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Every DediJet server includes IPMI with a KVM-over-IP console at no extra cost. It is the remote equivalent of standing in front of the machine with a screen, a keyboard and a finger on the power button, and it keeps working when SSH does not.
What IPMI and the BMC are
Server motherboards carry a small, separate computer called the baseboard management controller (BMC). It has its own firmware and its own network address, and it runs whenever the server has standby power: with the operating system stopped, frozen or not installed at all. IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) is the long-standing standard for talking to it; many BMCs also implement the newer Redfish API.
Through the BMC you get:
- KVM-over-IP: the server’s video output in your browser, with your keyboard and mouse input sent back. KVM stands for keyboard, video, mouse here, not for the Linux hypervisor of the same name.
- Power control: power on, power off, reset and power cycle.
- Virtual media: an ISO image from your computer, presented to the server as a CD/DVD or USB drive.
When to use the console
- The network is gone. A typo in Netplan or
/etc/network/interfaces, a wrong route, a disabled interface. - Firewall or SSH lockout. A rule that drops port 22, or password logins disabled before your SSH key worked. Neither affects the local console.
- Boot problems. A kernel panic, a
grub>prompt, or systemd’s emergency mode after an/etc/fstaberror: the console shows the exact message. - Firmware setup. Boot order and other BIOS/UEFI settings.
- Custom installations from your own ISO image, described below.
For repairs that need the disks but not the installed system, such as a broken bootloader or a lost root password, rescue mode is often more comfortable: you work in a normal SSH session, with copy and paste.
Note: Changing the boot order is fine. Overclocking and firmware tampering are not allowed under the acceptable use policy.
Open the console
Open the server in your dashboard, then choose Console (IPMI). The console runs in your browser.
Wake the screen. A black screen usually means the display is blanked: press Enter or Shift. If nothing appears, check in the dashboard that the server is powered on.
Log in as root with the root password. SSH settings such as
PasswordAuthentication nodo not apply to the local console. If root has no password, for example after an installation with an SSH key only, set one from rescue mode.
Copy and paste into a KVM console is limited at best, so keep the commands you type short. A good habit is to use the console only to restore network access, then continue over SSH.
Keyboard tips
Sending Ctrl+Alt+Del and other shortcuts
Your own operating system intercepts combinations such as Ctrl+Alt+Del before the browser sees them. If the console offers a menu of keys or macros, use it to send them to the server. Know what the combination does there: on most Linux systems, Ctrl+Alt+Del on the console starts a reboot; on Windows Server, it opens the sign-in screen.
Wrong characters? Check the keyboard layout
Most KVM consoles send the position of each key, and the server turns it into a character with its own keymap, usually US English. With an AZERTY or QWERTZ keyboard, some letters and most symbols come out wrong, and passwords fail. Three ways around it:
- Type as if your keyboard had the US layout.
- Check what the server receives: type the characters at the
login:prompt, where they are echoed, then erase them before you press Enter. - Once logged in, switch the console to your layout with
loadkeys deorloadkeys fr(from thekbdpackage). The change is lost at the next reboot.
Reboot, reset or power cycle
Start with the gentlest option. Hard actions skip the normal shutdown: data still in write caches is lost, and the RAID array may resynchronize after the restart.
| Action | What it does | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
reboot in the OS | Clean restart: services stop, filesystems are synced | The system still responds on the console |
| Soft power off | Sends an ACPI power-button press; the OS shuts down cleanly if it can | You want the server off with no risk |
| Reset | Hardware reset, like the reset button; power stays on | The OS is frozen and ignores the keyboard |
| Power cycle | Cuts power, then turns it back on after a few seconds | A reset did not help, or a device such as a NIC or GPU is stuck |
Reboot and power on/off are also available in your dashboard and through the API, which is handy for automation.
Install your own OS with virtual media
The one-click installer covers the common systems (see operating systems). For anything else, such as VMware ESXi with your own license, TrueNAS or NixOS, mount an ISO image through the console.
Warning: Installing an operating system usually erases the disks you install it on. Back up anything you want to keep first.
Download the ISO to your computer. Virtual media streams the image from your browser to the server, so your upload speed and your distance to the server decide how fast it reads. A small network-install image is much quicker than a full DVD image.
Attach the ISO with the console’s virtual media function and check that it shows as mounted.
Boot from it. Restart the server, open the one-time boot menu with the key shown on the boot screen (often F11 or F12), and select the virtual CD/DVD or USB device.
Enter the network settings by hand during the installation: the IPv4 address, prefix length and gateway shown in your dashboard, plus your IPv6 prefix with gateway
fe80::1(check the value in your dashboard).Set up RAID yourself if you want it. The default RAID 1 comes from the one-click installer, not from your ISO.
Detach the ISO when the installer finishes, then reboot from the disk.
To return to a standard system later, reinstall from the dashboard.
Security notes
- The console is only reachable through your dashboard session. Access to your DediJet account therefore means access to the console: protect the account with a strong, unique password.
- Console access equals physical access. Whoever uses it can restart the server into the bootloader and reset passwords.
- Log out before you close the console. It shows whatever is on screen, and a root shell left open there is open to the next person who opens it. Type
exitfirst. - Detach virtual media when you are done, so the server does not start the installer again by accident.
Still stuck?
If the console does not load, shows no picture while the server is on, or ignores the keyboard, open a ticket from Support. IPMI/KVM access is in scope for our engineers, 24/7, and a server that is down is treated as critical, with a first-response target of 30 minutes.