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Remote Access to Bare Metal Servers

Multiple ways to remotely access and manage your Lineserve bare metal servers, including SSH, IPMI, serial console, and remote desktop.

SSH Access​

Linux Servers​

# Connect with SSH key
ssh -i ~/.ssh/lineserve-key admin@server-ip

# Connect with specific port
ssh -p 2222 admin@server-ip

# SSH with port forwarding
ssh -L 8080:localhost:80 admin@server-ip

SSH Key Management​

# Generate SSH key pair
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/lineserve-key

# Add public key to server
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/lineserve-key.pub admin@server-ip

# Configure SSH client
cat >> ~/.ssh/config << EOF
Host lineserve-server
    HostName server-ip
    User admin
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/lineserve-key
    Port 22
EOF

IPMI/BMC Access​

Web Interface​

Access server management via browser:

  • URL: https://ipmi-ip-address
  • Default credentials provided in server details
  • Features: Power control, console access, hardware monitoring

IPMI Command Line​

# Install IPMI tools
apt install ipmitool

# Power operations
ipmitool -I lanplus -H ipmi-ip -U admin -P password power status
ipmitool -I lanplus -H ipmi-ip -U admin -P password power on
ipmitool -I lanplus -H ipmi-ip -U admin -P password power off
ipmitool -I lanplus -H ipmi-ip -U admin -P password power reset

# Hardware monitoring
ipmitool -I lanplus -H ipmi-ip -U admin -P password sensor list
ipmitool -I lanplus -H ipmi-ip -U admin -P password sdr list

Serial Console Access​

Via IPMI​

# Start serial console session
ipmitool -I lanplus -H ipmi-ip -U admin -P password sol activate

# Deactivate session
ipmitool -I lanplus -H ipmi-ip -U admin -P password sol deactivate

Configure Serial Console on Server​

# Enable serial console in GRUB
sed -i 's/GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""/GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200n8"/' /etc/default/grub
update-grub

# Enable serial getty
systemctl enable serial-getty@ttyS0.service
systemctl start serial-getty@ttyS0.service

Windows Remote Desktop​

Enable RDP​

# Enable Remote Desktop
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server' -name "fDenyTSConnections" -Value 0

# Enable RDP through Windows Firewall
Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "Remote Desktop"

# Set RDP port (optional)
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp' -name "PortNumber" -Value 3389

Connect to Windows Server​

# From Linux using rdesktop
rdesktop -u Administrator -p password server-ip:3389

# From Windows
mstsc /v:server-ip:3389

VPN Access​

OpenVPN Server Setup​

# Install OpenVPN
apt update && apt install openvpn easy-rsa

# Set up CA and certificates
make-cadir ~/openvpn-ca
cd ~/openvpn-ca
source vars
./clean-all
./build-ca
./build-key-server server
./build-dh

# Configure OpenVPN server
cp /usr/share/doc/openvpn/examples/sample-config-files/server.conf.gz /etc/openvpn/
gunzip /etc/openvpn/server.conf.gz

# Start OpenVPN service
systemctl enable openvpn@server
systemctl start openvpn@server

WireGuard Setup​

# Install WireGuard
apt install wireguard

# Generate keys
wg genkey | tee privatekey | wg pubkey > publickey

# Configure WireGuard
cat > /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf << EOF
[Interface]
PrivateKey = SERVER_PRIVATE_KEY
Address = 10.0.0.1/24
ListenPort = 51820

[Peer]
PublicKey = CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY
AllowedIPs = 10.0.0.2/32
EOF

# Start WireGuard
systemctl enable wg-quick@wg0
systemctl start wg-quick@wg0

Secure Access Best Practices​

SSH Hardening​

# Configure SSH security
cat >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config << EOF
# Disable password authentication
PasswordAuthentication no
PubkeyAuthentication yes

# Limit users
AllowUsers admin

# Change default port
Port 2222

# Disable root login
PermitRootLogin no

# Connection limits
MaxAuthTries 3
MaxSessions 2
EOF

systemctl restart sshd

Firewall Configuration​

# Configure UFW firewall
ufw enable
ufw default deny incoming
ufw default allow outgoing

# Allow SSH (custom port)
ufw allow 2222/tcp

# Allow specific services
ufw allow 80/tcp    # HTTP
ufw allow 443/tcp   # HTTPS
ufw allow 3306/tcp  # MySQL (from specific IP)

Fail2Ban Setup​

# Install Fail2Ban
apt install fail2ban

# Configure SSH protection
cat > /etc/fail2ban/jail.local << EOF
[sshd]
enabled = true
port = 2222
filter = sshd
logpath = /var/log/auth.log
maxretry = 3
bantime = 3600
EOF

systemctl restart fail2ban

Remote Management Tools​

Ansible Configuration​

# inventory.yml
all:
  hosts:
    bare-metal-01:
      ansible_host: server-ip
      ansible_user: admin
      ansible_ssh_private_key_file: ~/.ssh/lineserve-key
# Test connectivity
ansible all -i inventory.yml -m ping

# Run commands
ansible all -i inventory.yml -m shell -a "uptime"

Monitoring Access​

# Install monitoring agent
curl -sSL https://get.lineserve.com/monitoring-agent | bash

# Configure remote monitoring
echo "LINESERVE_API_KEY=your-api-key" > /etc/lineserve/monitoring.conf
systemctl enable lineserve-monitoring
systemctl start lineserve-monitoring

Troubleshooting Access Issues​

SSH Connection Problems​

# Test SSH connectivity
ssh -vvv admin@server-ip

# Check SSH service status
systemctl status sshd

# View SSH logs
tail -f /var/log/auth.log

IPMI Access Issues​

# Test IPMI connectivity
ping ipmi-ip-address

# Check IPMI configuration
ipmitool lan print 1

# Reset IPMI settings
ipmitool mc reset cold

Network Connectivity​

# Check network interfaces
ip addr show
ip route show

# Test connectivity
ping 8.8.8.8
traceroute google.com
nslookup lineserve.com

Emergency Access Procedures​

Lost SSH Access​

  1. Use IPMI/BMC web console
  2. Access via serial console
  3. Reset SSH configuration
  4. Contact support for assistance

IPMI Recovery​

  1. Physical server access may be required
  2. IPMI reset via jumper or button
  3. Reconfigure IPMI settings
  4. Contact datacenter support

Password Recovery​

# Boot into single-user mode via IPMI console
# Edit GRUB entry, add: single init=/bin/bash
# Mount filesystem read-write
mount -o remount,rw /

# Reset password
passwd admin

# Reboot normally
reboot

API Access Management​

Create API Keys​

# Generate API key for server management
lineserve auth create-api-key \
  --name "bare-metal-management" \
  --permissions "compute:read,compute:write"

Programmatic Access​

import requests

# Server status check
response = requests.get(
    'https://api.lineserve.com/v1/compute/bare-metal/server-id',
    headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN'}
)

# Power operations
requests.post(
    'https://api.lineserve.com/v1/compute/bare-metal/server-id/power',
    headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN'},
    json={'action': 'restart'}
)

Next Steps​