Description
This incident indicates that the IBM Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) Mapping Layer is either not installed at all or is not installed properly.
The IBM IPMI Mapping Layer is a user-mode library (a DLL) that provides the Application Programming Interface (API) for IBM platform management tools, Level-2 IBM Director Agent, and Level-1 IBM Director Core Services to communicate with the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) through the OSA/Avocent IPMI device driver or the Microsoft IPMI device driver.
IBM platform management tools that use the IBM IPMI Mapping Layer include Advanced Settings Utility (ASU), Dynamic System Analysis (DSA), Electronic Service Agent (ESA), WFlash/LFlash (firmware flashing utility) and others.
The IBM IPMI Mapping Layer for OSA/Avocent IPMI driver is a separate download that requires a separate installation. See the "Additional information" section for more information about downloading and installing the software.
The IBM IPMI Mapping Layer for Microsoft IPMI driver is different software. Any tool that uses this driver bundles the driver as part of its package; there is no need to download or install the driver separately.
Microsoft IPMI driver is required on IBM systems running Windows Server 2008 or later, and is automatically installed. On selected IBM systems, such as the IBM System x 3950 M2, the Microsoft IPMI driver might be required for Windows Server 2003 R2, to use some platform-specific management tools. Check the "Additional information" section that follows for compatibility of IBM systems, the operating system, and the IPMI driver.
The OSA/Avocent IPMI driver and the Microsoft IPMI driver are not meant to coexist on the same system. To keep the Microsoft IPMI driver, the OSA/Avocent IPMI driver must be uninstalled. The OSA/Avocent IPMI driver instantiates a hidden device for the BMC. Consult Microsoft documentation to learn how to show hidden devices on the Device Manager, and to learn how to uninstall a device driver.
Causes
IBM IPMI Mapping Layer is not installed at all or is not installed properly.
If you are using the OSA/Avocent IPMI driver, you must also install the IBM IPMI Mapping Layer. Download the IBM IPMI Mapping Layer as a separate download package from the OSA/Avocent IPMI driver. Install the Mapping Layer in the designated location, which is the %SystemRoot%\system32 directory, or the %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64 directory for 64-bit systems.
Implications
Without the IBM IPMI Mapping Layer, even with the proper IPMI driver installed, hardware component instrumentations by the BMC are not available for systems management software, such as IBM Director or Microsoft Operations Manager.
Do not confuse the IBM IPMI Mapping Layer software with the IBM IPMI Mapping Layer for Microsoft IPMI driver that is bundled with each IBM platform management tool that requires it. There is no separate installation for this driver.
When the Remote Supervisor Adapter II (RSA-II) with its software stack is properly installed on the system, systems management software supported by IBM Director Agent or IBM Director Core Services is able to perform properly through RSA-II.
It is recommended that you have this driver installed so that other IBM platform management tools can also take full advantage of the built-in management functionality that comes with IBM systems.
Resolutions
Additional information
To download the latest IBM IPMI Mapping Layer, visit the "IBM System x support search" Web site, select Download for "Task", select the appropriate "Product Family," "Machine type," and "Operating system," type IPMI Mapping Layer in the "Search for" field, and click Search. In the results list, click links to appropriate articles. For BladeCenter x86 blade servers, visit the IBM BladeCenter support search Web site, and follow similar steps.
The IBM IPMI Mapping Layer that works with Micosoft IPMI driver is bundled with each IBM platform management tool that communicates with the BMC. You do not need to install this driver separately.
To troubleshoot issues with the IBM IPMI Mapping Layer, visit the "IBM System x support search" Web site, select Troubleshooting for "Task", select the appropriate values for "Product Family," "Machine type," and "Operating system"; type IPMI Mapping Layer in the "Search for" field, and click Search. In the resulting list, follow the links to read through appropriate articles and to follow the instructions in the articles. For BladeCenter x86 blade servers, visit the IBM BladeCenter support search Web site and follow similar steps.
For the compatibility matrix between IBM System x systems and Windows, consult IBM ServerProven System x and xSeries compatibility - Microsoft. For BladeCenter x86 blade servers, consult IBM ServerProven Compatibility for BladeCenter products.
For complete product information about IBM RSA-II, visit IBM Remote Supervisor Adapter II. To plan for systems management upgrades with RSA-II, consult IBM ServerProven System x System Management Upgrades.
Home