Remote console lab access

My Juniper lab is at home and contains an EX2220-C and a SRX110. Traditionally I created an interface in which I could SSH to. This worked for a while but when labbing you are generally testing new things. Well needless to say I became a fan of commit confirm or with my Cisco kit, reload in. Although this did save me, I would spend up to 10 minutes waiting for devices to bail me out. I wanted real access. I wanted console. Alas, luxury like this is not always afforded. Until now.

Opengear was kind enough to give each NFD4 delegate a Opengear Serial Console server with each delegate. The 5004-G-E device allows for remote out-of-band management for a number of devices. Usually device such as these are deployed to branch or remote sites to ensure console access via alternative means such as 3G. Sick of my study being very warm during summer I decided to venture to the lounge room. I had a constraint of not wanting to move back and fix things up after labbing firewall policies.

I decided to put this bad boy to use. I am going to teach you how to be creative and utilize the 5004-G-E. Disclaimer: Some call this lazy , and yes, setting up console access from your lounge room might be. Though this principle applies whether it is 15 meters or 150,000 meters between you and your equipment.

First log into your Opengear web interface.

Click on Serial Port under Serial & Network in the left column. Note I do have some lines already set up! Choose any port.

Label your Port to what device you want. Makes it easier. Trust me! Ensure all settings are correct. For us it is 9600-8-n-1-n.

Now we need to click Console Server Mode radius button and check the tick box Web Terminal under Console Server Settings. Scroll to the bottom and apply!

Now on the far left side under the Manage subsection, click Devices.

Click on Serial  and then you will see your four ports. Click the device you want to connect to.

There we go. Full console access. Reliable and safe for test environments.

As you can see my application is but a simple one. I now can lab and happily zeroize devices form anywhere. Yay! The Opengear box is designed for a lot more. I will hopefully get to spend some more time on this device in the future. I am looking to evaluate them in my current position and hope to try to explore some DC feature sets. Go forth my brethren and access your console lines any time, anywhere.

Disclaimer

Opengear did provide me with a 5004-g-e Serial Console device at NFD4. I was not asked for any thing for this gesture. I have my disclaimer here.