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I recently purchased a used PowerEdge C1100 on ebay. It supposedly has DRAC.

I'm a complete newb when it comes to these things. I figured it'd be somewhat like a normal PC :P I'm finding that a mistaken assumption. Want to push Ubuntu onto this thing and get some VM's up.

I'm not completely sure it actually has DRAC. I can't find any configuration for it in the BIOS. I also can't seem to find any hints from google about how to find it in the BIOS. Only thing I can find is a claim that I should be able to hit Ctrl-E to get into the configuration utility. This does not happen.

I do not see any extra cards in the system. There's only one slot and I think it's a PCI...though it's not white or brown. Nothing is in it. I assume if it actually has DRAC it must be integrated. Don't see it in the specs, but these things can be bought customized in large batches right?

The server has a network port with a wrench icon by it. I assume that's where I should be plugging in?

I tried to connect with a crossover cable. Unfortunately I only have a Windows 7 laptop and I apparently totally fail at setting up windows IP addresses...cannot find any dialog or utility that will let me.

So is there a tutorial or something for total dumbshits? Should Ctrl-E work and I just got lied to? I hope a USB CDRom or something would do the trick if so?

The system seems to otherwise work and it actually attempted to boot windows when I plugged a drive into it (apparently I'd installed vista on that drive some time ago).

Someone is bound to ask why someone like me has something like this. I'm a software developer that works remote and I want to set up my own testing environments for the product. Multiple VM's and such... It also wasn't very expensive.

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    The first thing I would do is go to Dell's web site and download the documentation. The second thing I would do is read it.
    – Michael Hampton
    Aug 3, 2013 at 1:33
  • @MichaelHampton - thank you for making it clear that this place is run by jerks. I do appreciate this quick feedback and shall be acting on it immediately.
    – user184218
    Aug 3, 2013 at 2:11
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    See my comment to the answer. Getting the documentation to hand is the BEST THING EVER when trying to understand a system. You're kind of over reacting to VERY good advice
    – Journeyman Geek
    Aug 3, 2013 at 2:14
  • The C series from Dell has no option for a DRAC, it does, however, have IPMI.
    – toppledwagon
    Aug 3, 2013 at 5:38

1 Answer 1

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The wrench icon indeed indicates the DRAC/BMC port. DRAC requires you to install a module into the machine for full management capabilities, however the server also has a basic module on board called BMC (Baseboard Management Controller). This module can only do basic command line operations such as a powercycle or retrieve system info.

If the DRAC module is installed you should be able to use Ctrl+I on POST to be able to access the DRAC configuration from the BIOS. In here you can assign IP address and username with password.

Here's a video detailing a bit how it works.

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  • Thank you for giving a reasonable answer rather than being a twit like it looks like the mods here are. I actually ended up having to use the first network port to get into the web interface. The default password was also not what all the documents across the web say it should be (luckily 'help' showed me). Watching the video now, though it also says the password should be calvin.
    – user184218
    Aug 3, 2013 at 2:09
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    Actually, telling you to read the manual is entirely useful advice. At the very least it tells you what the ports are, what error messages you might encounter and so on.
    – Journeyman Geek
    Aug 3, 2013 at 2:13