Avocent Single port KVM over IP switch User Manual

Single Port

Single port KVM over IP switch

KVM over IP SWITCH

USER’S MANUAL

Rev 1.0

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. THE QUICK INSTALLATION GUI DE

2. INTRODUCTION

2.1 When the sever is up and running

2.2 When the server is dead

2.3 Features

2.4 Package contents

2.5 Technical specifications

2.6 System requirement

2.7 Cable diagrams

3. HARDWARE INSTALLATION

Single port KVM over IP switch

3.1 Operation overview

3.2 Connecting IP- KVM to the host system

3.3 Connecting IP- KVM to multi-port KVM switch

3.4

Connecting External Reset/Power option

4. CONFIGURATION

4.1 Initial Configuration

4.1.1 Initial configuration via DHCP server

4.1.2 Initial configuration via serial console

4.1.3 Keyboard, Mouse and Video configuration

4.1.3.1 IP-KVM switch keyboard settings

4.1.3.2 Remote Mouse Settings

4.1.3.3 Auto mouse speed and mouse synchronization

4.1.3.4 Host system mouse settings

4.1.3.5 Single and Double Mouse Mode

4.1.3.6 Video Modes

5. USAGE

5.1 Prerequisites

5.2 Login into the IP-KVM switch and logout

5.2.1 Login into the IP-KVM switch

5.2.2 Logout from the IP-KVM switch

5.3 The Remote Console

5.4 Main Window

5.4.1 Remote Console Control Bar

5.4.2 Remote Console Status Line

6. MENU OPTIONS

6.1 Remote Control

6.1.1 KVM Console

6.1.2 Remote Power

6.1.3 Telnet Console

6.2 Virtual Media

6.2.1 Floppy Disk

6.2.2 CD ROM

6.2.3 Drive redirection

6.2.4 Options

6.3 User Management

6.3.1 Change Password

6.3.2 Users And Groups

6.4 KVM Settings

6.4.1 User Console

6.4.2 Power Control

6.4.3 Keyboard/Mouse

6.4.4 Video

Single port KVM over IP switch

6.5 Device Settings

6.5.1 Network

6.5.2 Dynamic DNS

6.5.3 Security

6.5.4 Certificate

6.5.5 Serial Port

6.5.6 Date And Time

6.5.7 Event Log

6.6 Maintenance

6.6.1 Device Information

6.6.2 Event Log

6.6.3 Update Firmware

6.6.4 Unit Reset

7. TROUBLESHOOTING

8. CERTIFICATES A. Pin Assignments B. Key Codes C. Video Modes D. Rack mount kit installation diagram

Single port KVM over IP switch

1. The quick installation guide

Installation

IP-KVM switch redirects local keyboard, mouse and video data to a remote administration console. All data is transmitted via IP. IP-KVM switch can be used in a multi administrator and multi server environment as well. Besides, IP-KVM switch is a KVM switch, which can also be used with a local console.

IP-KVM switch hardware installation

Host

Console

Figure 1-1 The connectors of single port IP-KVM switch front and rear side

Please perform the following steps:

1. Connect the power supply to IP-KVM switch

2. Connect the monitor to the IP-KVM switch console side.

3. Connect the keyboard to the IP-KVM switch console side.

4. Connect the mouse to the IP-KVM switch console side.

5. Connect a VGA cable (15-pin HDDB Male / Male) with the Male side to both of the PC and the host port of the IP-KVM switch.

6. Connect one purple end of 3-in-one cable to the PS/2 mouse port on the computer, and the other end of 3-in-one cable to the host PS/2 mouse port on the IP-KVM Switch.

7. Connect one green end of 3-in-one cable to PS/2 keyboard port on the computer, and the other end of 3-in-one cable to the host PS/2 keyboard port on the IP-KVM switch.

8. Connect the type A connector of USB A-B cable to the host system, while using remote mass storage control.

9. Connect Ethernet to LAN port and/or modem to DB-9 serial port, depending on how you want to access IP-KVM switch

Video modes

IP-KVM switch recognizes a limited number of common video modes. When running X-Window on the host system, please don’t use any custom mode lines with special video modes. If done so, IP-KVM switch may not be able to detect these. You are on the safe side with all standard VESA video modes. Please refer to Appendix C for a list of all known modes.

Initial IP configuration

Initially the IP-KVM switch network interface is configured with the parameters shown in Table 1-1.

Single port KVM over IP switch

Parameter Value IP auto configuration DHCP IP-Address 192.168.1.22 Net-mask 255.255.255.0 Default-Gateway none

Table 1-1: Initial configuration

If this initial configuration doesn’t meet your local requirements, you need to do the initial IP configuration. Use one of the following ways:

1. Connect the enclosed NULL modem cable to the serial interface on the rear side. The serial interface needs to be adjusted with the parameters shown in table 1-2:

Parameter Value Bits/second 115200 Data bi ts 8 Parity No Stop bits 1 Flow Control None

Table 1-2: Serial parameters

Use a terminal software (e.g. hyper term or minicom) to connect to IP-KVM switch. Reset IP-KVM switch and immediately press < ESC >. You will see some device information and a ’=>’ prompt. Enter the command ’config’ and press < Enter >. After waiting a few moments you may configure IP auto configuration, IP address, net mask and default gateway. Pressing < Enter > without entering values does not change settings. The gateway value must be set to 0.0.0.0 (for no gateway) or any other value. You will be asked if the values are correct and get a chance to correct them. After confirming, IP-KVM switch performs a reset.

2. Use a crossover Ethernet cable to connect IP-KVM switch to a subnet where a DHCP server is available. After the DHCP server has assigned an IP address to IP-KVM switch you can use the web interface to configure the device.

Web interface

IP-KVM switch may be accessed using a standard JAVA enabled web browser. You may use the HTTP protocol or a secure encrypted connection via HTTPS. Just enter the configured IP address of IP-KVM switch into your web browser.

super (factory default) pass (factory default)

Changing these settings to user specific values is strongly recommended and can be done on the User Management page (see the Section called Users and Groups in Chapter 6 ).

Remote Console

The Remote Console is the redirected screen, keyboard and mouse of the remote host system to which IP-KVM switch is installed. The web browser which is used for accessing IP-KVM switch has to

Single port KVM over IP switch

supply a Java Runtime Environment version 1.1 or higher. However, it is strongly recommended to install Sun JVM 1.4. The Remote Console will behave exactly the same way as if you were sitting directly in front of the screen of your remote system. That means that both the keyboard and mouse can be used in the usual way. Open the console by selecting the preview picture on the main site of the HTML front end. Figure 1-2 shows the top of the Remote Console.

Figure 1-2: Top part of the Remote Console

There are some options to choose from, and the important ones are the following:

Auto Adjust button

If the video displayed is of bad quality or distorted in some way, press this button and wait a few seconds while IP-KVM switch tries to adjust itself for the best possible video quality.

Sync Mouse

Choose this option in order to synchronize the local with the remote mouse cursor. This is especially necessary when using accelerated mouse settings on the host system. In general there is no need to change mouse settings on the host.

Video Settings in Options Menu This opens a new window with elements to control the IP-KVM switch

Video Settings. You can change some values, for instance the brightness and contrast of the picture displayed, which may improve the video quality. It is also possible to revert to the default settings for all video modes or only the current one.

Note: At first start, if the local mouse pointer is not synchronized with

the remote mouse pointer, press the Auto Adjust Button once.

Single port KVM over IP switch

2. Introduction

Thank you for purchasing IP-KVM switch. IP-KVM switch can save your MONEY, TIME, SPACE, EQUIPMENT and POWER. IP-KVM switch defines a new class of remote KVM access devices. IP-KVM switch combines digital remote KVM access via IP networks with comprehensive and integrated system management.

IP-KVM switch provides convenient, remote KVM access and control via LAN or Internet. It captures, digitizes, and compresses video signal and transmits it with keyboard and mouse signals to and from a remote computer. IP-KVM switch provides a non-intrusive solution for remote access and control. Remote access and control software runs on its embedded processors only but not on mission-critical servers, so that there is no interference with server operation or impact on network performance.

Furthermore, IP-KVM switch offers additional remote power management with the help of optional available device.

IP-KVM switch supports consoles consisting of PS/2 style keyboards and mouse and HDDB 15 video output. IP-KVM switch will automatically detect the current video mode of the console, however manual fine-tuning is recommended to receive the best video quality. IP-KVM switch will accept video streams up to 110 MHz dot clock. This results in a screen resolution of 1280x1024 pixels with a frame rate of 60 Hz.

2.1. When the server is up and running

IP-KVM switch gives you a full control over the remote server. The Management Console allows you to access the remote server’s graphics, keyboard and mouse and to send special commands to the server. You can also perform periodic maintenance of the server. Using the Console Redirection Service, you are able to do the following: I. Reboot the system II. Watch the boot process. III. Boot the system from a separate partition to load the diagnostic environment. IV. Run special diagnostic programs.

2.2. When the server is dead

Obviously, fixing hardware defects is not possible through a remote management device. Nevertheless IP-KVM switch gives the administrator valuable information about the type of a hardware failure. Serious hardware failures can be categorized into five different categories with different chances to happen: I. Hard disk failure 50% II. Power cable detached, power supply failure 28% III. CPU, Controller, main board failure 10% IV. CPU fan failure 8% V. RAM failure 4%

Using IP-KVM switch, administrators can determine which kind of serious hardware failure has occurred (See table 2-1).

Single port KVM over IP switch

Type of failure Detected by Hard disk failure Console screen, CMOS set-up information Power cable detached, power supply failure Server remains in power on state after power on

command has been given. CPU Controller, main board failure. Power supply is on, but there is no video output. CPU fan failure By server specific management software RAM failure Boot-Sequence on boot console

Table 2-1:Host system failures and how they are detected.

2.3. Features

z Manage serves around the world z KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) access over IP and analogous telephone line (modem needed). z BIOS level access z SSL encryption z No impact on server or network performance z Automatically senses video resolution for best possible screen capture z High-performance mouse tracking and synchronization z Port to connect a user console for direct analogous access to KVM switch z Local Mouse suppression (only when using SUN’s Java Virtual Machine) z Can be used with any standard KVM z Remote mass storage control.

2.4. Package contents

Base unit- Single port IP-KVM Switch 1 PC User’s manual 1 PC Installation software and User Manual on CD-ROM 1 PC AC to DC Power Adapter 1 PC Rack Mount Kit 1 SET Null modem cable 1 PC

2.5. Technical specifications Model No. Single port IP-KVM Switch

PC Port 1 Console Port 1

Single port KVM over IP switch

PC Port Connector (All Female Types)

PS/2 Keyboard Mini Din 6 pin PS/2 Mouse Mini Din 6 pin VGA HDDB 15 pin USB Type B receptacle

Console Port Connector (All Female Types)

Local Console: PS/2 Keyboard Mini Din 6 pin

PS/2 Mouse Mini Din 6 pin VGA HDDB 15pin

Remote Console: RJ-45 8P8C

Serial Port (DB9 pin

Male) LAN port (RJ-45 8P8C) 1

10BASE-T Ethernet uses Category 3/4/5/5E/6 UTP

100BASE-T Ethernet uses Category 5/5E/6 UTP Reset button 1 Keyboard Emulation PS/2 Mouse Emulation PS/2 VGA Resolution Local :1600 X1200 Remote : 1280 X1024 Housing Metal Power Adapter DC 5V, 2.5A Operation Temperature

Storage Temperature

0~50℃

-20 ~ 60℃

Humidity 0~80%, Non-Condensing Size Desktop Weight (kg) 1700g Dimension (mm) 156 X139 X27

2.6. System requirement

Item Description

Local console side One PS/2 Keyboard, one PS/2 Mouse

and one monitor

Remote Console side

One PC or Multiple PCs are linked into the network

Computer side One PC or Server or the console port of

KVM switch unit

2.7. Cable diagrams PS/2 Cable:

Mini Din 6 pin Male to Male

VGA Cable:

HDB15 pin Male to Male

USB 2.0 Cable:

USB A-B cable

AT to PS/2 keyboard adapter: (Optional)

Din 5 pins Male to Mini Din 6 pin Female

Single port KVM over IP switch

CAT5/5E/6 Straight Through UTP/STP Cable:

8P8C

Single port KVM over IP switch

3. Hardware installation

3.1 Operation Overview

Figure 3-1 shows the connections of IP-KVM switch to its host, to peripheral devices, to the power source and to the local area network.

Single port IP-KVM

IP Network

Administrator

Figure 3-1.a: IP-KVM switch usage scenario

Single port IP-KVM

KVM

8/16 PS/2

IP Network

Administrator

Figure 3-1.b: IP-KVM switch usage scenario

KVM Switch

8/16

IP-KVM switch redirects local keyboard, mouse, and video data to a remote administration console. All data is transmitted with the TCP/IP protocol family.

IP-KVM switch can be used in a multi administrator and multi server environment as well. Attaching one or several IP-KVM switches to a KVM switch matrix allows accessing multiple servers on a single remote console.

3.2 Connecting IP-KVM switch to the host system

In order to connect the IP-KVM switch of the host system performs the following steps:

Step 1

Connect the power supply on IP-KVM switch

Step 2

Connect the monitor to the IP-KVM switch console side.

Step 3

Connect the keyboard to the IP-KVM switch console side.

Step 4

Connect the mouse to the IP-KVM switch console side.

Single port KVM over IP switch

Step 5

Connect a VGA cable (15-pin HDDB Male / Male) with the Male side to both of the PC and the host of the IP-KVM switch.

Step 6

Connect one end to the PS/2 mouse port on the computer, and the other end to the host PS/2 mouse port on the IP-KVM switch.

Step 7

Connect one end to PS/2 keyboard port on the computer , and the other end to the host PS/2 keyboard port on the IP-KVM switch.

Single port KVM over IP switch

Step 8 (Option)

Connect the type A connector of USB A-B cable to the USB port of the host system, while using remote mass storage control. USB type A plug of USB A-B cable to the computer.

Step 8

Connect Ethernet and/or modem or both communication ports simultaneously, depending on how you want to access IP-KVM switch

INTERNET

Modem

3.2.1 Ethernet connection

The rear side of IP-KVM switch provides a RJ-45 connector for Ethernet. The connector is used either for a 100 Mbps 100BASE-TX connection or for a 10 Mbps 10BASE-T connection. The adapter can sense the connection speed and will adjust to the appropriate operation mode automatically.

3.2.1.1 10 Mbps Connection For 10BASE-T Ethernet networks, the Ethernet adapter uses Category 3, 4, 5 or 6 UTP cable. To establish a 10 Mbps connection, the cable must be connected to a 10BASE-T hub.

¾ Make sure that the cable is wired appropriately for a standard 10BASE-T adapter. ¾ Align the RJ-45 plug with the notch on the adapter’s connector and insert it into the

adapter’s connector.

3.2.1.2. 100 Mbps Connection For 100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet networks, IP-KVM switch supports Category 5 or 6 UTP cabling. To establish a 100 Mbps connection, the cable must be connected to a 100BASE-TX hub.

Single port KVM over IP switch

¾ Make sure that the cable is wired appropriately for a standard 100BASE-TX adapter. ¾ Align the RJ-45 plug with the notch on the adapter’s connector and insert it into the

adapter’s connector.

3.3 Scenario of connecting IP-KVM switch to the Multi-port KVM Switch system

3.4 Connecting the External Reset/Power Option

Please refer to the manual of the IP-KVM 8/16/32 port external power switch option or a third party external power option to connect those external devices to one of the serial interface on the rear side of IP-KVM switch. By the date of printing this manual supported options are:

¾ . Avocent.SPC1 800/1600 ¾ Sentry In-Line Power Module ¾ Leaning ePowerSwitch ¾ Peppercon IPM-220L

Single port KVM over IP switch

4. Configuration

4.1 Initial Configuration

The IP-KVM switch's communication interfaces are all based on TCP/IP. It comes pre-configured with the IP configuration listed in Table 4-1.

Parameter Value IP auto configuration DHCP IP-Address Net-mask 255.255.255.0 Default-Gateway none

If the DHCP connection fails on boot up, the IP-KVM switch will not have an IP address.

Table 4-1. Initial network configuration

Warning

If this initial configuration does not meet your requirements, the following describes the initial IP configuration that is necessary to access the IP-KVM switch for the first time.

4.1.1 Initial configuration via DHCP server

By default, the IP-KVM switch will try to contact a DHCP server in the subnet to which it is physically connected. If a DHCP server is found, it may provide a valid IP address, gateway address and net mask. Before you connect the device to your local subnet, be sure to complete the corresponding configuration of your DHCP server. It is recommended to configure a fixed IP assignment to the MAC address of the IP-KVM switch. You can find the MAC address labeled on the bottom side of the metal housing.

If this initial configuration does not meet your local requirements, use the setup tool to adjust the values to your needs. The setup tool can be found on the CD ROM delivered with this package. You can follow the procedure described below.

IP-KVM switch Setup Tool

MAC Address Detection

Connect the IP-KVM switch to your computer either via local network, or via USB. Start the setup tool from the CD ROM on the computer that the IP-KVM switch is installed. Depending on the connection (USB or network), the device detection is different. A window opens as seen below:

Single port KVM over IP switch

Figure4-1. IP-KVM switch setup tool

On the upper left corner, the MAC address of the IP-KVM switch is displayed. To detect the MAC address, manually, press the button “Refresh Devices”. The displayed MAC address is the same MAC address printed on the white sticker placed on the back of the IP-KVM switch. If the IP-KVM switch is connected via USB, it is classified as an USB device and an appropriate drive letter is chosen for this device.

On the lower right corner of the window, there are two buttons: “Query Device” and “Setup Device”. Press the “Query Device” button to display the preconfigured values of the network configuration. The values are displayed in the text fields located above. If necessary, adjust the network settings to your needs. To save the changes enter an user name and an according

password. Then press the “ Setup Device “ button.

Authentication

To adjust the authentication settings, enter your login as a super user, and change your password.

Super user login Enter the login name of the super user. The initial value is “super”. All of characters are lower

case.

Super user password Enter the current password for the super user. This initial value is “pass”. All of characters are

lower case.

New super user password Enter the new password for the super user.

New password (confirm) Re-type the new password for the super user.

To close the window and accept the changes, press the “ OK ” button, otherwise press the “ Cancel ” button.

Single port KVM over IP switch

4.1.2 Initial configuration via serial console

Using a serial terminal, the IP-KVM switch has a serial line interface (host side). This connector is compliant with the RS 232 serial line standard. The serial line has to be configured with the parameters given in Table 4-2.

When configuring with a serial terminal, reset the IP-KVM switch and immediately press the “ ESC ” key. You will see some device information, and a “ => ” prompt. Enter “config”, press “ Enter ” key and wait for a few seconds for the configuration questions to appear.

Parameter Value Bits/second 115200 Data bi ts 8 Parity No Stop bits 1 Flow Control None

Table 4-2. Serial line parameters

As you proceed, the following questions will appear on the screen. To accept the default values which are shown in square brackets below, press “Enter” key.

IP auto configuration (non/dhcp/bootp) [dhcp]: IP [192.168.1.22]: Net mask [255.255.255.0]: Gateway (0.0.0.0 for none) [0.0.0.0]:

IP autoconfiguration

With this option, you can specify whether the IP-KVM switch should get its network settings

from a DHCP or BOOTP server. For DHCP, enter “dhcp”, and for BOOTP enter “bootp”. If you do not specify any of these, the IP autoconfiguration is disabled and subsequently you will be asked for the following network settings.

IP address

The IP address the IP-KVM switch uses. This option is only available if IP autoconfiguration is

disabled.

Net mask

The net mask of the connected IP subnet. This option is only available if IP autoconfiguration is

disabled.

Gateway address

The IP address of the default router for the connected IP subnet. If you do not have a default

router, enter 0.0.0.0. This option is only available if IP autoconfiguration is disabled.

4.1.3 Keyboard, Mouse and Video configuration

Between the IP-KVM switch and the host, there are two interfaces available for transmitting keyboard and mouse data: USB and PS/2. The correct operation of the remote mouse depends on several settings which will be discussed in the following subsections.

Single port KVM over IP switch

4.1.3.1 IP-KVM switch keyboard settings

The IP-KVM switch settings for the host's keyboard type have to be corrected in order to make the remote keyboard work properly. Check the settings in the IP-KVM switch front-end. See section 6.4.3 in details.

4.1.3.2 Remote Mouse Settings

A common problem with KVM devices is the synchronization between the local and remote mouse cursors. The IP-KVM switch addresses this situation with an intelligent synchronization algorithm. There are two mouse modes available on the IP-KVM switch.

Auto mouse speed

The automatic mouse speed mode tries to detect the speed and acceleration settings of

the host system automatically. See the section below for a more detailed explanation.

Fixed mouse speed

This mode just translates the mouse movements from the Remote Console in a way

that one pixel move will lead to n pixel moves on the remote system. This parameter n is adjustable with the scaling. It should be noted that this works only when mouse acceleration is turned off on the remote system.

4.1.3.3 Auto mouse speed and mouse synchronization

The automatic mouse speed mode performs the speed detection during mouse synchronization. Whenever the mouse does not move correctly, there are two ways for re-synchronizing local and remote mouse:

Fast Sync

The fast synchronization is used to correct a temporary, but fixed skew. Choose the

option using the Remote Console options menu or press the mouse synchronization hotkey sequence in case you defined one.

Intelligent Sync

If the fast sync does not work or the mouse settings have been changed on the host

system, use the intelligent resynchronization. This method takes more time than the fast one and can be accessed with the appropriate item in the Remote Console option menu. The intelligent synchronization requires a correctly adjusted picture. Use the auto adjustment function or the manual correction in the Video Settings panel to setup the picture. The Sync mouse button on top of the Remote Console can behave differently, depending on the current state of mouse synchronization. Usually pressing this button leads to a fast sync, except in situations where the KVM port or the video mode changed recently.

Note: At first start, if the local mouse pointer is not synchronized with

the remote mouse pointer, press the Auto Adjust Button once.

4.1.3.4 Host system mouse settings

The host's operating system knows various settings from the mouse driver.

Warning

The following limitations do not apply in case of USB and Mouse Type “MS Windows 2000 and newer”.

Single port KVM over IP switch

While the IP-KVM switch works with accelerated mice and is able to synchronize the local with the remote mouse pointer, there are the following limitations, which may prevent this synchronization from working properly:

Special Mouse Driver

There are mouse drivers which influence the synchronization process and lead to

desynchronized mouse pointers. If this happens, make sure you do not use a special vendor-specific mouse driver on your host system.

Windows XP Mouse Settings

Windows XP knows a setting named “improve mouse acceleration”, which has to be

deactivated.

Active Desktop

If the Active Desktop feature of Microsoft Windows is enabled do not use a plain

background. Instead, use some kind of wallpaper. As an alternative, you could also disable the Active Desktop completely.

Navigate your mouse pointer into the upper left corner of the applet screen and move it slightly forth and back. Thus the mouse will be resynchronized. If re-synchronizing fails, disable the mouse acceleration and repeat the procedure.

4.1.3.5 Single and Double Mouse Mode

The information above applies to the Double Mouse Mode, where remote and local

mouse pointers are visible and need to by synchronize. The IP-KVM switch also features another mode, the Single Mouse Mode, where only the remote mouse pointer is visible. Activate this mode in the open Remote Console and click into the window area. The local mouse pointer will be hidden and the remote one can be controlled directly. To leave this mode, it is necessary to define a mouse hotkey in the Remote Console Settings Panel. Press this key to free the captured local mouse pointer.

4.1.3.6 Recommended Mouse Settings

For the different operating systems we can give the following advice:

MS Windows 2000/2003 (Professional and Server), XP In general, we recommend the usage of a mouse via USB. Choose USB without Mouse Sync. For a PS/2 mouse choose Auto Mouse Speed. For XP disable the option enhance pointer precision in the Control Panel.

SUN Solaris Adjust the mouse settings either via xset m 1 or use the CDE Control Panel to set the mouse to 1:1, no acceleration . As an alternative you may also use the Single Mouse Mode.

MAC OS X We recommend using the Single Mouse Mode.

Single port KVM over IP switch

4.1.3.7 Video Modes

The IP-KVM switch recognizes a limited number of common video modes. When running X11 on the host system, please do not use any custom mode lines with special video modes. If you do, the IP-KVM switch may not be able to detect them. We recommend using any of the standard VESA video modes, instead.

Single port KVM over IP switch

5. Usage

5.1 Prerequisites

The IP-KVM switch features an embedded operating system and applications offering a variety of standardized interfaces. This chapter will describe both these interfaces, and the way to use them in a more detailed manner. The interfaces are accessed using the TCP/IP protocol family, thus they can be accessed using the built-in Ethernet adapter.

The following interfaces are supported:

HTTP/HTTPS

Full access is provided by the embedded web server. The IP-KVM switch environment can

be entirely managed using a standard web browser. You can access the IP-KVM switch using the insecure HTTP protocol, or using the encrypted HTTPS protocol. Whenever possible, use HTTPS.

Telnet

A standard Telnet client can be used to access an arbitrary device connected to the IP-KVM

switch's serial port via a terminal mode.

The primary interface of the IP-KVM switch is the HTTP interface. This is covered extensively in this chapter. Other interfaces are addressed in subtopics.

In order to use the Remote Console window of your managed host system, the browser has to come with a Java Runtime Environment version 1.1 or higher. If the browser has no Java support (such as on a small handheld device), you are still able to maintain your remote host system using the administration forms displayed by the browser itself.

Important: We recommend installing a Sun JVM 1.4.

For an insecure connection to the IP-KVM switch, we can recommend the following browsers:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0 or higher on Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000 and Windows XP

• Netscape Navigator 7.0 or Mozilla 1.6 on Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Linux and other UNIX-like Operating Systems

In order to access the remote host system using a securely encrypted connection, you need a browser that supports the HTTPS protocol. Strong security is only assured by using a key length of 128 Bit. Some of the old browsers do not have a strong 128 Bit encryption algorithm.

Using the Internet Explorer, open the menu entry “?” and “Info” to read about the key length that is currently activated. The dialog box contains a link that leads you to information on how to upgrade your browser to a state of the art encryption scheme. Figure 5-1 shows the dialog box presented by the Internet Explorer 6.0.

Figure 5-1. The Internet Explorer displaying the encryption key length

Newer web browsers do support strong encryption on default.

5.2 Login into the IP-KVM switch and logout

5.2.1 Login into the IP-KVM switch

Launch your web browser. Direct it to the address of your IP-KVM switch, which you configured during the installation process. The address used might be a plain IP address or a host and domain name, in the case where you have given your IP-KVM switch a symbolic name in the DNS. For instance, type the following in the address line of your browser when establishing an unsecured connection:

http://<IP address of IP-KVM>

Single port KVM over IP switch

When using a secure connection, type in:

https://<IP address of IP-KVM>

This will lead you to the IP-KVM switch login page as shown in Figure 5-2.

Figure 5-2. Login screen

The IP-KVM switch has a built-in super user that has all permissions to administrate your IP-KVM switch:

super (factory default) pass (factory default)

Table 5-1. Standard user settings

Single port KVM over IP switch

Warning

The user “ super ” is not allowed to login via the serial interface of the IP-KVM switch.

Warning

Please make sure to change the super user password immediately after you have installed and accessed your IP-KVM switch for the first time. Not changing the pass phrase for the super user is a severe security risk and might result in unauthorized access to the IP-KVM switch and to the host system including all possible consequences!

Warning

Your web browser has to accept cookies, or else login is not possible.

Navigation

Having logged into the IP-KVM switch successfully, the main page of the IP-KVM switch appears (see Figure 5-3). This page consists of three parts; each of them contains specific information. The buttons on the upper side allow you to navigate within the front end (see Table 5-2 for details). The lower left frame contains a navigation bar and allows you to switch between the different sections of the IP-KVM switch. Within the right frame, task-specific information is displayed that depends on the section you have chosen before.

Figure 5-3. Main page

Return to the main page of the IP-KVM

switch .

+ 52 hidden pages