TW201430561A - System and method of starting baseboard management controller - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a baseboard management controller start system. While BMC entering the network startup mode, the DHCP module assigned an IP address to BMC for establishing the network communications between the service port and BMC. BMC downloads the needed kernel from the TFTP module to start. According to the Kernel startup parameters and the NFS server, BMC runs to the root file system in the NFS module and loads the required documents. Then the Bootloader loads the service in the root file system to the BMC memory to complete BMC startup.

Description

Substrate management controller startup system and method

The invention relates to a baseboard management controller (BMC) starting system and method.

The application of the server is more and more widely used in today's society, and the application of the BMC for monitoring and managing its health status is becoming more and more extensive. Through the BMC, you can view the status of the server and get some information on the motherboard. The function is very powerful. The BMC chip will have a serial peripheral device interface (Serial Peripheral Interface Flash, SPI Flash) to store the firmware of the BMC (Firmware). The engineer will burn the prepared firmware in the Flash, and the BMC chip will be in the Flash. The firmware information is read into the memory, and it can work as needed, but each time the BMC firmware is burned for a long time, it is extremely inconvenient for the engineer to debug.

In view of the above, it is necessary to provide a substrate management controller startup system and method, which can configure the BMC startup mode to be a network startup mode, thereby saving server cost and improving work efficiency.

A substrate management controller startup system includes: a setting module configured to set a startup mode of a BMC by setting an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) command, the startup mode including a traditional startup mode and a network startup mode The allocation module, when the startup mode of the BMC is restarted is the network startup mode, the dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) module on the server side allocates an IP address to the BMC, and establishes the server and the BMC. Network communication; download module, BMC downloads the kernel (Kernel) required for BMC startup through the server's Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) module; runs the module, according to Kernel's startup parameters and the server's network The service provided by the Network File System (NFS) module runs to the root file system Rootfs of the NFS module, loads the documents required for BMC startup, and the BMC boot loader Bootloader loads the services in Rootfs. Run into the memory of the BMC to complete the startup of the BMC.

A BMC startup method runs on a server, and the server is connected to a server through a network. The method includes: setting a step of setting a startup mode of the BMC by setting an OEM command, the startup mode including a traditional startup mode and a network Road startup mode; allocation step, when the startup mode of the BMC restart is the network startup mode, the DHCP module of the server allocates an IP address to the BMC, establishes network communication between the server and the BMC; and downloads the BMC through the server. The TFTP module downloads the kernel Kernel required for the BMC startup; the running step, according to the Kernel boot parameters and the service provided by the server's NFS module, runs to the root file system Rootfs of the NFS module, and loads the documents required for the BMC startup. The BMC Bootloader loads the services in Rootfs into the memory of the BMC to complete the startup of the BMC.

Compared with the prior art, the baseboard management controller starts the system and the method, and uses the startup mode of starting the BMC from the network end, and only needs to store the Bootloader of the BMC and the startup parameters in the Flash of the BMC, and start The required Kernel and Rootfs are stored on the network. This saves server costs and saves new BMC update time and engineer debugging time.

1. . . server

10. . . BMC

101. . . Memory

102. . . processor

1010. . . RAM

1011. . . Flash

2. . . Server

3. . . network

20. . . TFTP module

twenty one. . . DHCP module

twenty two. . . NFS module

100. . . Baseboard management controller startup system

1000. . . Setting module

1001. . . Judging module

1002. . . Distribution module

1003. . . Download module

1004. . . Running module

1 is a schematic diagram of an application environment of a substrate management controller startup system of the present invention.

2 is a functional block diagram of a substrate management controller activation system of the present invention.

3 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of a method for starting a substrate management controller of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application environment of a substrate management controller startup system of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the baseboard management controller activation system 100 operates in a server 1 to control the startup of the BMC 10. The application of the baseboard management controller startup system 100 needs to be implemented by means of a function module of the server 2, which is communicatively connected to the server 2 via the network 3. The BMC 10 also includes a memory 101 and a processor 102. The memory 101 includes a flash 1011 on the BMC 10 and a RAM 1010 on the BMC 10. The network 3 can be an internet or an intranet or the like.

The server 2 includes a TFTP module 20, a DHCP module 21 and an NFS module 22. The server 2 can be equipped on the server 1 or it can be independent of the server 1.

In this embodiment, the DHCP module 21 centrally manages all IP network setting data, processes the DHCP request of the BMC 10, and automatically assigns an IP address to the BMC 10. The BMC 10 communicates with the server 2 using the IP address assigned from the DHCP module 21.

The TFTP module 20 is a module for performing simple document transmission between the BMC 10 and the server 2. In this embodiment, the network path of the Kernel of the BMC 10 is configured to the TFTP module 20. The Kernel is the core of the BMC 10 operating system, and is responsible for managing the processes, memory, device drivers, and documents of the BMC 10. And network system. The Kernel is downloaded from the TFTP module 20 of the server 2 by using the network communication established by the BMC 10 and the server 2.

The NFS module 22 allows a system to share directories and documents with others on the network. By using NFS module 22 and network 3, BMC 10 can access documents on the server 2 system as if it were a local document. In this embodiment, the network path of the Rootfs required for booting the BMC 10 is configured to the NFS module 22. The Rootfs is a document system, which is the first document system required when the Kernel is started. The Kernel code file is stored in Rootfs. The Bootloader of the BMC 10 will load some of the Rootfs initialization scripts and services into the memory of the BMC 10 to run the Rootfs after the Rootfs is mounted.

In this embodiment, the substrate management controller activation system 100 can be divided into one or more modules, and the one or more modules are stored in the memory 101 and configured to be configured by one or A plurality of processors (such as processor 102 in FIG. 1) are executed to complete the present invention. For example, referring to FIG. 2, the substrate management controller activation system 100 is divided into a setup module 1000, a determination module 1001, a distribution module 1002, a download module 1003, and an operation module 1004. The module referred to in the present invention is a program segment that performs a specific function, and is more suitable for describing the execution process of the software in the processor 102 than the program. The functions of each module will be specifically described in the flowchart of FIG.

3 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of the BMC booting method of the present invention.

In step S10, the BMC 10 is powered on, and the setting module 1000 sets the startup mode of the BMC 10 by setting an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) command on the BMC 10 of the server 1. For example, the setting mode value is 0. In the conventional boot mode, the set mode value is 1 to represent the network boot mode, and the mode value is stored on the EEPROM connected to the BMC 10.

Step S11, after the setting is completed, the setting module 1000 calls the Reboot command in the BMC 10 to control the BMC 10 to automatically restart the running bootloader.

In step S12, the determining module 1001 determines the BMC 10 startup mode value. If it is 0, it is the traditional startup mode, and step S16 is performed; if it is 1, it is the network startup mode, and step S13 is performed.

In step S13, when the bootloader enters the network startup mode, the DHCP module 21 on the server 2 receives the request of the BMC 10, and allocates an IP address to the BMC 10 through the network 3. The BMC 10 establishes network communication with the server 2 through the IP address, and the IP address information is stored on the Flash 1011 of the BMC 10.

In step S14, the download module 1003 invokes the built-in TFTP command of the Bootloader, and uses the BMC 10 to establish a network communication with the server 2 through the IP address and the TFTP module 20 document transmission protocol, from the TFTP module 20 on the server 2. The Kernel is downloaded to the RAM 1010 of the BMC 10, which passes the boot parameters to the Kernel. In this embodiment, the startup parameter is an IP address information of the BMC, a network path of the Kernel, a network path of the Rootfs, and the like.

In step S15, the operation module 1004 runs to the Rootfs of the NFS module 22 according to the startup parameters of the Kernel and the service provided by the NFS module 22 of the server 2, and loads the file system required for the Kernel startup. The Bootloader will load some initialization scripts and services in the Rootfs into the memory of the BMC 10 after the Rootfs is mounted to complete the network boot mode of the BMC 10.

Through the above steps S10 to S15, the BMC 10 can implement the process of starting the operation from the network side. To start the BMC 10 boot mode from the network, the BMC 10's Flash 1011 only needs to store the BMC 10 bootloader and the boot parameters, and the Kernel and Rootfs required for booting are stored in the network. The Bootloader is only more than 100 KB, which saves server costs and saves new version of BMC 10 update time and engineer debugging time.

In step S16, the BMC 10 is directly booted from the legacy mode.

It should be noted that the above embodiments are only for explaining the technical solutions of the present invention and are not intended to be limiting, and the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments. Modifications or equivalents are made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

100. . . Baseboard management controller startup system

1000. . . Setting module

1001. . . Judging module

1002. . . Distribution module

1003. . . Download module

1004. . . Running module

Claims (10)

A substrate management controller startup system is applied to a server, and the server is connected to a server through a network. The system includes:
Setting a module, setting a startup mode of the BMC by setting an original equipment manufacturer OEM command, the startup mode including a traditional startup mode and a network startup mode;
The allocation module, when the startup mode of the BMC is restarted is the network startup mode, the dynamic host setting protocol DHCP module of the server allocates an IP address to the BMC, and establishes network communication between the server and the BMC;
Download the module, BMC downloads the kernel Kernel required for BMC startup through the TFTP module of the simple file transfer protocol of the server;
Run the module, according to the Kernel boot parameters and the services provided by the server's network file system NFS module, run to the root file system Rootfs of the NFS module, load the documents required for BMC startup, and the BMC boot loader. The bootloader loads the services in Rootfs into the memory of the BMC to complete the startup of the BMC. The substrate management controller startup system according to claim 1, wherein the network path of the Kernel is configured to the TFTP module of the server. For example, in the substrate management controller startup system described in claim 1, the network path of the Rootfs is configured to the NFS module of the server. The substrate management controller startup system according to claim 1, wherein the startup parameters include an IP address information of the BMC, a network path of the Kernel, and a network path of the Rootfs. The substrate management controller startup system according to claim 1, wherein the server is provided on the server or is independent of the server. A method for starting a baseboard management controller, running on a server, the server connecting to a server through a network, the method comprising:
a setting step of setting a startup mode of the BMC by setting an original equipment manufacturer OEM command, the startup mode including a traditional startup mode and a network startup mode;
In the allocation step, when the startup mode of the BMC is in the network startup mode, the dynamic host setting protocol DHCP module of the server allocates an IP address to the BMC, and establishes network communication between the server and the BMC;
In the downloading process, the BMC downloads the kernel Kernel required for the BMC to boot through the TFTP module of the simple file transfer protocol of the server;
The running step, according to the Kernel boot parameters and the service provided by the server's network document system NFS module, runs to the root file system Rootfs of the NFS module, loads the documents required for the BMC startup, and the BMC boot loader Bootloader Load the service in Rootfs into the memory of the BMC to complete the startup of the BMC. The method for starting the substrate management controller according to claim 6, wherein the network path of the Kernel is configured to the TFTP module of the server. The method for starting a baseboard management controller according to claim 6, wherein the network path of the Rootfs is configured to an NFS module of the server. The substrate management controller startup method according to claim 6, wherein the startup parameter includes an IP address information of the BMC, a network path of the Kernel, and a network path of the Rootfs. The substrate management controller starting method according to claim 6, wherein the server is provided on the server or is independent of the server.