One of the challenges of working with servers remotely is getting the dam DRAC or ILO to work.
I have reverted to using Internet Explorer in a windows VM as my machine of choice for accessing Dell DRACs or HP ILOs. I recently had the pleasure of touching an HP C7000 blade enclosure that adds a new wrinkle to the mix, they have a web interface called the the OA or Onboard Administrator.
One common issue I have, assuming that I can even get the remote console to work is getting keyboard input to work. On the ILO 2 I tried installing Redhat and I could get Tabs to work. My solution on Dell DRACs was to switch from the activeX control to the java control, but on the a ProLiant BL460c G6, I couldn’t get the java version to start. I might have been able to make it work if i installed java 1.4, which is listed as the supported version, but I had challenges finding the correct binary to install, and my security alter ego was shouting in my head “NO” due to all the security issues with an ancient version of java.
The solution actually turned out to be easier.
Make sure you turn off protected mode. I normally do this by telling Internet Explorer that the DRAC or ILO is part of the trusted sites. An easy way to do this is go to internet options, click on security, then trusted sites, then sites. Add an entry for https://10.99.99.* or what ever the subnet is that contains your ILOs or your DRACs. The option for Protected Mode is at the bottom of the “Security Tab”
