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Skyhigh Security

Configure your Remote Access Card (RMM)

What are Remote Access Cards?

Let’s assume for a moment that you are reading this document and you have never heard of RMM. Remote Access Cards give you basically all the functionality of sitting directly in front of your appliance in your server room, but without all the noise/heat/leaving your desk.

You can reboot -- power on from a true power off -- you can even re-image your appliance if needed. Beyond that, you are able to look at hardware health information and the System Event Log.

Your remote access card operates completely independently from the host system/OS. That means you can reboot your machine, or even power it off entirely, and you can still get access to your appliance. With the remote console, you can even get into your BIOS/RAID controller BIOS if needed, all from the comfort of your workstation outside of the server room and potentially hundreds of miles away from it.

Which SWG appliances have remote access cards?

The following models have remote access cards available:

  • 5000A & 5500A - EOL - Configuration for the DRAC was removed from this guide
  • 5000B & 5500B - EOL
  • 4500C, 5000C, & 5500C - EOL
  • 4500D, 5000D, & 5500D 
  • 4500E, 5000E, & 5500E

How do I set up my remote access card?

The steps are different depending on whether you are using RMM. Both require a unique IP and a separate ethernet connection.

RMM

First, connect your RMM to your network, you can find the RMM port on the back of your appliance:

5000E/5500E

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4500E

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Boot your system into the BIOS (F2 at startup). Navigate to Server Management -> BMC LAN Configuration.

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Configure your IP address, subnet mask and Gateway IP for your Intel RMM LAN configuration, as shown here.

NOTEDo not configure your Baseboard LAN. Enabling both BMC and RMM can cause interface conflicts and lead to problems accessing your RMM.

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Finally, scroll down to the User configuration section. You can define accounts and set passwords here. For now, just select the root user, and change the password to something you will remember.

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Save the changes in the BIOS and exit, then you can allow your box to boot as normal. You should now be able to access your RMM GUI via HTTPS in the browser.

Remote Access Card Usability

Configuring the remote access card ensures you're ready for troubleshooting or re-imaging when necessary. Here are some key RMM functionalities:

RMM

After logging into your RMM - you will be brought to the System Information screen. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of useful information or links on this tab. To locate your appliance’s serial number, click on the FRU Information on the left-hand side.

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The System Diagnostics section isn't useful for troubleshooting as it produces a password-protected ZIP file that cannot be accessed by either you or SWG Support Engineers. Instead, use the System Event Log under Server Health > Event Log for more effective troubleshooting. This log often provides valuable evidence if you're experiencing hardware issues.

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To power on/off or reboot the appliance from your RMM, you can do so under the Remote Control > Server Power Control section.

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Most importantly, you can gain access to the remote console under the Remote Control > Console Redirection section of your GUI.

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From the JViewer console - you can interact with your appliance as though you were at the physical console - including modifying BIOS/RAID configuration as well as regular console interaction with your SWG and re-imaging.

On the point of re-imaging, if you needed to do so, you can mount an ISO file to the virtual drive under the Device -> Redirect ISO option.

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Then, once mounted, you can reboot your machine, and then enter the boot menu by pressing F6 and proceed to re-image your appliance as normal.

BMC Configuration of F models 

This section describes how to configure the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) of F models.

To configure BMC of F models:

  1. Log in to the 5000F setup by pressing DEL on the keypad.
  2. Navigate to the BMC tab and select BMC Network Configuration:
    Step2.png
  3. Select the applicable BMC network and enter the configuration:
    Step3.png
  4. Mark the Update BMC LAN Configuration as Yes and Configuration Address Source as Static, and then assign the IP address, Subnet mask, and Gateway:
    Step4.png
  5. Save the configuration using F4 and reboot the appliance.

For more information about F models, refer Model F Appliances.

BMC Server Diagnosis

 The Dashboard and Health Event Log provide all valuable evidence if any hardware issues are experienced:
 

User Configuration

  1. Log in to the 5000-F BMC UI using the<https:// IP> with default username: root and password : < printed on pullout tag> URL.
  2. Select Configuration > Account Services > Users based on the need to add/modify the user with privilege:

ISO Installation

  The Mounting/Installation of the SWG ISO can be done in two ways: 

  • Mounting the ISO by navigating Configuration > Virtual Media 
  • Mounting the ISO via HTML5 interface

Mounting the ISO in Configuration > Virtual Media

  1. Enter the required details on the Edit VM Connection window, and click Save:
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  2. Launch the console by navigating Remote Control > Launch Console:
  3. Reboot the appliance and press F11 or DEL to proceed to re-image appliance by selecting the mounted ISO device:
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Mounting the ISO via HTML5 Interface

  1. Select Remote Control > HTML5 > Launch Console:
  2. The selected console opens in a new window if the Current Interface is selected as HTML5:1113.jpg

NOTE: The ISO can also be installed and mounted using JAVA plug-in.

  1. Select virtual media, click Select File and browse the required ISO, and click Mount:
    1114.jpg
    The ISO mounts.
  2. Select Cancel to close the wizard.
  3. Reboot the machine, and press F11 or Del to proceed to re-image the appliance.

  4. Select ATEN Virtual CDROM YSOJ from the boot devices list to install mounted ISO:                     undefined

Conclusion

I hope this document has highlighted the benefits of configuring your RMM and the significant time savings it can offer. Being able to manage power states, control the console/BIOS/RAID Controller, and perform reimaging from your workstation—rather than being physically present in the server room—makes the initial 5-minute setup time well worth the investment.

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