Manage Dell C1100 CS24-TY Servers Using IPMI Tool

Dell C1100 servers can be managed using the IPMI tool which interfaces with the low level BMC interface.  Dell has also released a bmc specific utility that compliments the generic ipmitool to better configure and manage specific settings that are difficult to configure using ipmitool on its own.

Here's how to use both ipmitool and the bmc utilities.  First, login as root:

sudo -i

Now, install the ipmitool:

yum install OpenIPMI ipmitool -y

Start the ipmi service:

service ipmi start

Download the bmc utility:

mkdir -p ~/Downloads/bmc
cd ~/Downloads/bmc
wget -N "http://dinofly.com/files/dell_c1100/bmc-2014-10-15.zip"

If your system is running versions of PERL 5.26 or newer, download this version instead:

# For PERL 5.26+
wget -O "bmc-2014-10-15.zip" -N "http://dinofly.com/files/dell_c1100/bmc-2014-10-15_perl_5.26.zip"

Unzip the bmc tool and make it executable:

unzip bmc-2014-10-15.zip
chmod +x bmc

Here's how to change the BMC interface IP settings:

ipmitool lan set 1 ipsrc static
ipmitool lan set 1 ipaddr x.x.x.x
ipmitool lan set 1 netmask x.x.x.x
ipmitool lan set 1 defgw ipaddr x.x.x.x
./bmc nic_mode set [dedicated|shared]
./bmc allinfo

If the BMC web interace is not responding, try this:

ipmitool bmc reset cold

Using Serial Over Lan SOL

If your system fails to boot and you are booted into an emergency shell and need to copy log files off of the remote system that is stored in ram and can't mount your file system, you can transfer the information using sol

On a linux laptop or computer, just install ipmitool, and then issue the following commands:

On the laptop or computer:

ipmitool -I lanplus -H [BMC_IP] -U [USER] -P [PASS] sol deactivate
ipmitool -I lanplus -H [BMC_IP] -U [USER] -P [PASS] sol set volatile-bit-rate 115.2 1

On the Virtual KVM (launched from Dell's Remote BMC web interface):

stty -F /dev/ttyS1 115200

On the laptop or computer:  

ipmitool -I lanplus -H [BMC_IP] -U [USER] -P [PASS] sol activate > my_log.txt

On the Virtual KVM (launched from Dell's Remote BMC web interface):

cat /run/initramfs/rdsosreport.txt > /dev/ttyS1

That will send the contents via sol to the client machine so you can upload the logs in a bug report later.  Super useful information I've learned!

Running bmc reset cold Before Reboot:

To make sure your system is always reachable in case the BMC is flooded or times out serving the web interface, make sure ipmitool bmc reset cold is run before system reboot.

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/bmc-reset.service 

Paste the following in:

[Unit]
Description=Reset BMC on Reboot
DefaultDependencies=no
Before=reboot.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/ipmitool bmc reset cold
ExecStart=/usr/bin/sleep 120
RemainAfterExit=yes

[Install]
WantedBy=reboot.target

Enable the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable bmc-reset.service 

Suppress Installation Package Prompts Completely or Preconfigure Installation Question Answers

Automating the installation of software via bash scripting on Linux can be difficult.  However, in debian and its related distributions such as Ubuntu, you can simplify the installation of packages by using a few tools.  One of these tools is called debconf-utils.  If installation packages such as MySQL or PHPMyAdmin ask configuration questions, you can provide a default set of answers without being prompted.  This is excellent for testing scripts or automating installation for users who may not know how to appropriately answer these questions.

Basically, with debconf-utils you can pre-answer these questions so that no prompts show up!

To install, run this command:

sudo apt-get install debconf-utils

To get a list of questions an installer might ask, first install the package on a test machine where you're writing the script normally.  For example, let's install phpmyadmin:

sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin

Now, to retrieve a set of questions phpmyadmin may ask, you can run this command:

sudo debconf-get-selections | grep phpmyadmin

In your bash script, you can now pre-answer certain questions by including your preconfigured answer commands before installing the package.  For example, when phpmyadmin installs, it asks for the MySQL root user password.  You can skip this prompt and define what the MySQL root password should be by using this command in your script:

echo 'phpmyadmin phpmyadmin/mysql/admin-pass password 1234' | debconf-set-selections

password defines the type and 1234 sets the password to 1234.
You can also suppress questions entirely by using the following command in front of your install command:

DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin

Default configuration will be used during the installation of the phpmyadmin package, which means it may not work after being installed because some configuration options should be answered.  So, use both combinations for various packages to fit your needs!