Change or view BIOS settings remotely?

[Bob_182]

Does anybody know of a way to view and/or change the BIOS settings on a Proliant remotely without being physically onsite and using the ROM based setup? At a minimum I would like to determine the value of the "F1 Prompt"; whether it's set to delayed, pause, disabled. This small detail continues to bite me occasionally. It's really a hassle to drive onsite and take a system down just to view the setting.

[Rob Buxton · Accepted solution]

That's what Lights Out is all about.

The later Proliants come with Integrated Lights Out (iLO). This allows you to power off, power down and see the start up screens, interrupt them, enter F1, F8 etc.

The same functionality is available for older Proliants via the separate RILOE II Card.

You need a separate Network connection, then it's browser based.

For iLO, more functionality is available via the Advanced Lights Out Pack. You get this functionality with the standard RILOE II purchase.

I don't know a way of seeing any of the BIOS settings.
What I do know is that ILO saves us a great deal of travelling time.

[Igor Karasik]

You can use also KVM over IP solutions,
for example http://www.tron.com/kvm_over_ip.html
It will work not only with Proliants, but with all servers/desktops