I have done it! I build a PiKVM(following your other video), then purchased the same KVM switch, and have now achieved remote-control godike powers :D Here are a few bumps that I've encountered; 1. I was not able to find a good case for the DIY PiKVM - though my current solution is stable, I would love to find a rackmount(faceplate) to accommodate the PiKVM with a video port 2. I found the KVM switch/IP a bit tricky, but figured things out after realized the default override.yaml host did not match the switch - changed to match and everything worked perfectly 3. last hurdle(which you mentioned), was having to reboot all my servers to post video - I did try to avoid this, but eventually accepted the reality that it had to be done, and now everything works as intended All in all, your videos were super helpful, and I am quite stoked to have achieved this level of control over my local network servers - feel like I have super powers now lol - thanks again for all the super helpful videos, and truly appreciate all of the efforts that go into making and sharing these - take care!
@dwaynehart1974
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for the amazing educational video. Been a fan since I had seen your first thin client video. Keep up the great work!
@mentalplayground
Жыл бұрын
Sweet idea. I had to stop running home-lab server 24/7 due to power prices in UK :(
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
I usually try to buy fairly new / low power equipment, which usually means it’s desktop type stuff and not servers
@mentalplayground
Жыл бұрын
@@apalrdsadventures Same here, 3900X @ 45W limited by cpufreq to 2.1 Ghz + Synology 1618 NAS. Now most of my 24/7 needs is served by .... Raspberry PI 4 2GB.
@copper4eva
Жыл бұрын
@@apalrdsadventures Any interest in doing a video on power saving ideas? I'm curious of having a proxmox cluster that automatically sleeps/hibernates for example. There is not a lot on youtube on power saving. One thing I'm very curious about, that I could never find a clear answer for, is power costs on 2.5 inch vs 3.5 inch drives. Obviously a 3.5 inch drive uses more power, but since they can be anywhere from 3-4x the capacity, they may still be the more efficient option. Assuming they don't use more than 3-4x the power of course.
@michaelanderson654
Жыл бұрын
I have a friend that took a solar panel and a shed and made a low power home lab out in his backyard. Not sure if that is an option for you but it looks like a fun project I will tackle someday
@michaelanderson654
Жыл бұрын
A display dummy plug with display pass through would help with the issue where machines boot up and don’t display anything unless there is a display attached. Plus it makes it easier when using something like VNC Remote Desktop and still get the full display resolution. The hdmi adapter that uses the camera input on the pi is more stable. I hope this helps.
@jackadamsdaniels6719
Ай бұрын
Thank you for this
@jsclayton
Жыл бұрын
Finally confirmation that the 4K30 Tessmart devices work! @TechnoTim had issues with the newer 4K60 one. I guess newer isn’t always better. Thanks!
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
I think some of the issues he had were related to EDID between the KVM and PiKVM HAT, since he mentioned he was talking with the HAT's creator a number of times. I'm not using the HAT, just a HDMI to USB dongle.
@cheebadigga4092
Жыл бұрын
Thank you so much! I will need this in the future for sure.
@bosunhiggs9708
Жыл бұрын
Perhaps an HDMI pass-through "dummy plug" will help with the "no desktop" machines? I use them to run some machines headless that I log into with Teamviewer or other remote access. And it will help in instances like this, too. (Get the pass-through type so the HDMI can be connected to a KVM. The dummy plugs can be bought in preset EDID resolutions. Some of them include audio ID, too.)
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
The KVM switch does present EDID information even when that output isn't selected, so all seems fine as long as the KVM is the first thing to power on.
@michaelperugini4199
7 ай бұрын
first time watching your video, i like the step by step by step.. but some bit are to fast. i would like to see a step by step to make a pikvm4+ (remote access) to like 7 servers.. 4 windows 1 citrix and 1 debian. and 1 esxi using a static IP in the pikvmv4+ so how do i got about that?
@havkacik
5 ай бұрын
It's a pitty it can only do 1080p. Have you encountered a a HW which works with 4K seemlesly? Maybe a topic for another video :)
@NianoEnany
2 ай бұрын
i am using a 16port TESMART KVM with PIKVM v4plus and seems only to be able to see the windows and "ubuntu GUI" and the pikvm HDMI output 2 however all the intel NUC devices that i have running ubuntu server are not being detected through the PIKVM remotely. I can see all devices locally. keyboard hot keys to switch inputs works like a charm. Also it seems like the mouse and keyboard doesn't control my devices. Any ideas why i am experiencing such behavior with those linux machines? and how can i get my mouse and keyboard to control the connected devices. Also don't see the GPIO option on my pikvm web interface
@apalrdsadventures
2 ай бұрын
I found that some machines don't rescan hdmi until they are rebooted, but as long as the KVM is powered on at the same time as all of the devices I haven't had an issue beyond that. This shouldn't affect mouse/keyboard though, they should still work.
@sparky7635
3 ай бұрын
How do you connect keyboard and mouse (2 ports in tesmart) to the 1 usb-c of the kvm?
@apalrdsadventures
3 ай бұрын
The Tesmart has a built-in USB hub, so the USB type A ports can all be used for keyboards or mice or both.
@EmilePolka
Жыл бұрын
pikvm's big con is it doesnt support proper DVD emulation. which is a deal breaker for most IT installation.
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
You can image a Windows USB drive (instead of starting from the ISO) and that will work
@PatrickDunca
Жыл бұрын
What mic are you wearing in this video? It kind of looks like one of those wireless Rode ones, but smaller? A wee recorder perhaps? Seems to be doing a good job.
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
It's a DJI Mic set, like the Rode ones (2 transmitters, 1 receiver), and each transmitter can also record internally. Also has a nice case to charge them all.
@shephusted2714
Жыл бұрын
you can do all this just with ssh/vnc the pikvm allows you to enter bios is the only real advantage but with running servers how often do you go into the bios - not often. this is a good product for builders to sell to smb clients but you can do this with a hdmi switch - no extra kvm is needed - you essentially have 2 kvm here
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
In my case, I do often need to go into the BIOS (or at least boot an ISO) since I often reimage my test systems. This lets me do that. I can add an ISO in PiKVM or boot from my Ventoy stick which is plugged into the 8-port KVM.
@shephusted2714
Жыл бұрын
@@apalrdsadventures fair enough pls do a followup on this and try to use an alternative sbc that people can get - faster and cheaper than pi would be nice - this product or an alternative/derivative could be a great product to sell but sorting out the parts to find suppliers who have parts and all is a bit of a pita - lots of people working on this so i think we can expect to see further refinements - a good one. also maybe you could explore refining cheap 3 node cluster with sbc and nvme and faster networking - i think we will see an ideal device emerge sooner than later maybe something like the new alibaba erying boards? add in a 100g connectx card and nvme and you have a pretty cheap 8 core node - something to think about - no expensive switch needed but maybe up the management network to 2.5 #cats #triangles #ha
@shephusted2714
Жыл бұрын
another way to do this is via qemu - you keep a reproducible stable build and then you can run whatever you want in a vm with a virtual cd or changing the boot order
@ryanwwest
Жыл бұрын
Do you think we could reach a point where you can do a 'KVM'-like thing from every server using solely ethernet? Meaning carry compressed HDMI and USB over just the RJ45/SFP connection from the server computer, no Raspberry Pi needed by the server (but still one by the 'thin client' monitor and mouse that you're using to connect with). Maybe at this point you should just do remote desktop RDP instead since an ethernet-only connection would require the BIOS to understand it, but I still like thinking about this.
@Darkk6969
Жыл бұрын
I've dealt with enterprise class KVMs at work and all of them share the same issue which is firmware upgrades. Eventually they stop supporting it forcing you to buy new hardware when it's working perfectly fine. Really old KVMs use the ancient java app not the modern HTML5 that we use today. With PiKVM it's fully upgradable and customizible. 😊
@ryanwwest
Жыл бұрын
@@Darkk6969 Are you saying these enterprise-class KVMs are similar to what I described with no server output wires required besides ethernet?
@mindshelfpro
Жыл бұрын
@@ryanwwest Ethernet only works only if the server supports it (IPMI, IDRAC, etc). If your server has no IPMI, then to get video output and keyboard at boot you need monitor and USB cables.
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
Servers have this built-in sometimes, but I tend to buy cheaper / low power systems that don't have IPMI built-in. Ideally something like the PiKVM on a PCIe card would be perfect, where it emulates or has a low end video chipset onboard and can connect to an internal USB header for keyboard/mouse/storage emulation.
@ryanwwest
Жыл бұрын
@@apalrdsadventures This sounds like perhaps the best option until there's some sort of open-source version of IPMI/Redfish on the server hardware/bios side since you have to deal with planned obsolescence otherwise (what Noah said) with the ethernet-only options.
@sheerun
Жыл бұрын
What is on a wall behind computers if I may know? :)
@jacobburgin826
9 ай бұрын
I have a few NUC's running and the tesmart 8 port kvm with pikvm. I'm only getting 720p out and it cuts off the bottom menu buttons of the proxmox GUI install. Any ideas?
@apalrdsadventures
9 ай бұрын
My guess is that the installer is setting a 4:3 resolution (maybe 1024x768) and that's getting scaled incorrectly somewhere.
@jacobburgin826
9 ай бұрын
@@apalrdsadventures thanks. This is all new and ended up having to edit the PiKVM edid :)
@A1994SC
Жыл бұрын
Have you ever considered running your own CA server? That way you can reduce the self-signed cert errors.
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
It's on my todo list, just not as high on the list
@A1994SC
Жыл бұрын
@@apalrdsadventures I use "step" by small step. Super easy to get going
@sparky7635
4 ай бұрын
Worst thing here is that you can only connect the reset and power jumpers to one device. So you can switch kvm but not do reset or hard power off
@Felix-ve9hs
Жыл бұрын
I want to do exacly that, but with a 8-port VGA KVM switch. No Idea if this will work, and if it does, if I'll ever use it. :P
@Trains-With-Shane
Жыл бұрын
The amazon price for that KVM switch is pretty decent! Especially for one that supports HDMI and USB. I may have to look into one. I wonder if you can use an HDMI to Analog VGA adapter to connect to machines without HDMI. I do have a few extra quadro cards laying around if that doesn't work.
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
I don't have any machines that are purely VGA (although a lot of mine are VGA + HDMI), so it's not something I've had to use yet thankfully. I try to stick to newer used hardware, which means no large servers in general
@Trains-With-Shane
Жыл бұрын
@@apalrdsadventures I've got a few old Dell Poweredge machines with dual and quad xeons and a pile of RAM. It's hard to part with them, lol. Luckily those do have iDRAC but would be nice to centralize with the KVM solution you're using. Currently i'm using an old MiniCom Smart Switch that uses ethernet adapters, although unfortunately not over TCP/IP and they mostly work but you have to use at least FTP if not STP cable and for some reason not every device likes the VGA part of the adapter for some reason. So been looking to revamp my whole network KVM-remote access solution if i could fine a one size fits all setup that wouldn't break the bank.
@hachikiina
Жыл бұрын
@@Trains-With-Shane are your poweredge servers ddr2? i see some cheap ones here in Turkiye but it's really hard to find ddr2 ecc ram here. well, it's really hard to find any enterprise hardware here
@Trains-With-Shane
Жыл бұрын
@@hachikiina No mine use ECC registered DDR3. They are a PowerEdge R710 and PowerEdge R510. Using socket LGA1366 Xeons.
@JohnDoe1999-lg7mh
21 күн бұрын
I have three systems with only VGA out and I use $30.00 (Canadian) VGA to HDMI convertors and works just fine.
@ewenchan1239
Жыл бұрын
Sorry to hear that you're not feeling well. Hopefully you'll feel better soon. re: this setup I think that it's great that you are able to get console access to systems that are already powered up, but being able to control the power remotely is also nice, in case a system has frozen/hung/crashed. Unfortunately, with PiKVM, you will need to basically intercept the ATX power signals, which means that if you want the ability to remotely power off/power on/reset the systems, you will need a PiKVM for each of the systems vs. buying a slightly more expensive motherboard, for the CPUs that you're using (if there's one available), with built-in IPMI, as the cost of the IPMI feature, right now, as of this writing, is often cheaper than the cost of the PiKVM (IF you can even find and buy one right now). But if you just want to be able to get console access for systems that you can power on, this is a good way to be able to do it.
@ryanwwest
Жыл бұрын
In my comment thread above, someone suggested (I think) that using IPMI eventually leads to planned obsolescence by the manufacturers and you're forced to upgrade to new hardware, vs. I think that wouldn't happen with PiKVM since it's open source. So some more open IPMI implementation in both hardware and software would be nicer. Would you agree with this?
@ThePongles
Жыл бұрын
Why would he need a Pi for each device and not just do similar to what he did here? I'm sure someone out there has built a power strip where the ports can be managed over IP.
@ewenchan1239
Жыл бұрын
@@ryanwwest "...someone suggested (I think) that using IPMI eventually leads to planned obsolescence by the manufacturers and you're forced to upgrade to new hardware, vs. I think that wouldn't happen with PiKVM since it's open source. So some more open IPMI implementation in both hardware and software would be nicer. Would you agree with this?" I can't necessarily speak for others, let alone an entire industry, as a whole, so I will respond to this based on the Supermicro systems that I DO have, all of which have built-in IPMI: I would disagree that built-in IPMI will result in or be the cause (or a contributing factor) to any sort of obsolescence, planned or unplanned. The reason why I say this is because of these experiences that I personally have with them: I still have SuperMicro servers that sport the ORIGINAL AMD Opteron 200-series processors from 2003 (AMD Opteron 246). And whilst I haven't used that server in YEARS, the reason for why I am not using is has nothing to do with its IPMI capabilities, but rather, newer, and especially multi-core processors have rendered dual socket, single-core processors obsolete. Why would I use a dual socket system when even phones have quad-core ARM processors, and use SIGNIFICANTLY less power, with higher levels of performance? The latter is what drove me to NOT using that server anymore. (Plus, it doesn't support any of the "modern" features, like virtualisation, etc.) And then, I also have a SuperMicro Twin^2 server, which has four compute nodes, and each of the compute nodes are dual socket systems, which has an Intel Xeon E5-2690 (V1) processor in it (8-cores/16-threads, 2.9 GHz stock, *2 sockets/node, *4 nodes). But that system, at full load, takes 1620 W of power. (to get 64-cores/128-threads of performance) By comparison, you can get that level of performance-and-then-some in a single AMD Threadripper 3990WX processor, again, with lower power, higher performance, and newer features. The fact that each of those nodes has a built-in IPMI has NOTHING to do with why I stopped using THAT server as well. (At 1620 W full load, that means that each node is taking about 405 W. In contrast, I can build a Ryzen 9 5950X system, which also has 16-cores, the same as the compute nodes, and THAT only took about 140 W of power.) (My Ryzen 9 5950X compute nodes also sports 128 GB of RAM, by my Ryzen 9 compute nodes does NOT have built-in IPMI, though I wished it did, for when I have to debug the system, rather than pulling out my 100 Gbps Infiniband network card that sits in the PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, and swapping in a GPU, to be able to get a video output signal to see what's going on with the system.) And my SuperMicro Twin^2 system was still using a Java based remote console via the IPMI. I wouldn't replace the server, for example, JUST because I wanted to use a HTML5 iKVM rather than the Java KVM. But I would replace the systems for higher performance, and lower power consumption, and the IPMI that often comes with that (but not always), just comes with the territory. I WISHED that consumer motherboards and/or Socket AM4 would almost always come with IPMI built-in. I think that SOME ASRock boards might have it, but not all of them. You can build an inexpensive cluster with consumer CPUs now, but it would be nice to have IPMI on the consumer motherboards as well, since consumer CPUs have gotten powerful enough to replace old(er) Xeons/Opteron processors (and/or even some of the early AMD EPYC processors).
@ryanwwest
Жыл бұрын
@@ewenchan1239 Thanks so much! I completely agree that other factors (performance, core count, etc.) would likely supersede IPMI getting outdated/unsupported. My concern was more that if you WANTED to use your old 2003 servers for some reason anyway, that for some reason the existing IPMI might stop working entirely (e.g. requires a network connection to the company or license that could expire and render existing tech useless). But it sounds like this probably isn't actually the case, and you can treat the IMPI capabilities (if they exist) like any other piece of hardware that slowly gets outdated over time.
@ewenchan1239
Жыл бұрын
@@ryanwwest "My concern was more that if you WANTED to use your old 2003 servers for some reason anyway, that for some reason the existing IPMI might stop working entirely (e.g. requires a network connection to the company or license that could expire and render existing tech useless). But it sounds like this probably isn't actually the case, and you can treat the IMPI capabilities (if they exist) like any other piece of hardware that slowly gets outdated over time." Umm....so....I think that THAT might depend specifically on the implementation of the IPMI hardware and/or the software stack. For example, I think that HP systems, DO require you to have a license to be able to use it. And maybe even Dell as well, both of which, I think, are stupid. But it's also quite possibly one of the earliest incarnations of "you buy a physical product that has all of the hardware already built into it, to be able to do the things that you want to do with it, except that just because you own the physical hardware, doesn't necessarily guarantee that you own the right nor the software enablement of said hardware." (Pay to unlock scheme, which I think, it is, at minimum, a negligent misrepresentation from their marketing material scheme.) To the best of my knowledge, I don't think that ASRock, Tyan, nor SuperMicro tries to pull stunts like this. But I can certainly also, see how this might true and/or potentially be true, for Dell and/or HPE servers, where to use their IPMI, you have to license it (i.e. paying for the physical hardware isn't enough - they want to rob you some more via IPMI enablement licensure). But that's a different debate, in a way, the whole "how dumb is it that you pay to buy the hardware, but then you can't use it because you also need to pay for enablement?" That's like buying a physical car, and then you can't drive it off the lot, because you haven't paid for the enablement to turn on said car, and then you have to pay for the enablement to unlock the gear selector, etc. But that's an entirely different debate/discussion altogether. To that end, that's also why I don't buy servers (even used ones) from the major server OEMs, and would much rather buy from ASRock, Supermicro, and/or Tyan. What you are talking about -- it CAN be a problem, but that's only if you "buy" the problem. But you don't necessarily HAVE TO buy from HPE/Dell/Lenovo. Supermicro make really AWESOME servers, IMO. (That's what I tend to stick with.) I understand that if you work at a large(r) company, your hands might be tied, but if you're not, the server OEMs aren't the only players in the market. And if you don't want to have to build the Supermicro server yourself, there are companies like Thinkmate who will build your Supermicro server for you, and then sell it to you, and then they'll charge you their profit for putting it together for you, which if you're okay with that, would be a way to do. (I can't tell you how many systems I've bought from UNIX Surplus, off eBay, where they put together the system for me, and ship it to me, so I don't even have to assemble the used system.)
@michaelamos75
Жыл бұрын
I am doing the same thing, and with that KVM, I am even able to split the HDMI and use the mouse and keyboard remotely or on the portable monitor and keyboard I have mounted on my rack. I just got my PiKVM Plus V4 in the mail, and I am changing over to it tonight. Was that a Dell server you booted up? Because I have a Dell T330, and it only has VGA out. I would add a video card, but all my slots are full. I have also tried VGA to HDMI adapters and some USB ones, but they require drivers, and there are no Linux drivers that work.
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
I have some Dell thin clients, but they aren't from the server line and have DisplayPort out, so they can go straight to the KVM. I don't have anything going VGA to the KVM, everything has HDMI or DP out.
@michaelamos75
Жыл бұрын
@apalrdsadventures Ahh, I went with the Lenovo Tiny clients. I have 5 of them all running Proxmox. 1 with a 4x2.5Gb network card that is running Pfsense, Unifi console, Cisco Business dashboard, DNS server, ldap server, Windows Server 2019, etc, 1 for testing and the last 3 in an HA cluster for Production work.
@copper4eva
Жыл бұрын
Can you run the PiKVM software on something other than a pi? Would be nice to run it on a optiplex micro, for example.
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
Yes, but then you don't get keyboard/mouse emulation, which relies on the Pi's USB device mode support (and the Pi can only do that on the USB-C port also used for power). So it's not that useful without the Pi.
@joeyjojojr.shabadoo915
Жыл бұрын
Without the Pi, couldn't you have done nearly the same thing using a pair of the KVM over IP 'Extenders' and a less expensive KVM switch in the rack, dedicating a secondary monitor source input to this at your 'workstation' area ? ? along with a secondary kb/mouse.....but you get what I mean....
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
I could do that, but most of the time I actually sit downstairs with my laptop while working on physical hardware and not up in my workstation area.
@teagancollyer
Жыл бұрын
Are you using a full on PiKVM from it's creators are you using a DIY one? It looks like you were just using a standard Pi with no extra features (well apart from the POE hat) and the PiKVM OS
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
DIY one with the PiKVM OS
@teagancollyer
Жыл бұрын
@@apalrdsadventures Is it just the PiKVM OS installed on a regular Pi? Or do you require any other kit? My (admittedly brief) look through their documentation a few months ago didn't make it clear to me. is there any hardware requirements or could I potentially run it on a Pi 400 Keybaord unit with 2GB of RAM? I do also have a Pi Zero knocking around but I have no idea where it's DC power cable has gone
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
It works on any of the Pi models which support the USB Gadget driver (afaik that's any Pi 4, Pi 400, Pi Zero W or Pi Zero W 2). You need to use the USB port which supports device emulation (which is the power port on all of those devices). You also need either a HDMI to CSI bridge or HDMI to USB capture device for video, the PiKVM hat does HDMI to CSI, I'm using an HDMI to USB dongle.
@teagancollyer
Жыл бұрын
@@apalrdsadventures Thanks for the info and replies. I think I'm going to look into getting a Pi 400 as I've been wanting/needing to setup a PiKVM for a while. Your video and replies about the DIY process have been much better than other KZitemrs video's as most of the ones I've seen use the official PiKVM not the DIY process. Now just a test to see if my KVM will let the PiKVM change inputs, It supports Mouse, Keyboard. Controller and Physical buttons but also has a RS232 header so hopefully one of them will work.
@seethruhead7119
Жыл бұрын
Is that a secondary ip address on the RPI interface?
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
yes, you can add as many as you want
@kirksteinklauber260
Жыл бұрын
Nice video!!! is not possible to change the IP of the T-Smart KVM??
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
It's possible, just easier to not change it
@kirksteinklauber260
Жыл бұрын
@@apalrdsadventures thanks
@Darkk6969
Жыл бұрын
Where did you get that ProxMox t-shirt? I looked around and haven't been able to find that one.
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
They sent it to me
@Darkk6969
Жыл бұрын
@@apalrdsadventures Nice!
@johnharrison712
Жыл бұрын
But not all servers have HDMI, More like VGA
@NanoNanoHi
3 ай бұрын
destiny
@iwashinnn
Жыл бұрын
cat
@bentheguru4986
Жыл бұрын
"A lot of Servers" was the claim, I couted one home-built server..... Enterprise servers don't have HDMI !!!
@apalrdsadventures
Жыл бұрын
There's the one home-built rack server, a home-build small form factor server, but also the Protectli box (which has HDMI and RJ45 console), a trio of ebay thin clients which get reformatted regularly, and a Terramaster NAS running Proxmox
@majeds74
Жыл бұрын
One of the worst gadget I've ever bought. Prepare yourself to go to server and disconnect PiKVM and connect your physical monitor.
Пікірлер: 90