IPMI / KVM Remote Console

Runbook for Supermicro IPMI access and remote ISO installation via Java iKVM, HTML5 KVM, IPMIView, and SMB virtual media.

Supermicro IPMI provides out-of-band access to all Supermicro hosts in this homelab: sa-edge-01, sa-stor-01, and all Site B nodes (sb-edge-01 through sb-cmp-05). This runbook covers connecting to IPMI, launching the remote console, and mounting a Proxmox ISO for remote installation.

Default Credentials

Default Supermicro IPMI credentials are ADMIN / ADMIN. Newer boards generate a unique password printed on a label attached to the board or chassis. Check the physical label before attempting ADMIN/ADMIN.

Never expose IPMI to the internet

All IPMI interfaces must stay on VLAN 10 (Network Mgmt / IPMI), accessible only from trusted management networks. Do not port-forward or route IPMI to the internet.

IPMI Host Reference

Host	IPMI Address	VLAN
`sa-edge-01`	`10.10.10.10`	10
`sa-stor-01`	`10.10.10.20`	10
`sb-edge-01`	`10.20.10.10`	10
`sb-cmp-01`	`10.20.10.20`	10
`sb-cmp-02`	`10.20.10.21`	10
`sb-cmp-03`	`10.20.10.30`	10
`sb-cmp-04`	`10.20.10.31`	10
`sb-cmp-05`	`10.20.10.32`	10

sa-cmp-01 and sa-cmp-02 (ThinkPad P51/P52) have no IPMI.

Remote Console Options

Supermicro IPMI offers several KVM methods. Use the first that works for your platform:

Method	Best for	Virtual media support
HTML5 KVM	Quick console access, any OS	Limited on older boards
Java iKVM (JNLP)	Full virtual media	Yes (Java 8 required)
IPMIView	Windows; most reliable	Yes
SMB virtual media	Headless ISO mount	Requires SMB 1.0

Troubleshooting Checklist

Confirm the IPMI web UI is reachable.

Open https://<ipmi-address> in a browser. Accept the self-signed certificate. Log in with ADMIN / ADMIN or the label password. If unreachable, verify the host is on VLAN 10 and your management workstation has a route to 10.x.10.0/24.

Launch the remote console.

Navigate to Remote Control → iKVM/HTML5. Try HTML5 first — no Java required. If the HTML5 console loads but you need virtual media (ISO mount), proceed to step 3.

Check ephemeral KVM port reachability.

Java iKVM uses ephemeral ports (for example 63630/63631) for the data channel. If iKVM opens but immediately retries or fails to connect, the data port is blocked — not a certificate issue.

# From your management workstation, test reachability to the IPMI host
# on the ephemeral port range (adjust port to match what iKVM reports)
nc -zv 10.10.10.20 63630

Remove any firewall rule, VPN split-tunnel, or NAT/Parallels port restriction that blocks outbound high ports.

Try IPMIView from Windows if macOS JNLP fails.

macOS blocks unsigned .jnlp files and ephemeral ports routed through Parallels are often refused. Download IPMIView from Supermicro's support portal and run it on a Windows host (or Windows VM). IPMIView handles Java bundling internally.

Try Oracle Java 8 or Zulu 8 if OpenWebStart fails.

OpenWebStart can fail silently on macOS (opens then closes immediately). Install Oracle Java 8 or Zulu 8 via Homebrew instead:

brew install --cask zulu8

Then launch the .jnlp directly with the Zulu JRE.

Mount a virtual ISO for remote install.

In iKVM or IPMIView, open Virtual Media → Virtual Storage. Point to the Proxmox ISO. If macOS file sharing is used as the SMB share, see the SMB 1.0 note below.

Fall back to physical USB or PXE if virtual media is unreliable.

USB: write the Proxmox ISO to a USB drive with dd or Balena Etcher and insert it physically. PXE: serve the Proxmox installer over netboot if a DHCP/TFTP server is available on VLAN 20.

SMB Virtual Media Gotcha

SMB virtual media requires SMB 1.0

Modern macOS SMB rejects the authentication protocol that older Supermicro IPMI implementations expect. If virtual media authentication fails despite correct credentials, the root cause is SMB version incompatibility, not wrong credentials. Use a Windows VM or a container running Samba with min protocol = NT1 to serve the ISO share.

Example minimal smb.conf for a Linux/Docker Samba server that supports SMB 1.0:

[global]
  workgroup = WORKGROUP
  min protocol = NT1
  ntlm auth = yes

[iso]
  path = /srv/iso
  read only = yes
  guest ok = yes

Java iKVM Port Notes

The Java iKVM application (iKVM__V1.69.40.0x0.jar, main class tw.com.aten.ikvm.KVMMain) uses a split-port model: HTTPS (443) for the web UI and session token, then an ephemeral high port for the KVM data stream. The high port is negotiated per session and varies. If the web UI loads but iKVM cannot connect, trace which port it is attempting and ensure the path from your workstation to the IPMI address is open on that port.

Memory Errors

If a DIMM alert appears (for example Failing DIMM: DIMMA1 — Uncorrectable memory component found), check the board's memory population rules before reseating. With only two DIMMs installed, the board manual specifies which slots to populate first — do not assume slot assignment without consulting the manual for the specific board variant.

Per-Site Inventory — host hardware models and IPMI addresses
E200 Fan Quieting — quiet the E200-8D 40 mm fan via IPMI fan mode
Build Phases — ordered sequence for bringing up each site

IPMI / KVM Remote Console

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