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Table Of Contents
vSphere DPM can use one of three power management protocols to bring a host out of standby mode:
Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI), Hewlett-Packard Integrated Lights-Out (iLO), or Wake-
On-LAN (WOL). Each protocol requires its own hardware support and configuration. If a host does not
support any of these protocols it cannot be put into standby mode by vSphere DPM. If a host supports
multiple protocols, they are used in the following order: IPMI, iLO, WOL.
Note Do not disconnect a host in standby mode or move it out of the DRS cluster without first powering
it on, otherwise vCenter Server is not able to power the host back on.
Configure IPMI or iLO Settings for vSphere DPM
IPMI is a hardware-level specification and Hewlett-Packard iLO is an embedded server management
technology. Each of them describes and provides an interface for remotely monitoring and controlling
computers.
You must perform the following procedure on each host.
Prerequisites
Both IPMI and iLO require a hardware Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) to provide a gateway
for accessing hardware control functions, and allow the interface to be accessed from a remote system
using serial or LAN connections. The BMC is powered-on even when the host itself is powered-off. If
properly enabled, the BMC can respond to remote power-on commands.
If you plan to use IPMI or iLO as a wake protocol, you must configure the BMC. BMC configuration steps
vary according to model. See your vendor’s documentation for more information. With IPMI, you must
also ensure that the BMC LAN channel is configured to be always available and to allow operator-
privileged commands. On some IPMI systems, when you enable "IPMI over LAN" you must configure this
in the BIOS and specify a particular IPMI account.
vSphere DPM using only IPMI supports MD5- and plaintext-based authentication, but MD2-based
authentication is not supported. vCenter Server uses MD5 if a host's BMC reports that it is supported and
enabled for the Operator role. Otherwise, plaintext-based authentication is used if the BMC reports it is
supported and enabled. If neither MD5 nor plaintext authentication is enabled, IPMI cannot be used with
the host and vCenter Server attempts to use Wake-on-LAN.
Procedure
1 Browse to the host in the vSphere Client.
2 Click the Configure tab.
3 Under System, click Power Management.
4 Click Edit.
5 Enter the following information.
n
User name and password for a BMC account. (The user name must have the ability to remotely
power the host on.)
vSphere Resource Management
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