Let me begin by saying that I DID NOT smash my server's motherboard with a hammer. Nor did I call Supermicro customer support and rip 'em a new one. Instead, I fixed the problem.
The problem, you ask? You can't flash the BIOS of Supermicro motherboards via the IPMI browser interface without a license (that you have to pay for). If it was easy to flash the BIOS locally, I wouldn't mind so much because I just run a couple servers in my lab. (However, this is not feasible in most working environments). But it's not easy. It doesn't work as proposed in UEFI Shell Mode, and the other option is to boot to a DOS-based system (flash drive or otherwise). That is ridiculous in this day and age, and the system wouldn't boot to my freedos image on USB drive anyway. So, in essence, you are forced to pay for a license to do security updates for the BIOS of the motherboard that you paid for already. HP does this also in some cases. Dell does not for most servers. Shame on all the companies that do this. It's one of my most hated paywalls.
If you are an ethical person like me (or if you work for an SMB or in the enterprise) then you pay for the license and be done with it. But what about the learner - the person who found an older motherboard or server and wants to update it so that it is secure? The person with limited funds?
One solution is to reverse engineer the code and enter a license. The kind of work this person did. Or, use this site to generate a license code from the MAC address of the IPMI port.
To find out the MAC address of the IPMI port on the server, use the arp command against it's IP address. For example:
arp -a 10.42.0.18Plug the MAC address into the converter, select HMAC and SHA-1, and then paste the first 6 sets of resulting hex numbers into the license activation screen. Then go ahead and do your BIOS flash to secure your system.
Remember to update the firmware first before flashing the BIOS.
