8.

Web-based interface - The web-based interface provides a powerful, yet easy-to-use web browser interface that allows you to log in to the SP, and perform system management, monitoring, and certain IPMI tasks. For instructions on how to use the web-based interface, see Chapter 3 and Chapter 4.

Remote Console/Java Client - The Java Client supports the remote console functionality, which allows you to access your server’s graphical display remotely across the network, as if you were physically located there. It redirects the keyboard, mouse, and video screen, and can redirect input and output from the local machine’s CD and diskette drives. It can also redirect ISO images of the media for these devices; that is, it can create virtual devices based on media images.

For instructions on how to use the remote console, see Chapter 6.

You do not need to install additional hardware or software to begin managing your Sun Fire X2100 M2 or Sun Fire X2200 M2 server with the Embedded Lights Out Manager.

Embedded LOM also supports industry-standard IPMI and SNMP management interfaces.

Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) v2.0 - Using remote toolsets, such as the command line ipmitool (supplied with Solaris 10 and most Linux distributions, and also supplied on the tools and drivers CD), remote users can securely interrogate the server and carry out simple configuration changes over the network (power on, off, reset and so on). They can also access the Serial stream from the server.

Secure Shell (SSH) v2.0 - Using conventional ssh connectivity, you can remotely access the CLI of the service processor, and interact with the industry standard DMTF SMASH Command Line Protocol provided by the SP. This CLI allows you to examine the configuration and status of the server and carry out reconfiguration operations, monitor system logs, receive reports from replaceable components, and redirect the server serial console.

For more information about IPMI, see Chapter 7.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) interface - The Embedded LOM system also provides an SNMP v3.0 interface (with limited support for SNMP v1 and SNMP v2c) for external data center management applications such as Sun N1 System Manager, IBM® Tivoli, and Hewlett-Packard OpenView.

For more information about SNMP, see Chapter 9.

Which interface you use depends on your overall system management plan and the specific tasks that you want to perform.

ELOM Common Tasks

The following table shows common tasks and the management interfaces used to perform each task.

TABLE 1-1 Common Tasks
Task	IPMI	Web Interface	CLI	SNMP
Redirect the system graphical console to a remote client web browser.	-	Yes	-	-
Connect a remote diskette disk drive to the system as a virtual diskette disk drive.	-	Yes	-	-
Connect a remote CD-ROM drive to the system as a virtual CD-ROM drive.	-	Yes	-	-
Monitor system fans, temperatures, and voltages remotely.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Monitor system BIOS messages remotely.	Yes	Yes	Yes	-
Monitor system operating system messages remotely.	Yes	Yes	Yes	-
Interrogate system components for their IDs and/or serial numbers.	Yes	-	Yes	Yes
Redirect the system serial console to a remote client.	Yes	-	Yes	-
Monitor system status (health check) remotely.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Interrogate system network interface cards remotely for MAC addresses.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manage user accounts remotely.	Yes	Yes	Yes	-
Manage system power status remotely (power on, power off, power reset).	Yes	Yes	Yes	-
Monitor and manage environmental settings for key system components (CPUs, motherboards, fans).	Yes	Yes	Yes	Monitor only

Embedded Lights Out Manager Default Settings

Sun has configured the SP controller and SP firmware on your server to reflect the most common default settings used in the field. It is unlikely that you will need to change any of these defaults.

TABLE 1-2 Default Settings
System Component	Default Status	Action Required
Service Processor card	Preinstalled	None
Service Processor firmware	Preinstalled	None
IPMI interface	Enabled	None
Web-based interface	Enabled	None
Command-line interface (CLI)	Enabled	None
SNMP interface	Enabled	None