Managing Remote Presence

Configuring Virtual Media

Configuring Virtual Media

Procedure

Step 1

From the Navigation Pane, click Compute > Remote Management.

Step 2

Select the Virtual media tab.

Step 3

Update the following properties:

Name

Description

Enabling Virtual Media for image redirection toggle button

Allows you to enable or disable virtual media.

Retry Interval field

Specifies the time interval between retry attempts for virtual media operations.

Retry Count field

Indicates the maximum number of retry attempts allowed for virtual media operations.

Load image from web browser

Add file button

Allows you to select and upload a file (such as an ISO image or virtual disk) from your local system to the corresponding slot (Slot 1 or Slot 2).

Start button

Allows you to initiate the virtual media operation for the file uploaded to the corresponding slot.

Load image from external server

Add file button

Allows you to specify and upload a file (such as an ISO image or virtual disk) from an external server to the corresponding slot (Slot 1 or Slot 2).

Start button

Allows you to initiate the virtual media operation for the file uploaded to the corresponding slot from the external server.

Creating a Mapped vMedia Volume

Procedure

Step 1

From the Navigation Pane, click Compute > Remote Management.

Step 2

Select the KVM tab.

Step 3

Click Launch VKM.

vKVM window opens in a different tab.

Step 4

From the left Navigation Pane in the vKVM console, select Virtual Media > Map Image.

Select the image.

Step 5

From the Navigation Pane in the vKVM console, select Boot Device and select a boot device.

Note

 

If you select CD as the boot device, after reboot, the device may not appear as CD in the BIOS boot menu and instead shows as a Virtual USB device.

Virtual KVM Console

The vKVM console is an interface accessible from Cisco BMC 2.0 that emulates a direct keyboard, video, and mouse (vKVM) connection to the server. It allows you to connect to and control the server from a remote location and to map physical locations to virtual drives that can by accessed by the server during this vKVM session.

Here are a few major advantages of using Cisco KVM Console:

  • The Cisco KVM console provides connection to KVM, SOL, and vMedia whereas the Avocent KVM provides connection only to KVM and vMedia.

  • In the KVM Console, the vMedia connection is established at the KVM Launch Manager and is available for all users.

  • The KVM console offers you an advanced character replacement options for the unsupported characters while pasting text from the guest to the host.

  • The KVM console provides you an ability to store the vMedia mappings on Cisco BMC 2.0.

Instead of using CD/DVD or floppy drives physically connected to the server, the vKVM console uses virtual media, which are actual disk drives or disk image files that are mapped to virtual CD/DVD or floppy drives. You can map any of the following to a virtual drive:

  • PXE

  • HDD

  • CD

  • USB

You can use the vKVM console to install an OS on the server.

Table 1. Console Menu

Menu Item

Description

KVM

Selects KVM (Keyboard Video and Mouse) as the active console.

SOL

Selects SOL (Serial Over LAN) as the active console.

Note

 

SOL is not visible if SOL is inactive; instead, Activate SOL is visible.

Activate SOL

Allows you to log in to an SOL session using a username and password.

Note

 

Activate SOL option is visible only when the SOL session is not active for any reason.
Table 2. Power Menu

Menu Item

Description

Power Off

Powers off the system from the virtual console session.

Note

 

This option is enabled when the system is powered on and disabled when the system is not powered on.

Power On

Powers on the system.

Note

 

This option is disabled when the system is powered on and it is enabled when the system is not powered.

Power Cycle

Turns off the system and then back on.

Note

 

This option is enabled when the system is powered on and disabled when the system is not powered on.

Power Down

Powers down the system.

Note

 

This option is enabled when the system is powered on and disabled when the system is not powered on.
Table 3. Boot Device Menu

Menu Item

Description

None

No boot device is selected.

PXE

Selects PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) as the boot device.

HDD

Selects the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) as the boot device.

CD

Selects the CD/DVD drive as the boot device.

BiosSetup

Selects the BIOS Setup as the boot option.

USB

Selects the USB drive as the boot device.
Table 4. Virtual Media Menu

Menu Item

Description

Map Image

Allows you to map a local image (such as an ISO file) to the virtual media.

Eject Image

Allows you to unmap or eject the currently mapped local image from the virtual media.

Map External Image

Allows you to map an image file located on an external server to the virtual media.

Eject External Image

Allows you to unmap or eject the currently mapped external image from the virtual media.

Launching KVM Console


Note

Only the first KVM session has read-write capability. All other simultaneous sessions are read-only.

Procedure

Step 1

You can launch KVM from one of the following ways:

Step 2

Click the Launch KVM icon from the Menu bar.

Step 3

Alternatively, you can click Compute > Remote Management > KVM

Click the Launch KVM button.

Configuring the Virtual KVM

Procedure

Step 1

From the Navigation Pane, click Compute > Remote Management.

Step 2

Select the KVM tab.

Step 3

You can update the following properties:

Name

Description

KVM Enabling KVM makes to the guest operating system toggle button

Allows you to enable or disable KVM.

KVM Port Value (in numbers) field

Specifies the port number used for KVM (Keyboard, Video, and Mouse) communication. This value must be entered as a numeric value and should correspond to the configured port for KVM access on the system.

Click Save to save the changes.

KVM Session Timeout field

Defines the duration of inactivity after which an active KVM session will automatically time out. This ensures the security of the session by disconnecting unused connections after the specified time.

Click Save to save the changes.

Enabling or Disabling the Virtual KVM

Procedure

Step 1

From the Navigation Pane, click Compute > Remote Management.

Step 2

Select the KVM tab.

Step 3

Click the KVM Enabling KVM makes to the guest operating system toggle button to enable or disable KVM.

When enabled, it allows access to the guest operating system.