Cluster 8. IPMI

IPMI is short for Intelligent Platform Management Interface - this can be used to read values from server sensors, monitor RAID etc.

IPMI uses BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) it is main controller of IPMI and manages the interface between IPMI management software and server hardware platform. BMC is like small computer inside the server.

Vendor names for IPMI:

• Fujitsu calls theirs iRMC
• HP calls theirs iLO
• Dell calls theirs DRAC
• IBM calls their RSA 

We will use this for fencing - if one node stops, fenced will use IPMI fence agent to power off peer node. If you remember we used Gi 1/0/5 and Gi 2/0/5 port to connect cables going to each server iLO ports.

Install IPMI:

yum install ipmitool -y

Verify that ipmi device is seen:

ll /dev/ipmi*

Verify that ipmitool works:

ipmitool chassis status #if we have good output we're past 90% of the potential problems

ipmitool mc info #ipmi version, revision etc.

ipmitool fru print #field replaceable units - SN / CPU / RAM etc.

ipmitool sdr list #shows list of supported sensors

ipmitool sel elist #System Event Log (SEL) print errors

Finding IPMI LAN channel to assign it an IP:

ipmitool lan print NUM #start with NUM = 1 & increment untill something different than "Invalid channel: 1" appears

Setup IPMI BMC:

ipmitool lan set 2 ipsrc static

ipmitool lan set 2 ipaddr 10.10.53.11 # node 2 IP will be 10.10.53.21

ipmitool lan set 2 netmask 255.255.255.0

Verify (IPMI IP, net-mask, default gateway, MAC):

ipmitool lan print 2

Finding IPMI userID (we can skip this step because HP default iLO passwords are goof enough):

ipmitool user list 2 #remember userID of an admin user (well be used in the next step)

ipmitool user set password 1 p@$$w0rd #password in some IPMIs must be at least 8 characters long

From each node verify remote node:
From agrp-c01n01:

ipmitool -I lanplus -U Administrator -P p@$$w0rd -H agrp-c01n02.ipmi chassis power status
Response must be like:
Chassis Power is on
From agrp-c01n02:
ipmitool -I lanplus -U Administrator -P p@$$w0rd -H agrp-c01n01.ipmi chassis power status
Response must be like:
Chassis Power is on

Other usefull commands:
Power-on:
ipmitool -I lanplus -U Administrator -P 8PVRREBK -H agrp-c01n01.ipmi chassis power on
Power-off gracefully (shutdown OS and power off the server to standby power mode):
ipmitool -I lanplus -U Administrator -P 8PVRREBK -H agrp-c01n01.ipmi chassis power  soft
Reboot:
ipmitool -I lanplus -U Administrator -P 8PVRREBK -H agrp-c01n01.ipmi chassis power reset

This tutorial was used to understand and setup clustering: AN!Cluster