ipmitool

provides a command-line interface to the Intelligent Platform Management

TLDR

Show chassis power status

$ sudo ipmitool chassis status

Power on / off / cycle the server remotely

$ ipmitool -I lanplus -H [ip] -U [user] -P [pass] chassis power on

Read all sensors

$ sudo ipmitool sensor list

Show System Event Log (SEL)

$ sudo ipmitool sel list

Configure IPMI LAN on channel 1

$ sudo ipmitool lan print 1

Activate Serial-over-LAN console

$ ipmitool -I lanplus -H [ip] -U [user] sol activate

ipmitool provides a command-line interface to the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI). IPMI enables out-of-band management of servers, including power control, hardware monitoring, and remote console access.Common operations include checking sensor readings (temperatures, voltages, fan speeds), controlling power state, and accessing the serial console over the network. IPMI works independently of the main operating system.

PARAMETERS

-H HOST

Remote host IP address or hostname

-U USER

Remote username

-P PASSWORD

Remote password (or use -E to read from environment)

-I INTERFACE

Interface type: open, lan, lanplus

shell

Interactive IPMI shell

sensor

Display sensor information

chassis

Chassis commands (power, status, identify)

lan

Configure LAN settings

user

User management commands

sol

Serial-over-LAN commands

INSTALL

sudo apt install ipmitool

sudo dnf install ipmitool

sudo pacman -S ipmitool

sudo apk add ipmitool

sudo zypper install ipmitool

brew install ipmitool

nix profile install nixpkgs#ipmitool

CAVEATS

IPMI access requires proper BMC configuration. Network access uses UDP ports 623 (IPMI) and may require firewall rules. lanplus interface provides encrypted communication. Local access requires the ipmi kernel modules.

HISTORY

IPMI was developed by Intel, HP, NEC, and Dell starting in 1998. ipmitool became the standard open-source tool for IPMI management on Linux systems, supporting both local and remote operations.