IPMI-CONFIG(8)

📦
version 1.6.20 · 14 versions
, in arch rolling, centos-stream 10, centos-stream 9

🌸 IPMI-CONFIG(8) — the ipmi-config glow-up guide 🌸

okay bestie, welcome to ipmi-config (that's the manual page name, section 8 of System Commands, iykyk) — the tool that literally configures your IPMI values. let's get into it 💅

✨ NAME ✨

ipmi-config — configure IPMI values. that's it. that's the vibe. 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

ipmi-config [OPTION...]

short, sweet, iconic. 🦋

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so ipmi-config is the tool you use to get and set configuration parameters in IPMI. it can configure usernames, passwords, networking information, security, Serial-over-LAN (SOL), Platform Event Filtering (PEF), boot devices, power restoration policy, sensor thresholds, sensor events — and honestly, many more configuration options. the way it just does it all?? 🔥

some configuration is typically required before most IPMI tools can be used to access a machine remotely. like, you gotta set things up first, no cap.

by default, ipmi-config will let you --checkout or --commit only the core IPMI values necessary for IPMI configuration. for additional advanced configuration fields related to Chassis configuration (including boot options), Platform Event Filtering (PEF), or Sensors, go look at the --category option below. for more details on core IPMI configuration, see ipmi-config.conf(5).

💀 real talk: the majority of configuration operations require ADMIN privilege when using ipmi-config out-of-band. and like, although connecting via a user with ADMIN privileges is not required for out-of-band use, the vast majority of configuration options will not be retrieved or set. so, you know. ADMIN or nothing, basically. 🙈

listed below are general IPMI options, tool specific options, troubleshooting information, workaround information, examples, and known issues. for a general introduction to FreeIPMI please see freeipmi(7). and see GENERAL USE below for a description on basic use of ipmi-config. 📖

✨ GENERAL OPTIONS ✨

the following options are general options for configuring IPMI communication and executing general tool commands. buckle up, there's a lot, but we're gonna slay through them all 🫶

  • -D IPMIDRIVER, --driver-type=IPMIDRIVER — specify the driver type to use instead of doing an auto selection. the currently available out-of-band drivers are LAN and LAN_2_0, which perform IPMI 1.5 and IPMI 2.0 respectively. the currently available in-band drivers are KCS, SSIF, OPENIPMI, SUNBMC, and INTELDCMI. pick your fighter ⭐
  • --disable-auto-probe — do not probe in-band IPMI devices for default settings. hands off, bestie ✋
  • --driver-address=DRIVER-ADDRESS — specify the in-band driver address to be used instead of the probed value. DRIVER-ADDRESS should be prefixed with "0x" for a hex value and '0' for an octal value. hex girlies and octal girlies both welcome 💜
  • --driver-device=DEVICE — specify the in-band driver device path to be used instead of the probed path.
  • --register-spacing=REGISTER-SPACING — specify the in-band driver register spacing instead of the probed value. argument is in bytes (i.e. 32bit register spacing = 4). math is mathing ✨
  • --target-channel-number=CHANNEL-NUMBER — specify the in-band driver target channel number to send IPMI requests to.
  • --target-slave-address=SLAVE-ADDRESS — specify the in-band driver target slave number to send IPMI requests to.
  • -h IPMIHOST1,IPMIHOST2,...,, --hostname=IPMIHOST1[:PORT],IPMIHOST2[:PORT],... — specify the remote host(s) to communicate with. multiple hostnames may be separated by comma or may be specified in a range format; see HOSTRANGED SUPPORT below. an optional port can be specified with each host, which may be useful in port forwarding or similar situations. if specifying an IPv6 address and port, use the format [ADDRESS]:PORT. 🦋
  • -u USERNAME, --username=USERNAME — specify the username to use when authenticating with the remote host. if not specified, a null (i.e. anonymous) username is assumed. the user must have atleast ADMIN privileges in order for this tool to operate fully. 👑
  • -p PASSWORD, --password=PASSWORD — specify the password to use when authenticationg with the remote host. if not specified, a null password is assumed. maximum password length is 16 for IPMI 1.5 and 20 for IPMI 2.0. (yes, "authenticationg" — that's how the page spells it, we don't fix, we respect 😌)
  • -P, --password-prompt — prompt for password to avoid possibility of listing it in process lists. safety first, always 🔒
  • -k K_G, --k-g=K_G — specify the K_g BMC key to use when authenticating with the remote host for IPMI 2.0. if not specified, a null key is assumed. to input the key in hexadecimal form, prefix the string with '0x'. E.g., the key 'abc' can be entered with the either the string 'abc' or the string '0x616263'. cute and hex-coded 💖
  • -K, --k-g-prompt — prompt for k-g to avoid possibility of listing it in process lists.
  • --session-timeout=MILLISECONDS — specify the session timeout in milliseconds. defaults to 20000 milliseconds (20 seconds) if not specified. ⏰
  • --retransmission-timeout=MILLISECONDS — specify the packet retransmission timeout in milliseconds. defaults to 1000 milliseconds (1 second) if not specified. the retransmission timeout cannot be larger than the session timeout. respect the hierarchy, bestie 🫡
  • -a AUTHENTICATION-TYPE, --authentication-type=AUTHENTICATION-TYPE — specify the IPMI 1.5 authentication type to use. the currently available authentication types are NONE, STRAIGHT_PASSWORD_KEY, MD2, and MD5. defaults to MD5 if not specified.
  • -I CIPHER-SUITE-ID, --cipher-suite-id=CIPHER-SUITE-ID — specify the IPMI 2.0 cipher suite ID to use. the Cipher Suite ID identifies a set of authentication, integrity, and confidentiality algorithms to use for IPMI 2.0 communication. the authentication algorithm identifies the algorithm to use for session setup, the integrity algorithm identifies the algorithm to use for session packet signatures, and the confidentiality algorithm identifies the algorithm to use for payload encryption. defaults to cipher suite ID 3 if not specified. the following cipher suite ids are currently supported:
    • 0 — Authentication Algorithm = None; Integrity Algorithm = None; Confidentiality Algorithm = None
    • 1 — Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1; Integrity Algorithm = None; Confidentiality Algorithm = None
    • 2 — Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1-96; Confidentiality Algorithm = None
    • 3 — Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1-96; Confidentiality Algorithm = AES-CBC-128
    • 6 — Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = None; Confidentiality Algorithm = None
    • 7 — Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC-MD5-128; Confidentiality Algorithm = None
    • 8 — Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC-MD5-128; Confidentiality Algorithm = AES-CBC-128
    • 11 — Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = MD5-128; Confidentiality Algorithm = None
    • 12 — Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = MD5-128; Confidentiality Algorithm = AES-CBC-128
    • 15 — Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-SHA256; Integrity Algorithm = None; Confidentiality Algorithm = None
    • 16 — Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-SHA256; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC_SHA256_128; Confidentiality Algorithm = None
    • 17 — Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-SHA256; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC_SHA256_128; Confidentiality Algorithm = AES-CBC-128

(not me listing every single one — but like, you need them all, so here we are 🌈)

  • -l PRIVILEGE-LEVEL, --privilege-level=PRIVILEGE-LEVEL — specify the privilege level to be used. the currently available privilege levels are USER, OPERATOR, and ADMIN. defaults to ADMIN if not specified. main character energy only 👑
  • --config-file=FILE — specify an alternate configuration file. 📁
  • -W WORKAROUNDS, --workaround-flags=WORKAROUNDS — specify workarounds to vendor compliance issues. multiple workarounds can be specified separated by commas. a special command line flag of "none", will indicate no workarounds (may be useful for overriding configured defaults). see WORKAROUNDS below for a list of available workarounds. 🛠️
  • --debug — turn on debugging. for when you gotta see everything 🔍
  • -?, --help — output a help list and exit.
  • --usage — output a usage message and exit.
  • -V, --version — output the program version and exit.

(part 1 done — more sections coming, don't go anywhere bestie 💖)

💅 IPMI-CONFIG OPTIONS 💅

Okay bestie, these are the options that let you read, write, and spot the differences in configuration values. Very main character behavior.

  • -g CATEGORY, --category=CATEGORY — pick the category (or categories) of configuration data you wanna configure. Currently available choices: core, chassis, sensors, pef, dcmi. You can separate multiple categories with commas. core includes all the major IPMI configuration necessary to get IPMI functioning on a system, like config for users, passwords, authentication, networking, and serial-over-lan (SOL). chassis includes all chassis-relevant configuration, including boot options, front panel buttons, and power behavior. dcmi includes the specialized functions provided by the Data Center Management Interface (DCMI). Defaults to core if you don’t specify anything.
  • -o, --checkout — fetch configuration information. It’s giving “grab me a copy.”
  • -c, --commit — update configuration information from a config file or key pairs.
  • -d, --diff — show differences between stored information and a config file or key pairs. Vibe check for your config.
  • -n FILENAME, --filename=FILENAME — specify a config file for checkout/commit/diff. If you use this with checkout, you cannot use it with multiple hosts or with --always-prefix.
  • -e "KEY=VALUE", --key-pair="KEY=VALUE" — specify KEY=VALUE pairs for checkout/commit/diff. Specify KEY by SectionName:FieldName. This option can be used multiple times. On commit, any KEY=VALUE pairs will overwrite any pairs specified in a file with --filename.
  • -S SECTION, --section=SECTION — specify a SECTION for checkout. This option can be used multiple times. The SECTION you are specifying must be within the category or categories specified with --category.
  • -L, --listsections — list available sections for checkout with respect to the category or categories under --category. Some sections in the list may not be checked out by default and may require verbosity to be increased.
  • -v, --verbose — output verbose information. When used with --checkout, additional uncommon sections and/or fields will be shown. In the core category, this includes checking out Serial Configuration parameters, Vlan parameters, IPv4 Header parameters, RMCP port, all IPv6 configurable addresses (if > 1 is supported), and sections for each channel on a system (if multiple channels exist). In the pef category, this includes checking out sections for each channel on a system (if multiple channels exist).
  • -vv — output very verbose information. Output additional detailed information about what fields can and cannot be checked out, and sometimes the reason why. Sometimes output fields that are identified as unsupported on the motherboard.
  • --lan-channel-number=NUMBER — use a specific channel number for LAN configuration. Particularly useful if the motherboard contains multiple LAN channels and a user wishes to use a specific one.
  • --serial-channel-number=NUMBER — use a specific channel number for serial configuration. Particularly useful if the motherboard contains multiple serial channels and a user wishes to use a specific one.
  • --sol-channel-number=NUMBER — use a specific channel number for SOL configuration. Particularly useful if the motherboard contains multiple SOL channels and a user wishes to use a specific one.

✨ SDR CACHE OPTIONS ✨

This tool requires access to the sensor data repository (SDR) cache for general operation. By default, SDR data will be downloaded and cached on the local machine. The following options apply to the SDR cache. Cute, right? It’s basically the tool’s little memory box.

  • --flush-cache — flush a cached version of the sensor data repository (SDR) cache. The SDR is typically cached for faster subsequent access. However, it may need to be flushed and re-generated if the SDR has been updated on a system.
  • --quiet-cache — do not output information about cache creation/deletion. May be useful in scripting.
  • --sdr-cache-recreate — if the SDR cache is out of date or invalid, automatically recreate the sensor data repository (SDR) cache. This option may be useful for scripting purposes.
  • --sdr-cache-file=FILE — specify a specific sensor data repository (SDR) cache file to be stored or read from. If this option is used when multiple hosts are specified, the same SDR cache file will be used for all hosts.
  • --sdr-cache-directory=DIRECTORY — specify an alternate directory for sensor data repository (SDR) caches to be stored or read from. Defaults to the home directory if not specified.

🦋 HOSTRANGED OPTIONS 🦋

The following options manipulate hostranged output. See HOSTRANGED SUPPORT below for additional information on hostranges. Yes, that’s a little “go look below” moment — iconic.

  • -B, --buffer-output — buffer hostranged output. For each node, buffer standard output until the node has completed its IPMI operation. When specifying this option, data may appear to output slower to the user since the entire IPMI operation must complete before any data can be output. See HOSTRANGED SUPPORT below for additional information.
  • -C, --consolidate-output — consolidate hostranged output. The complete standard output from every node specified will be consolidated so that nodes with identical output are not output twice. A header will list those nodes with the consolidated output. When this option is specified, no output can be seen until the IPMI operations to all nodes has completed. If the user breaks out of the program early, all currently consolidated output will be dumped. See HOSTRANGED SUPPORT below for additional information.
  • -F NUM, --fanout=NUM — specify multiple host fanout. A "sliding window" (or fanout) algorithm is used for parallel IPMI communication so that slower nodes or timed out nodes will not impede parallel communication. The maximum number of threads available at the same time is limited by the fanout. The default is 64.
  • -E, --eliminate — eliminate hosts determined as undetected by ipmidetect. This attempts to remove the common issue of hostranged execution timing out due to several nodes being removed from service in a large cluster. The ipmidetectd daemon must be running on the node executing the command.
  • --always-prefix — always prefix output, even if only one host is specified or communicating in-band. This option is primarily useful for scripting purposes. Option will be ignored if specified with the -C option.

🌸 GENERAL USE 🌸

Most users will want to:

A) Run with --checkout to get a copy of the current configuration and store it in a file. The standard output can be redirected to a file or a file can be specified with the --filename option.

B) Edit the configuration file with an editor.

C) Commit the configuration back using the --commit option and specifying the configuration file with the --filename option. The configuration can be committed to multiple hosts in parallel via the hostrange support.

Although not typically necessary, some motherboards do not store configuration values in non-volatile memory. Therefore, after system reboots, some configuration values may have changed. The user may wish to run configuration tools on each boot to ensure configuration values remain.

Comments will be listed on occasion in checked out files with information on how to configure fields. The ipmi-config.conf(5) manpage also provides additional information on the meaning of different fields.

For users with large clusters or sets of nodes, you may wish to use the same configuration file for all nodes. The one problem with this is that the IP address and MAC address will be different on each node in your cluster and thus can't be configured through the same config file. The IP address and MAC address in your config file may be overwritten on the command line using --key-pair option. The following example could be used in a script to configure each node in a cluster with the same BMC config file. The script only needs to determine the correct IP address and MAC address to use.

# ipmi-config --commit -e Lan_Conf:Ip_Address=$MY_IP -e Lan_Conf:Mac_Address=$MY_MAC --filename=my_bmc.conf

💖 CORE SPECIAL CASE CONFIGURATION INFORMATION 💖

okay bestie, this is where the motherboard chaos gets real 😭 these are the special-case warnings you genuinely need before you go configuring stuff, no cap.

  • The UserN:Password fields (where N is a number) cannot be checked out on some systems, therefore the checked out value will always be blank. 💀
  • The UserN:Enable_User field (where N is a number) cannot be checked out on older IPMI systems, therefore the checked out value will sometime be blank.
  • The UserN:Lan_Session_Limit and UserN:Serial_Session_Limit fields (where N is a number) cannot be checked out on some systems, therefore the checked out value will always be blank. If not specified in later commits of configurations, the field may be reset to 0 due to a requirement that other fields (configured along with the session limit) will require an input value for the session limit. Under most conditions, it is not necessary to set this field and most users may choose to ignore it. This field is considered optional by IPMI standards, and may result in errors when attempting to configure it to a non-zero value. If errors do occur, setting the value back to 0 should resolve problems. 🫶
  • The fields Lan_Conf:IP_Address and Lan_Conf:MAC_Address cannot be committed in parallel via hostrange support. Each machine must be configured with a unique IP Address and MAC Address tuple, therefore we disallow this configuration in ipmi-config. literally one of those “please do not parallelize the identity fields” moments 🔥
  • On some motherboards, Lan_Conf:MAC_Address may be read only and the MAC address is automatically configured. 🎀
  • On some motherboards, Lan_Conf:MAC_Address may be read only and the MAC address is configured via an OEM command. See ipmi-oem(8) to see if OEM configuration for your motherboard is supported. iykyk, check the OEM lane before you spiral 💅
  • On some motherboards, a number of user configuration fields cannot be read or configured until after a non-null username or non-null password is configured. In some of these cases, an appropriate output in the config file will indicate this situation. However, not all motherboard corner cases may be detected. Users may wish to play around with the ordering of fields to work around these problems. yes, field-order vibes can genuinely matter here 🙈
  • On some motherboards, OEM Authentication in Lan_Conf_Auth cannot be enabled. However, the default motherboard settings have these fields enabled. Users are advised to disable all OEM Authentication in this section. 🚨
  • On some motherboards, multiple channels may exist for either LAN or Serial IPMI communication. If multiple channels exist, configuration of both channels can be viewed and ultimately configured by running --checkout under verbose mode. Each section or key name will be suffixed appropriately with the word Channel and the channel number. For example, you might see a Lan_Conf_Channel_1 and Lan_Conf_Channel_3, where you can configure LAN configuration on Channels 1 and 3 respectively. channel one and channel three said “we are both main characters” 👑
  • On some motherboards, configuration changes will not be “absorbed” by the system until the motherboard is hard-reset. This can be accomplished by physically powering off and on the system (e.g. button push), or it can be accomplished through a cold-reset. A cold-reset can be executed via bmc-device. yes, sometimes the vibe check is a full power cycle 😭

🌸 CHASSIS SPECIAL CASE CONFIGURATION INFORMATION 🌸

These chassis fields are giving “sometimes readable, sometimes not” energy. 🦋

  • The Chassis_Front_Panel_Buttons:Enable_Standby_Button_For_Entering_Standby, Chassis_Front_Panel_Buttons:Enable_Diagnostic_Interrupt_Button, Chassis_Front_Panel_Buttons:Enable_Reset_Button, and Chassis_Front_Panel_Buttons:Enable_Power_Off_Button_For_Power_Off_Only fields may not be able to be checked out on some IPMI systems, therefore the checked out value may be blank. Some of these fields may be disableable, while some are not. 🎀
  • The Chassis_Power_Conf:Power_Cycle_Interval field cannot be checked out. Therefore the checked out value will always be blank. periodt, it’s just blank 💀

🧚 PEF SPECIAL CASE CONFIGURATION INFORMATION 🧚

On some motherboards, multiple channels may exist for LAN IPMI communication. If multiple channels exist, configuration of both channels can be viewed and ultimately configured by running --checkout under verbose mode. Each section name will be suffixed appropriately with the word Channel and the channel number. For example, you might see a Community_String_Channel_1 and Community_String_Channel_3, where you can configure the Community String on Channels 1 and 3 respectively. 🫶

The following are the options suitable for input for Sensor_Type in PEF configuration.

⭐ Sensor_Type Options ⭐

okay, here’s the whole menu, bestie — exact names, exact order, no skipping:

  • Reserved
  • Temperature
  • Voltage
  • Current
  • Fan
  • Physical_Security
  • Platform_Security_Violation_Attempt
  • Processor
  • Power_Supply
  • Power_Unit
  • Cooling_Device
  • Other_Units_Based_Sensor
  • Memory
  • Drive_Slot
  • Post_Memory_Resize
  • System_Firmware_Progress
  • Event_Logging_Disabled
  • Watchdog1
  • System_Event
  • Critical_Interrupt
  • Button_Switch
  • Module_Board
  • Microcontroller_Coprocessor
  • Add_In_Card
  • Chassis
  • Chip_Set
  • Other_FRU
  • Cable_Interconnect
  • Terminator
  • System_Boot_Initiated
  • Boot_Error
  • OS_Boot
  • OS_Critical_Stop
  • Slot_Connector
  • System_ACPI_Power_State
  • Watchdog2
  • Platform_Alert
  • Entity_Presence
  • Monitor_Asic_IC
  • Lan
  • Management_Subsystem_Health
  • Battery
  • Session_Audit
  • Version_Change
  • FRU_State
  • Any

and Any is right there at the end like the final boss of sensor types 🌈

🍓 SENSORS SPECIAL CASE CONFIGURATION INFORMATION 🍓

Since many configurable fields involve decimal numbers, precision/floating point inaccuracies may occur when configuring new thresholds. The inaccuracies may not be apparent immediately. It is recommend users verify their changes after configuring new thresholds. yes, verify your work — do not just trust the threshold and walk away 💅

🔥 HOSTRANGED SUPPORT 🔥

Multiple hosts can be input either as an explicit comma separated lists of hosts or a range of hostnames in the general form: prefix[n-m,l-k,...], where n < m and l < k, etc. The later form should not be confused with regular expression character classes (also denoted by []). For example, foo[19] does not represent foo1 or foo9, but rather represents a degenerate range: foo19. 💀

This range syntax is meant only as a convenience on clusters with a prefixNN naming convention and specification of ranges should not be considered necessary -- the list foo1,foo9 could be specified as such, or by the range foo[1,9]. 🦋

Some examples of range usage follow:

foo[01-05] instead of foo01,foo02,foo03,foo04,foo05
foo[7,9-10] instead of foo7,foo9,foo10
foo[0-3] instead of foo0,foo1,foo2,foo3

As a reminder to the reader, some shells will interpret brackets ([ and ]) for pattern matching. Depending on your shell, it may be necessary to enclose ranged lists within quotes. quote your ranges, bestie — your shell is not here to help 😭

When multiple hosts are specified by the user, a thread will be executed for each host in parallel up to the configured fanout (which can be adjusted via the -F option). This will allow communication to large numbers of nodes far more quickly than if done in serial. parallel go brrr 🔥

By default, standard output from each node specified will be output with the hostname prepended to each line. Although this output is readable in many situations, it may be difficult to read in other situations. For example, output from multiple nodes may be mixed together. The -B and -C options can be used to change this default. 🎀

In-band IPMI Communication will be used when the host localhost is specified. This allows the user to add the localhost into the hostranged output. localhost said “I’m one of the hosts too” 💅

🛠️ GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING 🛠️

Okay bestie, real talk: most IPMI problems are straight-up configuration problems. Not haunted, not cursed — just config. 💅

If you’re hitting IPMI over LAN problems, it’s usually a misconfiguration of the remote machine’s BMC. Double-check that the following are configured properly in the remote machine’s BMC: IP address, MAC address, subnet mask, username, user enablement, user privilege, password, LAN privilege, LAN enablement, and allowed authentication type(s). For IPMI 2.0 connections, double-check that the cipher suite privilege(s) and K_g key are configured properly. The ipmi-config(8) tool can check and/or change these configuration settings.

Inband IPMI problems are typically caused by improperly configured drivers or non-standard BMCs.

Also: in addition to the troubleshooting tips below, please see WORKAROUNDS below to see if there are any vendor-specific bugs that have been discovered and worked around. 🫶

Below are many of the common issues for error messages. For additional support, please e-mail the freeipmi-users@gnu.org mailing list. ✨

  • "username invalid" — The username you entered (or a NULL username if none was entered) is not available on the remote machine. It may also be possible that the remote BMC’s username configuration is incorrect.
  • "password invalid" — The password you entered (or a NULL password if none was entered) is not correct. It may also be possible that the password for the user is not correctly configured on the remote BMC.
  • "password verification timeout" — Password verification has timed out. A "password invalid" error (described above) or a generic "session timeout" (described below) occurred. During this point in the protocol it cannot be differentiated which occurred.
  • "k_g invalid" — The K_g key you entered (or a NULL K_g key if none was entered) is not correct. It may also be possible that the K_g key is not correctly configured on the remote BMC.
  • "privilege level insufficient" — An IPMI command requires a higher user privilege than the one authenticated with. Please try to authenticate with a higher privilege. This may require authenticating to a different user which has a higher maximum privilege.
  • "privilege level cannot be obtained for this user" — The privilege level you are attempting to authenticate with is higher than the maximum allowed for this user. Please try again with a lower privilege. It may also be possible that the maximum privilege level allowed for a user is not configured properly on the remote BMC.
  • "authentication type unavailable for attempted privilege level" — The authentication type you wish to authenticate with is not available for this privilege level. Please try again with an alternate authentication type or alternate privilege level. It may also be possible that the available authentication types you can authenticate with are not correctly configured on the remote BMC.
  • "cipher suite id unavailable" — The cipher suite id you wish to authenticate with is not available on the remote BMC. Please try again with an alternate cipher suite id. It may also be possible that the available cipher suite ids are not correctly configured on the remote BMC.
  • "ipmi 2.0 unavailable" — IPMI 2.0 was not discovered on the remote machine. Please try to use IPMI 1.5 instead.
  • "connection timeout" — Initial IPMI communication failed. A number of potential errors are possible, including an invalid hostname specified, an IPMI IP address cannot be resolved, IPMI is not enabled on the remote server, the network connection is bad, etc. Please verify configuration and connectivity.
  • "session timeout" — The IPMI session has timed out. Please reconnect. If this error occurs often, you may wish to increase the retransmission timeout. Some remote BMCs are considerably slower than others.
  • "device not found" — The specified device could not be found. Please check configuration or inputs and try again.
  • "driver timeout" — Communication with the driver or device has timed out. Please try again.
  • "message timeout" — Communication with the driver or device has timed out. Please try again.
  • "BMC busy" — The BMC is currently busy. It may be processing information or have too many simultaneous sessions to manage. Please wait and try again.
  • "could not find inband device" — An inband device could not be found. Please check configuration or specify specific device or driver on the command line.
  • "driver timeout" — The inband driver has timed out communicating to the local BMC or service processor. The BMC or service processor may be busy or (worst case) possibly non-functioning.

🩹 WORKAROUNDS 🩹

Okay bestie, story time 😭 — there are so many vendors out there doing their own IPMI thing, and sometimes they implement the protocol kind of... wrong. Like not in a cute way. In a "why is this packet like this" way. So here's the whole list of workarounds we currently have for compliance issues we've found. Where we could, we made them transparent so you don't even have to think about them 💅. But some of them? You gotta opt in with the -W option yourself.

Some things to know before you dive in:

  • The hardware listed down there may only be the hardware the problem was discovered on — newer hardware versions may have fixed it already 🌈.
  • Similar machines from the same vendor may or may not have the same problem. It's giving chaos, honestly.
  • Different vendors may license their firmware from the same IPMI firmware developer, so it's totally worth trying a workaround even if your motherboard isn't listed 🫶.

And if you think your hardware has an extra compliance issue that needs a workaround implemented, please reach out to the FreeIPMI maintainers at <freeipmi-users@gnu.org> or <freeipmi-devel@gnu.org>. They wanna hear it fr fr 💖.

  • assumeio — this workaround flag makes the inband interfaces assume they're talking to system I/O instead of being memory-mapped. It works around systems that report invalid base addresses. If you're hitting this, you might see "device not supported" or "could not find inband device" errors. Issue observed on HP ProLiant DL145 G1.
  • spinpoll — this one tells some inband drivers (most notably the KCS driver) to spin while polling instead of putting the process to sleep. This may significantly improve the wall clock running time of tools, because an operating system scheduler's granularity may be much larger than the time it takes to do a single IPMI message transaction. But heads up: by spinning, your system may be doing less useful work, since it's not contexting out the tool for a more useful task 😬.
  • authcap — skips the early checks for username capabilities, authentication capabilities, and K_g support, and just lets IPMI authentication succeed. It works around multiple issues where the remote system doesn't properly report username capabilities, authentication capabilities, or K_g status. Hitting this one? You might see "username invalid", "authentication type unavailable for attempted privilege level", or "k_g invalid" errors. Issue observed on Asus P5M2/P5MT-R/RS162-E4/RX4, Intel SR1520ML/X38ML, and Sun Fire 2200/4150/4450 with ELOM.
  • nochecksumcheck — tells FreeIPMI to not check the checksums returned from IPMI command responses. Works around systems that return invalid checksums due to implementation errors, even though the packet is otherwise valid. ⚠️ Caution on this one, bestie — it removes validation of packet integrity in a number of circumstances. That said, it's unlikely to be an issue in most situations. Those hitting this issue may see "connection timeout", "session timeout", or "password verification timeout" errors. On IPMI 1.5 connections, the "noauthcodecheck" workaround may also be needed too. Issue observed on Supermicro X9SCM-iiF, Supermicro X9DRi-F, and Supermicro X9DRFR.
  • idzero — lets empty session IDs be accepted by the client. Works around IPMI sessions that report empty session IDs to the client. Hitting this one? You might see "session timeout" errors. Issue observed on Tyan S2882 with M3289 BMC.
  • unexpectedauth — allows unexpected non-null authcodes to be checked as though they were expected. Works around an issue where packets contain non-null authentication data when they should be null because per-message authentication is disabled. You might see "session timeout" errors. Issue observed on Dell PowerEdge 2850,SC1425. Confirmed fixed on newer firmware ✨.
  • forcepermsg — forces per-message authentication to be used no matter what the remote system advertises. Works around an issue where per-message authentication is advertised as disabled on the remote system, but it's actually required for the protocol. You might see "session timeout" errors. Issue observed on IBM eServer 325.
  • endianseq — flips the endian of the session sequence numbers so the session can continue properly. Works around IPMI 1.5 session sequence numbers that are the wrong endian. You might see "session timeout" errors. Issue observed on some Sun ILOM 1.0/2.0 (depends on service processor endian).
  • noauthcodecheck — tells FreeIPMI to not check the authentication codes returned from IPMI 1.5 command responses. Works around systems that return invalid authentication codes due to hashing or implementation errors. ⚠️ Caution again — this removes an authentication check verifying the validity of a packet. But in most organizations, this is unlikely to be a security issue. You might see "connection timeout", "session timeout", or "password verification timeout" errors. Issue observed on Xyratex FB-H8-SRAY, Intel Windmill, Quanta Winterfell, and Wiwynn Windmill.
  • intel20 — works around several Intel IPMI 2.0 authentication issues. The issues covered include padding of usernames, and password truncation if the authentication algorithm is HMAC-MD5-128. You might see "username invalid", "password invalid", or "k_g invalid" errors. Issue observed on Intel SE7520AF2 with Intel Server Management Module (Professional Edition).
  • supermicro20 — works around several Supermicro IPMI 2.0 authentication issues on motherboards w/ Peppercon IPMI firmware. The issues covered include handling invalid length authentication codes. You might see "password invalid" errors. Issue observed on Supermicro H8QME with SIMSO daughter card. Confirmed fixed on newerver firmware.
  • sun20 — works around several Sun IPMI 2.0 authentication issues. The issues covered include invalid lengthed hash keys, improperly hashed keys, and invalid cipher suite records. You might see "password invalid" or "bmc error" errors. Issue observed on Sun Fire 4100/4200/4500 with ILOM. This workaround automatically includes the "opensesspriv" workaround 🫶.
  • opensesspriv — slightly alters FreeIPMI's IPMI 2.0 connection protocol to work around an invalid hashing algorithm used by the remote system. The privilege level sent during the Open Session stage of an IPMI 2.0 connection is used for hashing keys instead of the privilege level sent during the RAKP1 connection stage. You might see "password invalid", "k_g invalid", "bad rmcpplus status code", or "privilege level cannot be obtained for this user" errors. Issue observed on Sun Fire 4100/4200/4500 with ILOM, Inventec 5441/Dell Xanadu II, Supermicro X8DTH, Supermicro X8DTG, Intel S5500WBV/Penguin Relion 700, Intel S2600JF/Appro 512X, Quanta QSSC-S4R/Appro GB812X-CN, Dell C5220, and the OpenIPMI software BMC. This workaround is automatically triggered with the "sun20" workaround.
  • integritycheckvalue — works around an invalid integrity check value during an IPMI 2.0 session establishment when using Cipher Suite ID 0. The integrity check value should be 0 length, however the remote motherboard responds with a non-empty field. You might see "k_g invalid" errors. Issue observed on Supermicro X8DTG, Supermicro X8DTU, and Intel S5500WBV/Penguin Relion 700, and Intel S2600JF/Appro 512X.
  • No IPMI 1.5 Support — some motherboards that support IPMI 2.0 have been found to not support IPMI 1.5 💀. You might see "ipmi 2.0 unavailable" or "connection timeout" errors. Good news: this can be worked around by using IPMI 2.0 instead of IPMI 1.5, by specifying --driver-type=LAN_2_0. Issue observed on a number of HP and Supermicro motherboards.
  • slowcommit — slows down commits to the BMC by sleeping one second between the commit of sections 💤. Works around motherboards that have BMCs that can be overwhelmed by commits. You might see commit errors, or commits not being written to the BMC. Issue observed on Supermicro H8QME.
  • veryslowcommit — slows down commits to the BMC by sleeping one second between the commit of every key 😴. Works around motherboards that have BMCs that can be overwhelmed by commits. You might see commit errors, or commits not being written to the BMC. Issue observed on Quanta S99Q/Dell FS12-TY and Dell PowerEdge T320.
  • solchannelassumelanchannel — forces ipmi-config to assume that the channel used SOL is identical to the channel used for LAN. On some motherboards, the SOL channel is reported incorrectly, which leads to incorrect configuration. Most notably, this problem has come up when attempting to configure multiple channels. Issue observed on Intel S5500WBV/Penguin Relion 700.

🌸 EXAMPLES 🌸

Okay these are the fun part, let's go 👑

# ipmi-config --checkout

Outputs all core configuration information to the console.

# ipmi-config --checkout --category=pef

Outputs all pef configuration information to the console.

# ipmi-config --checkout --category=pef,chassis

Outputs all pef and chassis configuration information to the console.

# ipmi-config --checkout --filename=bmc-data1.conf

Stores all core configuration information in bmc-data1.conf.

# ipmi-config --diff --filename=bmc-data2.conf

Shows all difference between the current configuration and the bmc-data2.conf file.

# ipmi-config --diff --key-pair="lan_conf_misc:gratuitous_arp_interval=8"

Shows difference between the current configuration and the 'lan_conf_misc:gratuitous_arp_interval' of value '8'.

# ipmi-config --commit --filename=bmc-data1.conf

Commits all configuration values from the bmc-data1.conf file.

# ipmi-config --commit --key-pair="lan_conf_misc:gratuitous_arp_interval=4"

Commits key 'lan_conf_misc:gratuitous_arp_interval' of value '4'.

# ipmi-config --commit --filename=bmc-data-updt.conf --key-pair="lan_conf_misc:gratuitous_arp_interval=4"

Commits all configuration values from bmc-data-updt.conf and key 'lan_conf_misc:gratuitous_arp_interval' of value '4'.

🔍 DIAGNOSTICS 🔍

Exit codes, bestie — know them, love them 💅:

  • Successful execution → exit status is 0.
  • Non-fatal error → exit status is 1.
  • Fatal error → exit status is 2.

And if you're talking to multiple hosts? The exit status is 0 if and only if all targets successfully execute. If any non-fatal error occurs, exit status is 1. If any fatal error occurs, exit status is 2. Periodt. 👑

👑 KNOWN ISSUES 👑

Okay bestie, listen up, because this part is important 🫶

  • On older operating systems, if you type your username, password, and other potentially security relevant info right there on the command line, other users may discover it — like, with tools such as the ps(1) command, or by straight-up peeking around in the /proc file system 😭 Lowkey a vibe killer, security-wise.
  • It is generally more secure to input password information with options like the -P or -K options 💅 Also, configuring security relevant information in the FreeIPMI configuration file? That would also be an appropriate way to hide this information. Slay, keep your secrets secret ✨
  • In order to prevent brute force attacks, some BMCs will temporarily "lock up" after a number of remote authentication errors 🙈 You may need to wait awhile in order for this temporary "lock up" to pass before you may authenticate again. It's giving "the server is in its feelings," just be patient 🧚

🐛 REPORTING BUGS 🐛

Found a bug? Not me being the bearer of bad news, but go report it to <freeipmi-users@gnu.org> or <freeipmi-devel@gnu.org> 💖 The devs literally want to hear about it, fr fr.

Copyright © 2003-2015 FreeIPMI Core Team. Iconic. Legendary. 👑

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. Periodt. 🌈

🌸 SEE ALSO 🌸

Go get your reading on, bestie:

And for the full main character experience:

💖 That's a wrap, bestie! This was ipmi-config version 1.6.20, dated 2026-10-05, from your friendly neighborhood IPMI-CONFIG(8) page. Go configure something iconic. Mwah! 💅✨🎀
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