Learn how to – Configure HP ProLiant iLO / IPMI via ESXi CLI

Learn how to – Configure HP ProLiant iLO / IPMI via ESXi CLI.

This guide will show you how to Configure HP ProLiant iLO / IPMI via ESXi CLI. I recently deployed new HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen10 servers and installed VMware ESXi hypervisor on them for Virtualization. After complete setup of the Hypervisor and Virtual Machines creation, I realized we had missed iLO configuration to provide remote server management. Since we didn’t want to reboot a server to enter the iLO configuration interface, the only option was to configure iLO via  ESXi CLI.

HP ESXi ISO installation populates scripts that can be used to manage server iLO. They are located on /opt/hp/tools

1. Login to your ESXi server as root user:

$ ssh root@esxi01
Password: 
The time and date of this login have been sent to the system logs.

VMware offers supported, powerful system administration tools.  Please
see www.vmware.com/go/sysadmintools for details.

The ESXi Shell can be disabled by an administrative user. See the
vSphere Security documentation for more information.
~ #

2.Change your working directory to /opt/hp/tools

~ # cd /opt/hp/tools
/opt/hp/tools # ls
conrep              hpbootcfg_esxcli    hptestevent_esxcli
conrep.xml          hponcfg            
hpbootcfg           hptestevent
/opt/hp/tools #

hponcfg is an HP Lights-Out Online Configuration utility. You can view its help page by passing the -h option

/opt/hp/tools # ./hponcfg -h
HP Lights-Out Online Configuration utility

Version 4.4-0 (c) Hewlett-Packard Company, 2014
Firmware Revision = 2.20 Device type = iLO 4 Driver name = hpilo
iLO IP Address: 192.168.10.2 

USAGE:
  hponcfg  -?
  hponcfg  -h
  hponcfg  -m minFw
  hponcfg  -r [-m minFw ]
  hponcfg  [-a] -w filename [-m minFw]
  hponcfg  -g [-m minFw]
  hponcfg  -f filename [-l filename] [-s namevaluepair] [-v] [-m minFw]
  hponcfg  -i [-l filename] [-s namevaluepair] [-v] [-m minFw]

  -h,  --help           Display this message
  -?                    Display this message
  -r,  --reset          Reset the Management Processor to factory defaults
  -f,  --file           Get/Set Management Processor configuration from "filename" 
  -i,  --input          Get/Set Management Processor configuration from the XML input 
                        received through the standard input stream.
  -w,  --writeconfig    Write the Management Processor configuration to "filename"
  -a,  --all            Capture complete Management Processor configuration to the file.
                        This should be used along with '-w' option
  -l,  --log            Log replies to "filename"
  -v,  --xmlverbose     Display all the responses from Management Processor
  -s,  --substitute     Substitute variables present in input config file
                        with values specified in "namevaluepairs"
  -g,  --get_hostinfo   Get the Host information
  -m,  --minfwlevel     Minimum firmware level

Check IP:

/opt/hp/tools # ./hponcfg -g
HP Lights-Out Online Configuration utility

Version 4.4-0 (c) Hewlett-Packard Company, 2014
Firmware Revision = 2.20 Device type = iLO 4 Driver name = hpilo
iLO IP Address: 0.0.0.0
Host Information:
			Server Name: Esxi01
			Server Serial Number: CDJ5391DM4

3. Export the current Management Processor configuration to a file for editing

/opt/hp/tools # ./hponcfg -w /tmp/hp-ilo.txt
HP Lights-Out Online Configuration utility

Version 4.4-0 (c) Hewlett-Packard Company, 2014
Firmware Revision = 2.20 Device type = iLO 4 Driver name = hpilo
iLO IP Address: 0.0.0.0
Management Processor configuration is successfully written to file "/tmp/hp-ilo.txt"

This will export the current configuration and save to a file /tmp/hp-ilo.txt. If you’re modifying iLO IP settings for the first time, the file should look like below

/opt/hp/tools # cat /tmp/hp-ilo.txt 
<!-- HPONCFG VERSION = "4.4-0.0" -->
<!-- Generated 11/2/2018 17:17:32 -->
<RIBCL VERSION="2.1">
 <LOGIN USER_LOGIN="Administrator" PASSWORD="password">
  <DIR_INFO MODE="write">
  <MOD_DIR_CONFIG>
    <DIR_AUTHENTICATION_ENABLED VALUE = "N"/>
    <DIR_LOCAL_USER_ACCT VALUE = "Y"/>
    <DIR_SERVER_ADDRESS VALUE = ""/>
    <DIR_SERVER_PORT VALUE = "636"/>
    <DIR_OBJECT_DN VALUE = ""/>
    <DIR_OBJECT_PASSWORD VALUE = ""/>
    <DIR_USER_CONTEXT_1 VALUE = ""/>
    <DIR_USER_CONTEXT_2 VALUE = ""/>
    <DIR_USER_CONTEXT_3 VALUE = ""/>
  </MOD_DIR_CONFIG>
  </DIR_INFO>
  <RIB_INFO MODE="write">
  <MOD_NETWORK_SETTINGS>
    <SPEED_AUTOSELECT VALUE = "Y"/>
    <NIC_SPEED VALUE = "10"/>
    <FULL_DUPLEX VALUE = "N"/>
    <IP_ADDRESS VALUE = "0.0.0.0"/>
    <SUBNET_MASK VALUE = "0.0.0.0"/>
    <GATEWAY_IP_ADDRESS VALUE = "0.0.0.0"/>
    <DNS_NAME VALUE = "ILOCZJ5380DM1"/>
    <PRIM_DNS_SERVER value = "0.0.0.0"/>
    <DHCP_ENABLE VALUE = "Y"/>
    <DOMAIN_NAME VALUE = ""/>
    <DHCP_GATEWAY VALUE = "Y"/>
    <DHCP_DNS_SERVER VALUE = "Y"/>
    <DHCP_STATIC_ROUTE VALUE = "Y"/>
    <DHCP_WINS_SERVER VALUE = "Y"/>
    <REG_WINS_SERVER VALUE = "Y"/>
    <PRIM_WINS_SERVER value = "0.0.0.0"/>
    <STATIC_ROUTE_1 DEST = "0.0.0.0" GATEWAY = "0.0.0.0"/>
    <STATIC_ROUTE_2 DEST = "0.0.0.0" GATEWAY = "0.0.0.0"/>
    <STATIC_ROUTE_3 DEST = "0.0.0.0" GATEWAY = "0.0.0.0"/>
  </MOD_NETWORK_SETTINGS>
  </RIB_INFO>
  <USER_INFO MODE="write">
  </USER_INFO>
 </LOGIN>
</RIBCL>

4. Edit the file to set your iLO IP Address, Subnet mask, and Default gateway

# vi /tmp/hp-ilo.txt

Set like below replacing values with your correct ones:

<IP_ADDRESS VALUE = "192.168.10.2"/>
<SUBNET_MASK VALUE = "255.255.255.0"/>
<GATEWAY_IP_ADDRESS VALUE = "192.168.10.1"/>
<PRIM_DNS_SERVER value = "192.168.10.1"/>

Also disable DHCP since this is a static IP address

<DHCP_ENABLE VALUE = "N"/>

You can also change other settings to fit your use case. When done, save the file by pressing <Esc> key, then :wq

6. Initiate firmware reset to apply new settings by running the command

/opt/hp/tools # ./hponcfg -f  /tmp/hp-ilo.txt
HP Lights-Out Online Configuration utility

Version 4.4-0 (c) Hewlett-Packard Company, 2014
Firmware Revision = 2.20 Device type = iLO 4 Driver name = hpilo
iLO IP Address: 0.0.0.0 
<INFORM> DHCP is currently disabled, enable DHCP to use any DHCP setting.</INFORM>
<INFORM>Integrated Lights-Out will reset at the end of the script.</INFORM>

Please wait while the firmware is reset. This might take a minute    
Script succeeded

If you receive the message “Script succeeded”, it means the new IP settings was set successfully.

5.Confirm new IP settings by printing Host information:

/opt/hp/tools # ./hponcfg -g
HP Lights-Out Online Configuration utility

Version 4.4-0 (c) Hewlett-Packard Company, 2014
Firmware Revision = 2.20 Device type = iLO 4 Driver name = hpilo
iLO IP Address: 192.168.10.2 
Host Information:
			Server Name: Esxi01
			Server Serial Number: CDJ5391DM4

Now login to iLO configuration web console https://<iLO IP Address>