Rack Servers

[jammann]

Hi all

I've got a brand new R710 and need to get console redirection running. I have configured my iDRAC 6 Express and can connect to both the Web and SSH interface. So far so good.

Now I have absolutely nod idea how I can access the console remotely. Documentation always say something like "Go to the web interface, select System->Console", etc. Problem is, in my Web Interface und System, I have no console tab, just Properties, Power Management, Logs and Alert Management.

Also, when I try to connect via VNC (Port 5900), the VNC client connects successfully, but the the iDRAC closes the connection after ~30 seconds without any traffic going over the connection.

Can somebody tell me what I'm doing wrong??

CU, Joe

[cmoorehsu]

Remote console/KVM is a capability of the iDRAC 6 Enterprise.  iDRAC 6 Express has no such capabilities.  Here's a quote from a webcast transcript on DellTechCenter.com:

iDRAC 6 Express is offered as an upgrade on 200–500 series servers and is standard on the 600–900 series. iDRAC 6 is a physical riser card that needs to be added to the server. iDRAC 6 Express offers many remote management features such as an out-of-band Web GUI, advanced security features, several remote management features, power management, and sensor monitoring and alerting

iDRAC 6 Enterprise is offered as an upgrade on 200–900 series servers and is standard on blade servers. iDRAC 6 provides additional out-of-band features including virtual console, virtual media, and a dedicated NIC. iDRAC 6 Enterprise is a physical riser card that provides two additional ports on the back of the server: a RJ-45 network port and an SD slot (for VFlash media)

Hope this helps.

[amujunen]

Has anyone been able to use the console redirection of iDRAC 6 Enterprise using some regular VNC viewer (Windows, Linux)?

In the 430-page User's Manual the network port of redirection (and media redirection) is documented as 5900, the typical VNC port of display number 0 in a given host.  Also, the Glossay at the end lists the abbreviation "VNC" but that is the only occurrence of this acronym.  It would be nice to know that using the embedded Java/ActiveX viewer applet is not the only option to access console redirection, but you can also use VNC viewers like Linux xvncviewer.