rackit ComboXCAT-IP User manual

ComboXCAT-IP
KVM-over-IP Module
User Guide
Rev 1.0
Rackit®Technology Corporation
271 Madison Avenue, New York,NY10016
Tel:[phone]•Fax:[phone]
1.800.636.3434
www.RackitTechnology.com
Technology Corporation
®

Certifications
FCC
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with Part 15 of the FCC Rules.
Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
(1) This device may not cause harmful interference
(2) This device must accept any interference received, including interference that
may cause undesired operation.
CE
This equipment is in compliance with the requirements of the following regulations:
EN 55022: CLASS B
RoHS
All contents of this package, including products, packing materials and
documentation comply with RoHS.

Table of Contents
1. Product Overview............................................................................................1
1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................1
1.2 Main Features..............................................................................................1
2. Installation and Start up .................................................................................2
2.1 Product Views..............................................................................................2
2.2 System Requirements .................................................................................3
2.3 Hardware Installation...................................................................................3
2.4 When Controlled Servers are Up and Running...........................................4
2.5 When Controlled Servers are Dead ............................................................5
3. Configuration...................................................................................................5
3.1 Initial IP Configuration via Network..............................................................5
3.2 Configuration Setup via Serial Console.......................................................8
3.3 Keyboard, Mouse, and Video Configuration................................................9
3.3.1 ComboXCAT-IP Keyboard Settings ..................................................10
3.3.2 Remote Mouse Settings ...................................................................10
3.3.3 Automatic Mouse Speed and Mouse Synchronization.....................10
3.3.4 Host System Mouse Settings............................................................11
3.3.5 Single and Double Mouse Mode ......................................................12
3.3.6 Recommended Mouse Settings........................................................12
3.3.7 Video Modes .....................................................................................13
4. Usage..............................................................................................................13
4.1 Prerequisites..............................................................................................13
4.2 ComboXCAT-IP Login and Logout ............................................................14
4.2.1 Login into ComboXCAT-IP................................................................14
4.2.2 Logging Out of ComboXCAT-IP........................................................17
4.3 The Remote Console.................................................................................17
4.3.1 Main Window of Remote Console ....................................................18
4.3.2 Control Bar of Remote Console........................................................19
4.3.3 Status Line of Remote Console ........................................................31
5. Menu Options ................................................................................................32
5.1 Remote Control..........................................................................................32
5.1.1 KVM Console ....................................................................................33
5.1.2 Telnet Console ..................................................................................34
5.2 Virtual Media..............................................................................................36
5.2.1 Floppy Disk .......................................................................................37
5.2.2 CD-ROM Image ................................................................................40
5.2.3 Drive redirection................................................................................44

5.2.3.1 Driver Redirection Utility Installation .......................................46
5.2.3.2 Built-in Java Drive Redirection................................................51
5.2.4 Options..............................................................................................54
5.2.5 Creating an Image ............................................................................54
5.2.5.1 Creating Floppy Images..........................................................54
5.2.5.2 Creating CD-ROM/ISO Images ..............................................55
5.3 User Management .....................................................................................57
5.3.1 Change Password.............................................................................57
5.3.2 Users and Groups.............................................................................58
5.4 KVM Settings .............................................................................................60
5.4.1 User Console ....................................................................................60
5.4.2 Keyboard/Mouse...............................................................................65
5.4.3 Video .................................................................................................66
5.5 Device Settings..........................................................................................67
5.5.1 Network .............................................................................................68
5.5.2 Dynamic DNS ...................................................................................71
5.5.3 Security .............................................................................................73
5.5.4 Certificate..........................................................................................77
5.5.5 Serial Port .........................................................................................81
5.5.6 Date / Time........................................................................................83
5.5.7 Event Log..........................................................................................84
5.6 Maintenance ..............................................................................................87
5.6.1 Device Information ............................................................................87
5.6.2 Even log ............................................................................................89
5.6.3 Update Firmware ..............................................................................90
5.6.4 Unit Reset .........................................................................................91
6. Technical Specifications ..............................................................................93
7. Troubleshooting ............................................................................................94
8. FAQs ...............................................................................................................96
9. Addendum......................................................................................................98
A. Key Codes .................................................................................................98
B. Video Modes..............................................................................................99
C. User Role Permissions ............................................................................100
D. ComboXCAT-IP TCP port number...........................................................101
E. Bandwidth Consumption..........................................................................101
F. Well-Known TCP/UDP Port Numbers .....................................................103
G. Protocol Glossary ....................................................................................104

ComboXCAT-IP User Guide 1
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1. Product Overview
1.1 Introduction
ComboXCAT-IP redirects local keyboard, mouse and video data to a remote
administration console. It allows you to control one or many computers locally at the
server site or remotely via the Internet using a standard browser. You can securely
gain BIOS level access to systems for maintenance, support, or failure recovery over
the Internet. Communication is secure via SSL authentication and encryption.
ComboXCAT-IP provides convenient, remote KVM access and control via LAN or
Internet. It captures, digitizes, and compresses video signal and transmits it with
keyboard and mouse signals to and from a remote computer. ComboXCAT-IP
provides a non-intrusive solution for remote access and control. Remote access and
control software runs on its embedded processors only but not on mission-critical
servers, so that there is no interference with server operation or impact on network
performance.
1.2 Main Features
■Manage servers around the world
■Remote KVM (keyboard, video, and mouse) access over IP or analogous
telephone line (modem needed)
■Full control under any OS, in BIOS level, during boot, or at Blue Screens
■No additional software necessary on client console side
■Remote mass storage control and redirection
■Remote control over Java-enabled Browsers
■SSL Secure access through certificate authentication and data encryption
■SSL 256-bit encryption of all transmitted data
■RSA 1024-bit encryption
■Auto-optimize the frame rate and video quality according to the bandwidth
availability
■Automatically senses video resolution for best possible screen capture
■High-performance mouse tracking and synchronization
■Firmware update via web interface

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2. Installation and Start Up
2.1 Product Views
Figure 2-1 ComboXCAT-IP Module View
Figure 2-2 Front Panel View
LEDs on the Ethernet Connector:
Orange LED -- 10BaseT Ethernet connection established
Green LED -- 100BaseT Ethernet connection established
Blinking: data in activity
ON: no data in activity and link connected
LED
Ethernet Port
Serial Port
USB Port

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2.2 System Requirements
Hardware
Item Description
Local Host side One Computer or Server or the console port of the KVM
switch
Remote Console side One Computer or Multiple Computers are linked into the
network
Software
Item Description
Local Host side <No additional software necessary>
Remote Console side (1) Java Runtime Environment : version 1.4.2 or above
(2) Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0 or above
or Netscape or Mozilla or Safari
2.3 Hardware Installation
1. Power down your KVM switch.
2. Unscrew and remove the slot cover on the back of your ComboCAT or
ComboX KVM switch.
3. Slide in ComboXCAT-IP into the KVM switch slot, making sure ComboXCAT-IP
is firmly inserted into the backplane.
4. Screw and secure ComboXCAT-IP onto the KVM Switch metal panel using the
same screw that originally secured the slot cover.
5. Connect an Ethernet cable to the Ethernet port.

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The figure below depicts the cable connections.
Figure 2-3 Cable Connections
After applying power to the unit, it takes about 60 seconds to complete the automatic
startup processes, and then enter normal running state.
2.4 When Controlled Servers are Up and Running
ComboXCAT-IP gives you a full control over the remote servers. The Management
Console allows you to access the remote servers' graphics, keyboard and mouse and
to send special commands to the servers. You can also perform periodic
maintenance of the servers. Using the Console Redirection Service, you are able to
do the following:
I. Reboot the systems.
II. Watch the boot process.
III. Boot the systems from a separate partition to load the diagnostic environment.
IV. Run special diagnostic programs.

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2.5 When Controlled Servers are Dead
Obviously, fixing hardware defects is not possible through a remote management
device. Nevertheless ComboXCAT-IP gives the administrator valuable information
about the type of a hardware failure. Serious hardware failures can be categorized
into five different categories with different probabilities:
I. Hard disk failure 50%
II. Power cable detached, power supply failure 28%
III. CPU, Controller, main board failure 10%
IV. CPU fan failure 8%
V. RAM failure 4%
Using ComboXCAT-IP, administrators can determine which kind of serious hardware
failure has occurred
3. Configuration
3.1 Initial IP Configuration via Network
The Factory default settings for ComboXCAT-IP unit are as below:
DHCP: Disable
Default IP address: 192.168.0.70
Default Net Mask: 255.255.255.0
If DHCP mode is enabled (IP auto configuration = DHCP), ComboXCAT-IP will try to
contact a DHCP server in the subnet to which it is physically connected. If a DHCP
server is found, it may provide a valid IP address, gateway address and net mask.
Before you connect the device to your local subnet, be sure to complete the
Type of failure Detected by
Hard disk failure Console screen, CMOS set-up information
Power cable detached, power
supply failure
Server remains in power off state after power
on command has been given.
CPU Controller, main board
failure.
Power supply is on, but there is no video
output.
CPU fan failure By server specific management software
RAM failure Boot-Sequence on boot console

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corresponding configuration of your DHCP server. It is recommended to configure a
fixed IP assignment to the MAC address of ComboXCAT-IP. You can find the MAC
address labeled on the bottom side of the metal housing.
There is a Network Setup Software tool (ComboXCAT-IP-Setup) for setting up the
network configuration (IP address, Subnet mask, DHCP, etc). It is useful when you
want to change the network settings or you will not be able to access the unit due to
not knowing the network settings of the unit. In this case, you can view or change the
settings via this utility.
ComboXCAT-IP Setup Tool
If this initial configuration does not meet your local requirements, use the setup tool to
change the configurations to your needs. The setup tool ComboXCAT-IP-Setup can
be found on the "Literature" tab for ComboXCAT-IP product on Rackit's web site. You
can follow the procedures described below.
DHCP
If you have installed ComboXCAT-IP on a network that enables DHCP, you can use
ComboXCAT-IP-Setup to find out ComboXCAT-IP's IP.
(1) Plug Ethernet cable to ComboXCAT-IP. ComboXCAT-IP will get an IP via DHCP.
(2) Using ComboXCAT-IP-Setup to look for ComboXCAT-IP:
a. Click Refresh Devices button to detect connected devices.
b. Select MAC address of ComboXCAT-IP in "Device MAC address" box. You can
find the MAC address labeled on the bottom side of ComboXCAT-IP module. MAC
address is detected as connection from computer and ComboXCAT-IP is valid
through USB or network.
c. Click Query Device to find the IP configuration on the right pane.
BOOTP, a static configuration protocol, uses a table that maps IP
addresses to physical addresses.
DHCP, an extension to BOOTP that dynamically assigns configuration
information. DHCP is backward compatible with BOOTP.

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Set Up a Fixed IP
a. Setup "IP auto configuration" as "None" ; setup IP address and Subnet mask.
b. Enter Super user login and password for Authentication (default: super/pass)
c. Click Setup Device. If super login was authenticated, it'll show "Successfully
configured device". Otherwise it'll show "Permission Denied".

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Authentication
To adjust the authentication settings, enter your login as a super user, and change
your password.
Super User Login
Enter the login name of the super user. The initial value is "super". All characters are
in lower case.
Super User Password
Enter the current password for the super user. This initial value is "pass". All
characters are in lower case.
New Super User Password
Enter the new password for the super user.
New Password (confirm)
Re-type the new password for the super user for confirmation.
To close the window and accept the changes, press the "OK" button; otherwise press
the "Cancel" button.
3.2 Configuration Setup via Serial Console
For using serial terminal, ComboXCAT-IP has a serial line interface (host side). This
connector is compliant with the RS-232 serial line standard. The serial line has to be
configured with the parameters given in the table below.
Parameter Value
Bits/second 115200
Data bits 8
Parity No
Stop bits 1
Flow Control None
When configuring with a serial terminal, e.g., Hyper Terminal, reset ComboXCAT-IP
and immediately press the "ESC" key. You will see some device information, and a
"=>" prompt. Enter "config", press "Enter" key and wait for a few seconds for the
configuration questions to appear.

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As you proceed, the following questions will appear on the screen. To accept the
default values shown in square brackets below, press "Enter" key.
IP auto configuration: None
IP address: [192.168.0.70]
Net mask: [255.255.255.0]
Gateway: [0.0.0.0] -- (0.0.0.0 for none)
IP Auto-Configuration
With this option, you can specify whether ComboXCAT-IP should get its network
settings from a DHCP or BOOTP server. For DHCP, enter "dhcp", and for BOOTP
enter "bootp". If you do not specify any of these, the IP auto-configuration is disabled
and subsequently you will be asked for the following network settings.
IP Address
The IP address of ComboXCAT-IP. This option is only available if IP
auto-configuration is disabled.
Net Mask
The net mask of the connected IP subnet. This option is only available if IP
auto-configuration is disabled.
Gateway Address
The IP address of the default router for the connected IP subnet. If you do not have a
default router, enter 0.0.0.0. This option is only available if IP auto-configuration is
disabled.
3.3 Keyboard, Mouse, and Video Configuration
Between ComboXCAT-IP and the host, there are two interfaces available for
transmitting keyboard and mouse data: USB and PS/2. The correct operation of the
remote mouse depends on several settings which will be discussed in the following
subsections.

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3.3.1 ComboXCAT-IP Keyboard Settings
ComboXCAT-IP settings for the host's keyboard type have to be corrected in order to
make the remote keyboard work properly. Check the settings in ComboXCAT-IP Web
front-end for details.
3.3.2 Remote Mouse Settings
A common seen problem with KVM devices is the synchronization between the local
and remote mouse cursors. ComboXCAT-IP addresses this situation with an
intelligent synchronization algorithm. There are two mouse modes available on
ComboXCAT-IP:
Auto Mouse Speed
The automatic mouse speed mode tries to detect the speed and acceleration settings
of the host system automatically. See the section below for a more detailed
explanation.
Fixed Mouse Speed
This mode just translates the mouse movements from the Remote Console in a way
that one pixel move will result in n-pixel moves on the remote system. This parameter
is adjustable with the scaling. Please note that this works only when mouse
acceleration is turned off on the remote system.
3.3.3 Automatic Mouse Speed and Mouse Synchronization
The automatic mouse speed mode performs the speed detection during mouse
synchronization. Whenever the local and remote mouse cursors move synchronously
or not, there are two ways for re-synchronizing local and remote mouse cursors:
Fast Sync
The fast synchronization is used to correct a temporary, but fixed skew. Choose the
option using the Remote Console options menu or press the mouse synchronization
hotkey sequence in case you defined one.

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Intelligent Sync
If the fast sync does not work or the mouse settings have been changed on the host
system, use the intelligent resynchronization. This method takes more time than the
fast one and can be accessed with the appropriate item in the Remote Console option
menu. The intelligent synchronization requires a correctly adjusted picture. Use the
auto adjustment function to setup the picture, and make sure that there are no
window at the top left corner of the remote desktop that are able to change the mouse
cursor shape from the normal state. The Sync mouse button on top of the Remote
Console can behave differently, depending on the current state of mouse
synchronization. Usually pressing this button leads to a fast sync, except in situations
where the KVM port or the video mode changed recently.
At first start, if the local mouse pointer is not synchronized with
the remote mouse pointer, press the Auto Adjust Button once.
3.3.4 Host System Mouse Settings
The host's operating system knows various settings from the mouse driver.
The following limitations do not apply in case of USB and Mouse Type
"Windows >= 2000, MacOSX".
While ComboXCAT-IP works with accelerated mice and is able to synchronize the
local with the remote mouse pointer, there are the following limitations, which may
prevent this synchronization from working properly:
Special Mouse Driver
There are mouse drivers that influence the synchronization process and lead to
desynchronized mouse pointers. If this happens, make sure you do not use a special
vendor-specific mouse driver on your host system.
Windows XP Mouse Settings
Windows XP knows a setting named "improve mouse acceleration", which has to be
deactivated.

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Active Desktop
If the Active Desktop feature of Microsoft Windows is enabled do not use a plain
background. Instead, use some kind of wallpaper. As an alternative, you could also
disable the Active Desktop completely.
Navigate your mouse pointer into the upper left corner of the applet screen and move
it slightly forth and back. Thus the mouse will be resynchronized. If re-synchronizing
fails, disable the mouse acceleration and repeat the procedure.
3.3.5 Single and Double Mouse Mode
The information above applies to the Double Mouse Mode, where remote and local
mouse pointers are visible and need to be synchronized. ComboXCAT-IP also
features another mode, the Single Mouse Mode, where only the remote mouse
pointer is visible. Activate this mode in the open Remote Console and click into the
window area. The local mouse pointer will be hidden and the remote one can be
controlled directly. To leave this mode, it is necessary to define a mouse hotkey in the
Remote Console Settings Panel. Press this key to free the captured local mouse
pointer.
3.3.6 Recommended Mouse Settings
For the different operating systems we give the following advices:
MS Windows
In general, we recommend the usage of a mouse via USB. Choose USB without
Mouse Sync. For a PS/2 mouse choose Auto Mouse Speed. For XP disable the
option "enhance pointer precision" in the Control Panel.
SUN Solaris
Adjust the mouse settings either via xset m 1 or use the CDE Control Panel to set the
mouse to "1:1, no acceleration". As an alternative you may also use the Single Mouse
Mode.
MAC OS X
We recommend using the Single Mouse Mode.

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3.3.7 Video Modes
ComboXCAT-IP recognizes a limited number of common video modes. When running
X11 on the host system, please do not use any custom mode lines with special video
modes. If you do, ComboXCAT-IP may not be able to detect them. We recommend
using any of the standard VESA video modes, instead.
4. Usage
4.1 Prerequisites
ComboXCAT-IP features an embedded operating system and applications offering a
variety of standardized interfaces. This chapter will describe both these interfaces,
and the way to use them in a more detailed manner. The interfaces are accessed
using the TCP/IP protocol family, thus they can be accessed using the LAN port of the
device. The following interfaces are supported:
■HTTP/HTTPS
Full access is provided by the embedded web server. ComboXCAT-IP environment
can be entirely managed using a standard web browser. You can access
ComboXCAT-IP using the insecure HTTP protocol, or using the encrypted HTTPS
protocol. Whenever possible, use HTTPS.
■Telnet
A standard Telnet client can be used to access an arbitrary device connected to
ComboXCAT-IP's serial port via a terminal mode.
The primary interface of ComboXCAT-IP is the HTTP interface. This is covered
extensively in this chapter. Other interfaces are addressed in subtopics.
In order to use the Remote Console window of your managed host system, the
browser has to come with a Java Runtime Environment version 1.4.2 or above. If the
browser has no Java support (such as on a small handheld device), you are still able
to maintain your ComboXCAT-IP using the administration forms displayed by the
browser itself.

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For secure connection to ComboXCAT-IP, we recommend the following browsers
versions:
■Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0 or higher
■Netscape Navigator 7.0 or Mozilla 1.6 or higher
In order to access the remote host system using a securely encrypted connection,
you need a browser that supports the HTTPS protocol. Strong security is only
assured by using a key length of 128 Bit. Some of the old browsers do not have a
strong 128 Bit encryption algorithm.
Using the Internet Explorer, open the menu entry "?" and "Info" to read about the key
length that is currently activated. The dialog box contains a link that leads you to
information on how to upgrade your browser to a state of the art encryption scheme.
Figure below shows the dialog box presented by the Internet Explorer 6.0.
Figure 4-1 The Internet Explorer displaying the encryption key length
Newer web browsers generally support strong encryption on default.
4.2 ComboXCAT-IP Login and Logout
4.2.1 Login into ComboXCAT-IP
Launch your web browser. Direct it to the address of your ComboXCAT-IP, which you
configured during the installation process. The address used might be an IP address
or a domain name, in the case where you have given your ComboXCAT-IP a symbolic
name in the DNS. For instance, type the following in the URL field of your browser
when establishing an unsecured connection:
http://<IP address of ComboXCAT-IP >

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When using a secure connection, type in:
https://<IP address of ComboXCAT-IP >
This will lead you to ComboXCAT-IP login page as shown below
ComboXCAT-IP has a built-in super user that has all permissions to administrate your
ComboXCAT-IP:
Username super (factory default)
Password pass (factory default)
The user "super" is not allowed to login via the serial interface of
ComboXCAT-IP.
Please make sure to change the super user password immediately after
you have installed and accessed your ComboXCAT-IP for the first time.
Unchanging of the password for the super user is a severe security risk
and might result in unauthorized access to ComboXCAT-IP and to the
host systems including all possible consequences!
Your web browser has to accept cookies, or else login is not possible.

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Navigation
Having logged into ComboXCAT-IP successfully, the main page of ComboXCAT-IP
appears. This page consists of three parts; each of them contains specific information.
The buttons on the upper side allow you to navigate within the front end. Within the
right frame, task-specific information is displayed that depends on the section you
have chosen before.
The Buttons of the front end:
Return to main page of ComboXCAT-IP access page.
Open ComboXCAT-IP remote console.
Exit from ComboXCAT-IP front end.