Update the HPE Node BIOS Time

Check and set the time for HPE nodes.

If the time between the rest of the system and the node is off by several hours, then this will prevent the spire-agent from getting a valid certificate, which in turn will cause the node to drop into the dracut emergency shell when booting.

Procedure

  1. Log in to a second terminal session in order to watch the node’s console.

    Open this link in a new tab or page Log in to a Node Using ConMan.

    The first terminal session will be needed to run the commands to boot the node into the BIOS menu.

  2. (ncn#) In another terminal session, set environment variables.

    1. The BMC hostname.

      BMC=x3000c0s3b0

    2. Export the root user password of the BMC.

      NOTE: read -s is used to prevent the password from echoing to the screen or being saved in the shell history.

      read -r -s -p "${BMC} root password: " IPMI_PASSWORD
export IPMI_PASSWORD

  3. (ncn#) Boot the node into its BIOS via the serial console.

    When ipmitool is used to boot a HPE node into its BIOS menu, it will not be available on the node’s serial console, because of the node booting into a graphical BIOS menu. In order to access the serial version of the BIOS setup, perform the ipmitool steps below to boot the node. Then, on the serial console, enter the BIOS by pressing the ESC+9 key combination when the following messages are shown on the console:

    For access via BIOS Serial Console:
Press 'ESC+9' for System Utilities
Press 'ESC+0' for Intelligent Provisioning
Press 'ESC+!' for One-Time Boot Menu
Press 'ESC+@' for Network Boot

    Boot the node into its BIOS.

    ipmitool -I lanplus -U root -E -H $BMC chassis power off
sleep 10
ipmitool -I lanplus -U root -E -H $BMC chassis bootdev bios
ipmitool -I lanplus -U root -E -H $BMC chassis power on

    (linux#) Alternatively, for HPE NCNs, it is possible to access the HTML5 console for the node by using the BMC’s web interface. This works with the graphical BIOS. From the administrator’s own machine, create an SSH tunnel (-L creates the tunnel; -N prevents a shell and stubs the connection):

    bmc=x3000c0s3b0 # Change this to be each node in turn.
ssh -L "9443:${bmc}:443" -N root@eniac-ncn-m001

    Opening a web browser to https://localhost:9443 will give access to the BMC’s web interface.

  4. When the node boots, use the console session to check and set the time in the BIOS to the current UTC time.

    On HPE NCNs, the date configuration menu is at the following path: System Configuration -> BIOS/Platform Configuration (RBSU) -> Date and Time

  5. (ncn#) After verifying the correct time, power off the NCN.

    ipmitool -I lanplus -U root -E -H "${BMC}" chassis power off