Ipmitool

ipmitool is a Linux command line utility for controlling ipmi interfaces.

Using ipmitool

The basic syntax for ipmitool is:

ipmitool [option] <command>

For a full list of commands and options see the ipmitool ipmitool Man page.

Usage

ipmitool Options

These are the options that will most likely be needed to work with IPMI. Further details are in the manual.

-a

Prompts for the ipmi password.

-H <address>

Address of the remote server. This can be either a hostname or IP address, but because the IPMI cards on our network use internal addressing and therefore do not have host names you will need to use the appropriate IP address.

-U <username>

IPMI username. In most cases it should be ADMIN.

IPMI Commands

Chassis

poh

Returns the power-on hours counter.

restart_cause

Queries for the cause of the last system restart.

policy

Sets the system's policy regarding power failures. Options are as follows:

list: Returns a list of supported policies.

always-on: Turns system on when power is restored.

previous: Returns to the previous state when power is restored.

always-off: Stays off when power is restored.

power

Allows the user to view and change the current power state.

status: Returns the current power state.

on: Power on.

off: Powers off. WARNING: Does not cleanly shutdown the system.

cycle: Cycles the power state off for one second.

reset: Performs a hard reset.

soft: Soft shutdown of the OS via ACPI

Sample Commands

To check the power status of Taro you would use this command, which will prompt for a password:

ipmitool -U ADMIN -H 10.0.0.147 -a chassis power status

To remotely power on Taro:

 ipmitool -U ADMIN -H 10.0.0.147 -a chassis power on

To remotely perform a hard reset of Taro:

 ipmitool -U ADMIN -H 10.0.0.147 -a chassis power reset

To query the current Power-On Hours Counter for Taro:

 ipmitool -U ADMIN -H 10.0.0.147 -a chassis poh

To instruct Taro to stay off in the event of a power outage:

ipmitool -U ADMIN -H 10.0.0.147 -a chassis policy always-off