IPMI - Intelligent Platform Management Interface

What is IPMI?

IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) is a standardized interface used for remote management and monitoring of servers and hardware, independently of the operating system or system state.

Why is IPMI useful?

IPMI is useful because it allows system administrators to monitor hardware (temperature, voltage, fan status), perform diagnostics, and even power on/off or reboot systems remotely—even if the OS is down.

How it works?

IPMI operates through a dedicated management controller (BMC - Baseboard Management Controller) on the server. Administrators communicate with the BMC using IPMI commands over a network or serial interface, allowing full out-of-band management.

Where is IPMI used?

IPMI is widely used in data centers, enterprise server environments, and remote server management scenarios, especially where physical access is limited or impractical.

Which OSI layer does this protocol belong to?

IPMI primarily operates at the Application Layer (Layer 7), though it interacts with lower layers when using network or serial communication for control.

Is IPMI Windows specific?

No, IPMI is not Windows specific. It operates independently of the OS and is accessible from Windows systems via command-line tools or management software.

Is IPMI Linux specific?

No, IPMI is not Linux specific. However, Linux offers robust support through utilities like ipmitool, commonly used in Linux-based server environments.

Which Transport Protocol is used by IPMI?

IPMI over LAN typically uses UDP for communication. IPMI v2.0 also includes support for RMCP+ (Remote Management Control Protocol+).

Which Port is used by IPMI?

IPMI over LAN usually uses UDP port 623 for communication with the BMC.

Is IPMI using client-server model?

Yes, IPMI follows a client-server model where the client (admin tool or console) sends commands to the server (BMC) for execution.

Topics in this section,

  • In this section, you are going to learn

  • Terminology

  • Version Info

  • rfc details

  • setup

  • setup

  • packet details

  • usecases

  • features

  • Reference links