LES1204A-3G-R2

Remote Console Manager with GSM Modem QS Guide

Quick Start Guide

This Quick Start Guide helps you through installation, configuration, and local operation. For more details, refer to the user manual.

Remote Console Manager (LES1204A-3G-R2) Quick Start Guide

Trademarks Used in this Manual

Black Box and the Double Diamond logo are registered trademarks of

BB Technologies, Inc.

Cisco is a registered trademark of Cisco Technology, Inc.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Nagios is a registered trademark of Nagios Enterprises.

Any other trademarks mentioned in this manual are acknowledged to be the property of the trademark owners.

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Remote Console Manager (LES1204A-3G-R2) Quick Start Guide

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Follow the steps listed below to get started:

Step 1: Check kit contents.

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LES1204A-3G-R2 Remote Console Manager

This printed quick start guide

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(2) UTP cables

(1) DB9F-RJ-45 adapter straight-pinned

(1) DB9F-RJ-45 adapter crossover-pinned

(1) RF antenna with bracket mount and 1-ft. (30-cm) cable

Universal input 12-VDC power pack

NOTE: To download the user manual, visit the Black Box Web site and enter

LES1204A-3G-R2 in the search bar.

Step 2: Connect the hardware.

NOTE: The LES1204A-3G-R2 Remote Console Manager has an internal 3G

GSM cellular modem. Your carrier will provide you with a SIM card to activate your GSM cellular modem plan. The SIM card must be installed in the Remote Console Manager before applying power.

 Unscrew the SIM card access panel on the side of the Remote Console

Manager and insert the SIM card with contacts facing upward. The SIM

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 card will lock into place. You may use the tip of the RF antenna to fully seat the SIM card. Replace the SIM card access panel.

Attach the RF antenna using the cable to the Remote Console Manager.

Connect your serial devices to the four SERIAL ports. The RJ-45 serial connectors have Cisco® serial pinouts:

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3

4

5

6

7

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PIN SIGNAL DEFINITION

1 CTS Clear To Send

DSR

RXD

GND

GND

TXD

DTR

RTS

Data Set Ready

Receive Data

Signal Ground

Signal Ground

Transmit Data

Data Terminal Ready

Request To Send

Figure 1. Cisco serial pinouts.

 Connect the LAN port to your network.

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Remote Console Manager (LES1204A-3G-R2) Quick Start Guide

 Plug the power pack into the AC power receptacle and connect the DC power cable to the Remote Console Manager’s

9-12 VDC power socket.

NOTE: On applying power, the “SIM” LED on top of the Remote Console

Manager will go on solid, indicating that the SIM has been inserted and detected.

Step 3: Set up the Remote Console Manager.

The default Remote Console Manager IP address is 192.168.0.1 (subnet mask 255.255.255.0). With a Web browser on any computer that is connected through the LAN to the serial device server:

• Enter https://192.168.0.1 into the address bar.

NOTE: The LAN-connected computer must have an IP address in the same network range (192.168.0.xxx) as the Remote Console Manager. If this is not convenient, you can use the ARP Ping command to set the IP address (refer to the user manual for details). The Remote Console Manager also has its

DHCP client enabled by default, so it will automatically accept any network

IP address assigned by any DHCP server on your network

—and will then respond at both 192.168.0.1 and its DHCP address.

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Log in using the default system user name: root, and the default password: default. A Welcome screen listing the basic configuration steps is displayed.

Select

“Change the default administration password on the Users page,” enter and confirm a new password for root, and click “Apply.”

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Remote Console Manager (LES1204A-3G-R2) Quick Start Guide

Figure 2. Serial & Network: User & Groups screen.

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To assign your Remote Console Manager a static IP address or to permanently enable

DHCP, select “System: IP” then “Network Interface” and check “DHCP” or “Static” for configuration method.

By default, only HTTPS and SSH access is enabled to the Remote

Console Manager itself. Use Service Access menu on System: Services to change this, and to change access privileges for connected serial and network devices.

Figure 3. System: Services screen.

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Remote Console Manager (LES1204A-3G-R2) Quick Start Guide

Step 4: Configure serial and network devices.

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Select “Serial & Network: Serial Port,” which will display the label, mode, and protocol options currently set for the serial port. By default, all the serial ports, except Port 1, are set to console server mode (see the user‘s manual for other modes).

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Figure 4. Serial & Network: Serial Port screen.

To configure a serial por t, click “Edit.”

Configure the common settings (baud rate, parity, data bits, stop bits, and flow control) to match those of the serial device being controlled.

Select the console server protocols (Telnet, SSH, TCP, and RFC2217) that will be used for the data connection to the serial port.

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NOTE: Port 1 is configured by default in Local Console (modem) mode. Use the crossover-pinned DB9F-RJ-45 adapter and UTP cable to connect to a terminal emulator application on your PC’s serial COM port. If you plan to use out-of-band (OoB) dial-in access, connect this serial port to an external modem as covered in detail in the user manual.

Click “Apply.”

To enable access through the Remote Console Manager to a locally networked computer (referred to as a host), select

“Serial & Network:

Network Hosts” and click “Add Host.”

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Remote Console Manager (LES1204A-3G-R2) Quick Start Guide

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Figure 5. Serial & Network: Network Hosts screen.

Enter the IP address/DNS name of the host.

Edit the permitted services used for accessing this host, for example,

HTTPS (TCP port 443), VNC (TCP port 5900), or add custom TCP or

UDP port numbers

—only the services specified here are tunneled through to the host. All other services are blocked.

Specify the level of information to be logged and monitored for each host access.

Click “Apply.”

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Step 5: Add new users.

NOTE: We recommend that you set up a new Administrator user (in the admin group with full access privileges) and log in as this new user for all ongoing administration functions (rather than continuing as root).

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For each new user, select

“Serial & Network: Users & Groups” and click

“Add User.”

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Enter a username and enter and confirm a password.

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Select one or multiple group memberships for the user. To grant limited access to the management console, check the “users” group. To grant full a ccess to the management console, check the “admin” group. By default, the user is granted no management console access.

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Nominate the dial-in options for the user and the accessible hosts and accessible ports the user is allowed to access.

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Click “Apply.”

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Remote Console Manager (LES1204A-3G-R2) Quick Start Guide

Figure 6. Serial & Network: Users & Groups screen.

NOTE: The Remote Console Manager comes with a default certificate for initial configuration purposes only. You will need to direct your browser to

(temporarily) proceed and accept this untrusted certificate. It is recommended as soon as possible thereafter you generate and install a new trusted certificate. To produce the unique CSR and later upload the newly issued certificate, select System: SSL Certificates.

Step 6: Establish connection to the cellular carrier.

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Figure 7. System: Dial screen.

Remote Console Manager (LES1204A-3G-R2) Quick Start Guide

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Select “Internal Cellular Modem” on the “System: Dial” menu and check

“Enable Dial-Out.”

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E nter the carrier’s APN e.g. for AT&T (USA) simply enter “i2gold”, for

T-Mobile (USA) enter

“epc.tmobile.com”, for InterNode (Aust) enter

“internode” and for Telstra (Aust) enter “telstra.internet.”

NOTE: Your GSM cellular carrier may have provided you with connection details. However, you generally will only need to enter your provider’s APN and leave the other fields blank. If provided a Pin Code you may need to use it to unlock the SIM card.

NOTE: You may also need to use alternate DNS servers from those provided by your carrier. To enable, check Enable Override DNS, then check the

Override returned DNS Servers box and enter the IP of the DNS servers into the spaces provided.

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Check

“Apply” and a radio connection will be established with your cellular carrier. Out-of-band access is enabled, so the cellular modem connection is always ON.

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Select “Status: Statistics” and verify the Connection Status in the

“Failover& Out-of-Band” page is shown as Connected. You can also check your allocated IP address.

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Measure the received signal strength RSSI from the “Cellular Statistics” page.

Figure 8. Status: Statistics screen.

NOTE: An RSSI of -99 dbm to

–90 dbm is Weak Coverage, -89 dbm to – 70 dbm is Medium, and -69 dbm or greater is Strong

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Remote Console Manager (LES1204A-3G-R2) Quick Start Guide

Step 7: Out of band access.

To directly access the Remote Console Manager, it needs to have a Public

IP address and it must not have SSH access firewalled. Almost all carriers and cellular service providers offer corporate mobile data service/plans with a Public (static or dynamic) IP address. These plans often have a service fee attached.

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If you have a static public IP address plan, you can directly access the

Remote Console Manager using the public IP Address provided by the carrier. However, by default, only HTTPS and SSH access is enabled on the OOB connection. So, you can browse to the Remote Console

Manager, but you cannot ping it.

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If you have a dynamic Public IP address plan, then a DDNS service will need to be configured (see the user’s manual for details). Once this is done, you can then access the Remote Console Manager using the allocated domain name.

NOTE: By default, most providers offer a consumer grade service that provides dynamic Private IP address assignments to 3G devices. This

Private IP address is not visible across the Internet, but generally it is adequate for home and general business use. If you have such a plan, the

Failover & Out-of-Band tab on the Status: Statistics page, will show your carrier allocated a Private IP Address (in the range 10.0.x.x, 172.16.x.x or

192.168.x.x). For an inbound OOB connection with such a plan, you will need to set up a VPN (see the user‘s manual for details).

NOTE: In out-of-band access mode, the internal cellular modem will continually stay connected. The alternative is to set up Failover mode. This will tell the internal cellular connection to remain idle in a low power state. If the primary and secondary probe addresses are not available, it will bring up the cellular connection and connect back to the cellular carrier (see the user’s manual for details).

Step 8: Advanced configurations.

The Remote Console Manager offers many more advanced functions including:

 The Alerts & Logging: Auto Response facility monitors serial ports, hosts, user logins, UPSs (uninterruptible power supplies), and RPCs (remote power controllers such as PDUs and IPMI devices). A broad selection of trigger events (such as data patterns, temperature, or battery levels) can

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Remote Console Manager (LES1204A-3G-R2) Quick Start Guide

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 be specified. When triggered, a warning e-mail, SMS, Nagios®, or SNMP alert can be sent to a nominated destination or a user defined local response sequence can be initiated (such as power cycling a device).

Extensive management of UPSs and RPCs using Open Source NUT and

Powerman tools. The “Manage: Power” facility enables both administrators and regular users to monitor and control attached PDU power strips, and servers with embedded IPMI BMCs.

Historical logs of all communications with serial and network-attached devices, system activity, UPS and PDU power status, environmental status, etc. The level of logging is set as ports and devices are configured. Alerts & Logging: Port Log allows this history to be saved locally or remotely. Logs can be viewed from the Status and Manage menus.

Other advanced features, such as serial port cascading, remote authentication, trusted networks, secure tunneling, Nagios distributed monitoring, and the command line interface are covered in detail in the user manual.

To download the user manual from the Web site:

 1. Go to www.blackbox.com

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2. Enter the product code (LES1204A-3G-R2) in the search box:

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Click on the “Resources” tab on the product page, and select the

document you wish to download.

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LES1204A-3G-R2 QSG, rev. 6