HP ilo 2 java issues - Solved

Recently tried to connect to one of my HP Servers as I have in the past and I could net get ilo to work even though I tried Edge, IE, Chrome, Opera and Firefox (which used to work) on Windows 10 and Linux Mint. It seems they have all dropped support for Java which means console access is no longer possible.

Fortunately I have as a worst case backup for such situations still have a Vmware VM running XP which I fired up and it worked flawlessly.

However this situation is less than ideal as I'd like to be able to access consoles from my standard desktop or even my laptop.

After many hours of searching and trying things I finally have a solution which works with ilo2 (versions 2.05 thru 2.30)

You need to install Firefox ESR which is the last version of firefox before java support was dropped. The extended support release is designed for administrators like you and me for this very purpose. Better news still is it can be installed alongside your existing firefox so you need only fire it up when needed. It is also available on all platforms.

Please ensure you only install the 32 bit version as the 64 bit version does not include Java support. I suggest you install it in a custom directory.

On Windows 10 you should find it then works fine although you need to remember to put the ip of the secure console in your Java trusted sites using the Java config manager.

You may get Java errors the first time you try and fire up the console window. If you do close the window and fire it up again.

You may also see a grey screen or diagonal grey stripes, if you do scroll to the middle of the console window and click on activate plugin or enable Java. Don't forget to scroll back to the top left of your window to see the console.

Finally you will get untold security messages but just ok them and pass on Java upgrades.

If the console doesn't connect, then again close and reopen and it normally connects the second time.

Successfully working on 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows 10 with Java 8 151 and 161 installed.

Firefox ESR also works on Linux Mint with IcedTea (Java equivalent) installed.

Footnote: You need Firefox ESR V52, later versions which it will auto update to will not work. I've also had recent issues with ilo2 2.05 not working so upgrade to ilo2 2.30 if you can.