This section discusses known issues with using the BMC Management Utility, along with frequently asked questions.
Known Issues
General Issues
You must assign a valid BMC user name and password before you can connect to your system's BMC using the BMC Management Utility. Even though your system's BMC firmware does not allow null user names or null passwords to be set, the BMC Management Utility does not limit this functionality. If you do not explicitly provide a valid BMC user name and password when using the BMC Management Utility to log in to your system's BMC, the BMC firmware will use a null user name and null password as defaults, resulting in a "Login Not Authorized" error.
SOL Proxy Issues
SOL Proxy on IP port 623 allows connections from a Web browser. However, if you connect from a Web browser, SOL Proxy displays only jumbled and unusable data. You must close the Web session and connect through a telnet connection to run the application.
Only one telnet session at a time can be connected to the SOL Proxy service.
Microsoft® SAC does not implement hardware control flow. Therefore, when console redirection is enabled with EMS SAC, you will see corrupted data. Because SAC does not implement hardware flow control, you are not able to effectively use SOL Proxy to activate console redirection to EMS SAC.
IPMI Shell Issues
After IPMI Shell is installed, if you open a command prompt and type "ipmish" without being in the "C:\Program Files\Dell\SysMgt\bmc" directory you will get an error saying that the command could not be found. This is because by default, the IPMISH directory is not added to the system path. You must either manually add the system path to the command line, or go to the specified directory before running the IPMISH application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do IPMI Shell commands correspond one-to-one to IPMI commands?
A: IPMI Shell provides only the most useful IPMI commands. It includes a definitive set of commands that can accomplish the most common management tasks. Therefore, IPMI Shell commands may not correspond one-to-one to IPMI commands.
Q: Can I manage a system by accessing multiple IPMI instances simultaneously?
A: Yes, you can manage a system by accessing multiple IPMI instances at the same time as long as your system's BMC supports more than one concurrent connection.
Q: Can I manage a system by accessing multiple SOL Proxy connections simultaneously?
A: No, a system can have only one SOL Proxy connection at any time. This connection is established when you choose either option 3 or 4 in the main menu. However, if you select option 1 to connect to the remote system, only an IPMI connection is established. In this case, multiple clients can simultaneously use option 1 in the SOL proxy main menu to connect to the same system. (See the previous question.)
Q: How do I unlock an SOL session occupied by another user?
A: Your system's BMC only supports one SOL session at a time. You must wait for the current user's session to time out before you can access a new SOL proxy session. See "Session Timeout" for more information about configuring the session timeout parameters.
Q: Why can't I enter the BIOS setup interface during the process of remote system rebooting?
A: When you select item 4, Reboot and activate console redirection, in the SOL Proxy main menu, the managed system is rebooted first. Press <F2> to enter the BIOS setup interface, if the telnet client you are using supports VT100 or ANSI.
Q: Why can't I connect to a console using the terminal emulation software included with my Microsoft Windows operating system?
A: The version of HyperTerminal included with Windows does not provide many functions required during console redirection. Either upgrade to HyperTerminal Private Edition 6.1 or later, or select any other terminal emulation software that supports VT100 or ANSI emulation mode.
Q: I performed a Reboot and Activate Console Redirection command using SOL Proxy, but the option to press <F2> to enter the BIOS setup never appeared.
A: When the network switch has spanning-tree enabled, it takes about 30-40 seconds for the spanning-tree check to make sure there are no loops in the network. During this time, packet forwarding by the switch is blocked. Therefore, the software cannot communicate with the BMC until the spanning tree check is complete.
Disable spanning-tree on the network switch and try performing a Reboot and Activate Console Redirection command using SOL Proxy again. You should now be able to enter BIOS setup by pressing <F2>.
Q: Why do some key and key combinations such as <F10> and <Ctrl><Alt><Del> not work during console redirection?
A: Console redirection uses ANSI or VT 100/220 terminal emulation, which is limited to basic ASCII characters. Function keys, arrow keys, and control keys are not available in the ASCII character set, and most utilities require function keys and control keys for ordinary operations. See your system User'sGuide for instructions about how to emulate certain function keys and control keys by using special key sequences, called escape sequences, to represent the specific, nonfunctioning keys.
Q: Can you use terminal mode simultaneously with BIOS console redirection?
A: Yes. BMC terminal mode can function simultaneously with BIOS console redirection. You can "escape" between the BMC's terminal mode and the BIOS console redirection using the following Escape sequences:
Press <Esc><q> to switch the system serial port to the BIOS console redirection text stream.
Press <Esc><(> to switch the system serial port to the BMC terminal mode text stream.
NOTE: Because you are switching back and forth between two independently active text streams, data
may be lost.
See your system User's Guide for more information about configuring and using BIOS console redirection and see "Terminal Mode Commands" for more information about using Terminal Mode commands.
