Consoles

You have a choice concerning the type of console to use with your HP system. Although the console hardware varies among different HP system models, there are usually the following ports available:

Local Console	The local console port is a serial port to which you would connect a terminal, or use a terminal emulator, to get direct console access. This is usually the default port to which console messages are sent.
Remote Console	This port is used for a modem connection to the console.
LAN Console	This console port allows a console connection using a LAN. The networking stack is implemented in firmware on the GSP. At the time of this writing this is a 10Base-TX connection and not a 100 MBit connection. The functionality of accessing the console over the network is nearly identical to using the local console port. this port has its own IP address, subnet mask, and gateway.
Secure Web Console	The Secure Web Console is a card inside your HP-UX system that allows you to use your browser as a console. On older systems this was an external device that connects to the HP system console port and provided the same Web server functionality.

There is not much configuration for the local console other than connecting a terminal. The remote console required modem configuration. The LAN console is configured through the GSP interface as we'll see in the next example. The following listing shows several steps we'll perform to boot an nPartition in the upcoming example. This example is from Chapter 17 which covers nPartitions. I'll issue a variety of commands to give you an idea of some steps you can perform during the boot process process at various prompts. We'll do the following:

• Go from the Management Processor to the Command Menu with cm .

• List the default customer LAN settings of the Managment Processor with ls .

• Change the customer LAN settings with lc .

• List the new LAN settings with ls .

 Main Menu: Enter command or menu >     GSP MAIN MENU:          CO: Consoles         VFP: Virtual Front Panel          CM: Command Menu          CL: Console Logs          SL: Show chassis Logs          HE: Help           X: Exit Connection GSP>  cm                                     <-- Go to Command Menu  Enter HE to get a list of available commands GSP:CM>  ls                                  <-- List customer LAN  Current configuration of GSP customer LAN interface   MAC address : 00:10:83:fd:77:f7   IP address  : 192.168.1.1     0xc0a80101   Name        : gsp0   Subnet mask : 255.255.255.0   0xffffff00   Gateway     : 192.168.1.1     0xc0a80101   Status      : UP and RUNNING Current configuration of GSP private LAN interface   MAC address : 00:a0:f0:00:ce:1f   IP address  : 192.168.2.11    0xc0a8020b   Name        : priv-01   Subnet mask : 255.255.255.0   0xffffff00   Gateway     : 192.168.2.11    0xc0a8020b   Status      : UP and RUNNING GSP:CM>  lc                                   <-- Modify customer LAN  This command modifies the LAN parameters. Current configuration of GSP customer LAN interface   MAC address : 00:10:83:fd:77:f7   IP address  : 192.168.1.1     0xc0a80101   Name        : gsp0   Subnet mask : 255.255.255.0   0xffffff00   Gateway     : 192.168.1.1     0xc0a80101   Status      : UP and RUNNING     Do you want to modify the configuration for the customer LAN? (Y/[N])  y  Current IP Address is: 192.168.1.1     Do you want to modify it? (Y/[N])  y  Enter new IP Address:  157.235.10.249  New IP Address will be: 157.235.10.249     Please confirm (Y/[N])  y  -> IP Address will be updated.     Current GSP Network Name is: gsp0     Do you want to modify it? (Y/[N])  n  Current Subnet Mask is: 255.255.255.0     Do you want to modify it? (Y/[N])  n  Current Gateway is: 192.168.1.1     Do you want to modify it? (Y/[N]) (Default will be IP address.) 157.235.10.2     Current Gateway is: 192.168.1.1     Do you want to modify it? (Y/[N]) (Default will be IP address.)  y  Enter new Gateway:  157.235.10.246  New Gateway will be:  157.235.10.246  Please confirm (Y/[N])  y  -> Gateway will be updated. Current configuration of GSP private LAN interface   MAC address : 00:a0:f0:00:ce:1f   IP address  : 192.168.2.11    0xc0a8020b   Name        : priv-01   Subnet mask : 255.255.255.0   0xffffff00   Gateway     : 192.168.2.11    0xc0a8020b   Status      : UP and RUNNING     Do you want to modify the configuration for the private LAN? (Y/[N])  n  -> Parameters have been updated. 

You can see in this example that we changed the default LAN console information using the GSP.

Next we'll configure the Secure Web Console.

Secure Web Console

You have a choice concerning the type of console to use with your HP-UX. You can connect a terminal to the console port or use a browser and the Secure Web Console (there is also a LAN console port available on systems as another alternative). There is also a console consolidation solution that supports hundreds of consoles that I won't cover here. The Secure Web Console is a card in your HP-UX system that allows you to use your browser as a console. This means that from one system running a browser, you can open up several windows that are the console screens for different HP-UX systems. This obviates the need to walk from console to console when you want to perform system administration functions - you can sit at one system running a browser and adminstrate many systems. On older systems there was an external Secure Web Console device that connects to the HP-UX console port and provides the same Web server. I'll show a diagram shortly for connecting the old device.

In this section I'll cover configuring a Secure Web Console and include several screen shots so you can decide whether you prefer the Secure Web Console or a dedicated terminal as a console.

Connecting and Configuring the Secure Web Console

The new Secure Web Console is a card in your HP-UX system. The old Secure Web Console is a device that is connected to the console port on your HP-UX system and to your LAN. On an rp54xx system, for instance, slot 2 has in it a Core I/O card that includes a LAN console port and a connector for the UPS and console - the serial port on the Secure Web Console is plugged into this console cable. There is also a networking port on the Secure Web Console so you can connect it to your LAN. Figure 1-1 depicts the general setup of the Secure Web Console:

Figure 1-1. External Secure Web Console Connectivity on rp54xx Used in Upcoming Example

Keep in mind that the HP system connections on your system may differ from that shown in the figure. The cable connected to the UPS/Console port turns into the three connections shown in Figure 1-1. The Secure Web Console connects to the right-most of the three connectors when facing the back of the computer on my system. Its other connection is a networking connection to the LAN. The Secure Web Console also has its own power source so you can connect to it from your browser even when the computer is powered off.

The Secure Web Console has a default IP address of 192.0.0.192. This address is assigned so that you can connect to the Secure Web Console upon installation and reconfigure it.

With the hardware connections complete, we'll proceed to setup the system running a browser and connect to the Secure Web Console using the following steps:

Disable Proxies	Assuming that you are running a supported version of a browser, you want to "Disable Proxies" or use "No Proxies" until the Secure Web Console configuration is complete.
Add a Route	Use the following command to add a route from the computer where your browser is running to the Secure Web console: route add 192.0.0.192 63.88.95.15
In this example the computer on which I'm running my browser has an IP address of 63.88.95.15
Check connection	Use the ping command to check the connection between the computer running the browser and the default IP address of the Secure Web Console: ping 192.0.0.192
Use arp	If you did not receive a response using ping you may have to use arp as shown below for a PC and UNIX system:
	PC:	arp -s 192.0.0.192 00-10-83-fa-3f-11
	UNIX:	arp -s 192.0.0.192 00: 10: 83: fa: 3f: 11
	I have not had to use the arp command in my configurations, however, the document at the URL earlier mentioned recommends the arp command if indeed your ping fails. Re-issue the ping command after using arp to check your connection. The -s option is for a static arp .
Web Browser	With a successful ping you can now access the Secure Web Console through your browser.

Figure 1-2 shows the steps I performed. You can see route and ping on my PC at the command line to get access to the Secure Web Console:

Figure 1-2. route and ping with Secure Web Console

This screen shot does not show the "disable proxies" step I performed prior to the commands issued at the prompt.

Note:

I sometimes configure the Secure Web Console by connecting a crossover LAN cable from the Secure Web Console directly to my laptop computer. After I have completed the initial configuration steps I then connect the Secure Web Console to the LAN and use a desktop system to access it with a browser. The connection to my portable is only a temporary connection in order to configure the Secure Web Console with its final IP address.

With a connection having been established and the browser properly configured on my computer (the proxy server was earlier disabled), I can use the browser to connect to the Web server on the Secure Web Console. You must be on the same subnet for this to work in most situations. Figure 1-3 is a screen shot showing that I specified the pre-configured IP address of the Secure Web Console with http://192.0.0.192:

Figure 1-3. Initial Secure Web Console Screen

The "Welcome" screen confirms that we performed the necessary configuration to make our initial connection to the Secure Web Console. After you select "OK" on this screen, you can proceed with the configuration of the Secure Web Console.

The next screen in Figure 1-4 shows the initial information related to the Secure Web Console for which you will be prompted when you select "OK". This information is for an administrator of the Secure Web Console, not for the HP system. In the upcoming examples, I zoom in so that you can see the Secure Web Console information more clearly. The browser information is not shown in the figures, but it is insignificant as far as the Secure Web Console configuration is concerned from this point foward.

Figure 1-4. Secure Web Console Screen for First Administrator Account

After adding all of this information, you have configured the initial administrator account. As we'll see later, you can add subsequent administrator and operator accounts to the Secure Web Console.

The next screen, in Figure 1-5, shows the network-related configuration we'll make to the Secure Web Console. Since it came with a pre-configured IP address, we'll now assign the dedicated IP address for the device.

Figure 1-5. Secure Web Console Screen to Configure Final IP Address

In Figure 1-5 I show the two types of terminals that you can select. In this "Configure IP" screen, you'll enter both a name for the Secure Web Console and the computer to which it is connected. All of the IP-related information is entered in this screen as well. The Secure Web Console requires a dedicated IP address because you connect directly to it to make a console connection to the HP system.

When all of the information has been added, we select "OK" on this screen and are shown the following message in Figure 1-6:

Figure 1-6. Initial Secure Web Console Setup Complete

After we select "OK" in Figure 1-6, we can reconnect to the Secure Web Console using the IP address we assigned to it during the configuration. In our case, we would use http://15.88.85.14 to reconnect, as shown in Figure 1-7:

Figure 1-7. Secure Web Console Login Screen

We log in with the name and password we earlier defined for the Secure Web Console administrator and are then connected as shown in Figure 1-8:

Figure 1-8. Secure Web Console Menu

At this point, you can select from a number of Secure Web Console-related functions to perform, such as configuring additional users, or you can access the console on your HP system, which is the purpose of connecting the device. The Access console selection gives us the console of the HP system as shown in Figure 1-9:

Figure 1-9. Initial Secure Web Console Screen

Notice that we are logged in as root when we select Access console . You could use the Secure Web Console menu to configure additional administrators and operators (we configured only one administrator in our example and no operators) to give multiple users access to your HP system through the Secure Web Console.

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The Secure Web Console can be a good alternative to using a dedicated console on each HP-UX system. I wanted to provide you with the basic information for configuring the Secure Web Console so that you know how this device works.