This is a utility for encoding and decoding product keys that are used on Supermicro BMCs.
Inspired by Peter Kleissner's article about reverse engineering the original SFT-OOB-LIC key format.
This utility is a command line program. If Go is installed on your system, the latest version of this utility can be built and installed by running:
go install github.com/zsrv/supermicro-product-key@latestOtherwise, a binary can be downloaded from the releases page.
Execute the binary without any arguments to see usage instructions. Reading this entire README is recommended.
Key activation instructions can be found at the Supermicro website (PDF version).
Encode a new key:
$ ./supermicro-product-key oob encode 3cecef123456
CE27-F641-9B04-6B24-5D04-5D32
Find the MAC address associated with a key:
$ ./supermicro-product-key oob bruteforce CE27-F641-9B04-6B24-5D04-5D32
searching for mac address ...
found match! mac = '3cecef123456'
List all key types that are available:
$ ./supermicro-product-key nonjson listswid
License SKU Display Name ID
----------- ------------ --
Reserved 0
SSM 1
SD5 2
SFT-SUM-LIC SUM 3
SFT-SPM-LIC SPM 4
SFT-SCM-LIC SCM 5
SFT-DCMS-SINGLE ALL 6
SFT-DCMS-SITE SITE 7
SFT-DCMS-CALL-HOME DCMS-CALL-HOME 8
SFT-DCMS-SVC-KEY SFT-DCMS-SVC-KEY 9
SFT-SDDC-SINGLE SFT-SDDC-SINGLE 210
Encode a SFT-DCMS-SINGLE key with all attributes specified (attributes that are omitted will be left at their default values):
$ ./supermicro-product-key nonjson encode --sku SFT-DCMS-SINGLE --software-version ABC123 --invoice-number 0123456789 --creation-date 2020-12-30T12:00:00Z --expiration-date 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z --property 01AA02FF 3cecef123456
AAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAJOVA97uSfqDCtInPd8H2g4rUdY5PtJ3op7hUYaFWOn2aWeT/f+4ZaMdelxJgFG3NjRPqXIMfJ2mFdeR8tZYfNusG3i6SP7cDBsN5Kbu/Bfj3q6WWlUKavF9j6oulmnvS83CZkzEdjQrOfq7bokHV6HnAUn/83UGKn+b5Db4E7fcGjmHYOCzP9rTTZnmtfUHShcEN48+Aka9ACcyfUDo9kdiJQpFRzTQz0ay5gGii6MB0Yw+G1JECp804aNGzCzl5PsP122dZ0cTFFN7THfy07Se1NDd+GCCoH2AN7UFa8tTKquZBgdwBgU/EOPX31YXJQ==
Decode a key:
$ ./supermicro-product-key nonjson decode 3cecef123456 AAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAJOVA97uSfqDCtInPd8H2g4rUdY5PtJ3op7hUYaFWOn2aWeT/f+4ZaMdelxJgFG3NjRPqXIMfJ2mFdeR8tZYfNusG3i6SP7cDBsN5Kbu/Bfj3q6WWlUKavF9j6oulmnvS83CZkzEdjQrOfq7bokHV6HnAUn/83UGKn+b5Db4E7fcGjmHYOCzP9rTTZnmtfUHShcEN48+Aka9ACcyfUDo9kdiJQpFRzTQz0ay5gGii6MB0Yw+G1JECp804aNGzCzl5PsP122dZ0cTFFN7THfy07Se1NDd+GCCoH2AN7UFa8tTKquZBgdwBgU/EOPX31YXJQ==
{
"FormatVersion": 0,
"SoftwareIdentifier": {
"SKU": "SFT-DCMS-SINGLE",
"DisplayName": "ALL",
"ID": 6
},
"SoftwareVersion": "ABC123",
"InvoiceNumber": "0123456789",
"CreationDate": "2020-12-30T12:00:00Z",
"ExpirationDate": "1970-01-01T00:00:00Z",
"Property": "AaoC/w==",
"SecretData": "MjdiOGUzYWFmN2NlZGU0MzNjNWUzYjUzZjU5YzJhOWI=",
"Checksum": 24
}
Find the MAC address associated with a key:
$ ./supermicro-product-key nonjson bruteforce AAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAJOVA97uSfqDCtInPd8H2g4rUdY5PtJ3op7hUYaFWOn2aWeT/f+4ZaMdelxJgFG3NjRPqXIMfJ2mFdeR8tZYfNusG3i6SP7cDBsN5Kbu/Bfj3q6WWlUKavF9j6oulmnvS83CZkzEdjQrOfq7bokHV6HnAUn/83UGKn+b5Db4E7fcGjmHYOCzP9rTTZnmtfUHShcEN48+Aka9ACcyfUDo9kdiJQpFRzTQz0ay5gGii6MB0Yw+G1JECp804aNGzCzl5PsP122dZ0cTFFN7THfy07Se1NDd+GCCoH2AN7UFa8tTKquZBgdwBgU/EOPX31YXJQ==
searching for mac address ...
found match! mac = '3cecef123456'
This section describes each product key format, and each license SKU that is supported by each format.
A 24-character hex string split into groups of 4 characters, separated by dashes.
Keys in this format are created using the MAC address of the BMC that the key will be activated on as input.
Used by 11th generation and earlier platforms. This key is delivered in the JSON key format for 12th generation platforms.
Enables various out-of-band (OOB) management features.
The functionality provided by this key is included in SFT-DCMS-SINGLE.
A 344-character base64-encoded string.
Keys in this format are encrypted and decrypted using the MAC address of the BMC that the key will be activated on as input.
Attributes encoded in the key:
- Key format version byte (always 0)
- Software ID (in the form of a numeric ID byte and a corresponding display name string that is usually different from the license SKU)
- Software version string (always "none" in samples from as far back as 2016; a sample from 2014 had a null value instead)
- Invoice number string (always "none" in samples from as far back as 2016; a sample from 2014 had a null value instead)
- Creation date (stored as a Unix timestamp with second precision, converted to four bytes)
- Expiration date (stored as a Unix timestamp with second precision, converted to four bytes; a value of 0 is treated as "no expiration date")
- Property (purpose unknown; no samples that have been found had a value set for this)
- Secret data (calculated using several other attributes as input; keys are validated by the BMC by calculating this and comparing the result to the value stored in the key)
- Checksum (computed using the other attributes as input)
Available since at least 2015.
Purpose unknown. Probably related to Supermicro Server Manager (SSM).
Available since at least 2015.
Purpose unknown. Probably related to Supermicro SuperDoctor 5 (SD5).
Node product key, available since 2015. Removed from the SUM user guide in 2020.
This key may have been required to use Supermicro Update Manager (SUM).
Node product key, available since at least 2013.
This key is required to use Supermicro Power Manager (SPM).
The functionality provided by this key is also included in SFT-DCMS-SINGLE.
Node product key, first seen in a Supermicro Server Management Utilities brochure dated July 2013. The key was missing from the same brochure dated April 2015.
This key was probably required to use SCM (Supermicro Command Manager).
Node product key, available since at least 2013.
This key generally allows the use of all server management utilities ("Data Center Management Suite") with a system.
Described as a site license for individual software modules in a Supermicro Server Management Utilities brochure dated July 2013. The license was missing from the same brochure dated April 2015.
No other information has been found.
Node product key introduced in 2017.
This SKU appears to have been superseded by SFT-DCMS-SVC-KEY in 2018.
Node product key introduced in 2017.
This key (in addition to SFT-DCMS-SINGLE) is required to use the Service Calls (also known as Call Home) feature available in SSM and SUM.
Node product key introduced in 2021.
This key (in addition to SFT-DCMS-SINGLE) is required to manage the system with Supermicro SuperCloud Composer (SCC), a "composable cloud management platform that provides a unified dashboard to administer software-defined data centers" (hence "SDDC").
This key is also required to use the Attestation command's Compare action that was introduced in SUM between 2020 and 2022.
A variable-length JSON string.
The contents are digitally signed, and the signatures verified using a public key that is embedded in the BMC firmware.
This key format is not currently supported by this utility.
| Platform Generation | OOB Key | Non-JSON Key | JSON Key |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 and earlier | NO | NO | NO |
| 9 | YES | NO | NO |
| 10 | YES | YES | NO |
| 11 | YES | YES | NO |
| 12 (select models) | YES | YES | NO |
| 12 | NO | NO | YES |
Select 12th generation platform motherboards accept non-JSON keys instead of JSON keys (source):
- H12DSU-iN
- H12DST-B
- H12SST-PS
- H12SSW-iN
- H12SSW-iNL
- H12SSW-NT
- H12SSW-NTL
Node Product Key: A product key that is activated on a specific system. The key is bound to the MAC address of the BMC LAN port.
Much of the information here has been compiled from various documentation and may not have been personally verified. Please report any inaccuracies by opening an issue.
New information would be greatly appreciated! Please open an issue or a discussion as appropriate.