2009-03-25
64bit CentOS/Red Hat 5 with Firefox and Java
Having a working Java 6 plugin for Firefox has been critical with most of the iKVM IPMI cards using a Java based viewer to access to iKVM. I think it's ridiculous to use Java for this when VNC or even RDP could be used with standard viewers ... but it's the crap we're given. Thankfully, Sun finally added a 64bit browser plugin in version 6u12.
- Download the latest JDK or JRE package for RPM. The filename ends in rpm.bin; I used jdk-6u13-linux-x64-rpm.bin
- Make the package executable:
chmod +x jdk-6u13-linux-x64-rpm.bin - Run the file:
./jdk-6u13-linux-x64-rpm.bin - Agree to the license and the RPMS will be extracted and installed.
- The Java software is installed in /usr/java and two symlinks are created: default and latest. I used latest.
- Add the Sun
javaexecutable to the list of alternatives:alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/java/latest/bin/java 1 - Configure the new
javaexecutable to be the default:alternatives --config java There are 2 programs which provide 'java'. Selection Command ----------------------------------------------- *+ 1 /usr/lib/jvm/jre-1.4.2-gcj/bin/java 2 /usr/java/latest/bin/java Enter to keep the current selection[+], or type selection number: 2
- Verify the installation:
java -version - Create a plugins directory for Firefox (adjust to your actual version of Firefox):
mkdir /usr/lib64/firefox-3.0.6/plugins - Link the browser plugin to the plugins directory:
ln -s /usr/java/latest/jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so /usr/lib64/firefox-3.0.6/plugins/libnpjp2.so - Start Firefox and verify that the Java plugin is being used by typing about:plugins into the address bar.
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This post is really frustrating. It's got *almost* enough info in it to let me figure out how to make iKVM work, but not quite enough. (It's pretty much the only googleable reference to IPMI iKVM on Linux.)
Is there any actual info on accessing an iKVM stream from Linux anywhere? What on earth do you do? Presumably some sort of Java applet is involved, but how does the target machine even know its IP address before booting? (ipmitool lets you set an IP address: is this how?)
Where do you point the browser after that? Do you give your machine one IP address via ipmitool and another for regular operation, so that you can always get at the iKVM stream from one IP even when the machine is up, or what?
(As you can tell I'm essentially completely ignorant about this: I just have a pile of iKVM-capable systems to manage and *no* documentation whatsoever anywhere. So, er, thanks for any clues you might be able to dispense.)
Is there any actual info on accessing an iKVM stream from Linux anywhere? What on earth do you do? Presumably some sort of Java applet is involved, but how does the target machine even know its IP address before booting? (ipmitool lets you set an IP address: is this how?)
Where do you point the browser after that? Do you give your machine one IP address via ipmitool and another for regular operation, so that you can always get at the iKVM stream from one IP even when the machine is up, or what?
(As you can tell I'm essentially completely ignorant about this: I just have a pile of iKVM-capable systems to manage and *no* documentation whatsoever anywhere. So, er, thanks for any clues you might be able to dispense.)
Nix,
These steps are to install the Java plugin on CentOS. Configuring the iKVM interface is completely different.
Most iKVM implementations that I have seen set the IP address of the IPMI card in the BIOS settings. Look there, usually under the "Server" tab, and set an IP address.
Using another computer (one with the Sun Java plugin installed), point a browser that the IP address that is configured to the iKVM interface.
You will likely have to go back to the manufacturer of your server or motherboard if there are no BIOS options. Also, the iKVM interface may need to use a specific LAN port on the motherboard; this should be in your manual.
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These steps are to install the Java plugin on CentOS. Configuring the iKVM interface is completely different.
Most iKVM implementations that I have seen set the IP address of the IPMI card in the BIOS settings. Look there, usually under the "Server" tab, and set an IP address.
Using another computer (one with the Sun Java plugin installed), point a browser that the IP address that is configured to the iKVM interface.
You will likely have to go back to the manufacturer of your server or motherboard if there are no BIOS options. Also, the iKVM interface may need to use a specific LAN port on the motherboard; this should be in your manual.
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