How to verify the BMC firmware version on a dedicated server

Objective

A BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) is responsible for the remote management and low-level control of the server hardware. An outdated version can directly impact security, stability, and manageability of the server. Keeping the BMC firmware updated is necessary to patch security vulnerabilities, maintain system stability, and meet compliance requirements.

This guide outlines the steps to check the BMC firmware version on a dedicated server.

Requirements

• A dedicated server in your OVHcloud account.
• Administrator rights (sudo).
• Your dedicated server must be connected to the Internet (only if the ipmitool tool is not already installed).

On a Linux Server

First, you need to install the ipmitool package. This tool allows you to query the BMC via the IPMI interface. For more information, see the official documentation: https://linux.die.net/man/1/ipmitool.

Depending on the Linux distribution, the command may vary:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ipmitool -y

sudo dnf install epel-release -y
sudo dnf install ipmitool -y

Check the BMC firmware version using the following command:

sudo ipmitool mc info

• If the firmware version is equal to or lower than 1.14, please contact our support team by creating a support ticket via the OVHcloud Help Center to request a firmware update.
• If the version is higher than 1.14, no action is required.

On a Windows Server

Currently, we are only able to provide the procedure for servers running Linux operating systems. We recommend that you restart your Windows server in our rescue mode environment to check the version by following the instructions below.

On a Server in Rescue Mode

Once your server is restarted in rescue mode, install the ipmitool package.

root@rescue12-customer-eu (nsxxxxx.ip-xx-xx-xx.eu) ~ # apt install ipmitool -y

Next, check the firmware version:

ipmitool mc info

• If the firmware version is equal to or lower than 1.14, please contact our support team by creating a support ticket via the OVHcloud Help Center to request a firmware update.
• If the version is higher than 1.14, no action is required.

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