IPMI During Boot

[Julian Elischer]

Jack Vogel wrote:

>On 3/14/06, Matt <matt at successfulhosting.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>Hello,
>>
>>I've tried to be fairly thorough in researching the problem before posting
>>to the list, however, there doesn't seem to be a great multitude of
>>information out there regarding IPMI configuration on FreeBSD.
>>
>>Here's the setup:  I have a SuperMicro 6014H-82 Chassis with the
>>AOC-IPMI20-E
>>(http://supermicro.com/products/accessories/addon/AOC-IPMI20-E.cfm).  The
>>motherboard has an Intel adapter that uses the em(4) driver (so it isn't
>>suppose to suffer the same issues as the bge adapter).  I have ensured the
>>MAC address configured for the IPMI matches the MAC address of the network
>>card itself.  I'm using a private network IP (192.168.2.41) on the IPMI card
>>itself, and I've tried various settings for the adapter in the OS (I've
>>tried it using the same private IP, and a different private IP).  The IPMI
>>function itself works great, I can connect and perform the needed tasks, I
>>can even use Serial-On-Lan to get into the BIOS, the RAID card setup, as
>>well as log into the Operating system.  I've also configured the boot
>>settings so that I do get the menu of boot options, and I can see the boot
>>happening.
>>
>>However, here's the issue:  During booting, when the "em" driver loads, the
>>IPMI function effectively ceases.  From the time the em driver is loaded,
>>until the OS actually configures the network adapter, I do not receive
>>output to the serial console.  If I disconnect the IPMI session, I cannot
>>reconnect during the time either (IPMI is suppose to connect at all times,
>>even when the box is powered off!).  If I don't disconnect, eventually, all
>>the backlog will spew to the screen and I'll be at the login prompt.
>>However, this poses a problem if I need to use single-user mode or if FSCK
>>requires some intervention.  Since single-user mode never configures the
>>network adapter, then it just never comes back.  Regarding FSCK, if a box
>>crashes and goes to FSCK, even if its set to automatically fsck (too screwed
>>up for background fsck or something), I have no way of seeing that, since it
>>occurs before the network adapter is configured as well.  This kinda defeats
>>the purpose of the IPMI card.
>>
>>I'm using the SuperMicro IPMIView program.  I have tried both the regular
>>IPMI firmware that uses a non-standard RMCP protocol, as well as their
>>"beta" firmware that uses the standard RMCP+ protocol.  Using the RMCP+
>>firmware enables me to use ipmitool or such from command line, but the same
>>problem exists.
>>
>>I have tried a multitude of things.  I've upgraded to the latest stable
>>version (6-STABLE).  Built the latest boot blocks (cd /usr/src/sys/boot &&
>>make && make install), installed them (fdisk -B && disklabel -B
>>/dev/aacd0s1).  Below are the various configs and messages I can think of to
>>post.  The kernel is pretty much GENERIC with maxusers, smp, and quota.
>>
>>/boot.config:
>>-Dh -S19200
>>
>>/boot/loader.conf:
>>boot_serial="YES"
>>boot_multicons="YES"
>>console="comconsole,vidconsole"
>>comconsole_speed="19200"
>>
>>I'm pretty sure the above is overkill.  I've tried using just one or the
>>other or both, and while the console redirection still works, it still
>>freezes when the em driver loads.
>>
>>
>>One thing to note when look at the dmesg.  I do see the dmesg load fast on
>>the SOL up until the em loads, and then it shows this:
>>
>>em0: Ethernet address: 00:30:48:2f:51:d2
>>
>>Until the network interface is brought up in the later boot stages, at which
>>point it flies through what it missed to the login prompt.
>>    
>>
>
>Hi Matt,
>
>  I have zero experience with IPMI on FreeBSD, however I worked on it
>a fair amount on Linux while at IBM.
>
>Off the top of my head I'm wondering if you really should assign the
>same MAC address to the BMC as the NIC, does something tell you
>to do this?
>
>I was not sure from your description, are you saying that IPMI stops
>working during boot, but eventually it does work again, or does it
>only work with the em driver is not loaded?
>  
>

Working with intel (TM) motherboards using the Intel Gb chips,
and talking to the intel reps last year (for my previous employer) I was 
led to believe that
these chips supported IPMI by giving the BMC a back door into the same 
NIC that the
OS was using.
(using an I2c (SMB) interface)
On the machines I used, I am pretty sure the bios gave the same MAC 
address to the BMC
side of things as the OS side of theings by default, and we had is set 
up so that we used the
same IP address also.

>Jack
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