This is freeipmi-faq.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.13 from
freeipmi-faq.texi.

This manual is for FreeIPMI (version 1.1.2, 6 February 2012).
Copyright (C) 2006-2012 FreeIPMI Core Team

     Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
     document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
     Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software
     Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and
     no Back-Cover Texts.

INFO-DIR-SECTION Platform Management
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* FreeIPMI FAQ: (freeipmi-faq).  FreeIPMI - Frequently Asked Questions
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

   Copyright (C) 2003-2012 FreeIPMI Core Team.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: Top,  Next: What is IPMI,  Prev: (dir),  Up: (dir)

   Frequently Asked Questions on *FreeIPMI*

   This edition of the documentation was last updated on 6 February
2012 for release 1.1.2 of the FreeIPMI.

* Menu:

* What is IPMI::
* What is FreeIPMI?::
* How did FreeIPMI start?::
* What operating systems does FreeIPMI run on?::
* FreeIPMI vs OpenIPMI vs Ipmitool vs Ipmiutil::
* What is special about FreeIPMI?::
* Does my system support IPMI?::
* How do I compile FreeIPMI?::
* libgcrypt requirement::
* x86-64 Compilation::
* Installing FreeIPMI on FreeBSD::
* What are some IPMI terminology or acronyms I should be aware of?::
* What setup is needed for FreeIPMI to communicate over LAN?::
* What setup is needed for Serial over LAN (SOL) or Ipmiconsole?::
* Do I need to install or configure a driver to perform IPMI inband?::
* SSIF Driver Configuration::
* How do you setup Powerman with ipmipower?::
* How do you setup Conman with ipmiconsole or libipmiconsole?::
* How do you setup Ganglia or Nagios to monitor IPMI sensors via FreeIPMI?::
* Why is the IPMI kernel driver faster than the KCS driver?::
* Why are there so many IPMI compliance bugs?::
* How do I get around an IPMI compliance bug on my motherboard?::
* How do I program with the FreeIPMI libraries?::
* Where can I get additional help or support?::


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: What is IPMI,  Next: What is FreeIPMI?,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

0.1 IPMI - Platform Management Standard
=======================================

The IPMI specifications define standardized, abstracted interfaces to
the platform management subsystem.  IPMI includes the definition of
interfaces for extending platform management between the board within
the main chassis and between multiple chassis.

   The term platform management is used to refer to the monitoring and
control functions that are built in to the platform hardware and
primarily used for the purpose of monitoring the health of the system
hardware.  This typically includes monitoring elements such as system
temperatures, voltages, fans, power supplies, bus errors, system
physical security, etc.  It includes automatic and manually driven
recovery capabilities such as local or remote system resets and power
on/off operations.  It includes the logging of abnormal or out-of-range
conditions for later examination and alerting where the platform issues
the alert without aid of run-time software.  Lastly it includes
inventory information that can help identify a failed hardware unit.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: What is FreeIPMI?,  Next: How did FreeIPMI start?,  Prev: What is IPMI,  Up: Top

0.2 What is FreeIPMI?
=====================

FreeIPMI is a collection of Intelligent Platform Management IPMI system
software.  It provides in-band and out-of-band software and a
development library conforming to the Intelligent Platform Management
Interface (IPMI v1.5 and v2.0) standards.  FreeIPMI also supports
IPMI-related specifications such as the Data Center Management
Interface (DCMI) and Intel Node Manager.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: How did FreeIPMI start?,  Next: What operating systems does FreeIPMI run on?,  Prev: What is FreeIPMI?,  Up: Top

0.3 How did FreeIPMI start?
===========================

In October 2003, California Digital Corp. (CDC) was contracted by
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for the assembly of
Thunder, a 1024 node Itanium2 cluster.  This led to software developers
from CDC and LLNL merging the IPMI software developed by both
organizations into FreeIPMI.

   Anand Babu, Balamurugan and Ian Zimmerman at CDC contributed the
in-band KCS driver, ipmi-sensors, bmc-config, ipmi-sel, bmc-info, and
portions of libfreeipmi.  Albert Chu and Jim Garlick at LLNL
contributed ipmipower, bmc-watchdog, ipmiping, rmcpping, portions of
libfreeipmi, and ipmi support in Powerman.  In October 2004, FreeIPMI
0.1.0 was officially released.

   Since the 0.1.0 release, Z Research developers have contributed
ipmi-chassis, ipmi-raw, ipmi-locate, and portions of ipmi-pef-config.
LLNL has contributed IPMI 2.0 support, hostrange support, ipmiconsole,
libipmiconsole, ipmidetect, ipmi-sensors-config, ipmi-chassis-config,
bmc-device, ipmi-oem, ipmi-dcmi, libipmimonitoring, and portions of
ipmi-pef-config.

   (Note: The original FreeIPMI developers from California Digital
Corp. are now at Zresearch Inc.)


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: What operating systems does FreeIPMI run on?,  Next: FreeIPMI vs OpenIPMI vs Ipmitool vs Ipmiutil,  Prev: How did FreeIPMI start?,  Up: Top

0.4 What operating systems does FreeIPMI run on?
================================================

FreeIPMI was originally developed on GNU/Linux.  It has been confirmed
to be built on most major GNU/Linux distributions such as Redhat,
Fedora, Suse, and Debian.  FreeIPMI has been ported and confirmed to
work on atleast FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, OpenSolaris, and Windows via
Cygwin.  We imagine it would build cleanly on other operating systems.
If it doesn't, it should be easily portable to them.  Please contact
the maintainers on the <freeipmi-devel@gnu.org> mailing lists.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: FreeIPMI vs OpenIPMI vs Ipmitool vs Ipmiutil,  Next: What is special about FreeIPMI?,  Prev: What operating systems does FreeIPMI run on?,  Up: Top

0.5 FreeIPMI vs OpenIPMI vs Ipmitool vs Ipmiutil
================================================

There are multiple implementations, APIs, interfaces, end user
requirements, etc. that one can choose when developing IPMI drivers,
libraries, and tools.  FreeIPMI has taken some different approaches
than other open-source projects.

   The section below points out a number of the reasons why we feel
FreeIPMI is particularly special compared to the other projects.

   The Ipmiutil project has a good chart describing many of the
differences between the projects:
`http://ipmiutil.sourceforge.net/docs/ipmisw-compare.htm'.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: What is special about FreeIPMI?,  Next: Does my system support IPMI?,  Prev: FreeIPMI vs OpenIPMI vs Ipmitool vs Ipmiutil,  Up: Top

0.6 What is special about FreeIPMI?
===================================

In our eyes, there are several reasons why FreeIPMI is particularly
special.

   1) Support for HPC and large data centers

   A number of features have been added into the tools to support HPC
and/or large data centers.  Much of this original support was added to
support the large cluster environments at Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory (LLNL).

   Scalable parallel execution of many FreeIPMI tools (ipmi-sensors,
ipmi-sel, bmc-info, etc.) across a cluster is supported through
hostranged input and output.  For example:

     # > bmc-info -h "pwopr[0-5]" -u XXX -p XXX --get-device-id -C
     ----------------
     pwopr[0-1,5]
     ----------------
     Device ID             : 34
     Device Revision       : 1
     Device SDRs           : unsupported
     Firmware Revision     : 1.0c
     Device Available      : yes (normal operation)
     IPMI Version          : 2.0
     Sensor Device         : supported
     SDR Repository Device : supported
     SEL Device            : supported
     FRU Inventory Device  : supported
     IPMB Event Receiver   : unsupported
     IPMB Event Generator  : unsupported
     Bridge                : unsupported
     Chassis Device        : supported
     Manufacturer ID       : Peppercon AG (10437)
     Product ID            : 4
     Auxiliary Firmware Revision Information : 38420000h
     ----------------
     pwopr[2-4]
     ----------------
     Device ID             : 34
     Device Revision       : 1
     Device SDRs           : unsupported
     Firmware Revision     : 1.17
     Device Available      : yes (normal operation)
     IPMI Version          : 2.0
     Sensor Device         : supported
     SDR Repository Device : supported
     SEL Device            : supported
     FRU Inventory Device  : supported
     IPMB Event Receiver   : unsupported
     IPMB Event Generator  : unsupported
     Bridge                : unsupported
     Chassis Device        : supported
     Manufacturer ID       : Peppercon AG (10437)
     Product ID            : 4
     Auxiliary Firmware Revision Information : 38420000h

   In the above example, its clear to see that pwopr[2-4] have different
firmware than pwopr[0-1,5].  More information about hostrange support
can be found in the document freeipmi-hostrange.txt
(`http://www.gnu.org/software/freeipmi/freeipmi-hostrange.txt').

   Ipmipower is capable of scaling to large nodes for cluster support
and is supported by Powerman (`http://code.google.com/p/powerman/') for
scalable power management.  At LLNL, in conjunction with Powerman,
ipmipower is used for power control on clusters ranging from sizes of 4
to 2000.  It has been used to determine power status or power control
LLNL's largest clusters in under a second.

   Ipmiconsole is currently supported by Conman
(`http://conman.googlecode.com/') for scalable console management.

   Ipmi-sensors and libipmimonitoring are capable of interpreting sensor
readings as well as just reporting them.  It can be used for host
monitoring IPMI sensor severity on a cluster.  By mapping sensor
readings into NOMINAL, WARNING, or CRITICAL states, it makes monitoring
sensors easier across large numbers of nodes.  Skummee
(`http://sourceforge.net/projects/skummee') currently uses
libipmimonitoring to monitoring sensors on LLNL clusters of up to 2000
nodes in size.  FreeIPMI sensor monitoring plugins for Ganglia
(`http://ganglia.info/') and Nagios (`http://www.nagios.org/') have
also been developed and made available for download
(`http://www.gnu.org/software/freeipmi/download.html').

   Ipmi-sel and libipmimonitoring are capable of interpreting system
event log (SEL) entries as well as just reporting them.  It can be used
for host monitoring IPMI event severity on a cluster.  By mapping
events into NOMINAL, WARNING, or CRITICAL states, it makes monitoring
system events easier across large numbers of nodes.  Skummee
(`http://sourceforge.net/projects/skummee') currently uses
libipmimonitoring to monitoring the SEL on LLNL clusters of up to 2000
nodes in size.

   The bmc-config, ipmi-chassis-config, ipmi-pef-config,
ipmi-sensors-config, and configuration file and command-line interface
are used to easily copy the BMC configuration from one node to every
other node in a cluster quickly.  It has been used to modify the BMC
configuration across large LLNL clusters in a few minutes.  They also
have the capability to verify (via the diff option) that the desired
configuration has been properly stored to firmware.

   Ipmidetect can be used to enhance the efficiency of the hostranged
input by eliminating those nodes in the cluster that have been
temporarily removed for servicing.

   2) Additional OEM support

   FreeIPMI contains support for a number of OEM extensions and OEM
sensors and/or events.  Ipmi-oem currently supports OEM command
extensions for motherboards made by Dell, Fujitsu, IBM, Intel,
Inventec, Quanta, Sun Microsystems, and Supermicro.  Ipmi-sensors and
Ipmi-sel support OEM sensors and/or events for motherboards made from
Dell, Fujitsu, Intel, Inventec, Quanta, Sun Microsystems, and
Supermicro.  (Some of the motherboards may have been rebranded by
vendors, see manpages for official list of confirmed supported
motherboards.)

   3) Additional flexibility and features

   By implementing various IPMI sub-sections into multiple tools, each
tool is capable of providing the user with more flexibility and
ultimately more features in addition to those listed above.  It may not
be as easy (or architecturally possible) to do in an all-in-one tool.

   4) Extra IPMI support

   In addition to the features listed above, FreeIPMI also supports
specifications related to IPMI.  The Data Center Management Interface,
or DCMI, is supported via the FreeIPMI tool ipmi-dcmi.  Some aspects of
the Intel Power Node Manager are supported in ipmi-oem.

   5) Easy setup

   By implementing drivers in userspace libraries, there is no need to
build/setup/manage any kernel modules/drivers.

   6) Portability

   Likewise, by implementing everything in userspace libraries and
tools, portability to multiple operating systems and architectures
should be easier.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: Does my system support IPMI?,  Next: How do I compile FreeIPMI?,  Prev: What is special about FreeIPMI?,  Up: Top

0.7 Does my system support IPMI?
================================

Unfortunately, there are no universally defined mechanisms for
determining if a system supports IPMI.  The following may provide hints.

   1) FreeIPMI's ipmi-locate can be used to determine if IPMI can be
found on your system.  Users are cautioned though, the failure to
discover IPMI via ipmi-locate is not sufficient to disprove that IPMI
exists on your system.  Your system may not publish such information or
may expect clients to communicate at default locations.

   2) dmidecode may be similarly used to probe for devices that support
IPMI on your system.  You may grep for IPMI or specifying the IPMI DMI
type on the command line.

     # > dmidecode --type 38
     # dmidecode 2.10
     SMBIOS 2.5 present.

     Handle 0x0049, DMI type 38, 18 bytes
     IPMI Device Information
             Interface Type: KCS (Keyboard Control Style)
             Specification Version: 2.0
             I2C Slave Address: 0x10
             NV Storage Device: Not Present
             Base Address: 0x0000000000000CA2 (I/O)
             Register Spacing: Successive Byte Boundaries

   Again, the failure to find an IPMI supported device is not sufficient
to show lack of IPMI support.

   Ultimately, some amount of information from product documents or
trial and error may be necessary to determine if IPMI is supported on
your system.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: How do I compile FreeIPMI?,  Next: libgcrypt requirement,  Prev: Does my system support IPMI?,  Up: Top

0.8 How do I compile FreeIPMI?
==============================

Please see the README.build instructions provided with FreeIPMI or on
the FreeIPMI website's documentation
(`http://www.gnu.org/software/freeipmi/README.build').


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: libgcrypt requirement,  Next: x86-64 Compilation,  Prev: How do I compile FreeIPMI?,  Up: Top

0.9 libgcrypt requirement
=========================

FreeIPMI requires the libgcrypt library to be installed for a variety
of encryption requirements in IPMI 2.0.  If you are building FreeIPMI
and receive a 'libgcrypt required to build libfreeipmi' error, please
install libgcrypt.  For Linux users, this may require the install of
the libgcrypt-devel package as well.  For those who do not need IPMI
2.0 encryption, FreeIPMI may be built without it by specifying
-without-encryption when executing configure.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: x86-64 Compilation,  Next: Installing FreeIPMI on FreeBSD,  Prev: libgcrypt requirement,  Up: Top

0.10 x86-64 Compilation
=======================

By default, FreeIPMI's build autotools (e.g. configure) should detect
if you are on a 64 bit system and should build against 64 bit
libraries.  However, some multi-architecture installs (e.g. you have 32
bit and 64 bit libraries installed) may lead to builds and installs of
32 bit instead of 64 bit.  For those noticing this, pass libdir
appropriately to the configure script to workaround this problem. (e.g.
-libdir=/usr/lib64)

   Example:
       # ./configure  --prefix=/usr --libdir=/usr/lib64


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: Installing FreeIPMI on FreeBSD,  Next: What are some IPMI terminology or acronyms I should be aware of?,  Prev: x86-64 Compilation,  Up: Top

0.11 Installing FreeIPMI on FreeBSD
===================================

You can install a binary package of freeipmi or use the port, located
in ports/sysutils/freeipmi, to build it from the source. See ports(7)
and 'Packages and Ports' section
(`http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/ports.html')
in The FreeBSD Handbook.

   Please contact port maintainer (MAINTAINER line in the port's
Makefile), if you have problems building from the port.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: What are some IPMI terminology or acronyms I should be aware of?,  Next: What setup is needed for FreeIPMI to communicate over LAN?,  Prev: Installing FreeIPMI on FreeBSD,  Up: Top

0.12 What are some IPMI terminology or acronyms I should be aware of?
=====================================================================

Good question, here are some terms and acronyms with general definition
you might want to know.

   *BMC* stands for *Baseboard Management Controller*.  The BMC is the
management chip on the system that is responsible for IPMI.  It is
common to refer to configuring the "BMC" as synonymous for configuring
IPMI.

   *inband* IPMI communication refers to communication on a system
locally (i.e. not over a network).

   *outofband* and *IPMI over LAN* refer to IPMI communication over a
network, typically ethernet.

   *SDR* stands for *Sensor Data Repository*.  The SDR is a database of
system information that is needed by many other IPMI functions.  It is
commonly read before some IPMI action can be taken.  For example, it
contains a list of all sensors on a system, so it must be downloaded
before sensors on a system can be read.  In FreeIPMI, the SDR is cached
in a common location and can be used by a number of tools, such as
ipmi-sensors, ipmi-sel, and ipmi-fru.

   *SEL* stands for *System Event Log*.  The SEL is a log of events
stored on the system for later diagnostics.  In FreeIPMI, ipmi-sel can
be used to read the SEL.

   *FRU* stands for *Field Replaceable Unit*.  While FRU is a general
computing term refering to a replaceable unit of electronics, in IPMI
is is common to refer to the "FRU" as the database of all FRU
components on a system.  In FreeIPMI, ipmi-fru can be used to read the
FRU components on a system.

   *PEF* stands for *Platform Event Filtering*.  PEF refers to the
rules that determine when PETs are generated and where they are sent.
In FreeIPMI, PEF can be configured via ipmi-pef-config.

   *PET* stands for *Platform Event Trap*.  PET refers to a trap that
can be sent by a system to an SNMP agent to indicate an event has
occurred on the system.  In FreeIPMI, a PET trap can be interpreted via
ipmi-pet.

   *DCMI* stands for *Data Center Management Interface*.  DCMI is a
management interface defined by a group of vendors that use IPMI as the
backend for their system management definition.  In FreeIPMI, ipmi-dcmi
can be used to read/configuring DCMI.

   *SOL* stands for *Serial over LAN*.  SOL refers to the forwarding of
serial system traffic over a network, typically an ethernet network.
It is typically used to access a remote system console.  In FreeIPMI,
ipmiconsole is used to access a remote console via SOL.

   *RMCP* stands for *Remote Management Control Protocol*.  The RMCP
protocol is another remote management protocol which IPMI is defined
within for outofband communication.  For most IPMI users, you will
never need to know about RMCP.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: What setup is needed for FreeIPMI to communicate over LAN?,  Next: What setup is needed for Serial over LAN (SOL) or Ipmiconsole?,  Prev: What are some IPMI terminology or acronyms I should be aware of?,  Up: Top

0.13 What setup is needed for FreeIPMI to communicate over LAN?
===============================================================

Please see the bmc-config.conf(5) manpage provided with FreeIPMI for
details, or you can read it on the FreeIPMI website's documentation
(`http://www.gnu.org/software/freeipmi/manpages/man5/bmc-config.conf.5.html').


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: What setup is needed for Serial over LAN (SOL) or Ipmiconsole?,  Next: Do I need to install or configure a driver to perform IPMI inband?,  Prev: What setup is needed for FreeIPMI to communicate over LAN?,  Up: Top

0.14 What setup is needed for Serial over LAN (SOL) or Ipmiconsole?
===================================================================

The setup of Serial-over-LAN (SOL) and/or Ipmiconsole is highly
dependent on your system.  However, most motherboardss require the
following:

   1) Adjust the BIOS COM port for serial redirection over SOL instead
of the normal serial port and set the appropriate baud rate.  If you do
not know which port is the SOL port, you may need to play around and
guess.  It is likely a non-default setting, since many manufacturers
may still assume the default redirection is out of the normal serial
port.  If you do not have a serial port on your motherboard, this part
can probably be skipped.

   2) Configure IPMI on the motherboard to use SOL.  Many motherboards
may have this enabled by default, however you may wish to verify with
FreeIPMI's bmc-config.  More information can be found in the
bmc-config.conf(5) manpage on the settings.  However, the key settings
are to enable SOL on the system, enable SOL for individual users, and
select the appropriate baud.  On many motherboards, the selected baud
must match what is configured in the BIOS.

   3) Adjust your operating systems serial console settings to use the
appropriate COM port.  For Linux, the following guide
(`http://www.vanemery.com/Linux/Serial/serial-console.html') provides a
pretty good overview of setting of a serial console on Linux.  The only
difference for setting up a serial console with Ipmiconsole or SOL, is
the ttySX terminal may need to be changed.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: Do I need to install or configure a driver to perform IPMI inband?,  Next: SSIF Driver Configuration,  Prev: What setup is needed for Serial over LAN (SOL) or Ipmiconsole?,  Up: Top

0.15 Do I need to install or configure a driver to perform IPMI inband?
=======================================================================

For most people the answer is no.

   FreeIPMI includes a userspace driver that works on most motherboards
without any driver installation, loading, or configuration required.
FreeIPMI also includes support of a Linux SSIF driver through the SSIF
device (i.e. /dev/i2c-0), the OpenIPMI Linux kernel driver (i.e.
/dev/ipmi0), and the Sun/Solaris BMC driver (i.e. /dev/bmc).  If you
communicate through one of these mechanisms, the appropriate drivers
for them should be loaded.  Most systems should automatically load the
appropriate drivers you need.

   Under most scenarios, the FreeIPMI tools should automatically
discover which in-band interface to use and the proper settings to use.
Some motherboards may require you to determine alternate configurations
for addresses, paths, etc. on your own and pass them as command line
options to the tools.

   Every system is different and your situation may differ.  Please see
your manufacturer and operating system instructions.

   There are some additional Linux OpenIPMI kernel driver notes here:
`http://www.gnu.org/software/freeipmi/README.openipmi'.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: SSIF Driver Configuration,  Next: How do you setup Powerman with ipmipower?,  Prev: Do I need to install or configure a driver to perform IPMI inband?,  Up: Top

0.16 SSIF Driver Configuration
==============================

FreeIPMI's SSIF driver works on top of kernel'2 i2c device interface.

   Under GNU/Linux load these kernel modules: i2c-dev, i2c-i801,
i2c-core before using FreeIPMI.

   To identify SSIF device address:

   Example:
     $> lspci  (in the output look for this entry)
      00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 6300ESB SMBus Controller (rev 01)
            Subsystem: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 342f
            Flags: medium devsel,  IRQ 17
            I/O ports at 0400 [size=32]
                         ----
     $> cat /proc/bus/i2c
     i2c-0   smbus    SMBus I801 adapter at 0400         Non-I2C SMBus adapter
                                            ----
         Make sure the "0400" above matches with the "0400" address under
         proc.  Also make sure "i2c-0" is not different. If it appears
         different then grep for "i2c-0" in this code "ipmitool.c" and
         change. "i2c-X" is the label assigned to each slave device attached on
         the i2c bus.

     BMC address Locator:
         Refer to the SM BIOS IPMI Device Information Record
         Type 38,  record 06h and 08h. Use the value of record
         06h as the IPMBAddress and load the SMBus controller
         driver at the address value read from record 08h.

         Usual values for record 06h -> 0x42
         Usual values for record 08h -> 0x400


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: How do you setup Powerman with ipmipower?,  Next: How do you setup Conman with ipmiconsole or libipmiconsole?,  Prev: SSIF Driver Configuration,  Up: Top

0.17 How do you setup Powerman with ipmipower?
==============================================

There are additional details in the Powerman
(`http://code.google.com/p/powerman/') documentation, however here are
the basics.  In the powerman.conf file, you want to include the
ipmipower.dev device file, setup an ipmipower device in co-process
mode, then configure hosts to use that device.

     include "/etc/powerman/ipmipower.dev"

     device "ipmi0" "ipmipower" "/usr/sbin/ipmipower -h mynodes[0-10] |&"

     node "mynodes[0-10]"  "ipmi0" "mynodes[0-10]"

   You may wish to add some additional ipmipower configuration on the
device line:

     device "ipmi0" "ipmipower" "/usr/sbin/ipmipower --wait-until-on --wait-until-off -h mynodes[0-10] -u username -p password |&"

   although you will probably want to do some of this configuration
(especially the username and password) in freeipmi.conf.

   If you use an alternate set of hostnames for IPMI from the primary
hostname, that can configured like this:

     device "ipmi0" "ipmipower" "/usr/sbin/ipmipower -h altname[0-10] |&"

     node "primaryname[0-10]"  "ipmi0" "altname[0-10]"


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: How do you setup Conman with ipmiconsole or libipmiconsole?,  Next: How do you setup Ganglia or Nagios to monitor IPMI sensors via FreeIPMI?,  Prev: How do you setup Powerman with ipmipower?,  Up: Top

0.18 How do you setup Conman with ipmiconsole or libipmiconsole?
================================================================

There are additional details in the Conman
(`http://conman.googlecode.com/') documentation and manpages, however
here are some basics.

   To configure Conman to connect via the ipmiconsole tool, Conman comes
with an expect script named ipmiconsole.exp, typically installed into
/usr/lib/conman/exec/ipmiconsole.exp.  Consoles can be setup by adding
lines to conman.conf like:

     CONSOLE name="myserver"   dev="/usr/lib/conman/exec/ipmiconsole.exp myserver myusername mypassword"

   One of the useful aspects of using the ipmiconsole.exp script is that
the same configuration options you may have already configured into
freeipmi.conf, may be loaded automatically when ipmiconsole is executed
via this expect script.

   However, as can be expected, scalability may be a problem as you must
launch a process for every node in your cluster.

   Conman is also capable of connecting to servers natively through the
libipmiconsole library, so that no additional processes are launched.
They can be configured as follows:

     CONSOLE name="myserver" IPMIOPTS="U:myusername,P:mypassword" dev="ipmi:myserver"

   on some older versions of Conman, you would instead use

     CONSOLE name="myserver" IPMIOPTS="myusername,mypassword" dev="ipmi:myserver"

   Please see the Conman documentation for current version options and
additional configuration options available.

   One of the additional advantages of configuring Conman to use the
libipmiconsole library natively is that Conman is able to detect and
manage additional IPMI error cases.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: How do you setup Ganglia or Nagios to monitor IPMI sensors via FreeIPMI?,  Next: Why is the IPMI kernel driver faster than the KCS driver?,  Prev: How do you setup Conman with ipmiconsole or libipmiconsole?,  Up: Top

0.19 How do you setup Ganglia or Nagios to monitor IPMI sensors via FreeIPMI?,
==============================================================================

Scripts to monitor IPMI via FreeIPMI in Ganglia and Nagios have been
developed and are downloadable on the FreeIPMI homepage
(`http://www.gnu.org/software/freeipmi/download.html').  Instructions
for setup can be found at the top of the scripts.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: Why is the IPMI kernel driver faster than the KCS driver?,  Next: Why are there so many IPMI compliance bugs?,  Prev: How do you setup Ganglia or Nagios to monitor IPMI sensors via FreeIPMI?,  Up: Top

0.20 Why is the IPMI kernel driver faster than the KCS driver?
==============================================================

Internally the IPMI kernel driver chooses to spin while polling for a
response from the base management controller (BMC) while the KCS driver
elects to sleep between poll attempts.  An operating system's scheduler
granularity may be larger than the time it takes to perform a IPMI
transaction, thus the wall clock time of the KCS driver is far worse
than the IPMI kernel driver.  FreeIPMI's KCS driver implements the
sleep between poll attempts because it is believed to provide better
overall system use.  To force the KCS driver to have similar wall clock
response time to the IPMI kernel driver, users can specify the
'spinpoll' workaround.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: Why are there so many IPMI compliance bugs?,  Next: How do I get around an IPMI compliance bug on my motherboard?,  Prev: Why is the IPMI kernel driver faster than the KCS driver?,  Up: Top

0.21 Why are there so many IPMI compliance bugs?
================================================

The IPMI specification is very large.  At last check, the IPMI
specification was 601 pages.  This does not count the various side
specifications related to IPMI, including DCMI, PET, FRU, and the
various OEM extension specifications (e.g. Intel Node Manager).  Many
sections of text can be ambiguous.  Many components of IPMI are
optional and aren't required to be implemented.  There is some leeway
for implementation interpretation as well.  Ultimately, bugs will
happen.  In all fairness, FreeIPMI has had bugs too.

   A number of the IPMI compliance bugs found by FreeIPMI are documented
in the freeipmi-bugs-issues-and-workarounds.txt document (you can find
it on the website here:
`http://www.gnu.org/software/freeipmi/freeipmi-bugs-issues-and-workarounds.txt').


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: How do I get around an IPMI compliance bug on my motherboard?,  Next: How do I program with the FreeIPMI libraries?,  Prev: Why are there so many IPMI compliance bugs?,  Up: Top

0.22 How do I get around an IPMI compliance bug on my motherboard?
==================================================================

Most of the FreeIPMI tools and libraries have flags to workaround a
large number of IPMI compliance bugs found on motherboards.  Please see
the appropriate tool manpages or library header files for details on
the workarounds available and for what motherboards.

   If you believe there is a compliance issue on your motherboard that
has not yet been implemented, please contact the maintainers on the
<freeipmi-devel@gnu.org> mailing list.


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: How do I program with the FreeIPMI libraries?,  Next: Where can I get additional help or support?,  Prev: How do I get around an IPMI compliance bug on my motherboard?,  Up: Top

0.23 How do I program with the FreeIPMI libraries?
==================================================

If you are looking for a high level library to do Serial-over-LAN (SOL)
or IPMI sensor/SEL monitoring, you may wish to look at the
libipmiconsole and libipmimonitoring libraries.  These libraries
attempt to abstract a large amount of the underlying IPMI detail from
developers.  The majority of the documentation can be found in the
header files.  Some examples can be found in the documentation and the
FreeIPMI tools that use them.

   The libfreeipmi library is the core library used by other FreeIPMI
libraries and tools.  However, it is quite detailed in regards to the
IPMI specification and many components of the library will be quite
confusing to those unfamiliar with the finer details of the IPMI
specification.  It is recommended most use the higher level libraries
described above.

   A more detailed description of the available FreeIPMI libraries can
be found in the freeipmi-libraries.txt document (you can find it on the
website here:
`http://www.gnu.org/software/freeipmi/freeipmi-libraries.txt').


File: freeipmi-faq.info,  Node: Where can I get additional help or support?,  Prev: How do I program with the FreeIPMI libraries?,  Up: Top

0.24 Where can I get additional help or support?
================================================

For help, please email the <freeipmi-users@gnu.org> mailing list.



Tag Table:
Node: Top691
Node: What is IPMI2051
Node: What is FreeIPMI?3240
Node: How did FreeIPMI start?3776
Node: What operating systems does FreeIPMI run on?5112
Node: FreeIPMI vs OpenIPMI vs Ipmitool vs Ipmiutil5868
Node: What is special about FreeIPMI?6676
Node: Does my system support IPMI?13076
Node: How do I compile FreeIPMI?14627
Node: libgcrypt requirement14992
Node: x86-64 Compilation15632
Node: Installing FreeIPMI on FreeBSD16315
Node: What are some IPMI terminology or acronyms I should be aware of?16958
Node: What setup is needed for FreeIPMI to communicate over LAN?19926
Node: What setup is needed for Serial over LAN (SOL) or Ipmiconsole?20520
Node: Do I need to install or configure a driver to perform IPMI inband?22338
Node: SSIF Driver Configuration23806
Node: How do you setup Powerman with ipmipower?25406
Node: How do you setup Conman with ipmiconsole or libipmiconsole?26741
Node: How do you setup Ganglia or Nagios to monitor IPMI sensors via FreeIPMI?28652
Node: Why is the IPMI kernel driver faster than the KCS driver?29309
Node: Why are there so many IPMI compliance bugs?30317
Node: How do I get around an IPMI compliance bug on my motherboard?31412
Node: How do I program with the FreeIPMI libraries?32202
Node: Where can I get additional help or support?33536

End Tag Table
