dklann / idrac-kvm-keyboard-fix

Hack to make keyboard work properly with Dell KVM-over-IP java app

Dell servers with an iDRAC card allow for remote management of the server, including a handy remote video console with keyboard and mouse support. This is served to your web browser as a Java app, but it has a couple of small problems.

The problem

As noted by a user on the Dell forums, newer Linux distros use evdev instead of kbd for the keyboard driver, and the keycodes don't match the ones expected by the KVM app.

As a result, certain keys won't work, such as SysRq and the arrow keys.

The solution

This is a shared library hack to translate evdev keycodes to old style keycodes. You then use it via LD_PRELOAD.

How to build and install

make

make install

This requires no special privileges, as it installs to your homedir (~/local/lib/)

How to use

Nothing extra, it should Just Work the next time you launch a remote DRAC console.

Using SysRq

If you want to make use of magic SysReq, make sure that it is disabled on your local workstation, lest you get a bit of a surprise...

cat /proc/sys/kernel/sysrq and set it to 0 if it's not already.