Getting vPro remote KVM working on Minisforum MS-01

[anewsome]

Looks like wake on LAN is enabled. Did you try powering it back on using wake on lan?

 

[anewsome]

This is cool.

So in the i226-LM port connected RJ-45 to USB serial port in this case? Is there anything additional need to enable TTY?

There's no additional hardware used. The "serial port" is virtual. Once "Serial-over-LAN" is enabled in the bios, the host OS will see a serial port at /dev/ttyS4 - at least that's what it does on linux or Proxmox. You can then use the SOL terminal in MeshCommander or whatever you use.


As another poster pointed out, you can enable a getty on the serial port, which will let you login to a shell. Doing this alone will only allow you to see/login to the console after the system has fully booted and the getty is started. Normally, I edit the /etc/default/grub file and add the kernel parameters for serial console, then update grub. This allows me to get into the grub menu before the system boots, handy when you need to add some grub parameters on the fly, boot a different kernel or boot to single user mode.

The lines I usually modify in /etc/default/grub look something like this:

GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND="serial --speed=115200 --unit=0 --word=8 --parity=no --stop=1"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="console=tty1 console=ttyS4,115200n8"
GRUB_TERMINAL="console serial"

I usually increase the menu time too, so I have a chance to connect before the system starts booting. Also, enabling various items that are hidden by default. Lastly, removing the quiet boot option if there is one. I like to see drivers loading and stuff.

 

[B-C]

Apologies if I missed something:

MS-01 loaded with Proxmox have most of the settings as shown back in the earlier posts.

Left to right
SFP Port 1, SFP Port 2, 2.5 Nic Port 3, 2.5 Nic Port 4

Using Port 4 for my proxmox hosts currently to get things prepped and setup and all working fine

No matter what I do with the MEBx setup static and not shared I don't get any link on the Port 3
and never get the IP assigned to give a ping reply or get access to port 16992/16993.

I've got to be missing something - really just interested in having access to it remotely and love the idea of using the serial for access
Do have the ability to use hdmi dummy plugs as well.

Wondering if there is anything special that needs to be setup within the Debian OS?
Not planning to do any GPU passthrough so currently just very basic setup with VMs and cluster


graphics is currently set to auto vs IGFX
added a link to 3rd host to port 3 and don't even get a link light... grrr...

other than that running well without any issues prox wise for the last week to get things tested and burned in a bit.

 

[anewsome]

Apologies if I missed something:

MS-01 loaded with Proxmox have most of the settings as shown back in the earlier posts.

Left to right
SFP Port 1, SFP Port 2, 2.5 Nic Port 3, 2.5 Nic Port 4

Using Port 4 for my proxmox hosts currently to get things prepped and setup and all working fine

No matter what I do with the MEBx setup static and not shared I don't get any link on the Port 3
and never get the IP assigned to give a ping reply or get access to port 16992/16993.

I've got to be missing something - really just interested in having access to it remotely and love the idea of using the serial for access
Do have the ability to use hdmi dummy plugs as well.

Wondering if there is anything special that needs to be setup within the Debian OS?
Not planning to do any GPU passthrough so currently just very basic setup with VMs and cluster


graphics is currently set to auto vs IGFX
added a link to 3rd host to port 3 and don't even get a link light... grrr...

other than that running well without any issues prox wise for the last week to get things tested and burned in a bit.

This is most certainly going to need to be solved in the MEBx setup. I had a heck of a time getting the remote management working reliably. My conclusion, it's extremely finicky and options that you think should work, don't. I much prefer a real management controller, but that's not an option here.

I settled on using static address for management (different than proxmox), hostname option I have set to dedicated since the ip assigned has a different dns than proxmox. There's also some networking option that's NOT in the MEBx tab which must be set. I don't recall exactly and can't reboot to get a screenshot at the moment.

Also, some other weirdness - the DynDNS option doesn't appear to save properly from the bios setup utility. Happens on all 5 of my MS01. It produces an error on the screen when saving, screen flashes an error about FQDN or something. I turn off DynDNS for real later in my management app (using Meshcommander).

Lastly, updating the BIOS firmware on my units wipes out some settings. Happened on all 5 units, so be ready to reconfigure some BIOS settings.

 

[B-C]

Oh that is another question -
So I'll need to flash the bios with the one provided a few pages back correct with the older mebx firmware?

 

[anewsome]

Oh that is another question -
So I'll need to flash the bios with the one provided a few pages back correct with the older mebx firmware?

I've updated all the MS01 to the v1.22 bios firmware. I've not changed the MEBx firmware at all. The https to port 16993 does what I need and MeshCommander (running on a separate system) gives me remote KVM and serial terminal over LAN, so I've not had a reason to change the MEBx firmware.

 

[B-C]

well crud -

on v.122 will reset to optimized and reconfigure and see if that resolves it... odd...

 

[Gabriele @ Elemento]

Hey there,

Just started fighting with vPro as well on a MS-01.
Apparently I was able to set thing up almost completely, but I am stuck with a pair of showstoppers I'd like to get some help on:

• From MeshCommander I am able to discover the host through a scan. I even added the SSL certificate as trusted and set Auth to Digest/TLS, but the remote connection goes into "Timeout" after a short while (MC v0.9.5 on Macos)
• From the browser I am able to get to the 16993 webpage and operate with the credentials I set from the BIOS
• Since I'm running Linux on the machine, when I shutdown the machine the network ports are completely switched off, therefore a AMT/vPro shutdown makes the host 100% unreachable (even WOL doesn't work)

Is anybody able to give any insight on those issues?
Any help would be greatly appreaciated!

 

[anewsome]

Hey there,

Just started fighting with vPro as well on a MS-01.
Apparently I was able to set thing up almost completely, but I am stuck with a pair of showstoppers I'd like to get some help on:

• From MeshCommander I am able to discover the host through a scan. I even added the SSL certificate as trusted and set Auth to Digest/TLS, but the remote connection goes into "Timeout" after a short while (MC v0.9.5 on Macos)
• From the browser I am able to get to the 16993 webpage and operate with the credentials I set from the BIOS
• Since I'm running Linux on the machine, when I shutdown the machine the network ports are completely switched off, therefore a AMT/vPro shutdown makes the host 100% unreachable (even WOL doesn't work)

Is anybody able to give any insight on those issues?
Any help would be greatly appreaciated!

I tried a few different variants with no success. The version I'm using is the docker container "brytonsalisbury/meshcmd:amd64". I do have a Mac, but I've not tried getting any of the Mac variants working.

 

[B-C]

I'm interested in the settings you used to get the IP link working in bios...
I'll need to screenshot each page - or reset the bios entirely which is next before I ship this cluster off to live 1k away from me!

Ahhh test equipment
Proxwise figure I'll add the mebx extensions into debian > Proxmox VE Helper-Scripts

 

[horpheus_zafi]

Has anyone utilised Intel® Endpoint Management Assistant, or is there another software, aside from MeshCentral, that can be used to connect to the hardware's remote desktop functionality?

 

[danjeman]

Not sure where I've gone wrong but have 3 ms-01s and thought settings all OK. Static ip and fqdn set etc. Can get to https login page on port 16993 on each... http port 16992 never works but think thats by design remotely... but always authentication fails using the password set in mebx. Have tried different complex passwords but always fails yet same password accesses the settings in bios... username admin or is that something else?

 

[horpheus_zafi]

Not sure where I've gone wrong but have 3 ms-01s and thought settings all OK. Static ip and fqdn set etc. Can get to https login page on port 16993 on each... http port 16992 never works but think thats by design remotely... but always authentication fails using the password set in mebx. Have tried different complex passwords but always fails yet same password accesses the settings in bios... username admin or is that something else?

Ran into a bit of a snag today. Tried to change my password and kept getting this "Inconsistency Error: Invalid Password - Try Again" pop-up. It seems that the MEBx system may misinterpret complex passwords or unusual characters, leading to this error. Stick to something straightforward like 'Krillo123!' and it should be all good.

 

[Dark-Vex]

Hi folks!

with meshcentral is anyone able to access BIOS from SOL? When I try, I get a blank/black screen without the possibility to do nothing

 

[Tlex]

Not being able to make MeshCommander to work with the ms-01 could someone give me some inputs on what I'm doing wrong ?

I currently have 1 x 10gbps sfp connected as well as 1 x 2.5gbps ethernet cable attached to the ms-01 (both connected to the same vlan)
Running Proxmox here.

What I've done so far to try to make it work based on what I read in this thread :

- I reset all the bios settings
- Enable bios admin password
- Enable MEBx password
- A display is connected to the ms-01
- Not sure if that was related but I also disabled IPv6 PXE support under Advanced / (Network stack is enabled)

- Under MEBx :
/- Enable Intel AMT
/- Under Redirection features everything is enabled
/- Under User consent user, opt-in is set to NONE and Opt-in configurable from remote IT set to DISABLED
/- Password policy set to Anytime
/- Network Access State is set to : Network Active

- Under MEBx / Network setup / Intel network name settings:
/- FQDN : host.domain.com
/- Shared / Dedicated FQDN : Dedicated - Also tried shared
/- Dynamic dns : disabled

- Under MEBx / Network setup / TCP/IP Settings / Wired lan IPV4 Configuration:
/- DHCP is enabled (And my dhcp server do provision an IP for it with the approprisetate dns name)

- I turned off "remote provisioning server" so now Under "Remote setup And Configuration" I only see "Provision Record is not present"

- Under Power Control I left as default :
/- Mobile: ON is S0, ME Wake in S3
/- Idle timeout : 15

Now in MeshCommander,
I do a network scan and the ms-01 is found
- I've set Auth to Digest / TLS
- I've set the MEBx username to admin and the password I've set for MEBx in the bios.
The host shows as green but when I try to connect that times out.
Tried both from my mac and pc with the same results

Anything wrong with my config ?

 

[Dark-Vex]

Not being able to make MeshCommander to work with the ms-01 could someone give me some inputs on what I'm doing wrong ?

- A display is connected to the ms-01

You should disconnect the display connected to the hdmi port in order to get it working (at least this is what I noticed on mine)

 

[Shareef Jalloq]

Has anyone got the management port working with DHCP? I'm using both RJ45 ports with the right hand one dedicated to Proxmox. I can see the activity lights flash on boot but they go off once Proxmox boots and I never get an IP address assigned.

I've been through the MEBx interface and assigned a new password and enabled DHCP in the network settings. What else have I missed?

 

[Shareef Jalloq]

So my issue seems to be that Proxmox is disabling the interface. Anyone with any experience here? I can see the port working when I'm in the BIOS but as soon as Proxmox boots, the interface is shut down.

Edit: it was as simple as enabling the port in /etc/network/interfaces.

 

[Tlex]

Still struggling to make amt / meshcommander working.
At this point the only thing I can do is connecting to amt web page and that, only before the os (proxmox) get started.
Even if I can see the webpage, I can't connect from mesh commander.
From my understanding, I have to flash the device with meshcommander but the software to flash it fails to connect so I just can't figure it out.
I have zero experience with that. Any help appreciated.

 

[wadup]

Save yourself a lot of time and just use pikvm, vpro is just not reliable and has never really been adopted which is why all the software to manage it is old and not really maintained.