ipmiconsole(8)

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

💖 NAME 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to ipmiconsole(8) — System Commands section, IPMI console utility, main character energy. This is the page for ipmiconsole, the IPMI console utility, and we're gonna get you comfy with her. no cap, she's a whole vibe. ✨

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

ipmiconsole [OPTION...]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

ipmiconsole is a Serial-over-LAN (SOL) console utility. She can be used to establish console sessions to remote machines using the IPMI 2.0 SOL protocol. ipmiconsole communicates with a remote machine's Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) to establish a console session. Before any SOL communication can take place, the remote machine's BMC must be configured properly. The FreeIPMI tool ipmi-config(8) may be used to do this configuration. iykyk 💅

Often (although not always), console redirection must also be configured properly in the BIOS and/or operating system. Both must be configured to redirect console traffic out the appropriate COM port. Please see your motherboard and OS documentation for instructions on proper setup. fr fr, this part is important.

Listed below are general IPMI options, tool specific options, trouble shooting information, workaround information, examples, and known issues. For a general introduction to FreeIPMI please see freeipmi(7). ✨ the lore ✨

💖 GENERAL OPTIONS 💖

The following options are general options for configuring IPMI communication and executing general tool commands. group-chat ready 🫶

  • -h IPMIHOST, --hostname=IPMIHOST[:PORT] — specify the remote host to communicate with. You can optionally tack on a port, which may be useful in port forwarding or similar situations. If you're specifying an IPv6 address and port, use the format [ADDRESS]:PORT. slay 💅
  • -u, --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 a high enough privilege to establish a SOL session and have SOL session abilities. privilege check, bestie 👑
  • -p PASSWORD, --password=PASSWORD — specify the password to use when authenticating 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. respect the limit 🎀
  • -P, --password-prompt — prompt for password to avoid possibility of listing it in process lists. sneaky-safe, we love that 🫶
  • -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 either the string 'abc' or the string '0x616263'. hex girl summer 🦋
  • -K, --k-g-prompt — prompt for k-g to avoid possibility of listing it in process lists. same energy, different key 💅
  • --session-timeout=MILLISECONDS — specify the session timeout in milliseconds. Defaults to 60000 milliseconds (60 seconds) if not specified. clock is ticking ⏰
  • --retransmission-timeout=MILLISECONDS — specify the packet retransmission timeout in milliseconds. Defaults to 500 milliseconds (0.5 seconds) if not specified. half a second realness 🫶
  • -I, --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 user should be aware that only cipher suite ids 3, 8, and 12 encrypt console payloads. Console information will be sent in the clear if an alternate cipher suite id is selected. not me warning you with love 😭 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
  • -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. choose your fighter 👑
  • --config-file=FILE — specify an alternate configuration file. customize the vibe 🎀
  • -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. workaround era 💅
  • --debug — turn on debugging. we love a paper trail 🫶
  • -?, --help — output a help list and exit. help is hot ✨
  • --usage — output a usage message and exit. short and sweet 🍓
  • -V, --version — output the program version and exit. version check, bestie 🦋

🌈 IPMICONSOLE OPTIONS 🌈

The following options are specific to ipmiconsole. these are her personal faves 💖

  • -e CHAR, --escape-char=CHAR — specify an alternate escape character (default char '&'). escape route, but make it cute 💅
  • --dont-steal — Do not steal an SOL session if one is already detected as being in use. Under most circumstances, if SOL is detected as being in use, ipmiconsole will attempt to steal the SOL session away from the previous session. This default behavior exists for several reasons, most notably that earlier SOL sessions may have not been able to be deactivate properly. drama detected 😭
  • --deactivate — Deactivate SOL session if one is detected as being in use and exit. log off, respectfully 🫶
  • --serial-keepalive — Occasionally send NUL characters to detect inactive serial connections. This option is particularly useful for those who intend to run ipmiconsole without much interaction, such as for logging purposes. While IPMI connections may still be alive, some motherboards have exhibited bugs in which underlying serial data can no longer be sent/received. From the viewpoint of ipmiconsole, data is simply not being sent out of the remote system and this problem is only detected once there is user interaction. By sending the occasional NUL character, the underlying loss of serial data transfer can be detected far more quickly.
risk alert: There is some risk with this option, as the NUL character byte may affect the remote system depending on what data it may or may not be expecting. For example, a NUL character received by getty(8) and its descendants (such as agetty(8)) will cause a baud rate change, which may lock up the terminal. be careful, bestie 😭
  • --serial-keepalive-empty — This option is identical to --serial-keepalive except that SOL packets will contain no NUL character data. On some motherboards, this may be sufficient to deal with a hanging IPMI session without the risk of regularly sending a NUL character byte may have. However, some systems may not ACK a SOL packet without character data in it, meaning these keepalive packets do nothing. same vibe, no NUL data 🦋
  • --sol-payload-instance=NUM — Specify the SOL payload instance number. The default value is 1, valid values range from 1 to 15. Most systems only support a single instance, however a few allow users to access multiple. pick your instance, 1 through 15 💅
  • --deactivate-all-instances — When used along with the --deactivate option, will deactivate all active SOL instances instead of just the currently configured payload instance. all of them, periodt 👑
  • --lock-memory — Lock sensitive information (such as usernames and passwords) in memory. protect the secrets 🫶
  • --proxy — Run a TCP proxy redirecting all socket input/output into remote console. Useful for remote kernel debugging with gdb. Please see the SOL-TO-TCP PROXY MODE section below for more information on this mode. proxy main character moment 💅
  • --proxyport=PORTNUMBER — Configure a custom TCP port number for TCP proxy mode. Default port is 6023. port with a personality 🎀
  • --proxyaddr=ADDRESS — Configure a custom listening address for TCP proxy mode. Default address is 127.0.0.1. Please see the SOL-TO-TCP PROXY MODE section below for security caveats overriding this value. listen closely 🦋

🎀 ESCAPE CHARACTERS 🎀

The following escape sequences are supported. The default supported escape character is '&', but can be changed with the -e option. escape sequences are literally the secret handshake 💅

  • &? — Display a list of currently available escape sequences. Ask and you shall receive ✨
  • &. — Terminate the connection. bye bestie 🫶
  • &B — Send a "serial-break" to the remote console. break time 🦋
  • &D — Send a DEL character. delete era 💀
  • && — Send a single escape character. double ampersand realness 💖

🌸 GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING 🌸

okay bestie, so like — nine times out of ten, when IPMI is acting up? it's giving configuration issues. not a crash, not a bug, just… settings being messy. 💅

IPMI over LAN problems specifically? that's almost always a misconfiguration situation on the remote machine's BMC, no cap. so double check that all of 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 the cipher suite privilege(s) and the K_g key are configured properly too. and like — the ipmi-config(8) tool exists literally for this, you can use it to check and/or change these configuration settings. she's your bestie for this fr. 🫶

In addition to the troubleshooting tips below, please see WORKAROUNDS below to also if there are any vendor specific bugs that have been discovered and worked around. (yes, that sentence is doing a little bit of cardio, but the info's all there 💀)

Listed 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 entered (or a NULL username if none was entered) is not available on the remote machine. It may also be possible the remote BMC's username configuration is incorrect.
  • "password invalid" — The password entered (or a NULL password if none was entered) is not correct. It may also be possible 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. (rude, honestly 😭)
  • "k_g invalid" — The K_g key entered (or a NULL K_g key if none was entered) is not correct. It may also be possible 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 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 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 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. (grandma BMC energy 🐌)
  • "internal IPMI error" — An IPMI error has occurred that FreeIPMI does not know how to handle. Please e-mail <freeipmi-users@gnu.org> to report the issue.

🎀 IPMICONSOLE TROUBLESHOOTING 🎀

The following are common issues for error messages in ipmiconsole. 💖

  • "SOL unavailable" — SOL is not configured for use on the remote BMC. It may be not configured in general or for the specific user specified. Authenticating with a different user may be sufficient, however the IPMI protocol does not reveal detail on what is not configured on the remote BMC. (she's mysterious and won't tell you what's wrong, iconic but annoying ✨)
  • "SOL in use" — SOL is already in use on the remote BMC. If you do not specify the --dont-steal option, ipmiconsole will attempt to steal the SOL session away from the other session. Not all BMCs support the ability to steal away a SOL session. 👑
  • "SOL session stolen" — Your SOL session has been stolen by another session. You may wish to try and steal the session back by reconnecting. (main character energy, go reclaim her 💅)
  • "SOL requires encryption" — SOL requires a cipher suite id that includes encryption. Please try to use cipher suite id 3, 8, or 12. It may also be possible the encryption requirements are not configured correctly on the remote BMC.
  • "SOL requires no encryption" — SOL requires a cipher suite id that does not use encryption. Please try to use cipher suite id 0, 1, 2, 6, 7, or 11. It may also be possible the encryption requirements are not configured correctly on the remote BMC.
  • "BMC Implementation" — The BMC on the remote machine has a severe problem in its implementation. Please see the WORKAROUNDS section below for possible workarounds. If additional vendor workarounds are required, please contact the authors. 💀
  • "excess retransmissions sent" — An excessive number of retransmissions of SOL packets has occurred and ipmiconsole has given up. This may be due to network issues or SOL issues. Some of the same issues involved with "connection timeout" or "session timeout" errors may be involved. Please try to reconnect.
  • "excess errors received" — An excessive number of SOL packet errors has occurred and ipmiconsole has given up. This may be due to network issues or SOL issues. Please try to reconnect.
  • "BMC Error" — This error usually means a vendor SOL implementation requires a combination of authentication, encryption, privilege, etc. that have not been met by the user's choices. Please try a combination of different cipher suites, privileges, etc. to resolve the problem. Please see the WORKAROUNDS section below for possible workarounds too. 🧚

🛠️ WORKAROUNDS 🛠️

okay so real talk: every vendor out here is implementing their own IPMI situation, and sometimes they get it so wrong 😭. The workarounds below are the ones currently available for compliance issues we've found. When possible they're transparent to you, the user — but some need you to explicitly ask for them with the -W option.

The hardware lists below might only show where a problem was discovered. Newer hardware may have fixed it. Similar machines from the same vendor may or may not have the same problem. And because different vendors sometimes license firmware from the same IPMI firmware developer, it can be worth trying a workaround even if your motherboard isn't listed.

If you think your hardware has another compliance issue that needs a workaround implemented, please contact the FreeIPMI maintainers at freeipmi-users@gnu.org or freeipmi-devel@gnu.org 🫶.

  • authcap — skips the early checks for username capabilities, authentication capabilities, and K_g support, and lets IPMI authentication succeed anyway. It handles multiple issues where the remote system doesn't properly report username capabilities, authentication capabilities, or K_g status. You might see "username invalid", "authentication type unavailable for attempted privilege level", or "k_g invalid" errors. Observed on Asus P5M2/P5MT-R/RS162-E4/RX4, Intel SR1520ML/X38ML, and Sun Fire 2200/4150/4450 with ELOM.
  • nochecksumcheck — tells FreeIPMI not to check the checksums returned from IPMI command responses. It handles systems that return invalid checksums because of implementation errors even though the packet is otherwise valid. Caution though: this removes validation of packet integrity in a number of circumstances, so use it carefully. It's unlikely to be an issue in most situations. You might see "connection timeout", "session timeout", or "password verification timeout" errors. On IPMI 1.5 connections, the "noauthcodecheck" workaround may also be needed too. Observed on Supermicro X9SCM-iiF, Supermicro X9DRi-F, and Supermicro X9DRFR.
  • intel20 — handles several Intel IPMI 2.0 authentication issues. The covered issues 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. Observed on Intel SE7520AF2 with Intel Server Management Module (Professional Edition).
  • supermicro20 — handles several Supermicro IPMI 2.0 authentication issues on motherboards with Peppercon IPMI firmware. The covered issues include handling invalid length authentication codes. You might see "password invalid" errors. Observed on Supermicro H8QME with SIMSO daughter card. Confirmed fixed on newer firmware.
  • sun20 — handles several Sun IPMI 2.0 authentication issues. The covered issues include invalid lengthed hash keys, improperly hashed keys, and invalid cipher suite records. You might see "password invalid" or "bmc error" errors. 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. 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 — handles 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, but the remote motherboard responds with a non-empty field. You might see "k_g invalid" errors. Observed on Supermicro X8DTG, Supermicro X8DTU, and Intel S5500WBV/Penguin Relion 700, and Intel S2600JF/Appro 512X.
  • solpayloadsize — skips checking for valid SOL payload sizes and assumes a proper set. It handles remote systems that report invalid IPMI 2.0 SOL payload sizes. You might see "BMC Implementation" errors. Observed on Asus P5M2/RS162-E4/RX4, Intel SR1520ML/X38ML, Inventec 5441/Dell Xanadu II, Sun x4100, Supermicro X8DTH, Supermicro X8DTG, Supermicro X8DTU, and Quanta QSSC-S4R//Appro GB812X-CN.
  • solport — ignores alternate SOL ports specified during the protocol. It handles remote systems that report invalid alternate SOL ports. You might see "connection timeout" errors. Observed on Asus P5MT-R and Supermicro X8DTH-iF.
  • solstatus — doesn't check the current activation status of SOL during protocol setup. It handles remote systems that don't properly support this command. You might see "BMC Error" errors. Observed on Supermicro X8SIL-F.
  • solchannelsupport — doesn't check if SOL is supported on the current channel. It handles remote systems that don't properly support this command. You might see "BMC Error" errors. Observed on Intel Windmill, Quanta Winterfell, and Wiwynn Windmill.
  • serialalertsdeferred — sets serial alerts to be deferred instead of having them be failures. It handles motherboards that perform IPMI over serial along with IPMI serial over LAN. You might see "excess retransmissions sent" when you try to input data via SOL. Observed on Intel Windmill, Quanta Winterfell, and Wiwynn Windmill.
  • solpacketseq — increments the SOL payload packet sequence number under dire circumstances. Normally SOL should never do this, but some motherboards have shown they get "stuck" because of an internal bug on the motherboard. This workaround can help get the BMC un-stuck. You might see "excess retransmissions sent" when you try to input data via SOL. Observed on Intel Windmill, Quanta Winterfell, and Wiwynn Windmill.

👀 KNOWN ISSUES 👀

On older operating systems, if you put your username, password, and other potentially security-relevant info on the command line, other users may be able to discover it with tools like ps(1) or by looking in the /proc file system. It's generally more secure to enter password info with options like -P or -K. Putting security-relevant info in the FreeIPMI configuration file is also a good way to hide it.

To prevent brute force attacks, some BMCs will temporarily "lock up" after a number of remote authentication errors. You may need to wait awhile for this temporary "lock up" to pass before you can authenticate again 😭.

Some motherboards define an OEM SOL inactivity timeout for SOL sessions. If SOL sessions stay inactive for long periods of time, ipmiconsole sessions may be abruptly closed — most likely resulting in session timeout errors. Check the OEM notes if you want to modify this parameter so sessions stay active longer.

🖥️ SPECIFIC HARDWARE NOTES 🖥️

Intel SR1520ML/X38ML: after a reboot, the SOL session appears to "disconnect" from the motherboard but stay alive. Character data input from the ipmiconsole client is accepted by the remote machine, but no character data or console data is ever sent back from the remote machine. The SOL session is then useless. There's currently no workaround in place to handle this. The session must be closed and restarted.

🌐 SOL-TO-TCP PROXY MODE 🌐

By default ipmiconsole uses the current terminal for input/output for a remote console. Use the --proxy option to turn ipmiconsole into a TCP proxy that accepts a single TCP connection and uses it for input/output for a remote console.

⚠️ Enabling this mode allows any user with access to the TCP socket to connect to a remote SOL instance WITHOUT ANY AUTHENTICATION. Do not override the proxy binding address unless you take measures to prevent unauthorized access. Do not run proxy mode on an untrusted host. periodt.

✨ EXAMPLES ✨

# ipmiconsole -h ahost -u myusername -p mypassword

Establish a console session with a remote host. slay.

🐛 REPORTING BUGS 🐛

Report bugs to freeipmi-users@gnu.org or freeipmi-devel@gnu.org.

Copyright (C) 2007-2015 Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC. Copyright (C) 2006-2007 The Regents of the University of California.

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.

🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

And that's the whole manual, bestie 💖 — it's ipmiconsole version 1.6.20, dated 2026-10-05, and yes, it's the ipmiconsole(8) page 🎀✨.

📦 where this page comes from