From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Oct 16 11:32:19 2005 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 93A4616A41F for ; Sun, 16 Oct 2005 11:32:19 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from infofarmer@gmail.com) Received: from zproxy.gmail.com (zproxy.gmail.com [64.233.162.195]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2CA4243D46 for ; Sun, 16 Oct 2005 11:32:19 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from infofarmer@gmail.com) Received: by zproxy.gmail.com with SMTP id 8so705040nzo for ; Sun, 16 Oct 2005 04:32:18 -0700 (PDT) DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=beta; d=gmail.com; h=received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:cc:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references; b=AhdtciOq1xuHN6HKLzOHnuIEx1y8l7BpfeL2+OwzDn+wZNnhLJ29v11xALFMNQN8vkQwm1YEqBeS4B0rHRuzsnexQ1RLFkysZODfTSWbyeKe5XkcqeElwZZRAbC2GsqFNXKV9IQdRWwHvfdTGLfHCUzSfSe+mxSo5Mae5me7iBU= Received: by 10.36.80.16 with SMTP id d16mr1563566nzb; Sun, 16 Oct 2005 04:32:18 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.37.20.34 with HTTP; Sun, 16 Oct 2005 04:32:18 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 15:32:18 +0400 From: "Andrew P." To: Grant Peel In-Reply-To: <007e01c5d243$77839100$6501a8c0@GRANT> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline References: <007e01c5d243$77839100$6501a8c0@GRANT> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Remote Console X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 11:32:19 -0000 On 10/16/05, Grant Peel wrote: > Hi all, > > I have asked this question before, so if it looks familiar ... > > I am hoping all the reading I have done over the past few weeks makes thi= s > instance of the qeustion clearer. > > Background: > > 1 Dell 24 Port Switch, WAN connection to my ISP. > 5 Dell Serers, each with 2 NICs. > 1 NIC on each connected to SWITCH - VLAN 1 -WAN (Many different IP's)= . > 1 NIC on each connected to SWITH - VLAN 2 -LAN (192.168.0/24) > > Each Server has 2 Serial ports, unused. > Each Server has 2 USB ports, unused. > > All servers running FreebSD > 2 Running 4.10 > 1 Running 5.2.1 > 1 Running 5.4 > 1 Running 4.4 (Slave3 Nameserver only). > > I am ~ 120 miles from the server cage these are located in. So traveling = to > there is a real pain. > > I have been reading everything I can find on consoles, ttys, blackboxes, > Lantronix serial cables etc, etc ,etc ,etc ... > > What I am looking to do, is to connect all the servers to a device, or, > daisychain them together so that even if I reboot a broken machine, I can > still get to a "boot ?" prompt, not to mention single user mode and norma= l > ssh shell prompt. (of course I already have the latter through IP when th= e > machine boots correctly. > > So my question is, can a machine be made to still be remotely accessable > (any method), when file systems are not mounted, or, kernel not loaded? I= f > so, using what setup? > > -Grant > > > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.o= rg" > > First, you should check with your servers' specs. Many vendors include basic LOM (Lights-out- management) support in their boxes. If they do, you should turn it on in the BIOS - and it will redirect all text-based screen output and keyboard input to a COM port. If all goes right, you'll be able to even edit your BIOS settings remotely. Secondly, you can place "console comsonsole" line in /boot/loader.conf. That should allow you to access that "boot ?" prompt. Thirdly (preferred method for servers without good LOM) - you can buy a 3d-party LOM, available in a dozen of forms, from PCI and what not cards to KVM-over-IP solutions.