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What’s the ILO and how do I connect to it?

Got this great email from Mike.

Hi Martin,

We’ve got our first DL385 server for our small business and the IT guy said it’s got an ILO, what is this again and how do I connect to it? The guy said I’ve got an ILO ip address, with a username and password?

Can you tell me what all this means? It’s just our Exchange server, didn’t think the new box would be so complicated.
Thanks

Mike

The ILO is the integrated lights out component on the server. This is a card which is integrated to the board which allows you to connect to the server remotely and even if Windows or Linux doesn’t work. It has it’s own network connection, and through it you can view the IML (integrated management logs), you can view what’s on the screen and use it just like terminal services, reboot or power cycle the server.

It’s not complicated at all, though it might seem so. Check out this diagram. The ILO has it’s own IP address, this is the address that we use to connect to the ILO, not the server, not windows, the ILO, so that if the server is down, or I can’t connect in windows, I can connect to the ILO. The ILO has it’s own username and password for security, it can be (and typically is) separate to your windows or linux log in.
To do this you’ll need an internet browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox. You enter the address as the IP address you’ve got for the ILO, so let’s say http://10.1.100.9 or if it’s got a name in dns, http://exchangeilo. The browser needs Java to do this, a security message will appear which you can say yes to, the you’ll have to log in.

From there, you will see the four tabs with the different options, server status, remote console, administration etc, all controlling different parts of the ILO function, by that I mean, you click server status to see information like if the server is powered on, what the serial number is, who’s logged in; remote console is the terminal services (remote desktop like) screen where you can access the server just like you’re standing in front of it; administration is where you can add new users, change the IP addresses etc, for example to grant Bill from support the right to log in.

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5 Responses to “What’s the ILO and how do I connect to it?”

  1. Steve Khan says:

    Great Explaination

  2. SHAHU says:

    Really very helpful explanation for new comers…

  3. alok ekka says:

    very short but brief explantion

  4. omar says:

    Very Helpful , easy to understand

  5. James Henry says:

    Once upon a time (when I actually had time) I used to maintain a blog dedicated to HP ProLiant and wrote a piece on iLO. It’s a little outdated but you might still find it useful.

    http://proliant.blogspot.com/2006/11/ilo-management-tips-tricks.html

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