Introduction: Easy Out of Band Management for IT

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About: I'm Owen, a student and intern for remote.it! I like playing games, playing the piano, and writing :) I hope my tutorials can help some of you!!

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Learn how to configure Out of Band Management (OOBM) by connecting a remote.it configured Raspberry Pi and an Android or iPhone device by USB tethering. This works on RPi2/RPi3/RPi4.

If you don't know what Out of Band Management is, here is a short description:
OOBM allows for remote access through a secondary internet connection, where this secondary connection is only used for remote access and management. More specifically, although there is an internet connection that exists on the network, because it is not functioning as the primary gateway, it cannot be used by resources on the network to go out to the Internet. This concept is perhaps best shown where OOBM is used to remotely access an otherwise private network.

The first thing you're going to have to do is install the remote.itPi image onto a Raspberry Pi. For a tutorial on that, check out the Instructable here.

Now, on to the tutorial!

Supplies

  • Raspberry Pi with remote.it installed
  • iPhone or Android Device with Internet Access
  • Pi to Phone USB Cable

Step 1: Modify Config Files

To configure Out of Band Management through a Raspberry Pi, you have to edit the config files to allow the Pi to connect to the phone.

The specific file that you need to edit is /etc/dhcpcd.conf


For Android:

Add the metric value for usb0. Set the value smaller than the values of wlan0 and eth0.

The file should look like this when you're done:

interface usb0
metric 50

interface wlan0
metric 100

interface eth0
metric 400

For iPhone:

Add the metric value for eth1. Set the value smaller than the values of wlan0 and eth0.

The file should look like this when you're done:

interface eth1
metric 50

interface wlan0
metric 100

interface eth0
metric 400

Step 2: Connect RPi to Device (Android)

Next, connect the Raspberry Pi to the Device of your choosing using the USB cable.

Then, enable the USB tethered link.

If you're using an iPhone, continue reading.

Step 3: Connect RPi to Device (iPhone)

Connecting to an iPhone is a little more complicated than connecting to an Android device.

First, install the package of USB tethering with an iPhone onto your Raspberry Pi.

In the Command Line, run

sudo apt install ipheth-utils libimobiledevice-utils -y

Once that's done, connect the Pi and the iPhone with a USB cable.

The final step is to enable Internet Sharing on your iPhone.
(To do this, go to Settings > Cellular > Personal Hotspot, then turn on Allow Others to Join.)

Step 4: Conclusion

That's it! The internet connection of the Raspberry Pi is now via your device. You can now access devices that are on the same network with wlan0 or eth0 of the Raspberry Pi via the LTE network provided by the phone.

This is handy because if your internet was to go down, you could still remotely access your devices on the LAN using the LTE network from your phone.

Additionally, MDNS should work on iOS, so you can access remoteit.Pi Admin Panel using "remoteitpi.local:29999" on the internet browser of the iPhone.

Check out remote.it here, and don't hesitate to contact us with any questions or comments at our support site, located here.

Thanks, and stay safe!