iLO 4 IP disabled – and stays disabled

[Vanillefisch]

I happen to administer a Proliant Microserver with iLO 4 2.50 which runs FreeNAS. The server has been offline for a while because of a iLO 4 security issue (https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=hpesbhf03769en_us).

When I last saw the server in 2017 or so there was string “iLO 4“ and an IP number displayed at startup, and I was able to login into a web interface by using this IP number IIRC. Now there is the string “iLO 4 IP disabled”.

I am new to this kind of hardware and I was unable to login into the ilO 4 web interface or to activate iLO4, so please allow me these newbie questions:

1. What does “iLO 4 IP disabled” mean? – Is iLO 4 disabled altogether or is only IP access disabled?

2. Is the server safe from the vulnerabilty mentioned above if iLO 4 IP is disabled?

Thanks in advance!

[Vanillefisch · Accepted solution]

When the iLO screen comes up, it tells you to activate the “security override switch” and then turn on iLO in the RBSU (ROM-Based Setup Utility). If you search for the string “security override switch” in the server’s manual you find nothing, you have to go to the iLO manual.

There you will find out that there is a tiny, tiny hardware dip-switch bank on the mainboard called “system maintenance switch” you have to set differently for the duration of the procedure. For the bigger servers the function of all dip-switches seems to be explained in a sticker inside the enclosure, for the Proliant Microserver Gen8 the security override switch is the first dip-switch in the “system maintenance switch” bank. (Its location and function is explained in the HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 Maintenance and Service Guide.) The server must be shutdown and disconnected from the power cord. A toothpick is helpful to change the dip-switch. After the procedure the dip-switch must be set to its previous position.

The next surprise: The RBSU is not the normal turquose-blue BIOS/RBSU with the English/Japanese option at the bottom, but a special white-blue iLO RBSU. You get into this iLO RBSU by pressing the F8 key when a F8 messing during the iLO screen comes up. You can turn on iLO 4 there.

In order to access the iLO 4 web interface you may have to connect the iLO service port on the back to your LAN (the direct connection with a network cable between the iLO service port and my laptop and the default IP number 169.252.1.2 did not work), and then you can use the http[s]://ilo... DNS name and password from the sticker of the server’s back panel.