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iDRAC6 Overview

Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 6 (iDRAC6) Version 1.7 User's Guide

What's New in This Release		Supported Web Browsers
iDRAC6 Express Management Features		Supported Remote Access Connections
iDRAC6 Enterprise and vFlash Media		iDRAC6 Ports
Supported Platforms		Other Documents You May Need
Supported Operating Systems

Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller6 (iDRAC6) is a systems management hardware and software solution that provides remote management capabilities, crashed system recovery, and power control functions for the Dell PowerEdge systems.

The iDRAC6 uses an integrated System-on-Chip microprocessor for the remote monitor/control system. The iDRAC6 co-exists on the system board with the managed PowerEdge server. The server operating system is concerned with executing applications; the iDRAC6 is concerned with monitoring and managing the server's environment and state outside of the operating system.

You can configure the iDRAC6 to send you an e-mail or Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) trap alert for warnings or errors. To help you diagnose the probable cause of a system crash, iDRAC6 can log event data and capture an image of the screen when it detects that the system has crashed.

The iDRAC6 network interface is enabled with a static IP address of 192.168.0.120 by default. It must be configured before the iDRAC6 is accessible. After the iDRAC6 is configured on the network, it can be accessed at its assigned IP address with the iDRAC6 Web interface, Telnet, or Secure Shell (SSH), and supported network management protocols, such as Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI).

What's New in This Release

• Improved Web GUI performance.
  
  
• Improved vFlash performance.
  
  
• Out of Band Hardware and Firmware Inventory support.
  
  
• Console launch without SSO.
  
  
• Work notes.
  
  
• Improved System Field Replaceable Unit(FRU) data (Product name, serial number, asset tag, and version in product information area of FRU).
  
  
• Identify in Command Line Interface (CLI).
  
  
• OEM SEL Event filtering.
  
  
• Plain English SEL events.
  
  
• Default web certificate update through Command Line Interface.
  
  
• Display Life Cycle Controller firmware version display on CLI and GUI.
  
  
• Support for platforms PowerEdge(TM) R415, and EqualLogic(TM) DX6000G.
  
  
• Support for operating system Redhat Enterprise Linux 6 x64.
  
  
• Virtual MAC support.
  
  

iDRAC6 Express Management Features

The iDRAC6 Express provides the following management features:

• Provides Dynamic Domain Name System (DDNS) registration.
  
  
• Provides remote system management and monitoring using a Web interface and the Server Management Command Line Protocol (SM-CLP) command line over a serial, Telnet, or SSH connection.
  
  
• Provides support for Microsoft Active Directory authentication — Centralizes iDRAC6 user IDs and passwords in Active Directory using an extended schema or a standard schema.
  
  
• Provides a generic solution to support Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) based authentication — This feature does not require any schema extension on your directory services.
  
  
• Provides access to system information and status of components for monitoring.
  
  
• Provides access to the system event log, the iDRAC6 log, and the last crash screen of the crashed or unresponsive system, that is independent of the operating system state.
  
  
• Provides option to add work notes to the Lifecycle Controller Log through the GUI or the CLI.
  
  
• Enables you to launch the iDRAC6 Web interface from Dell OpenManage Server Administrator or Dell OpenManage IT Assistant.
  
  
• Alerts you to potential managed node issues through an e-mail message or SNMP trap.
  
  
• Provides remote power management functions, such as shutdown and reset, from a management console.
  
  
• Provides Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) support.
  
  
• Provides secure remote system management through the Web interface.
  
  
• Prevents unauthorized access to a remote system through password-level security management.
  
  
• Provides assignable permissions for different systems management tasks through role-based authority.
  
  
• Adds IPv6 support such as providing access to the iDRAC6 Web interface using an IPv6 address, specifies iDRAC6 NIC IPv6 address, and specifies a destination number to configure an IPv6 SNMP alert destination.
  
  
• Provides network accessible management using the Web Services for Management (WS-MAN) protocol.
  
  
• Adds Server Management-Command Line Protocol (SM-CLP) support, which provides standards for systems management CLI implementations.
  
  
• Allows you to boot from (or rollback to) the firmware image of your choice through Firmware rollback and recovery.
  
  

For more information about iDRAC6 Express, see your Hardware Owner's Manual at support.dell.com/manuals.

iDRAC6 Enterprise and vFlash Media

iDRAC6 Enterprise with vFlash Media adds support for RACADM, Virtual Console, Virtual Media features, a dedicated NIC, and vFlash (with an optional Dell vFlash Media card). vFlash allows you to store emergency boot images and diagnostic tools on the vFlash Media. For more information about the iDRAC6 Enterprise and vFlash Media, see your Hardware Owner's Manual at support.dell.com/manuals.

Table 1-1 lists the features available for BMC, iDRAC6 Express, iDRAC6 Enterprise, and vFlash Media.

Table 1-1. iDRAC6 Feature List 

Feature	BMC	iDRAC6 Express	iDRAC6 Enterprise	iDRAC6 Enterprise with vFlash
Interface and Standards Support
IPMI 2.0
Web-based GUI
SNMP
WSMAN
SMASH-CLP (SSH-only)
RACADM Command Line (SSH and local)
RACADM Command Line (remote)
Connectivity
Shared/Failover Network Modes
IPv4
VLAN Tagging
IPv6
Dynamic DNS
Dedicated NIC
Security and Authentication
Role-based Authority
Local Users
SSL Encryption
Active Directory
Generic LDAP Support
Two-factor Authentication1
Single sign-on
PK Authentication (for SSH)
Remote Management and Remediation
Remote Firmware Update	2
Server Power Control	2
Serial-over-LAN (with proxy)
Serial-over-LAN (no proxy)
Power Capping
Last Crash Screen Capture
Boot Capture
Virtual Media3
Virtual Console3
Virtual Console Sharing3
Remote Virtual Console Launch
vFlash
Monitoring
Sensor Monitoring and Alerting	2
Real-time Power Monitoring
Real-time Power Graphing
Historical Power Counters
Logging
System Event Log (SEL)
RAC Log
Remote Syslog
Lifecycle Controller
Unified Server Configurator	4
Remote Services (through WS-MAN)
Part Replacement
1Two-factor authentication requires Internet Explorer. 2Feature is available only through IPMI and not through a Web GUI. 3Virtual Console and Virtual Media are available using both Java and Active-X plug-ins. 4The Unified Server Configurator available through BMC is limited to operating system installation and diagnostics only.
= Supported; =Not Supported

The iDRAC6 provides the following security features:

• Single Sign-on, Two-Factor Authentication, and Public Key Authentication.
  
  
• User authentication through Active Directory (optional), LDAP authentication (optional) or hardware-stored user IDs and passwords.
  
  
• Role-based authorization, which enables an administrator to configure specific privileges for each user.
  
  
• User ID and password configuration through the Web-based interface or SM-CLP.
  
  
• SM-CLP and Web interfaces, which support 128-bit and 40-bit encryption (for countries where 128 bit is not acceptable), using the SSL 3.0 standard.
  
  
• Session time-out configuration (in seconds) through the Web interface or SM-CLP.
  
  
• Configurable IP ports (where applicable).
  
  

NOTE: Telnet does not support SSL encryption.

• SSH, which uses an encrypted transport layer for higher security.
  
  
• Login failure limits per IP address, with login blocking from the IP address when the limit is exceeded.
  
  
• Ability to limit the IP address range for clients connecting to the iDRAC6.
  
  

Supported Platforms

For the latest supported platforms, see the iDRAC6 Readme file and the Dell Systems Software Support Matrix available at support.dell.com/manuals.

Supported Operating Systems

For the latest information, see the iDRAC6 Readme file and the Dell Systems Software Support Matrix available at support.dell.com/manuals.

Supported Web Browsers

For the latest information, see the iDRAC6 Readme file and the Dell Systems Software Support Matrix available at support.dell.com/manuals.

NOTE: Due to serious security flaws, support for SSL 2.0 has been discontinued. Your browser must be configured to enable SSL 3.0 in order to work properly. Internet Explorer 6.0 is not supported.

Supported Remote Access Connections

Table 1-2 lists the connection features.

Table 1-2. Supported Remote Access Connections 

iDRAC6 Ports

Table 1-3 lists the ports iDRAC6 listens on for connections. Table 1-4 identifies the ports that the iDRAC6 uses as a client. This information is required when opening firewalls for remote access to an iDRAC6.

Table 1-3. iDRAC6 Server Listening Ports 

Table 1-4. iDRAC6 Client Ports 

Other Documents You May Need

In addition to this guide, the following documents available on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com/manuals provide additional information about the setup and operation of the iDRAC6 in your system. On the Manuals page, click Software® Systems Management. Click on the appropriate product link on the right-side to access the documents.

• The iDRAC6 online help provides detailed information about using the Web-based interface.
  
  
• The RACADM Command Line Reference Guide for iDRAC6 and CMC provides information about the RACADM subcommands, supported interfaces, and iDRAC6 property database groups and object definitions.
  
  
• The Dell Lifecycle Controller User Guide provides information on the Unified Server Configurator (USC), the Unified Server Configurator – Lifecycle Controller Enabled (USC – LCE), and Remote Services.
  
  
• The Dell Systems Software Support Matrix provides information about the various Dell systems, the operating systems supported by these systems, and the Dell OpenManage components that can be installed on these systems.
  
  
• The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Installation Guide contains instructions to help you install Dell OpenManage Server Administrator.
  
  
• The Dell OpenManage Management Station Software Installation Guide contains instructions to help you install Dell OpenManage management station software that includes Baseboard Management Utility, DRAC Tools, and Active Directory Snap-In.
  
  
• See the Dell OpenManage IT Assistant User's Guide for information about using IT Assistant.
  
  
• For installing an iDRAC6, see your Hardware Owner's Manual.
  
  
• See the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator User's Guide for information about installing and using Server Administrator.
  
  
• See the Dell Update Packages User's Guide for information about obtaining and using Dell Update Packages as part of your system update strategy.
  
  
• See the Dell OpenManage Baseboard Management Controller Utilities User's Guide for information about the iDRAC6 and the IPMI interface.
  
  
• The Glossary provides information about the terms used in this document.
  
  

The following system documents are also available to provide more information about the system in which your iDRAC6 is installed:

• The safety instructions that came with your system provide important safety and regulatory information. For additional regulatory information, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Warranty information may be included within this document or as a separate document.
  
  
• The Rack Installation Instructions included with your rack solution describe how to install your system into a rack.
  
  
• The Getting Started Guide provides an overview of system features, setting up your system, and technical specifications.
  
  
• The Hardware Owner's Manual provides information about system features and describes how to troubleshoot the system and install or replace system components.
  
  
• Systems management software documentation describes the features, requirements, installation, and basic operation of the software.
  
  
• Operating system documentation describes how to install (if necessary), configure, and use the operating system software.
  
  
• Documentation for any components you purchased separately provides information to configure and install these options.
  
  
• Updates are sometimes included with the system to describe changes to the system, software, and/or documentation.
  
  

NOTE: Always read the updates first because they often supersede information in other documents.

• Release notes or readme files may be included to provide last-minute updates to the system or documentation or advanced technical reference material intended for experienced users or technicians.
  
  

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