Remote Console and Virtual Media Are Not in the Included Tier

Written and maintained by Haink's infrastructure team · Verified against the Lenovo XClarity Controller 3 product guide and XClarity One licensing documentation, 29 August 2026 · authorized-channel, MTM and serial verified

Every server ships with a management controller, and every buyer assumes that means remote management is included. On ThinkSystem V4 the controller is XClarity Controller 3, and what comes with it is monitoring, alerts, firmware updates, power control and API access. Remote KVM and virtual media are Premier features, and Premier is a separate purchase per server.

That is the line that goes missing when three vendors compete on price. It is small per node and it is not small across a fleet, and it is discovered at the worst possible moment — the first time someone needs to mount an ISO on a machine they cannot walk to.

XCC3 Standard against Premier

Read the right-hand column as an operations list rather than a feature list. Remote KVM and virtual media are how a server is built, reimaged and recovered without a site visit. Remote OS deployment is how a fleet is provisioned. Power capping is how a rack stays inside its budget. On a single lab machine these are conveniences; on forty production nodes across two countries they are the operating model.

The two-layer trap

This is where estimates go wrong even when someone has remembered the controller licence. There are two separate licence layers, and buying one does not give you the other.

1. The per-server controller licence. XCC3 Premier, one per machine, which is what unlocks remote KVM and virtual media on that machine.
2. The fleet management licence. XClarity One is free for a trial of up to two hubs and twenty devices for ninety days. Beyond that it is licensed per endpoint — a Starter licence covering the first ten devices, and a Standard licence for each device after that.

And the sentence that catches people, from Lenovo's own licensing documentation: remote server access through the management platform still requires the per-device controller keys — XCC Advanced Upgrade, XCC Enterprise Upgrade, XCC2 Platinum, or XCC3 Premier. Licensing the fleet manager does not license the consoles. You need both.

Two details worth knowing on the fleet layer: the licences are tied to your organisation rather than to specific machines, so they move as hardware is replaced; and Standard licences also arrive with each Premier Support Plus warranty entitlement purchased, which means the support decision and the management-licence decision are connected and should be priced together rather than in separate conversations.

What this looks like on a forty-node order

Without inventing prices, the shape of the bill is what matters:

• 40 × XCC3 Premier — one per server, perpetual, no renewal.
• 1 × XClarity One Starter covering the first ten devices, plus 30 × Standard per-endpoint licences for the rest — unless they arrive with Premier Support Plus entitlements, in which case check the overlap before buying both.

A bid that omits the first line looks cheaper by forty licences. It is not cheaper; it is incomplete, and the gap surfaces as a change order after the award. Requiring every bidder to state the controller licence tier per node, and the cost of the tier above it, removes the whole problem in one sentence — which is why it appears in the tender checklist in buying twenty to sixty servers as one project.

Order it with the machine, not afterwards

Premier can be added either way, and the routes are not equivalent in effort:

The licence is perpetual for the server and does not require renewal, which makes the factory route straightforwardly better: same entitlement, no per-machine activation work across a fleet. If it is not on the configure-to-order line, it is a job someone does forty times later.

Because feature codes are how a configure-to-order build is actually specified, SCY0 is also the thing to look for when comparing two CTO quotes that read identically in prose — see MTM and part numbers.

Which controller is on which server

XCC3 is the controller on the ThinkSystem V4 generation — SR630 V4, SR650 V4, SR650a V4, SR680a V4, SR850 V4, SR860 V4, SC750 V4 and SC777 V4. The previous generation carries XCC2, whose equivalent upgrade keys are named differently (XCC2 Platinum, and on older platforms XCC Advanced and Enterprise upgrades).

One architectural change matters if you automate: XCC3 is OpenBMC-based, where XCC2 was proprietary, and Lenovo cites full Redfish alignment as the result. For estates driving provisioning and configuration through Redfish rather than through a vendor console, that is a real improvement in interoperability — and a reason to check whether your existing tooling was written against XCC2 behaviours.

What to put in the requirement

1. Controller licence tier stated per node, with the cost of the tier above it.
2. Feature code SCY0 named explicitly on configure-to-order lines where Premier is required.
3. Fleet management licences stated separately from controller licences, with the device count they cover.
4. Overlap with Premier Support Plus checked before buying both, since the entitlement carries Standard licences with it.
5. Redfish and automation requirements stated, so the controller generation is a considered choice rather than a consequence of the server choice.

Frequently asked questions

Is remote management included with a Lenovo server?

Partly. XClarity Controller Standard is included and covers system monitoring, health alerts, firmware updates, power control, IPMI and REST API access, and FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption. Remote KVM and virtual media mounting are Premier features and require a licence per server.

What does XCC3 Premier add?

Remote KVM, virtual media mounting, power capping, remote OS deployment, Neighbor group management, System Guard and Enterprise Strict Security Mode with CNSA compliance. In operational terms it is the difference between being able to build and recover a machine remotely and having to visit it.

Is the Premier licence a subscription?

No. It is a perpetual licence for the server and does not require renewal. That makes ordering it with the machine the obvious route rather than a decision to defer.

How do we order Premier?

On a configure-to-order build, feature code SCY0 has it installed at the factory. For machines already delivered on Standard, part number 7S0X000XWW is the field upgrade. Same entitlement either way; the factory route avoids activating licences one machine at a time.

Does XClarity One or Administrator include remote console?

No, and this is the most common misunderstanding. The fleet management platform is licensed separately per endpoint, and remote server access through it still requires the per-device controller key — XCC Advanced Upgrade, XCC Enterprise Upgrade, XCC2 Platinum or XCC3 Premier depending on generation. Licensing the platform does not license the consoles.

Is XClarity One free?

There is a free trial of up to two hubs and twenty devices for ninety days. After that it is licensed per endpoint: a Starter licence for the first ten devices and a Standard licence for each device beyond. Standard licences also come with each Premier Support Plus warranty entitlement purchased, so check the overlap before buying both.

Which servers use XCC3 rather than XCC2?

XCC3 is on the ThinkSystem V4 generation, including SR630 V4, SR650 V4, SR650a V4, SR680a V4, SR850 V4, SR860 V4, SC750 V4 and SC777 V4. XCC2 is the predecessor. XCC3 is OpenBMC-based with full Redfish alignment, where XCC2 was proprietary — relevant if your provisioning automation was written against the older controller.

Related

• MTM and part numbers — feature codes are where a configure-to-order specification actually lives
• HPE iLO and Compute Ops Management licensing — the remote console is a per-server licence
• How to choose Lenovo ThinkSystem servers — workload-to-model selection and host sizing
• SR630 V4 vs SR650 V4 — the chassis these controllers ship in
• Warranty and Premier Support — where the Standard licences come bundled from
• Lenovo vs Dell vs HPE — all three vendors tier their management controller the same way
• Buying 20–60 servers as one project — where the licence-tier requirement belongs in a tender
• Lenovo stock, lead times and pricing · stock vs BTO/CTO

Sources

• Lenovo Press — XClarity Controller 3 (XCC3) product guide (Standard and Premier feature split; feature code SCY0; part number 7S0X000XWW; perpetual licence; V4 platform list; OpenBMC and Redfish alignment)
• Lenovo Docs — XClarity One licences (90-day trial for two hubs and twenty devices; Starter and Standard per-endpoint licences; Standard licences with Premier Support Plus; remote access still requires per-device XCC keys)
• Lenovo Docs — XClarity Controller Standard and Premier level features
• Lenovo Press — XClarity Controller 2 (XCC2) product guide (the predecessor controller)