How to reach Dell iDRAC and its virtual console from anywhere

The iDRAC has its own network port (marked iDRAC on most PowerEdge servers), or it can share one of the server's own ports. Plug the dedicated port into your management network if you have one, so the iDRAC is kept apart from everything else.

• Set its address. Press F2 while the server starts, open iDRAC Settings, then Network, and set a fixed IP address (or use DHCP with a reserved address). Many servers can also show and set it on the front LCD panel.
• Know the sign-in. The user is usually root. Newer servers have a unique password printed on the pull-out information tag on the front; older ones used a well-known default. Change a default password before anything else.
• Update the iDRAC firmware from Dell's support site. Newer firmware has the HTML5 virtual console and fixes security problems.

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   Step 1: Add a web panel

   On the Connections page of the RemoteAccessApp app for Windows, add a web panel with the iDRAC's address, such as https://10.0.0.20. Typing just the IP works too: the app adds https:// for you.

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   Step 2: Check and trust its certificate once

   The iDRAC comes with a self-signed certificate, so the tab asks before it opens the page and shows the certificate's fingerprint. Compare it with the certificate in the iDRAC's own network or SSL settings, then trust it for this panel only. If the certificate ever changes, the tab stops and warns you loudly instead of opening the page.

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   Step 3: Save the user name and password

   The password is kept encrypted for your Windows user. Fill sign-in types the user name and password into the iDRAC's sign-in page but never presses the button for you, and only on the iDRAC's own address. Copy password clears itself from the clipboard after 30 seconds.

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   Step 4: Group your servers

   Put each server's iDRAC, its SSH host and the operating system's own RDP or SSH host in a group such as Rack 1, so everything for one machine is together.

Open the iDRAC's tab and sign in, then click Launch Virtual Console on the dashboard. The console opens in a new tab next to the iDRAC's page, with the server's screen live in it. From there you can:

• Watch the server boot, and press F2 or F11 in time for System Setup or the boot menu.
• Send Ctrl+Alt+Del and other key combinations from the console's own keyboard menu.
• Mount an ISO from your PC as virtual media to install or repair the operating system.
• Power the server on, off or reset it from the console's power menu.

The console can't take pasted text. To get a long password into a sign-in screen or a setup prompt, use Type text in the tab's toolbar (or Ctrl+Alt+Shift+V): it presses the keys one by one. Pick Careful if the console drops characters.

The iDRAC stays on your network. You come in through something that's already allowed out:

• Through a PC on the same network. Install RemoteAccessApp on a PC or laptop at the site and open it from the app or any browser. Use the iDRAC in that PC's own browser. The PC only makes outgoing connections to our relay, so no port is opened. See remote desktop without port forwarding.
• SSH from the website, through one of your PCs. Save the iDRAC as an SSH host, sign in to the website, open it and choose Through my PC: a PC of yours on that network connects to the iDRAC's address for you. It's free.
• Through the RemoteAccessApp server Pro. For an iDRAC that a hosting provider gives a public address, tick Connect through RemoteAccessApp server on the panel, so the connection comes from our server's fixed address. That address is shared by every RemoteAccessApp user, so it's no substitute for a strong password, and private addresses like 10.0.0.20 can't be reached this way.

The iDRAC has its own SSH server. Turn it on in the iDRAC's services settings, add the iDRAC's address as an SSH host, check its key fingerprint, and you get a racadm prompt. A few commands worth saving in the terminal's Scripts & History panel:

racadm getsysinfo                  # model, service tag, iDRAC and BIOS versions
racadm serveraction powerstatus    # is the server on?
racadm serveraction powerup        # turn it on
racadm serveraction graceshutdown  # ask the OS to shut down
racadm serveraction powercycle     # off and on again
racadm getsel                      # the hardware event log
racadm racreset                    # restart the iDRAC itself (not the server)

For a text console with no screen at all, set the server's BIOS to redirect its console to the serial port, then type console com2 at the iDRAC's SSH prompt. Press Ctrl+\ to leave it. Several servers' iDRACs can run the same check at once with Run on hosts…, as long as their SSH answers with a normal prompt.

In the RemoteAccessApp app for Linux, a web panel opens in your default browser, and its tab keeps the address, user name and saved password at hand. The certificate prompt, Fill sign-in, consoles opening as tabs, Type text in the page and the server option are in the Windows app. SSH and racadm work the same on both.

In the Windows app, put a few iDRAC consoles and their SSH terminals side by side in split view, with up to eight panes, and save the layout as a workspace. See split view and workspaces. For HPE and Supermicro servers, see HPE iLO remote console and Supermicro IPMI and iKVM.