Upgrade IPMI

Like any other software or firmware, it's important to keep the IPMI interface updated.

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IPMI is used to monitor your server's health, but it also allows you to control it in various ways remotely. For example, you can manage power functions (Reset and Power Off), and there is a KVM feature that lets you access the server through a Console and IPMI’s web interface. This greatly simplifies troubleshooting during a kernel panic, reinstallations, or when you need to change the BIOS boot order.

It is important to keep the IPMI firmware up to date. Because many servers share the same version, IPMI becomes a popular attack target. If attackers discover a vulnerability, they suddenly have a large number of potential targets.

For this reason, you should always assign a private IP address to the IPMI interface, so it can only be reached via VPN or a similar secure method. This is the default for our dedicated servers.

Identify the motherboard

To begin upgrading IPMI, you first need to identify which motherboard the affected server has. Below are examples of how to do this on Linux and on Windows.

Linux

Command

dmidecode | grep Product

This will give an output similar to this:

Output

Product Name: X8SIL

Windows (PowerShell)

Download the IPMI firmware

On Super Micro’s website, you can download the latest IPMI firmware. There you’ll find a list of motherboard models and their corresponding firmware.

Make sure you download the correct file. In this example, we download the firmware for Linux (motherboard model: X8SIL).

Firmware example

X8SIL-F    IPMI_8SIL     R 3.13 SMT_313.zip IPMI Firmware

Upgrade the firmware through the web interface

1. In the menu, go to Maintenance → Firmware Upgrade → Enter Update Mode.

2. Under Select Firmware to Upload, choose the file you downloaded previously. The file should have a .bin extension and be located at the root of the ZIP archive. In this example, the file is named SMT_313.bin.

3. Click Upload Firmware.

1. Once the file has been uploaded, you will be prompted to start the upgrade.

When the upgrade is finished, the IPMI controller will reboot. After a short while, you can reach the IP address again, and everything is complete.