Configuring a blade server management network

You can use the web interface to configure the management network for a blade server.

To configure the management network for a blade server, complete the following steps:

  1. Under Blade Tasks in the navigation pane, click Configuration.
    Note:
    • See Configuring the management-module Ethernet port for information about enabling or disabling IPv6 addressing for your BladeCenter unit.
    • If a blade server supports IPv6 addressing and IPv6 is enabled, both the IPv4 and IPv6 configuration fields are shown. If a blade server does not support IPv6 addressing, or if IPv6 addressing is disabled and you have chosen to hide IPv6 fields when IPv6 addressing is disabled, only the IPv4 configuration fields are shown.
    • If IPv6 addressing is enabled and a blade server supports IPv6 addressing, at least one IPv6 configuration method must be configured.
  2. Select the Management Network tab.
  3. In the Interface Management section, click the link for the blade server you want to configure in the Name field.
  4. Select the tab for the management interface to configure, eth0 or eth1.
  5. Configure settings that apply to both IPv4 and IPv6 in the General Settings section:
    • Enable/Disable NIC: Enables or disables this management network interface. If the interface is disabled, all other configuration items are ignored.
    • Enable/Disable IPv6: Enables or disables IPv6 addressing for this management network interface.
    • VLAN ID: (Optional) The Virtual LAN (VLAN) ID for this management network interface.
    • Route traffic through: (Optional) The device that this management network interface uses for communications.
    • Mac address (read only): The MAC address of this network interface for the blade server Blade System Management Processor (BSMP).
  6. Configure settings in the IPv4 section:
    • DHCP: Select one of the following choices:
      • Enabled: Obtain IP config. from DHCP server
      • Disabled: Use static IP configuration
      • Try DHCP server. If it fails, use static IP config. (the default; DHCP times out after 2 minutes)
      Note: If the DHCP setting is set to Try DHCP server. If it fails, use static IP config., the management network interface uses the static IP address when the DHCP server is not available during startup. When this occurs, the IP address might not be reachable if multiple devices were started with the same static IP address.
    • IP address: The IPv4 IP address of the management network interface must contain four integers from 0 through 255, separated by periods, with no spaces or consecutive periods.
    • Subnet mask: The subnet mask must contain four integers from 0 to 255, separated by periods, with no spaces.
    • Gateway address: The IP address of your network gateway router must contain four integers from 0 through 255, separated by periods, with no spaces. This address must be accessible from the IP address and subnet mask that were specified above.
  7. Configure settings in the IPv6 section:
    • Static IP configuration: Enable or disable static IPv6 addressing for the management network interface. IPv6 static IP configuration is disabled by default.
    • IP address: The IPv6 IP address of the management network interface must be 16 hexadecimal bytes, divided along 2-byte boundaries, delimited with colons, of the form: 2001:0DB8:0000:0000:02AA:00FF:FE28:9C5A
    • Prefix length: The prefix length for the IPv6 address, between 1 and 128, inclusive.
    • Default route: The IP address of your network gateway router must be 16 hexadecimal bytes, divided along 2-byte boundaries, delimited with colons, of the form: 2001:0DB8:0000:0000:02AA:00FF:FE28:9C5A.
    • Link-local address: (read only) A unique IPv6 address for the management network interface that is automatically generated based on the MAC address.
    • DHCPv6: Select one of the following choices:
      • Enabled: Obtain IP configuration from DHCP server (the default).
      • Disabled: Do not obtain IP configuration from DHCP server
    • Stateless Auto-configuration: Enable or disable stateless auto-configuration for the management network interface. Automatic configuration of addresses is based on the receipt of Router Advertisement messages. These messages include stateless address prefixes. Stateless auto-configuration is enabled by default.
  8. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save.

When the blade server management network configuration is modified, it might take several minutes before the advanced management module can display the new values.

Parent topic: Using the management-module web interface