Managing Remote Presence

This chapter includes the following sections:

Configuring Serial Over LAN

Serial over LAN enables the input and output of the serial port of a managed system to be redirected over IP. Configure and use serial over LAN on your server when you want to reach the host console with Cisco IMC.

Before You Begin

You must log in as a user with admin privileges to configure serial over LAN.

Procedure
    Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
    Step 2   On the Server tab, click Remote Presence.
    Step 3   In the Remote Presence pane, click the Serial over LAN tab.
    Step 4   In the Serial over LAN Properties area, update the following properties:
    Name Description

    Enabled check box

    If checked, Serial over LAN (SoL) is enabled on this server.

    Baud Rate drop-down list

    The baud rate the system uses for SoL communication. This can be one of the following:

    • 9600 bps

    • 19.2 kbps

    • 38.4 kbps

    • 57.6 kbps

    • 115.2 kbps

    Com Port drop-down list

    The serial port through which the system routes SoL communication.

    Note   

    This field is only available on some C-Series servers. If it is not available, the server always uses COM port 0 for SoL communication.

    You can select one of the following:

    • com0—SoL communication is routed through COM port 0, an externally accessible serial port that supports either a physical RJ45 connection to an external device or a virtual SoL connection to a network device.

      If you select this option, the system enables SoL and disables the RJ45 connection, which means that the server can no longer support an external serial device.

    • com1—SoL communication is routed through COM port 1, an internal port accessible only through SoL.

      If you select this option, you can use SoL on COM port 1 and the physical RJ45 connection on COM port 0.

    Note   

    Changing the Com Port setting disconnects any existing SoL sessions.

    SSH Port filed

    The port through which you can access Serial over LAN directly. The port enables you to by-pass the Cisco IMC shell to provide direct access to SoL.

    The valid range is 1024 to 65535. The default value is 2400.

    Note   

    Changing the SSH Port setting disconnects any existing SSH sessions.

    Step 5   Click Save Changes.

    Configuring Virtual Media

    Before You Begin

    You must log in as a user with admin privileges to configure virtual media.

    Procedure
      Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
      Step 2   On the Server tab, click Remote Presence.
      Step 3   In the Remote Presence pane, click the Virtual Media tab.
      Step 4   In the Virtual Media Properties area, update the following properties:
      Name Description

      Enabled check box

      If checked, virtual media is enabled.

      Note   

      If you clear this check box, all virtual media devices are automatically detached from the host.

      Active Sessions field

      The number of virtual media sessions that are currently running.

      Enable Virtual Media Encryption check box

      If checked, all virtual media communications are encrypted.

      Low Power USB enabled check box

      If checked, low power USB is enabled.

      If the low power USB is enabled, after mapping the ISO and rebooting the host, the virtual drives appear on the boot selection menu.

      But, while mapping an ISO to a server that has a UCS VIC P81E card and the NIC is in Cisco Card mode, this option must be disabled for the virtual drives to appear on the boot selection menu.

      Step 5   Click Save Changes.

      Creating a Cisco IMC-Mapped vMedia Volume

      Before You Begin

      You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

      Procedure
        Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
        Step 2   On the Server tab, click Remote Presence.
        Step 3   In the Remote Presence pane, click the Virtual Media tab.
        Step 4   In the Cisco IMC-Mapped vMedia area, click Add New Mapping.
        Step 5   In the Cisco IMC-Mapped vMedia dialog box, update the following fields:
        Name Description

        Volume field

        The identity of the image mounted for mapping.

        Mount Type drop-down list

        The type of mapping. This can be one of the following:

        Note   

        Ensure that the communication port of the mount type that you choose is enabled on the switch. For example, when you are using CIFS as your mount type, ensure port 445 (which is its communication port) is enabled on the switch. Similarly, enable ports 80 for HTTP, 443 for HTTPS and 2049 for NFS when you use them.

        • NFS—Network File System.

        • CIFS—Common Internet File System.

        • WWW(HTTP/HTTPS)—HTTP-based or HTTPS-based system.

          Note   

          Before mounting the virtual media, Cisco IMC tries to verify reachability to the end server by pinging the server.

        Remote Share field

        The URL of the image to be mapped. The format depends on the selected Mount Type:

        • NFS—Use serverip:/share.

        • CIFS—Use //serverip/share.

        • WWW(HTTP/HTTPS)—Use http[s]://serverip/share.

        Remote File field

        The name and location of the .iso or .img file in the remote share.

        Mount Options field

        Industry-standard mount options entered in a comma separated list. The options vary depending on the selected Mount Type.

        If you are using NFS, leave the field blank or enter one or more of the following:

        • ro

        • rw

        • nolock

        • noexec

        • soft

        • port=VALUE

        • timeo=VALUE

        • retry=VALUE

        If you are using CIFS, leave the field blank or enter one or more of the following:

        • soft

        • nounix

        • noserverino

        • guest

        • username=VALUE—ignored if guest is entered.

        • password=VALUE—ignored if guest is entered.

        • sec=VALUE

          The protocol to use for authentication when communicating with the remote server. Depending on the configuration of CIFS share, VALUE could be one of the following:

          • None—No authentication is used

          • Ntlm—NT LAN Manager (NTLM) security protocol. Use this option only with Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 2012 R2.

          • Ntlmi—NTLMi security protocol. Use this option only when you enable Digital Signing in the CIFS Windows server.

          • Ntlmssp—NT LAN Manager Security Support Provider (NTLMSSP) protocol. Use this option only with Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 2012 R2.

          • Ntlmsspi—NTLMSSPi protocol. Use this option only when you enable Digital Signing in the CIFS Windows server.

          • Ntlmv2—NTLMv2 security protocol. Use this option only with Samba Linux.

          • Ntlmv2i—NTLMv2i security protocol. Use this option only with Samba Linux.

        If you are using WWW(HTTP/HTTPS), leave the field blank or enter the following:

        • noauto

          Note   

          Before mounting the virtual media, Cisco IMC tries to verify reachability to the end server by pinging the server.

        • username=VALUE

        • password=VALUE

        User Name field

        The username for the specified Mount Type, if required.

        Password field

        The password for the selected username, if required.

        Step 6   Click Save.

        Viewing Cisco IMC-Mapped vMedia Volume Properties

        Before You Begin

        You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

        Procedure
          Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
          Step 2   On the Server tab, click Remote Presence.
          Step 3   In the Remote Presence pane, click the Virtual Media tab.
          Step 4   In the Cisco IMC-Mapped vMedia area, select a row from the Current Mappings table.
          Step 5   Click Properties and review the following information:
          Name Description

          Volume field

          The identity of the image mounted for mapping.

          Mount Type drop-down list

          The type of mapping. This can be one of the following:

          • NFS—Network File System.

          • CIFS—Common Internet File System.

          • WWW(HTTP/HTTPS)—HTTP-based or HTTPS- based system.

            Note   

            Before mounting the virtual media, Cisco IMC tries to verify reachability to the end server by pinging the server.

          Remote Share field

          The URL of the image to be mapped.

          Remote File field

          The name and location of the .iso or .img file in the remote share.

          Mount Options field

          The selected mount options.

          User Name field

          The username, if any.

          Password field

          The password for the selected username, if any.

          Removing a Cisco IMC-Mapped vMedia Volume

          Before You Begin

          You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

          Procedure
            Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
            Step 2   On the Server tab, click Remote Presence.
            Step 3   In the Remote Presence pane, click the Virtual Media tab.
            Step 4   In the Cisco IMC-Mapped vMedia area, click Unmap.

            When you are prompted to save the mapping, click Save.

            Remapping an Existing Cisco IMC vMedia Image

            Before You Begin

            You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

            Procedure
              Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
              Step 2   On the Server tab, click Remote Presence.
              Step 3   In the Remote Presence pane, click the Virtual Media tab.
              Step 4   In the Cisco IMC-Mapped vMedia area, select a row from the Current Mappings table.
              Step 5   Click Remap.

              Deleting a Cisco IMC vMedia Image

              Before You Begin

              You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

              Procedure
                Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
                Step 2   On the Server tab, click Remote Presence.
                Step 3   In the Remote Presence pane, click the Virtual Media tab.
                Step 4   In the Cisco IMC-Mapped vMedia area, select a row from the Current Mappings table.
                Step 5   Click Delete.

                KVM Console

                The KVM console is an interface accessible from Cisco IMC that emulates a direct keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) connection to the server. The KVM console allows you to connect to the server from a remote location.

                Instead of using CD/DVD or floppy drives physically connected to the server, the KVM 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:

                • CD/DVD or floppy drive on your computer

                • Disk image files (ISO or IMG files) on your computer

                • USB flash drive on your computer

                • CD/DVD or floppy drive on the network

                • Disk image files (ISO or IMG files) on the network

                • USB flash drive on the network

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


                Note

                When launching the KVM Console from Internet Explorer 6 SP1 on Windows Server 2003, the browser will report that it cannot download a required file. If this occurs, click the browser Tools menu and select Internet Options. Click the Advanced tab and, in the Security section, uncheck the checkbox for "Do not save encrypted pages to disk." Launch the KVM Console again.

                Configuring the Virtual KVM

                Before You Begin

                You must log in as a user with admin privileges to configure the virtual KVM.

                Procedure
                  Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
                  Step 2   On the Server tab, click Remote Presence.
                  Step 3   In the Remote Presence pane, click the Virtual KVM tab.
                  Step 4   On the Virtual KVM tab, complete the following fields:
                  Name Description

                  Enabled check box

                  If checked, the virtual KVM is enabled.

                  Note   

                  The virtual media viewer is accessed through the KVM. If you disable the KVM console, Cisco IMC also disables access to all virtual media devices attached to the host.

                  Max Sessions drop-down list

                  The maximum number of concurrent KVM sessions allowed. You can select any number between 1 and 4.

                  Active Sessions field

                  The number of KVM sessions running on the server.

                  Remote Port field

                  The port used for KVM communication.

                  Enable Video Encryption check box

                  If checked, the server encrypts all video information sent through the KVM.

                  Enable Local Server Video check box

                  If checked, the KVM session is also displayed on any monitor attached to the server.

                  Step 5   Click Save Changes.

                  Enabling the Virtual KVM

                  Before You Begin

                  You must log in as a user with admin privileges to enable the virtual KVM.

                  Procedure
                    Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
                    Step 2   On the Server tab, click Remote Presence.
                    Step 3   In the Remote Presence pane, click the Virtual KVM tab.
                    Step 4   On the Virtual KVM tab, check the Enabled check box.
                    Step 5   Click Save Changes.

                    Disabling the Virtual KVM

                    Before You Begin

                    You must log in as a user with admin privileges to disable the virtual KVM.

                    Procedure
                      Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
                      Step 2   On the Server tab, click Remote Presence.
                      Step 3   In the Remote Presence pane, click the Virtual KVM tab.
                      Step 4   On the Virtual KVM tab, uncheck the Enabled check box.
                      Step 5   Click Save Changes.