Patent ID: 8347378

Claim:
A method of managing a managed computer system, the method comprising: authenticating a user requesting access to a service processor to direct the service processor to perform a set of management operations on the managed computer system, the authenticating including: obtaining, on the service processor, a set of proposed credentials for the user requesting to direct the service processor to perform the set of management operations on the managed computer system, wherein the set of proposed credentials correspond to a set of credentials that enable the user to directly access the managed computer system, wherein the service processor comprises at least one computing device, distinct from the managed computer system, configured to enable the user to manage the managed computer system over a network without use of a communications path of the managed computer system; providing the set of proposed credentials from the service processor for authentication by the managed computer system in response to obtaining the set of proposed credentials for the user; and receiving an authentication result on the service processor based on the set of proposed credentials in response to providing the set of proposed credentials.