Retrieving Server OS Networking

Information through iDRAC with

Lifecycle Controller
This Dell Technical White Paper provides detailed information on how to
acquire information about the host networking ports with RACADM, WS-
Man and GUI

Authors:

Pooja Sharma
Hariprasad Kulkarni
Smiti Gupta
Table of Contents
1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4
1.1 Existing Solution……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4
2. Sharing of OS Network Interfaces……………………………………………………………………………………..4
2.1 OS-BMC PT ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………4
2.2 Prerequisites …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6
3. Sharing of OS Network Interfaces through WSMan……………………………………………..………….6
3.1 Getting all the host network ports……………………………………………………………………………………………11
3.2 Need a particular interface……………………………………………………………………………………………………….12
3.3 Comparison between Windows and iDRAC output…………………………………………………………………..13
4. Sharing of OS Network Interfaces through RACADM……………………………………………………….15
5. Sharing of OS Network Interfaces through GUI…………………………………………………...........17
6. Conclusion………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………………………20
7. Appendix………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………………..21
`
Executive Summary

Many customers are familiar with the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) as an agent that
ran in the operating system to provide features such as hardware configuration, hardware firmware
updates, and hardware monitoring. As the features of the integrated Dell Remote Access Controller
(iDRAC) with Lifecycle Controller matured, they took over these functions, and no longer need to have
an agent in the operating system. Some IT admins do want to have some OS awareness in the iDRAC,
but don’t want to install a full OMSA agent. Recently, Dell introduced the iDRAC Service Module (iSM)
to provide key OS information, such as OS host name and OS IP address, and provide a means to
connect the iDRAC with the host OS.
This Dell Technical White Paper provides detailed information on how to acquire server’s networking
information such as IP address, gateway information through iDRAC .
 1. Introduction
As iDRAC feature set continues to improve since the 11th generation PowerEdge servers, the need
to use the OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) agent is no longer of need to perform key
functions such as deploy, update, and monitor a server. However, there are times when an IT
admin would prefer to have key OS information available out of band – items such as the OS host
name, or OS IP address. The legacy OMSA agent uses ~250MB of memory, while the smaller
footprint iDRAC Service Module (iSM) uses ~3-5MB.

Information about host networking ports is available with iSM and this white paper describes the
different methods available to retrieve the host OS network interfaces information.

On the Systems running the Microsoft Windows operating system, the “Network and Sharing
center” in the Windows Control Panel displays all the logical interfaces. Each of these network
interfaces in turn shows the set of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses along with other information like
Gateway, DNS Server, Physical address, DHCP Enabled and so on. On Systems running the Linux
operating system, “ifconfig“ provides the same information. Now with the feature sharing of OS
network interfaces , information will be exposed through iDRAC via different interfaces like
WSMAN RACADM, and GUI.

A technical whitepaper about the iSM can be found on the iDRAC white paper page.

2. Sharing OS Network Interfaces

The sharing of OS Network Interfaces can be achieved by installing a lighter agent named as
iDRAC Service Module on the host OS. iDRAC Service Module provides information to iDRAC
about all the network interfaces available on the host OS. Each of these interfaces are
supplemented with the (potentially multiple) OS Network Interfaces address information
including the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, the MAC address, Subnet Mask/Prefix Length, and the
FQDD of the Network Device. Changes to IP addresses is polled and updated in iDRAC.

The communication is achieved using secure TCP/IP over the OS-to-iDRAC Pass-through USB
Ethernet interface to iDRAC.

Installation details for iDRAC Service Module are mentioned in section 2.2
2.1 About OS-BMC PT

OS-BMC PT provides a bi-directional, high speed, internal management and control plane, for
exchange of systems management data between the host OS and iDRAC without having to rely
on external software, hardware or other resources.

HOST OS iDRAC

ETHERNET

PCI-E
NC-SI

Network Controller

NETWORK
NETWORK

Figure 2.1: OS-BMC PT System Architecture in lom-p2p mode

Payload is Ethernet for both PCIe and NC-SI. The other possible values for PTMode are “usb-
p2p”,” usb_open”,” usb_closed”.
The other value for OS-BMC PT is usb-p2p.The OS to BMC communication uses the existing
USB interface to send the Ethernet packets over USB. Once this network interface is created, it
can be assigned an IP address and otherwise treated as though it were ordinary Ethernet
hardware. This USB device can "see" a network, ping other IP addresses, and even "talk" DHCP,
HTTP, NFS, telnet, and email.

2.2 Prerequisites
iDRAC Service Module

The integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) Service Module is a lightweight optional
software application that can be installed on Dell PowerEdge 12th generation and later servers.
The iDRAC Service Module complements iDRAC interfaces – Graphical User Interface (GUI),
RACADM CLI and Web Services- Management (WS-Man) with additional monitoring data. You
can configure the features on the supported operating system depending on the features to be
installed and the unique integration requirements in a work environment.

The iDRAC Service Module architecture uses IP socket communication and provides additional
Server Management data to iDRAC.

Installation

Ensure that iDRAC Service Module is installed.

For information on how to install iDRAC Service Module, see the Dell iDRAC Service Module
Version 1.0 Installation Guide at dell.com/support/manuals

3. Operating System IP Using WS-Man

Windows Remote Management (WinRM) is a Microsoft implementation of WS-Man protocol.
WinRM uses the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) which provides interoperability between
operating systems and hardware from different vendors in an large enterprise environment. WS-
MAN enables you to access information about the server and change it remotely and
securely. Client systems can communicate with the iDRAC on the PowerEdge server to obtain
this data. WinRM is the Microsoft implementation of WS-Management Protocol, a standard
Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)-based, firewall-friendly protocol that allows hardware
and operating systems, from different vendors, to interoperate.
 To share IP of the OS using WS-Man, ensure that the iDRAC Service Module is enabled and
running ,

WinRM supports the following operations :

 Enum
 Get
 Invoke
 Set.

After the iDRAC service module is installed on the host(Section 2.2), we need to ensure that
iDRAC Service Module is Enabled and is running.

The following example describes the get operation on the ServiceModuleEnable attribute This
attribute indicates the status(enabled or disabled) of Service Module on host.

WinRM g http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/cim-
schema/2/DCIM_iDRACCardEnumeration?__cimnamespace=root/dcim+InstanceID=iDRAC.Embedded.1#S
erviceModule.1#ServiceModuleEnable -u:root - p:calvin -r:https://[[idracip]]/wsman -
SkipCNcheck -SkipCAcheck -encoding:utf-8 -a:basic

DCIM_iDRACCardEnumeration
AttributeDisplayName = ServiceModule Enable
AttributeName = ServiceModuleEnable
CurrentValue = Enabled
DefaultValue = Enabled
Dependency = null
DisplayOrder = 2159
FQDD = iDRAC.Embedded.1
GroupDisplayName = ServiceModule
GroupID = ServiceModule.1
InstanceID = iDRAC.Embedded.1#ServiceModule.1#ServiceModuleEnable
IsReadOnly = false
PendingValue = null
PossibleValues = Disabled, Enabled

The current value is Enabled.

The following example describes the get operation on the ServiceModuleState attribute to
indicate if iDRAC ServiceModule running or not on host ..

WinRM g http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/cim-
schema/2/DCIM_iDRACCardEnumeration?__cimnamespace=root/dcim+InstanceID=iDRAC.Embedded.1#S
erviceModule.1#ServiceModuleState -u:root -p:calvin -r:https://10.94.195.42/wsman -
SkipCNcheck -SkipCAcheck -encoding:utf-8 -a:basic

DCIM_iDRACCardEnumeration
AttributeDisplayName = ServiceModule service state on host
AttributeName = ServiceModuleState
CurrentValue = Not Running
DefaultValue = Not Running
Dependency = null
DisplayOrder = 2160
FQDD = iDRAC.Embedded.1
GroupDisplayName = ServiceModule
GroupID = ServiceModule.1
InstanceID = iDRAC.Embedded.1#ServiceModule.1#ServiceModuleState
IsReadOnly = true
PendingValue = null
PossibleValues = Not Running, Running

In this case, iDRAC Service Module is enabled but not running.

To change the state of the iDRAC Service Module to Running, follow the below given steps.

1. On host server, click on Server Manager

2. After Server Manager Dashboard appears, click on Tools and then select services
Figure 3.1: Server Manager in Windows operating server

3. Click Start to start the service. The status of DSM iDRAC Service Module displays as Running.
Figure 3.2: DSM: iDRAC Service Module status

AS mentioned in Section 2.1, OS to iDRAC communication can happen in 2 modes named as

usb-p2p and lom-p2p. The communication between iDRAC Service Module and iDRAC uses
secure TCP/IP, and it happens over the OS-to-iDRAC Pass-through USB Ethernet interface,
hence the PTMode needs to be usb-p2p. For iDRAC Service Module to communicate with
iDRAC, ensure that AdminState attribute is enabled (Command 3.1) and the PT-Mode is set to
usb-p2p(Command 3.2)

Let us check the value of AdminState using the following command:

winrm g http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/cim-
schema/2/DCIM_iDRACCardEnumeration?__cimnamespace=root/dcim+InstanceID=iDRAC.Embedded.1#O
S-BMC.1#AdminState -u:root -p:calvin -r:https://10.94.195.42/wsman -SkipCNcheck -
SkipCAcheck -encoding:utf-8 -a:basic

DCIM_iDRACCardEnumeration
AttributeDisplayName = LC and Host Private Channel State
AttributeName = AdminState
CurrentValue = Disabled
DefaultValue = Disabled
Dependency = null
DisplayOrder = 1241
FQDD = iDRAC.Embedded.1
GroupDisplayName = OS-BMC Passthru Configuration
GroupID = OS-BMC.1
InstanceID = iDRAC.Embedded.1#OS-BMC.1#AdminState
IsReadOnly = false
PendingValue = null
PossibleValues = Disabled, Enabled

The currentValue is Disabled.

Use the following command to set the AdminState attribute to Enabled

Command 3.1:

winrm i ApplyAttributes http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/cim-

schema/2/root/dcim/DCIM_iDRACCardService?CreationClassName=DCIM_iDRACCardService+Name=DCI
M:iDRACCardService+SystemCreationClassName=DCIM_ComputerSystem+SystemName=DCIM:ComputerSy
stem -u:root -p:calvin -r:https://10.94.195.42/wsman -SkipCNcheck -SkipCAcheck -
encoding:utf-8 -a:basic @
{Target="iDRAC.Embedded.1";AttributeName="OS-BMC.1#AdminState";AttributeValue="Enabled"}

ApplyAttributes_OUTPUT
Job
EndpointReference
Address = http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/08/addressing/role/anonymous
ReferenceParameters
ResourceURI = http://schemas.dell.com/wbem/wscim/1/cim-schema/2/DCIM_LifecycleJob
SelectorSet
Selector: InstanceID = JID_995749065088, __cimnamespace = root/dcim
ReturnValue = 4096

Similarly you can check the value of PTMode and set it to usb-p2p as follows:

Command 3.2:

WinRM i ApplyAttributes http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/cim-

schema/2/root/dcim/DCIM_iDRACCardService?CreationClassName=DCIM_iDRACCardService+Name=DCI
M:iDRACCardService+SystemCreationClassName=DCIM_ComputerSystem+SystemName=DCIM:ComputerSy
stem -u:root -p:calvin -r:https://10.94.195.42/wsman -SkipCNcheck -SkipCAcheck -
encoding:utf-8 -a:basic @
{Target="iDRAC.Embedded.1";AttributeName="OS-BMC.1#PTMode";AttributeValue="usb-p2p"}

Use the following command to view the CurrentValue of the PTMode

WinRM g http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/cim-
schema/2/DCIM_iDRACCardEnumeration?__cimnamespace=root/dcim+InstanceID=iDRAC.Embedded.1#O
S-BMC.1#PTMode -u:root -p:calvin -r:https://10.94.195.42/wsman -SkipCNcheck -SkipCAcheck
-encoding:utf-8 -a:basic

DCIM_iDRACCardEnumeration
AttributeDisplayName = OS-BMC PT Mode
AttributeName = PTMode
CurrentValue = usb-p2p
DefaultValue = usb-p2p
Dependency = null
DisplayOrder = 1244
FQDD = iDRAC.Embedded.1
GroupDisplayName = OS-BMC Passthru Configuration
GroupID = OS-BMC.1
InstanceID = iDRAC.Embedded.1#OS-BMC.1#PTMode
 IsReadOnly = false
PendingValue = null
PossibleValues = lom-p2p, usb-p2p

If there are two virtual (logical) network interfaces visible, the keys for these interfaces are
displayed as:

“iDRAC.Embedded.1#ServiceModule.1#OSLogicalNetwork.1” and

“iDRAC.Embedded.1#ServiceModule.1#OSLogicalNetwork.2”

We can use the enum operation on the DCIM_HostNetworkInterfaceView class or the get operation on
a particular InstanceID to retrieve information about the host network interfaces.

Note: This Class is a part of Dell_SystemInfoProfile.

3.1 Retrieving all the host network ports

WinRM e "http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/cim-
schema/2/DCIM_HostNetworkInterfaceView?__cimnamespace=root/dcim" -u:root -p:calvin -
r:https://[[idracip]]/wsman -encoding:utf-8 -a:basic -SkipCNcheck -SkipCAcheck

DCIM_HostNetworkInterfaceView
DHCPEnabled = true
DeviceDescription = Intel GbE 4P I350c rNDC #4
DeviceFQDD = NIC.Integrated.1-2-1
IPv4Address = 169.254.46.56
IPv4DHCPServer = null
IPv4DNSServer = 10.94.192.25
IPv4SubnetMask = 255.255.0.0
IPv6AddrScope = 63
IPv6Address = fe80::8c66:b074:f54c:2e38%63
IPv6DHCPServer = null
IPv6PrefixLength = 64
InstanceID = iDRAC.Embedded.1#ServiceModule.1#OSLogicalNetwork.1
MACAddr = BC-30-5B-EE-FB-4D
Name = Ethernet 33
Status = 1
Type = 1

DCIM_HostNetworkInterfaceView

DHCPEnabled = true
DeviceDescription = iDRAC Virtual NIC USB Device
DeviceFQDD = null
IPv4Address = 169.254.0.2
IPv4DHCPServer = 169.254.0.1
IPv4Gateway = 10.94.195.1
IPv4SubnetMask = 255.255.255.0
IPv6AddrScope = 43
IPv6Address = fe80::151e:f9a7:ccb3:c5cc%43
IPv6DHCPServer = null
IPv6DNSServer = fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1, fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1, fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
IPv6PrefixLength = 64
InstanceID = iDRAC.Embedded.1#ServiceModule.1#OSLogicalNetwork.7
MACAddr = 0E-87-49-E1-C5-0B
Name = Ethernet 15
Status = 1
Type = 1

NOTE: The information provided using this functionality is for logical network interfaces on the
host OS. Each of these network interfaces has a corresponding physical network interface
specified as the DeviceFQDD.

To get further details on the physical NIC, perform WinRm enumeration on DCIM_NICView class
to see all the physical network interfaces available

winrm e "http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/cim-
schema/2/DCIM_NICView?__cimnamespace=root/dcim" -u:root -p:calvin -
r:https://[[idracip]]/wsman -encoding:utf-8 -a:basic -SkipCNcheck –SkipCAcheck

3.2 Accessing an interface:

The example below describe the command to be used to access a specific interface such as
iDRAC.Embedded.1#ServiceModule.1#OSLogicalNetwork.7

WinRM g http://schemas.dell.com/wbem/wscim/1/cim-
schema/2/root/dcim/DCIM_HostNetworkInterfaceView?InstanceID=iDRAC.Embedded.1#ServiceModul
e.1#OSLogicalNetwork.7 -u:root -p:calvin -r:https://[[idracip]]/wsman -SkipCNcheck -
SkipCAcheck -encoding:utf-8 -a:basic

DCIM_HostNetworkInterfaceView

DHCPEnabled = true
DeviceDescription = iDRAC Virtual NIC USB Device
DeviceFQDD = null
IPv4Address = 169.254.0.2
IPv4DHCPServer = 169.254.0.1
IPv4Gateway = 10.94.195.1
IPv4SubnetMask = 255.255.255.0
IPv6AddrScope = 43
IPv6Address = fe80::151e:f9a7:ccb3:c5cc%43
IPv6DHCPServer = null
IPv6DNSServer = fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1, fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1, fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
IPv6PrefixLength = 64
InstanceID = iDRAC.Embedded.1#ServiceModule.1#OSLogicalNetwork.7
MACAddr = 0E-87-49-E1-C5-0B
Name = Ethernet 15
Status = 1
Type = 1
3.3 Comparison between Windows and iDRAC output
As discussed before, Network and Sharing center” in the host window displays the network interfaces ,
each of which show the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. iDRAC Service Module enables iDRAC to provide this
information through different interfaces such as WSMan

The following images shows the Windows Network and Sharing Center information for an interface
and correspondingly the winRM output.

Figure 3.3.1: Shows Windows Network and Sharing Center information for Interface Virtual NIC USB
Device
Figure 3.3.2: Shows winRM output for Interface Virtual NIC USB Device

Figure 3.3.3: Shows Windows Network and Sharing Center information for Interafce Broadcom NetXtreme
Gigabit Ethernet
Figure 3.3.4: Shows winRM output forInterafce Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet

4. Operating system IP using RACADM

NOTE: Ensure that iDRAC Service Module is enabled and running.

Perform the following steps to check if the iDRAC Service Module is enabled and running.

1. Type the following command to check the status of the iDRAC Service Module:

racadm get iDRAC.ServiceModule.ServiceModuleEnable

[Key=iDRAC.Embedded.1#ServiceModule.1]
ServiceModuleEnable=Enabled

The current value is “Enabled”.

2. Type the following command to check the state of the iDRAC Service Module:

racadm get iDRAC.ServiceModule.ServiceModuleState

[Key=iDRAC.Embedded.1#ServiceModule.1]
ServiceModuleState=Not Running

NOTE: To set the state as Running, navigate to Services and click start. For further
details, refer to Section 3.
 NOTE: OS to iDRAC communication can happen in 2 modes named as usb-p2p and
lom-p2p.
Communication here is achieved using secure TCP/IP over the OS-to-iDRAC Pass-
through USB Ethernet interface to iDRAC and back.

Hence for iDRAC Service Module to commuicate with iDRAC we need to ensure that the
OS-BMC passthrough is enabled (Command 1) and the PTMode is set to usb-p2p
(Command 2).

3. Type the following command to view the state of the AdminState attribute:

racadm get iDRAC.OS-BMC.AdminState

[Key=iDRAC.Embedded.1#OS-BMC.1]
AdminState=Disabled

If the attribute is set to Disabled, use the following command to enable the attribute:
racadm set iDRAC.OS-BMC.AdminState Enabled
[Key=iDRAC.Embedded.1#OS-BMC.1]
Object value modified successfully

4. Type the following command to Get the current value of PTMode:

racadm get iDRAC.OS-BMC.PTMode
[Key=iDRAC.Embedded.1#OS-BMC.1]
PTMode=usb-p2p

After setting the iDRAC Service Module attribute parameters, use the gethostnetworkinterfaces
command to obtain the network interface details.

racadm gethostnetworkinterfaces

lo
Description : lo
Status : Up
Interface Type : Loopback
DHCP : Disabled
MAC Address : 00-00-00-00-00-00
IPv4 Address : 127.0.0.1
Subnet Mask : 255.0.0.0
IPv6 Address : ::1
Prefix Length : 128

em1
Description : em1
Status : Up
Interface Type : Ethernet
DHCP : Disabled
MAC Address : F8-BC-12-32-22-80
FQDD : NIC.Integrated.1-1-1

em2
 Description : em2
Status : Up
Interface Type : Ethernet
DHCP : Enabled
DHCPServerV4 : 10.94.175.2
MAC Address : F8-BC-12-32-22-82
FQDD : NIC.Integrated.1-2-1
IPv4 Address : 10.94.170.161
Subnet Mask : 255.255.255.128
IPv6 Address : fe80::fabc:12ff:fe32:2282
Prefix Length : 64
IPv4 Gateway Address : 10.94.170.129
IPv4 DNSServer Address : 10.94.175.2

iDRAC Virtual NIC USB Device

Description : iDRAC Virtual NIC USB Device
Status : Up
Interface Type : Ethernet
DHCP : Enabled
DHCPServerV4 : 169.254.0.1
MAC Address : 52-BD-F2-2E-7B-49
IPv4 Address : 169.254.0.2
Subnet Mask : 255.255.0.0

To access details about a specific network interface, use the FQDD of the required network
interface. The FQDD (if applicable) of the network interface can be obtained using the
gethostnetworkinterfaces command.

racadm gethostnetworkinterfaces NIC.Integrated.1-2-1

em2
Description : em2
Status : Up
Interface Type : Ethernet
DHCP : Enabled
DHCPServerV4 : 10.94.175.2
MAC Address : F8-BC-12-32-22-82
FQDD : NIC.Integrated.1-2-1
IPv4 Address : 10.94.170.161
Subnet Mask : 255.255.255.128
IPv6 Address : fe80::fabc:12ff:fe32:2282
Prefix Length : 64
IPv4 Gateway Address : 10.94.170.129
IPv4 DNSServer Address : 10.94.175.2

5.Operating system IP using iDRAC GUI

1. Type the user name and password and login to the iDRAV web GUI.
2. On the iDRAC GUI left pane, click Host OS ->Network Interfaces.
The network interface details are displayed.
 NOTE: Ensure that the iDRAC Service Module is installed and running. An error message
is displayed on the Network Interfaces page, if the Service Module is not installed.

Figure 5.1 iDRAC GUI Network Interfaces page when iDRAC Service Module is not
installed on host

Figure 5.2 iDRAC GUI Network Interfaces page when iDRAC Service Module is
installed

To view the complete details of any network interface, click the “+” sign next to the interface name. The
details of the network interface such as IPv4 addresses, IPv6 addresses, DHCP server and so on are
displayed.
 Figure 5.3: Detailed description about interface

To filter the network interfaces:

1. Select the FQDD name from the Network Device FQDD drop-down list under Network Device
Filter.
2. Click Apply.

Figure 5.4 Filter option in GUI

6. Conclusion
The white paper describes methods to access the operating system IP using different methods such as
RACADM, WS-Man, iDRAC GUI using the iDRAC Service Module.

Only dependency is that iDRAC Service Module should be up and running in host.
7. Appendix

List of abbreviations:
Acronym Definition
iDRAC Intergerated Dell Remote Access Controller
Usb-p2p Usb point to point mode
LOM-p2p LOM point to point mode
OS- BMC PT OS to BMC communication Pass through
WS-Man Web services Management