IBM HS40 Setup Guide - Page 8

management. For a BladeCenter T unit, this enables you to have 8 simultaneous

SOL sessions active (one for each of up to 8 blade servers) with 12 additional

command-line interface sessions available for BladeCenter unit management. If

security is a concern, you can use Secure Shell (SSH) sessions, or connections made

through the serial management port that is available on the advanced management

module, to establish secure Telnet command-line interface sessions with the

BladeCenter management module before starting an SOL console redirect session

with a blade server.

The most recent versions of all BladeCenter documentation is available at

http://www.ibm.com/support/.

Hardware and firmware requirements

The BladeCenter unit must be correctly configured before you can use the

command-line interface and SOL. This section describes the hardware and software

that are required for the command-line interface and SOL.

Hardware requirements

All BladeCenter components, except for the BladeCenter HS20 Type 8678 blade

server, are SOL capable. All blade servers must be configured to enable SOL

operation. Some of the older BladeCenter components require additional

configuration to support SOL operation.

To use the SOL feature, the following hardware is required:

v

An SOL-capable blade server.

The BladeCenter HS20 Type 8678 blade server does not support SOL operation.

You can use the console command to control a blade server through SOL only

on blade server types that support SOL functionality that have the required

firmware levels (see Table 1 on page 3).

v

An Ethernet I/O module installed in I/O-module bay 1. For systems using

management channel auto discovery (MCAD), SOL can use I/O modules

installed in other I/O-module bays (see the

BladeCenter Advanced Management

Module User's Guide

for additional information about MCAD).

The following blade servers have specific requirements for SOL operation:

v

For the BladeCenter HS20 Type 8832 and Type 8843 blade servers, and LS20

Type 8850 blade server:

–

SOL uses the first network interface, Ethernet 1 (eth1 or Planar Ethernet 1), of

the blade server to communicate. When this network interface attempts to

boot through PXE or DHCP, the network interface is reset, causing the current

SOL session to be dropped and have a new status of Not Ready. If you

require booting through PXE or DHCP, use the second network interface,

Ethernet 2 (eth2 or Planar Ethernet 2), of the blade server and install an

Ethernet I/O module in I/O-module bay 1.

–

For the BladeCenter HS20 Type 8832 blade server, jumper J28 must be

installed in the correct position. See “HS20 Type 8832 SOL jumper placement”

on page 28 for information.

v

For the BladeCenter JS20 Type 8842 blade server, SOL uses the first network

interface, Ethernet 1 (eth1 or Planar Ethernet 1), of the blade server to

communicate. When this network interface attempts to use BOOTP, the network

interface is reset, causing the current SOL session to be dropped and have a new

2

BladeCenter: Serial over LAN Setup Guide

Section	Page
Contents	5
Chapter 1. Introduction	7
Hardware and firmware requirements	8
Hardware requirements	8
Firmware requirements	9
Checking firmware versions	10
Starting the BladeCenter management-module Web interface	11
Chapter 2. General configuration	13
Configuring the global SOL settings for the BladeCenter unit	13
Configuring the management module	15
Installing and configuring SSH for SOL	17
Enabling SOL for blade servers	18
Updating and configuring the blade server BIOS	19
Chapter 3. Operating system configuration	21
Linux configuration	21
Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES 2.1 configuration	21
SUSE SLES 8.0 configuration	25
Installing the Ethernet controller device driver for Linux operating systems	27
Microsoft Windows 2003 Standard Edition configuration	28
Chapter 4. Special component requirements	31
Configuring the BladeCenter HS22 Type 7870 blade server	31
Configuring the BladeCenter HS20 Type 8832 and HS20 Type 8843 blade servers	33
HS20 Type 8832 SOL jumper placement	34
Updating the integrated systems management processor firmware	34
Updating the Broadcom Ethernet controller firmware	35
Configuring the BladeCenter HS40 Type 8839 blade server	35
Updating the Baseboard Management Controller firmware	35
Updating and configuring the BIOS	36
Configuring the BladeCenter JS20 Type 8842 blade server	36
Updating the open firmware (BIOS)	37
Updating the integrated systems management processor firmware	37
Updating the Broadcom Ethernet controller firmware	38
Configuring the IBM 4-Port Gb Ethernet Switch Module for BladeCenter	38
Configuring the Nortel Networks Layer 2-7 GbE Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter	39
Configuring the Cisco Systems Intelligent Gigabit Ethernet Switch Module for the IBM BladeCenter	40
Connecting an Intelligent Copper Pass-thru Module	41
Chapter 5. Using SOL	43
Starting an SOL session	43
Starting a command-line Telnet connection	44
Establishing a serial connection	44
Starting a command-line Secure Shell (SSH) connection	45
Starting an SOL session from the command-line interface	45
Ending an SOL session	46
Monitoring SOL session status	47
Restarting a blade server through SOL	49
Mounting and unmounting media for Linux operating systems	50
Chapter 6. Troubleshooting SOL	51
Management module indicates that blade server does not support SOL	51
Blade server shows SOL status of Not Ready	52
SOL session opens and drops	53
Trouble entering SOL commands or receiving double prompts	54
Garbage characters in an SOL session	54
Appendix A. Getting help and technical assistance	57
Before you call	57
Using the documentation	57
Getting help and information from the World Wide Web	58
Software service and support	58
Hardware service and support	58
IBM Taiwan product service	58
Appendix B. Notices	59
Trademarks	59
Important notes	59
Index	61
A	61
B	61
C	61
D	61
E	61
F	61
G	61
H	61
I	61
J	61
L	61
M	61
N	62
O	62
R	62
S	62
T	62
U	62

IBM HS40 Setup Guide - Page 8

Hardware and firmware requirements, Hardware requirements - bladecenter

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