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I purchase a basic 9 year old server (2*Amplicon Ventrix computers, a generic 1u 8port kvm switch and a 16u flight case) along with a cheap hardware firewall (nokia ip350) and some other components and am wondering how best to configure the firewall.

it has a db9 console port on it, and I remember reading in the manual for another component I was looking at that you can connect a console port to a kvm and control it using the kvm. my kvm does have a console on/off option in its settings so would that be something I could do, just using a db9 to db15 cable, or will I need a db9 to usb cable to configure via a shell on a computer?

in case you are wondering. Currently the kvm uses a 15 pin d-sub cable to 2*ps2 and a vga. I'm only saying db15 since its including the mouse and keyboard control connections.

any help would be great.

James Ray
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  • By "DB15" do you mean connecting the server's serial port to the KVM switch's VGA input? – u1686_grawity Jan 07 '18 at 13:08
  • I mean connecting the db9 consle port on the ip350 to the vga port on the kvm. this firewall uses a db9 port for control but I think it is probably the same things as you are talking about. – James Ray Jan 07 '18 at 13:35

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You can't connect a serial port (DE-9) to a VGA port (DE-15).

The IP350 has an out-of-band, serial console port that you can connect to another serial port. Most Keyboard-Video-Mouse switches don't support serial ports, so you have two solutions:

  1. Use a COM server that will provide connectivity between the serial port and the network. Essentially, you're using the network to extend a serial connection.
  2. Preferrably, use an in-band console connection via SSH (or telnet) to the firewall, requiring no extra hardware. The firewall will need an IP address on the network from which it is accessed.
Zac67
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  • I thought I needed the console connection to initially configure the ip350 and designate an IP address? – James Ray Jan 07 '18 at 14:46
  • Quite possible (the IP350 using DHCP is unlikely), but you still need to connect a serial port, not a VGA port. – Zac67 Jan 07 '18 at 14:52
  • I know some stores, such as class Olson, sell db9 serial to USB connectors. Could I use one of them and configure it with a computer? – James Ray Jan 07 '18 at 14:53
  • Sure, an USB-to-serial converter should work. Make sure you select the correct local serial port in your terminal software. If you've got nothing else at hand, PuTTY is probably the fastest way to get running. – Zac67 Jan 07 '18 at 15:13
  • Great. Cheers mate. Ill go and get one now and set it up. – James Ray Jan 07 '18 at 15:24