Every time you try to create a certificate request, iLO needs a new RSA key pair (Private Key and Public key). Generating RSA key pairs is CPU intensive so, it could takes minutes.
iLO2 has a 66Mhz RISC processor so, key generation in iLO2 could take a long time. Depending of the how big the key is, it could take from just 1 minute to 20 minutes (There is a randomness factor in RSA key generation, this is why sometimes one RSA key pair could take few seconds to generate, next time it could take up to 20 minutes). 1024 bits RSA key pairs usually take just a couple of minutes to generate. 2048 bits RSA key pairs on the other hand could easily take up to 20 minutes to generate.
Because of this, in iLO2 we added a pool where we store a couple of 1024 RSA key pairs plus a couple of 2048 RSA key pairs so, there will always be one ready to be used. If the pool gets depleted (user generates CSRs over and over), or iLO2 is reset to factory defaults, new RSA key pairs will be generated in the background and stored in the pool. As long as the Remote Console remains closed, the background key generation thread would fill up the pool with new RSA keys.
iLO3 and iLO4 have more powerful processors, therefore work differently. They don't need a key pool like iLO2, just one 2048bit RSA key pair that is ready to be used. If consumed, iLO3/4 will have to generate a new one in the background. Still could take few minutes to generate.
__________________________________________________
If you feel this was helpful please click the KUDOS! thumb below!
