Remote console access

[rgaskill1]

Hi,
I remotely administer a couple of E450s running Solaris 8. I would like to enable remote console access by connecting the boxes to each other via their serial ports.

Am I correct in thinking that I need a 'null modem' cable for this? Also, which ports do I connect?

Thanks
Richard

 

[cndcadams]

Richard;

If this is prior knowledge I apologize.

You would use the serial port with null modem console for tip hardwire-Basically you attach serial port A on client to serial port B on the server. for the E450 this is a problem because A/B are the same port. I have attached info and a site I got it from.

Connecting to a Sun E450
To obtain a serial console connection to a Sun E450 you will need the following:


Connect the serial port of your local PC/workstation to the DB25 Serial A/B port on the back of the Sun E450 using a serial cable (straight through). There is only one serial port on the back of an E450 that contains both Serial A and Serial B. When you plug directly into the serial port on the back of the E450, you are accessing Serial A.

You will need to use a null modem adapter.

Communication settings:
Bits per second: 9600
Data bits: 8
Parity: None
Stop bits: 1
Flow Control: Hardware



Connecting from a Sun E450
To obtain a serial connection from a Sun E450 to another server (possibly another Sun SPARC machine) you will need the following:


On the back of a Sun E450, there is only one DB25 (female) serial port (labeled Serial A/B) that is used to contain wiring for both Serial A and Serial B. The system provides two serial communications ports through a single, shared DB25 connector located on the rear panel. If you are to plug a serial cable directly into the DB25 serial port on the back of an E450, you will only be accessing the primary port (Serial A). This will not work to get a serial connection out from since it is reserved for the console of the machine. You will need to obtain access to Serial B (which is contained within the shared Serial A/B port) by using a special Y-Cable (serial splitter). In order to access the secondary port (Serial B), a serial port splitter cable (Sun Part#: X985A or 530-1869) must be attached to the rear panel serial port A/B connector. The serial splitter connects to the Serial A/B - DB25 (female) connection on the back of the E450 to give you two DB25 (female) connections - one for Serial A and the other for Serial B. Here are several places where I found the serial splitter:

Sun Store - (Spare Parts)
Ultra Spec Cables
Computer Giants
anything & everything 4 SUN Microsystems Computers
Sun E450 Serial Port and Cable Pinouts (From Stokely Consulting)
You will need to use Serial Port B to make a connection from the E450 to another server. Connect the Sun E450 from its Serial B to the back of the other server (Sun, Linux) you want to make a serial console connection to. In most cases, this will be using a straight through serial cable.

If you are connecting from the Sun E450 to another machine (i.e. Sun Blade, Sun Ultra, etc) that has a normal DB9 male port, you can use a Belkin F2L088-06 DB9 Female/DB25 Male Modem Cable (often with a null modem adapter):

http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Unix/Solaris/SOLARIS_UsingSerialConsoles.shtml

I am not sure if this is what you are looking for but you could try this.

Are you using CDE?

Say you are on server A and want to get to server B. Logout of server A. At the CDE login screen go to options, then remote login, then choose host from list. You should see both your other servers. Click on Server B, and you will get the login console for server B. Login and you are on server B.

Exporting the display is also something to try. do man on xhost

Hope this helps;

Chris Adams

 

[daFranze]

depending on how much the HW-resellers ask for the Y-Splitters you might be better off using a TerminalConcentrator such as micro ANNEX (7 consoles) or Cisco 2500 or Cisco 2600 Series (both up to 16 consoles)

There is one ANNEX Remote Acces with 4 ports on ebay.com

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3081021974&category=11187

at 165 USD

Regards
-- Franz
Sorry I'm not a native spaeker, I'm from Munich, Germany - "Home of the Whopper", oh no, "Home of the Oktoberfest" ;-)
Solaris System Manager; I used to work for Sun Microsystems Support (EMEA) for 5 years