Hardware Management Console (HMC) es un dispositivo físico/virtual que se utiliza para administrar sistemas IBM, incluidos IBM AS/400 , IBM System p , IBM System z e IBM Power Systems. HMC admite interfaces de usuario de línea de comandos (ssh), así como web (https) y API REST . Utilizando una HMC, el administrador del sistema puede gestionar muchos sistemas y particiones. También se puede utilizar para monitorear y dar servicio a un sistema.
The HMC is a PC connected to the mainframe. zSeries mainframes prior to the IBM System z9 used a modified version of OS/2 with custom software to provide the interface. System z9's HMC no longer uses OS/2, but instead uses a modified version of Linux with an OS/2 lookalike interface to ease transition as well as a new interface. Unlike the previous HMC application on OS/2, the new HMC is web-based which means that even local access is done via a web browser. Remote HMC access is available, although only over an SSL encrypted HTTP connection. The web-based nature means that there is no longer a difference between local console access and remote access, which means a remote user potentially has full control if authorized, allowing more flexibility for locating systems within data centers. IBM refers to the new HMC as a "closed platform" which does not allow the user to install software or access the command line interface to increase security and stability. The HMC is also firewalled by default with a minimal number of open ports for remote access.