• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

vFrank

Essense of virtualization

  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Running the Intel NUC headless with VMware ESXi

April 28, 2015 by FrankBrix 9 Comments

I recently acquired two Intel NUC5i5MYHE for my home lab. This specific model features Intel AMT/VPRO technology. This means that you can connect to the NUC remotely via IP independent of the operating system installed on it. This has several benefits

– Power On , Power Off , Reset the NUC
– Hardware information
– Remote Console access

Screenshot 2015-04-28 18.25.46

 

My plan was to run the Intel NUC’s headless. I don’t have any monitor or keyboard connected to it. So I needed the AMT / VPRO technology. When I installed the NUC’s the first time they were both connected to my living room TV through HDMI. The NUC only got Mini Display Port 2 interface – so I had to use a mini display port to HDMI adapter. This worked perfectly and I also tested the AMT technology and got the remote console to work.

Once i put the NUC’s in the closet and powered them on the remote console was black. I did not get any picture when connecting. I had just seen this work when connected to my living room TV… Maybe that was the issue I thought, maybe it don’t send anything out of the display port when it does not see a monitor connected. After some google activities I found the following used for MAC minis to run them headless. It is called Fit-Headless and is a small HDMI dongle you plug-in to a HDMI port, then the MAC Mini / NUC will think a monitor is connected and remote console will work.

Screenshot 2015-04-28 18.32.09

 

Of course I could not just connect this to the NUC since I did not have HDMI in it. So I also bought an adapter like this:

Screenshot 2015-04-28 18.35.06

 

The result was perfect. Once I rebooted my Intel NUC’s with the display port to HDMI adapter and Fit-Headless connected I got the console back and it was not black. I use VNC View Plus that can connect directly to the IP address.

 

 

Screenshot 2015-04-28 18.36.45

 

 

So if you want to run the NUC and use Intel AMT / VPRO you need either a monitor connected, or use a dongle that “fakes” it.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ariel Antigua says

    May 15, 2015 at 15:44

    What’s the version of the vPro that is running on your NUCs?
    I got a pair of Optiplex 780 that came with vPro, I can power on/off but the console never works, maybe it has the same dependency on the vga port as your NUC in the HDMI display.

  2. Craig W says

    January 20, 2016 at 02:55

    Intel NUC5i5MYHE is of the 10th generation Intel AMT. Using SoL does work headless natively, but at the current time you do need a mDP dummy to run headless remote KVM.

  3. Larry says

    May 19, 2016 at 23:20

    Any word on whether this has been fix in AMT? I did find minidisplayport headless dongles available for about the same prices as the others. Although have to add to the box already to get KVM to work is a PIA.

  4. Larry Blanco says

    May 25, 2016 at 00:58

    Version 0028 of the BIOS now correctly allows you to manage the NUC via remote console on them without having a dongle or monitor connected.

  5. FrankBrix says

    May 26, 2016 at 12:22

    Thanks for the update Larry, I will try to update the BIOS and see if it works headless without the dongles.

  6. Jeremy Kuhnash says

    July 6, 2016 at 03:32

    The newer BIOS updates now allow remote without a monitor connection. That said each operating system will need to be configured to display when no monitor is detected.

  7. santiago ribaguifi says

    October 23, 2016 at 23:24

    @jeremykuhnash:disqus how did you update the BIOS (EFI)? Could I have more details? Thanks!

  8. frankbrix says

    October 24, 2016 at 08:45

    I downloaded the latest bios and put it on a USB key. Connect the USB to the NUC – and during reboot you hit F7 on the keyboard. Then you can select to upgrade bios from USB

  9. santiago ribaguifi says

    October 24, 2016 at 10:31

    Ok, I get it. But, where can I download the EFI? I cannot find anything at MINIX site. Thanks

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Blogroll

  • Hazenet
  • Michael Ryom
  • Perfect Cloud
  • vTerkel

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in