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Script - ipmiConfig.pl

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There was a question on the VMTN community asking about automating the configuration of IPMI/iLO Settings for Power Management via kickstart. Unfortunately, this cannot be configured directly on an ESX/ESXi host, it requires vCenter server. This configuration is a prerequisite to VMware's DPM (Distributed Power Management) which is only available with vCenter and DRS enabled cluster.

Although this configuration can't be added to kickstart, you can create a script that is executed as part of the "post configurations". Before starting, make sure that you have IPMI enabled over LAN which is generally found within your iDRAC/iLO or other out-of-band management console.

Here are two posts on popular hardware (Dell/HP) for configuring IPMI/iLO settings:

Dell configuration
HP configuration

In general, the actual configuration for the host is the same but will differ based on the server vendor and out-of-band management console.

Here is a vSphere SDK for Perl script that allows you to configure IPMI/iLO settings for an ESX or ESXi host:

Download: ipmiConfig.pl

You'll need to provide the following variables:

  • vihost = ESX or ESXi host
  • ipaddress = IP Address of your iDRAC/iLO/etc.
  • macaddress = MAC Address of your iDRAC/iLO/etc. interface
  • bmcusername = Username to login to your iDRAC/iLO/etc.
  • bmcpassword = You'll be prompted to provide the password

Here is an example run:

[vi-admin@scofield ~]$ ./ipmiSettings.pl --server reflex.primp-industries.com --username primp --vihost dev-esxi1.primp-industries.com --ipaddress 172.50.0.45 --macaddress 00:22:E8:71:C5:47 --bmcusername admin
Please enter your BMC Password:

Trying to configure IPMI/iLO Settings for Power Management on dev-esxi1.primp-industries.com ...

If you've entered everything correctly, the prompt should return right away. If it sits there for more than 20 seconds, then something went wrong and you may have entered something incorrectly. Due to the limitation of this API method, no tasks are returned back to properly handle these errors. You may want to manually configure this via the vSphere Client to double check your settings before re-using the script.


Here is an example of a bad run (entered wrong username + password):

[vi-admin@scofield ~]$ ./ipmiSettings.pl --server reflex.primp-industries.com --username primp --vihost dev-esxi1.primp-industries.com --ipaddress 172.50.0.45 --macaddress 00:22:E8:71:C5:47 --bmcusername root
Please enter your BMC Password:

Trying to configure IPMI/iLO Settings for Power Management on dev-esxi1.primp-industries.com ...

Error: Unable to configure IPMI/iLO Settings: SOAP request error - possibly a protocol issue: 500 SSL read timeout:

Getting started with the vSphere SDK for Perl

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Step 1. Visit the vSphere SDK for Perl Home Page

You will find latest Downloads, Reference Documentation and Community Discussions and links to resources.

Step 2. Become familiar with vSphere SDK for Perl Resources:

Step 3. Explore new ways of managing your vSphere Platform using the remote CLI

  • Try some of the esxcfg-* commands bundled with the vCLI/RCLI

Additional utilities bundled with vCLI/RCLI installation

Step 4. Develop and create your own scripts and utlities using the vSphere SDK for Perl
Become familiar vSphere 4.0 API Reference documentation

Step 5. Learn how to get started with writing your own Perl script using vSphere SDK for Perl

  • This VMware document is a little out dated but it still all applies to writing your own Perl scripts using the vSphere SDK for Perl

Step 6. For more scripts developed against the vSphere SDK for Perl, check out the vGhetto Script Repository for more examples!
I think the easiest way to learn this is to start playing with some of the canned scripts and to make it even easier to have an environment that's all setup for you with both the vCLI and vSphere SDK for Perl, you can download VMware vMA.