HPE iLOrest installation procedure

Requirements

The requirements for the managed server are as follows:

  • Local management: Gen9 or greater server with a Windows OS or Linux OS installed.
  • Supported Operating Systems for local management: Windows 2022, 2019, 2016, RHEL 8.x, 9.x, 9.x ARM64, SUSE 15SPx, 12SP3, MAC, Debian 9, 10, 10 ARM64.
  • Remote management: HPE Gen9 or later servers with or without an OS installed.
  • HPE iLO 6: 1.05 or later.
  • HPE iLO 5: 1.20 or later.
  • On a Linux systems, the /tmp folder must be configured with execute permission. If the /tmp folder does not allow code execution, HPE iLOrest will not start. It is possible to work around this requirement by exporting an environment variable pointing to another location. $ export TMPDIR=/some/other/location . You can assign a new location to any of the following environment variables: TMPDIR , TEMP , TMP .

Installing iLOrest on Linux and Windows

Perform the following steps to install the tool in a Microsoft Windows or Linux OS:

  • Download the latest HPE iLOrest package from Github Releases or install the PyPI package as instructed in the next paragraph.
  • For local management (in-band), deploy the package on the managed server's OS. For remote management (out-of-band), install the package on a laptop or server that has network access to the managed server network.
  • Linux only: Most Linux operating systems have /tmp mounted with noexec by default. Before running HPE iLOrest, the file systems table must be configured so that /tmp is mounted with exec . Use mount -o remount,exec /tmp to remount /tmp in exec mode.

Installing the iLOrest ESXi package

New installation

Download the component bundle from vibsdepot

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1. Copy the component bundle from "vibsdepot" to the ESX server.  Technically, you can
       place the file anywhere that is accessible to the ESX console shell, 
       but for these instructions, we'll assume the location is in '/tmp'.

       Here's an example of using the Linux 'scp' utility to copy the file
       from a local system to an ESX server located at 10.10.10.10:
         scp ilorest-component_800.6.0.0.44-1OEM.802.0.0.22380479_24626604.zip root@10.10.10.10:/tmp

2. Issue the following command (full path to the file must be specified):
          esxcli software component apply -d {Component_File}
   
       In the example above, this would be:
          esxcli software component apply -d /tmp/ilorest-component_800.6.0.0.44-1OEM.802.0.0.22380479_24626604.zip
Note

Depending on the certificate used to sign the VIB, you may need to change the host acceptance level. To do this, use the following command: esxcli software acceptance set --level=<level>.

Also, depending on the type of VIB being installed, you may have to put ESX into maintenance mode. This can be done through the VI Client, or by adding the --maintenance-mode option to the above esxcli command.

Upgrade installation

You can use the same command as for an initial installation:

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esxcli software component apply -d /full/path/to/ilorest-component

Uninstalling the iLOrest ESXi package

Use the following command to completely uninstall the package:

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esxcli software component remove -n ilorest-component

Installing the iLOrest PyPI package

PyPI package can be used on distros like MAC, Ubuntu.

The iLOrest PyPI package is an official PyPI project.

Requirements

Installation methods

  1. Remote installation
    pip install ilorest
  2. Local installation
    1. Download the package(s) from the PyPI site
    2. Deploy
      pip install ilorest-x.x.x.x.tar.gz
      or
      pip install ilorest-x.x.x.x.whl
NOTE

The above commands install two packages:

  • ilorest
  • python-ilorest-library

Uninstalling the iLOrest PyPI package

Use the following command to completely uninstall the package:

pip uninstall ilorest python-ilorest-library

NOTE

For more details on using iLOrest as a PyPI package, refer to the blog iLOrest as a PyPI Package.

Installing or Upgrading to iLOrest 5.2.x / 6.x.x on Debian-based Systems

The .deb package for iLOrest was last released as a standalone version (v4.9.0) in March 2024. However, significant enhancements and bug fixes have been introduced in versions 5.2.x and 6.0.x, which are currently distributed via PyPI (Python Package Index).

As this is newer installation method for Debian or Ubuntu, please follow the below steps to install or upgrade iLOrest using pip3.

Steps to Install or Upgrade iLOrest using PyPI

  • Uninstall existing .deb version (if installed):
    sudo dpkg -r ilorest
  • Ensure pip3 is installed:
    sudo apt update
    sudo apt install python3-pip
  • (Optional) Set HTTP/HTTPS Proxy: If you are behind a proxy, set the environment variables before proceeding:
    export http_proxy=http://<HTTP_PROXY_URL>:<PORT>
    export https_proxy=http://<HTTPS_PROXY_URL>:<PORT>
  • Install the latest iLOrest from PyPI:
    sudo pip3 install ilorest

Installing iLOrest Offline Using PyPI Wheels (Air-Gapped Environments)

For environments without internet access, iLOrest can be installed offline using pre-downloaded .whl (wheel) and .tar.gz source distribution files from PyPI.

Steps to Install iLOrest Offline

  • Prepare on a system with internet access:
    Create a clean directory:
    mkdir ilorest_offline
    cd ilorest_offline
  • Download iLOrest and its dependencies using pip:
    pip3 download ilorest
    This will download: ilorest- .whl or .tar.gz
    All required dependencies (e.g., requests, jsonpath rw, six, etc.)
    Transfer the entire ilorest     offline directory to the target offline system using USB, scp, or other secure methods.
  • Install on the offline system:
    Ensure pip3 is installed on the target system:
    sudo apt install python3-pip
    Change into the transferred directory:
    cd /path/to/ilorest_offline
  • Install iLOrest and dependencies:
    sudo pip3 install --no-index --find-links=. ilorest
    --no-index disables PyPI access.
    --find-links=. tells pip to look for dependencies in the current directory.
NOTE

If proxy settings were used on the online system, they are not required for offline installation.
Make sure the offline system has Python 3.6 or later installed.
You may use virtualenv to install iLOrest in an isolated Python environment if needed.

Starting the RESTful Interface Tool

Microsoft Windows

  1. Click the Start menu.
  2. Click Hewlett Packard Enterprise > RESTful Interface Tool .
  3. Right-click the RESTful Interface Tool prompt, and then click Run as Administrator .

Linux

  1. Open a terminal window.
  2. Run the following command to start interactive mode: /usr/sbin/ilorest

MAC

  1. Open a terminal window.
  2. Run the following command as an administrator to start interactive mode: /Applications/ilorest

VMware ESXi

  1. Open a terminal window and install ilorest component.
  2. Run the following command as an administrator to start interactive mode: /opt/ilorest/bin/ilorest.sh for ESXi 8.0 and /opt/tools/ilorest for ESXi 7.0