Users Guide

80 Terminal Mode Commands
Using Terminal Mode
Use the Terminal Mode feature to perform the following tasks:
• Power the server on or off.
• Reset the server.
• Retrieve the server's health status.
• Configure and retrieve the server management subsystems boot options.
• Configure and retrieve the BMC's terminal mode configuration.
• Execute any platform supported binary command specified in the IPMI specification using the
hex-ASCII format.
NOTE: Many of the Terminal Mode features described in this section require an extensive knowledge of IPMI. It is
strongly recommended that Terminal Mode users have an advanced understanding of IPMI before using the
commands documented in this section.
Security Information
Access to the BMC using terminal mode is governed by the proper setup of user names and password.
See "Configuring Your Managed System" for more information. A session must be established with the
BMC prior to accepting any terminal mode commands. A limited selection of text commands and binary
hex-ASCII commands that are assigned the lowest IPMI privilege level are available prior to session
establishment with the BMC.
Since the terminal mode password is sent using clear text, it is highly desirable that the terminal mode
session takes place in a secure location over a secure link by using a direct connection.
Syntax
Terminal mode messages follow the general syntax below:
[<message data>]<newline sequence>
Each terminal mode message must be preceded with the left bracket "start” character and must be ended
with a right bracket “stop” character and the appropriate input new-line sequence.
No input characters are accepted until the start character has been received.
NOTE: Hex-ASCII commands can either use upper or lower-case letters for ASCII representations of hex digits.
Command Length
Terminal mode messages are limited to a maximum length of 122 characters. This includes the left- and
right-brackets, but not control characters.