Under Windows 7, how do I reliably access a Virtual Console on iDrac?

Question

We're a Dell shop, and have a number of older 1950's (circa 2008 I believe) up to new R630s (it is mid-2016 as I write this). For lights out management, this means iDRAC5 through iDRAC8. I have had a hell of a time trying to reliably connect to the virtual consoles on our various servers. Nothing seems to work 100%: Neither IE, nor Chrome, nor Firefox. Even if I'm able to get into my iDRAC and start the Virtual Console, I end up with SSL errors and Java exits, eg "Error when reading from SSL socket connection".

How do I create a dependable iDRAC environment, so that I can login to any machine in my network every time? My current desktop is Windows 7.

Answer 1

Using Firefox 48.0.2 (the latest, as of Mid-2016), it is possible to set it up so that one can access versions 5 through 8 of iDRAC on my machines. I have tried IE (does not work on a newly-installed Windows 7 machine with IE8), I have tried the latest Chrome (works on my desktop but I have been unable to get it to work on a newly-built Windows 7 machine; handy for Chrome is the Fix IDRAC .jnlp file extension available in the Chrome web store).

But the following routine works reliably for me for Firefox on multiple desktops:

• Download, install, and open the latest Firefox.
• Using your favorite search engine, find and install the latest Java.
• Close Firefox.
• In your C: drive, go to Program Files (x86)\Java\jre<your release>\lib\security
• If you don't have it in Program Files (x86), check for it in Program Files
• Edit java.security using your favorite text editor.
• Look for jdk.tls.disabledAlgorithms. Change it to: jdk.tls.disabledAlgorighms=DH keySize < 768
• Look for jdk.certpath.disabledAlgorithms. If it exists, change it to look like jdk.certpath.disabledAlgorithms=MD2, RSA keySize < 1024
• Save the file. You probably don't have write permissions for this file, so save it to "Downloads" or something like this, then copy it over.
• Go to Control Panel -> Java. In the Security tab, add the URL of the host that you will connect to. This URL must match what you will be entering into the address bar, whether it's IP address or hostname. Use https. Example: https://idrac-myhost/ or https://10.9.8.7/
• Save the java control panel.
• Run Firefox. Enter the URL of your iDRAC.
• Login.
• If you have not done so, go to the "Attached Media" tab. Make sure that "Attach Mode" is "Auto Attach".
• Go to the Console tab (iDRAC5) or Virtual Console menu item (under Overview->Server). click "Launch".
• For iDRAC 5 (at least), a bar will pop up asking if you want to run Java. "Allow now and remember." Click through the security prompts.
• Go to the Virtual Console. Make sure it is set to "Java" and not "Native" (iDRAC 5 at least).
• Load the Virtual Console. Click through all the acceptance requests.