The Dell™ PowerEdge™ systems baseboard management controller (BMC) monitors the system for critical events by communicating with various sensors on the system board and sends alerts and log events when certain parameters exceed their preset thresholds. The BMC supports the industry-standard Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) specification, enabling you to configure, monitor, and recover systems remotely.
Server Administrator allows remote, in-band access to event logs, power control, and sensor status information and provides the ability to configure the BMC. You can manage the BMC through the Server Administrator graphical user interface by clicking the Remote Access object, which is a subcomponent of the Main System Chassis group. You can perform the following BMC–related tasks:
View basic BMC information
Configure BMC users
Set BMC platform event filter alerts
Configure the BMC on a serial over LAN connection
Configure the BMC on a serial port connection
Configure the BMC on a virtual LAN connection
However, in Dell PowerEdge x8xx and x9xx systems, BMC and RAC are combined into a single object known as Remote Access (System®Main System Chassis®Remote Access). You can view BMC or RAC information based on which hardware is providing the remote access capabilities for the system.
The reporting and configuration of BMC and DRAC can also be managed using the omconfig chassis remoteaccess CLI command.
In addition, you can use the Server Administrator Instrumentation Service to manage the Platform Event Filters (PEF) parameters and alert destinations.
NOTE: You can view BMC data on Dell PowerEdge x8xx and x9xx systems only. Other systems allow you to only install and uninstall BMC. Limited sensor data is available using BMC or ESM on Dell PowerEdge x6xx and x7xx systems.
See the Dell OpenManage™ Baseboard Management Controller Utilities User's Guide for more information about the BMC.
Viewing Basic BMC Information
You can view the basic information about the BMC and also reset the BMC settings to their default values.
NOTE: You must be logged in with Administrator privileges to reset the BMC settings.
Click the System object.
Click the Main System Chassis object.
Click the Remote Access object.
The Remote Access page displays the following base information of the system's BMC:
BMC Name
IPMI Version
System GUID
Number of Possible Active Sessions
Number of Current Active Sessions
IPMI Over LAN Enabled
SOL Enabled
IP Address Source
IP Address
IP Subnet
IP Gateway
MAC Address
Configuring BMC Users
BMC users can be configured using the Remote Access page; this page is accessed by browsing through the following path.
Click the System object.
Click the Main System Chassis object.
Click the Remote Access object.
Click the Users tab.
The Remote Access Users window displays information about users that can be configured as BMC users.
Click User ID to configure a new or existing BMC user.
The Remote Access User Configuration window allows you to configure a specific BMC user.
Specify the following general information:
Select Enable User to enable the user.
Enter the name for the user in the User Name field.
Select the Change Password check box.
Enter a new password in the New Password field.
Re-enter the new password in the Confirm New Password field.
Specify the following user privileges:
Select the maximum LAN user privilege level limit.
Select the maximum serial port user privilege granted.
On Dell PowerEdge x9xx systems, select Enable Serial Over LAN to enable Serial Over LAN.
Click Apply Changes to save changes.
Click Back to Remote Access User Window to go back to the Remote Access Users window.
NOTE: Six additional user entries are configurable when RAC is installed. This results in a total of 16 users. The same username and password rules apply to BMC and RAC users. When DRAC 5 is installed, all the 16 users entries are allocated to RAC.
Setting BMC Platform Event Filter Alerts
You can use the Server Administrator Instrumentation Service to configure the most relevant BMC features, such as Platform Event Filter (PEF) parameters and alert destinations.
Click the System object.
Click the Alert Management tab.
Click Platform Events.
The Platform Events window allows you to take individual action on specific platform events. You can select those events for which you want to take shutdown actions and generate alerts for selected actions. You can also send alerts to specific IP address destinations of your choice.
NOTE: You must be logged in with Administrator privileges to configure the BMC Platform Event Filter Alerts.
You can configure the following platform events:
Fan Probe Failure
Voltage Probe Failure
Discrete Voltage Probe Failure
Temperature Probe Warning
Temperature Probe Failure
Chassis Intrusion Detected
Redundancy Degraded
Redundancy Lost
Processor Absent
Processor Warning
Processor Failure
PS/VRM/DCtoDC Warning
PS/VRM/DCtoDC Failure
Hardware Log Failure
Automatic System Recovery
Battery Probe Warning
Battery Probe Failure
Power Supply Absent
NOTE: The Enable Platform Event Filters Alerts setting disables or enables platform event filter alert generation. It is independent of the individual platform event alert settings.
NOTE: On Dell PowerEdge 1900 systems, the PS/VRM/D2D Warning, PS/VRM/D2D Failure,andPower Supply Absent Platform Event Filters are not supported even though Server Administrator allows you to configure these Event Filters.
Choose the platform event for which you want to take shutdown actions or generate alerts for selected
actions and click Set Platform Events.
The Set Platform Events window allows you to specify the actions to be taken if the system is to be shut down in response to a platform event.
Select one of the following actions:
None Takes no action when the operating system is hung or has crashed.
Reboot System Shuts down the operating system and initiates system startup, performing BIOS checks and reloading the operating system.
Power Cycle System Turns the electrical power to the system off, pauses, turns the power on, and reboots the system. Power cycling is useful when you want to reinitialize system components such as hard drives.
Power Off System Turns off the electrical power to the system.
If you select a Platform Event shutdown action other than None, your system will shut down forcefully when the specified event occurs. This shutdown is initiated by firmware and is done without first shutting down the operating system or any running applications.
Select the Generate Alert check box for the alerts to be sent.
NOTE: To generate an alert, you must select both Generate Alert and the Enable Platform Events Alerts settings.
Click Apply Changes.
Click Go Back to Platform Events Page to go back to the Platform Event Filters window.
Setting Platform Event Alert Destinations
You can also use the Platform Event Filters window to select a destination where an alert for a platform event is to be sent. Depending on the number of destinations that are displayed, you can configure a separate IP address for each destination address. A platform event alert will be sent to each destination IP address that you configure.
Click Configure Destinations in the Platform Event Filters window.
The Configure Destinations window displays a number of destinations.
Click the number of the destination you want to configure.
NOTE: The number of destinations that you can configure on a given system may vary.
Select the Enable Destination check-box.
Click Destination Number to enter an individual IP address for that destination. This IP address is the
IP address to which the platform event alert will be sent.
Enter a value in the Community String field to act as a password to authenticate messages sent
between a management station and a managed system. The community string (also called the
community name) is sent in every packet between the management station and a managed system.
Click Apply Changes.
Click Go Back to Platform Events Page to go back to the Platform Event Filters window.
Configuring the BMC to use a Serial Over LAN Connection
You can configure the BMC for communication over a serial over LAN (SOL) connection.
Click the System object.
Click the Main System Chassis object.
Click the Remote Access object.
Click the Configuration tab.
Click Serial Over LAN.
The Serial Over LAN Configuration window appears.
Configure the following details:
Enable Serial Over LAN
Baud Rate
Minimum Privilege Required
Click Apply Changes.
Click Advanced Settings to further configure BMC.
In the Serial Over LAN Configuration Advanced Settings window, you may configure the
following information:
Character Accumulate Interval
Character Send Threshold
Click Apply Changes.
Click Go Back to Serial Over LAN Configuration to return to the Serial Over LAN
Configuration window.
Configuring the BMC to use a Serial Port Connection
You can configure the BMC for communication over a serial port connection.
Click the System object.
Click the Main System Chassis object.
Click the Remote Access object.
Click the Configuration tab.
Click Serial Port.
The Serial Port Configuration window appears.
Configure the following details:
Connection Mode Setting
Baud Rate
Flow Control
Channel Privilege Level Limit
Click Apply Changes.
Click Terminal Mode Settings.
In the Terminal Mode Settings window, you can configure terminal mode settings for the serial port.
Terminal mode is used for Intelligent Platform Interface Management (IPMI) messaging over the serial port using printable ASCII characters. Terminal mode also supports a limited number of text commands to support legacy, text-based environments. This environment is designed so that a simple terminal or terminal emulator can be used.
Specify the following customizations to increase compatibility with existing terminals:
Line Editing
Delete Control
Echo Control
Handshaking Control
New Line Sequence
Input New Line Sequence
Click Apply Changes.
Click Back To Serial Port Configuration Window to go to back to the Serial Port
Configuration window.
Configuring the BMC to use a LAN Connection
You can configure the BMC for communication over a LAN connection.
Click the System object.
Click the Main System Chassis object.
Click the Remote Access object.
Click the Configuration tab.
Click LAN.
The LAN Configuration window appears.
NOTE: BMC management traffic will not function properly if the LAN on motherboard (LOM) is teamed with any network adapter add-in-cards.
Configure the following NIC configuration details:
Enable NIC (This option is available on Dell PowerEdge x9xx systems and when DRAC is installed. Select this option for NIC teaming. In Dell PowerEdge x9xx systems, you can team NICs for added redundancy.)
NIC Selection
MAC Address
Enable IPMI Over LAN
IP Address Source
IP Address
Subnet Mask
Gateway Address
Channel Privilege Level Limit
Encryption Key (This option is available on Dell PowerEdge x9xx systems.)
Configure the following optional VLAN configuration details:
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