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Using ipmitool to manage NetManager and other hardware

Every modern server is equipped with a baseboard management controller (BMC) that enables its remote management. A BMC is essentially a computer within a computer with its own memory, firmware and network. It controls and monitors the fans, power and other hardware. Examples of IBMs are IMM on IBM/Lenovo System x, XCC on Lenovo ThinkSystem, iLO on HP and iDRAC on Dell.

ipmitool is a command-line tool on NetManager that allows to interrogate the BMC using the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI).

If you do not specify an IP address, ipmitool will connect to the local BMC. To use the command to connect to a remote system, you need to know the IP address of the BMC as well as a username and password to access it. In the following examples, the IP address is 10.0.0.10, the username is USER and the password is PASS. Please alter as appropriate.

Local examples

Get local IP settings

# ipmitool lan print
Set in Progress         : Set Complete
Auth Type Support       : NONE MD5 PASSWORD
Auth Type Enable        : Callback :
                        : User     : MD5 PASSWORD
                        : Operator : MD5 PASSWORD
                        : Admin    : MD5 PASSWORD
                        : OEM      :
IP Address Source       : Static Address
IP Address              : 10.0.5.1
Subnet Mask             : 255.255.0.0
MAC Address             : xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
SNMP Community String   : public
IP Header               : TTL=0x40 Flags=0x40 Precedence=0x00 TOS=0x10
BMC ARP Control         : ARP Responses Enabled, Gratuitous ARP Disabled
Gratituous ARP Intrvl   : 2.0 seconds
Default Gateway IP      : 10.0.0.1

Set local IP address

# ipmitool lan set 1 ipsrc static
# ipmitool lan set 1 ipaddr 10.0.5.1
Setting LAN IP Address to 10.0.5.1
# ipmitool lan set 1 netmask 255.255.0.0
Setting LAN Subnet Mask to 255.255.0.0
# ipmitool lan set 1 defgw ipaddr 10.0.0.1
Setting LAN Default Gateway IP to 10.0.0.1

Remote commands

The simplest way to use the command is as follows. This will ask for the password.

ipmitool -H IP_ADDRESS -U USERNAME COMMAND

If you want to give the password on the command line add -P PASSWORD, i.e

ipmitool -H IP_ADDRESS -U USERNAME -P PASSWORD COMMAND

For example, the following will show you the system status:

ipmitool -H 10.0.0.10 -U USER -P PASS chassis status

With newer BMCs (e.g. Lenovo XCC on ThinkSystem), you may get an error such as:

Get Session Challenge command failed
Error: Unable to establish LAN session
Error: Unable to establish IPMI v1.5 / RMCP session

To fix this add the -I lanplus option to your command:

ipmitool -H 10.0.0.10 -U USER -P PASS -I lanplus chassis status

Full documentation can be found here.

Example commands

Remove -H 10.0.0.10 -U USER -P PASS from the examples below to operate on the local machine

View event logs

ipmitool -H 10.0.0.10 -U USER -P PASS sel elist

Hardware status

# ipmitool -H 10.0.0.10 -U USER -P PASS chassis status
Password:
System Power         : on
Power Overload       : false
Power Interlock      : inactive
Main Power Fault     : false
Power Control Fault  : false
Power Restore Policy : previous
Last Power Event     :
Chassis Intrusion    : inactive
Front-Panel Lockout  : inactive
Drive Fault          : false
Cooling/Fan Fault    : false

Controlling power, including rebooting

Status:

# ipmitool -H 10.0.0.10 -U USER -P PASS power status
Chassis Power is on

Power on, off, cycle (reboot);

# ipmitool -H 10.0.0.10 -U USER -P PASS power on
# ipmitool -H 10.0.0.10 -U USER -P PASS power off
# ipmitool -H 10.0.0.10 -U USER -P PASS power cycle

System inventory including model and serial numbers (abridged)

# ipmitool -H 10.0.0.10 -U USER -P PASS fru
FRU Device Description : Builtin FRU Device (ID 0)
 Board Mfg Date        : Mon Jul 23 13:00:00 2012
 Board Mfg             : IBMM
 Board Product         : System Board
 Board Serial          : XXXXXXXXXXXXX
 Product Manufacturer  : IBMM
 Product Name          : System x3250 M4
 Product Part Number   : 2583K7G
 Product Version       : 0000
 Product Serial        : XXXXX

Viewing sensors

In the below example, we can see from the cr entry in the third column that CMOS Battery is critical:

# ipmitool -H 10.0.0.10 -U USER -P PASS sdr list
SysBrd 3.3V      | 3.27 Volts        | ok
SysBrd 5V        | 5.13 Volts        | ok
SysBrd 12V       | 12.24 Volts       | ok
CMOS Battery     | 1.41 Volts        | cr
Avg Power        | no reading        | ns
PCH Temp         | 43 degrees C      | ok
Ambient 1 Temp   | 19 degrees C      | ok
Fan 1 Tach       | 6510 RPM          | ok
Fan 2 Tach       | 6790 RPM          | ok
Fan 3 Tach       | 6720 RPM          | ok
Fan 4 Tach       | 6580 RPM          | ok
Host Power       | 0x00              | ok
IPMI Watchdog    | 0x00              | ok
ME Error         | 0x00              | ok
ME Flash Error   | 0x00              | ok
ME Recovery      | 0x00              | ok
Low Security Jmp | 0x00              | ok
Sig Verify Fail  | 0x00              | ok
TPM Lock         | 0x00              | ok
TXT ACM Module   | 0x00              | ok
TPM Phy Pres Set | 0x00              | ok
All DIMMS        | 0x00              | ok
One of the DIMMs | 0x00              | ok
OS RealTime Mod  | 0x00              | ok
Drive 0          | Not Readable      | ns
Drive 1          | Not Readable      | ns
Drive 2          | Not Readable      | ns
Drive 3          | Not Readable      | ns
Drive 4          | Not Readable      | ns
Drive 5          | Not Readable      | ns
Drive 6          | Not Readable      | ns
Drive 7          | Not Readable      | ns
Ext Drive        | 0x00              | ok
Power Supply 1   | Not Readable      | ns
Power Supply 2   | Not Readable      | ns
PS 1 Fan Fault   | Not Readable      | ns
PS 2 Fan Fault   | Not Readable      | ns
PS 1 Therm Fault | Not Readable      | ns
PS 2 Therm Fault | Not Readable      | ns
PS1 12V OV Fault | Not Readable      | ns
PS2 12V OV Fault | Not Readable      | ns
PS1 12V UV Fault | Not Readable      | ns
PS2 12V UV Fault | Not Readable      | ns
PS1 12V OC Fault | Not Readable      | ns
PS2 12V OC Fault | Not Readable      | ns
PS1 12Vaux Fault | Not Readable      | ns
PS2 12Vaux Fault | Not Readable      | ns
Power Unit       | Not Readable      | ns
NMI State        | 0x00              | ok
Thermal Board    | 0x00              | ok
DASD Backplane 1 | Not Readable      | ns
DASD Backplane 2 | Not Readable      | ns
PCI Riser 1      | 0x00              | ok
CPU 1            | 0x00              | ok
ABR Status       | 0x00              | ok
No Op ROM Space  | 0x00              | ok
I/O Resources    | 0x00              | ok
CPU 1 OverTemp   | 0x00              | ok
No Boot Device   | 0x00              | ok
All PCI Error    | 0x00              | ok
PCI 1            | 0x00              | ok
PCI 2            | 0x00              | ok
One of PCI Error | 0x00              | ok
Aux Log          | 0x00              | ok
IMM2 FW Failover | 0x00              | ok
SysBrd Vol Fault | 0x00              | ok
DIMM 1           | 0x00              | ok
DIMM 2           | 0x00              | ok
DIMM 3           | 0x00              | ok
DIMM 4           | 0x00              | ok
PCIs             | 0x00              | ok
CPUs             | 0x00              | ok
SysBrd Fault     | 0x00              | ok
Firmware Error   | 0x00              | ok
Progress         | 0x00              | ok
SEL Fullness     | 0x00              | ok
Sys Boot Status  | 0x00              | ok
GPT Status       | 0x00              | ok
ROM Recovery     | 0x00              | ok
Bkup Auto Update | 0x00              | ok
IMM Recovery     | 0x00              | ok
IMM Promotion    | 0x00              | ok
SMM Monitor      | 0x00              | ok
SMM Mode         | 0x00              | ok
CPU 1 Temp       | 22 degrees C      | ok
RAID Vol State   | 0x00              | ok
Non-Auth DIMMs   | 0x00              | ok
IMM FW Corrupted | 0x00              | ok
PCIe Dev LK Down | 0x00              | ok
Ambient 2 Temp   | no reading        | ns
PCIE Temp        | 32 degrees C      | ok
CPU VRM Temp     | 31 degrees C      | ok
RAID Warn Log    | 0x00              | ok
RAID Error Log   | 0x00              | ok