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IBM Power HMC 7063-CR2 Console Inband Communications Credentials

  • 1.  IBM Power HMC 7063-CR2 Console Inband Communications Credentials

    Posted Fri February 11, 2022 06:57 PM
      |   view attached
    The Power based HMC, CR2, utilizes firmware that includes OpenBMC, a more robust and secure firmware platform that predecessor systems.  Elements of the CR2 system hardware need to be monitored and reported on by the HMC software running on top of this firmware; examples are temperature sensors, fan speeds, and many other component status metrics related to the health and performance of the HMC appliance itself.  Since the HMC software needs access to these metrics on the secure HMC hardware, the HMC software needs to login to the OpenBMC firmware to gather the needed data.  This login is across an internal network inside the HMC but still requires that a valid ID and Password are used.  The HMC ships from IBM with a default BMC ID and password, but the password is expired and must be changed for the HMC to properly function on first use, else the HMC user will get endless message popups and log messages as reminders that the HMC to BMC communication is not functioning, and the 'Inband Credentials' need to be set.

    This is documented pretty well at:  IBM Power HMC 7063-CR2 Console Inband Communications Credentials  , but a colleague of mine, experiencing this for the first time, created the attached pdf file which clearly lays out the steps and provides additional background.

    Hope you find this helpful!  See attached.

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    Charlie Berry
    Principal Power Technical Specialist
    IBM Technology
    US Public & Federal Market
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    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    HMC BMC credentials Explained.pdf   399 KB 1 version


  • 2.  RE: IBM Power HMC 7063-CR2 Console Inband Communications Credentials

    Posted Mon February 14, 2022 10:18 AM

    My two cents : since SP1 ( M1011 ) , the shared BMC interface going through eth0  (along with dedicated BMC  M port) is also configurable from HMC GUI. This was not the case with Base recovery version M1010. Using internal default IP also allow to connect to BMC UI to create this new admin credential.

    As opposed to recommendation in HMC preinstallation worksheet, use eth1 for Private network* instead of eth0 ( * HMC to systems FSP cards management ) . 

    Eth0 can be shared with public HMC management network ( 2 MAC addresses) , so you only have to wire one cable for HMC to switch and one for private vlan (system management ) instead of three if you separate dedicated M port / eth0 for public remote access to hmc and eth1  private FSP management. Can be of some help when switches are pretty full.



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    Christophe Ducrocq
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    Original Message