Here are some of the Linux hints and documentation that seems to be woefully lacking or just mis-leading on the greater wider Internet.
This applies to Dell servers of course. First off, install ipmitools:
apt-get update; apt-get install ipmitools
To find out the options available in ipmitools, run:
ipmitools help
and there is a manpage available too.
To set the iDRAC8 System Host Name, you want:
ipmitools mc setsysinfo system_name HOSTNAME
To set the iDRAC8 Operating System, you want:
ipmitools mc setsysinfo os_name OSNAME
To set the iDRAC8 Operating System Version, you want:
ipmitools mc setsysinfo delloem_os_version OSVERSION
And that's it - after that, if you refresh the iDRAC8 Server Overview screen you will see the changes you made.
This will of course depend on the switch model you are using and the IOS version, but I've documented here what works in the installations I've been assisting with.
This example shows the /etc/network/interfaces configuration using two ethernet interfaces on a server to be combined to form a LAG, and using LACP. Here I'm using VLAN 3, 5 and 7 on the server, and they are being passed by the LAG from the switch the server is connected to. VLAN 3 is for server management access, whereas VLAN 5 and 7 are passed on to virtual machines within the server.
source /etc/network/interfaces.d/*
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
auto eno1
iface eno1 inet manual
bond-master bond0
auto eno2
iface eno2 inet manual
bond-master bond0
auto bond0
iface bond0 inet manual
bond-mode 802.3ad
bond-miimon 100
bond-lacp-rate 1
bond-slaves eno1 eno2
auto bond0.3
iface bond0.3 inet manual
vlan-raw-device bond0
auto bond0.5
iface bond0.5 inet manual
vlan-raw-device bond0
auto bond0.7
iface bond0.7 inet manual
vlan-raw-device bond0
auto br0
iface br0 inet static
address 192.168.1.2
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.254
bridge_ports bond0.3
bridge_stp off
bridge_fd 0
auto br1
iface br1 inet manual
bridge_ports bond0.5
bridge_stp off
bridge_fd 0
auto br2
iface br2 inet manual
bridge_ports bond0.7
bridge_stp off
bridge_fd 0
Configuration snipped for a Catalyst 2950G-48 running '12.1(22)EA13'. Note that the 2950G-48 needs the flowcontrol send off command - other switches don't seem to need this.
For security reasons, I've made the native VLAN on the trunk to be 999, rather than the default VLAN of 1. I strongly recommend never to use VLAN1 for anything.
interface Port-channel2 description Trunk switchport trunk native vlan 999 switchport mode trunk load-interval 30 flowcontrol send off ! interface FastEthernet0/1 description LAG-PORT1 switchport trunk native vlan 999 switchport mode trunk load-interval 30 channel-group 2 mode active ! interface FastEthernet0/2 description LAG-PORT2 switchport trunk native vlan 999 switchport mode trunk load-interval 30 channel-group 2 mode active !
With this configuration, VLAN 999 is the native VLAN (frames sent untagged), and all other VLANs (including 1) are sent tagged.