TWI497319B - Update method of baseboard management controller - Google Patents

Description

Substrate management controller update method

This case is related to an update method of an electronic device. In particular, a method of updating a substrate management controller.

With the rapid development of electronic technology, various types of computer systems have been widely used in people's lives, such as personal computers or servers.

A particular computer system (eg, a server) can include a baseboard management controller (BMC) that can be used to assist the administrator in controlling the computer system. In general, after updating the firmware of the baseboard management controller, the relevant settings of the baseboard management controller are lost. At this point, the administrator needs to restart the computer system and manually set the relevant settings of the baseboard management controller to make the updated computer system operate correctly. However, such an approach is not only labor intensive, inefficient, but also affects the running service by restarting the computer system.

Therefore, an improved method is proposed.

One aspect of the present invention is a method of updating a baseboard management controller (BMC). According to an embodiment of the present invention, the updating method includes: before the start of the update, a control device sends a capture command to the baseboard management controller; and the baseboard management controller sends at least one baseboard management controller according to the captured command Setting and at least one system state to the control device; the control device updates a firmware of the baseboard management controller; the control device determines whether the firmware of the baseboard management controller is successfully updated; and successfully updating the substrate management In the case of the firmware of the controller, the at least one substrate management controller setting extracted and the at least one system state are set to the substrate management controller.

In summary, by applying the above embodiment, a method for updating the substrate management controller can be implemented. Through the update method of the baseboard management controller, the administrator does not need to restart the computer system and reset the settings of the baseboard management controller after updating the firmware of the baseboard management controller. Therefore, the efficiency of updating the baseboard management controller can be effectively improved, and the negative impact on the running service due to restarting the computer system can be avoided.

100‧‧‧ computer system

110‧‧‧Control device

130‧‧‧ storage space

200‧‧‧ update method

120‧‧‧Baseboard management controller

122‧‧‧storage unit

S1-S6‧‧‧ steps

1 is a schematic diagram of a computer system according to an embodiment of the invention; and FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an update method according to an embodiment of the invention. Cheng Tu.

The spirit and scope of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure. Modifications do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

The terms “first”, “second”, etc. used in this document are not specifically intended to refer to the order or order, nor are they used to limit the case. They are only used to distinguish between components or operations described in the same technical terms. .

"Electrical connection" or "coupling" as used herein may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, or indirectly for physical or electrical contact, and "electrical connection" Or "coupled" may also mean that two or more component elements operate or act in each other.

An embodiment of the present invention is a computer system. For clarity of description, the following paragraphs will be described by taking a server as an example, but the invention is not limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a computer system 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the computer system 100 can include a baseboard management controller (BMC) 120. The substrate management controller 120 can be coupled to a control device 110. Control device 110 can include a storage space 130. In one embodiment, the control device 110 is, for example, a remote control terminal coupled to the baseboard management controller 120 via a network interface (not shown). In another embodiment, the control device 110 is, for example, external storage. The device is plugged into the computer system 100. It should be noted that the connection relationship and the connection manner between the control device 110 and the computer system 100 or the substrate management controller 120 are not limited thereto, and any connection relationship and connection manner sufficient for realizing the following technical contents can be applied to the present invention.

In this embodiment, the control device 110 can be configured to execute an update script or a utility to update the firmware of the baseboard management controller 120, and during the update process, perform the substrate management controller 120. Maintenance of related settings. Control device 110 can be implemented by a central processing unit, a microprocessor, or other suitable processing device.

In this embodiment, the substrate management controller 120 can include a storage unit 122. The substrate management controller 120 can be used to store a plurality of substrate management controller settings and a plurality of system states to the storage unit 122. The substrate management controller 120 can be implemented by a central processing unit, a microprocessor, or other suitable processing device.

In an embodiment, the substrate management controller settings may include a baseboard management controller area network setting (BMC LAN Configurations), a baseboard management controller physical network address (BMC MAC Address), and a baseboard management controller fan control table. (BMC FAN Control Table), etc. For another example, the system state may include a system configuration and a power state of the power interface (System ACPI Power State), a system health state of the system state LED status, and a system global unique identifier ( System GUID) and so on. It should be noted that the content set by the above substrate management controller and the content of the system state are merely examples, the contents set by the substrate management controller and the system state. The actual situation may vary, and is not limited to the above examples.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the internal storage space 130 of the control device 110 can be used to temporarily store at least one substrate management controller setting and at least one system state when updating the firmware of the substrate management controller 120. The internal storage space 130 of the control device 110 can be implemented by a memory, a hard drive, a flash drive, a scratchpad, or other suitable storage device.

The details of the present case will be further described below by describing an update method. The updating method can be applied to the same or similar to the substrate management controller 120 in FIG. 1 , and in order to simplify the description, the computer system 100 in FIG. 1 is taken as an example to update the method according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is stated that the invention is not limited to this application.

In addition, it should be understood that the steps of the updating method mentioned in the embodiment may be adjusted according to actual needs, and may be performed simultaneously or partially simultaneously, unless the order is specifically described.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a method 200 for updating a computer system according to an embodiment of the invention. The update method 200 can include the following steps.

In step S1, before the start of the update, the control device 110 may send a capture command to the baseboard management controller 120. The capture instruction may be provided to the baseboard management controller 120 through a network interface, for example, but the aspect of the capture instruction is not limited to the above embodiment. In an embodiment, the control device 110 may execute the update script to send the capture command to the baseboard management controller 120 according to the content of the update script. The update script includes, for example, a plurality of instructions.

In step S2, the substrate management controller 120 may send at least one substrate management controller setting and at least one system state to the control device 110 according to the capture command. The control device 110 may temporarily store at least one of the substrate management controller settings received and retrieved and at least one system state in the storage space 130 inside the control device 110.

In step S3, after capturing at least one substrate management controller setting and at least one system state, the control device 110 may update the firmware of the substrate management controller 120. For example, the control device 120 can provide the firmware update file to the substrate management controller 120 through the firmware update tool, so that the substrate management controller 120 writes the firmware update file to the firmware for storing the substrate management controller 120. The storage device (not shown) of the body is used to complete the firmware update of the substrate management controller 120.

In step S4, the control device 110 can determine whether the firmware of the substrate management controller 120 is successfully updated. If yes, proceed to step S5; if no, proceed to step S6.

In step S5, in the case of successfully updating the firmware of the substrate management controller, the control device 110 may set the extracted at least one substrate management controller setting and the at least one system state to the substrate management controller 120. In an embodiment, the control device 110 can re-write the storage unit of the substrate management controller 120 by setting at least one of the substrate management controller settings and at least one system state.

On the other hand, in step S6, if the firmware of the baseboard management controller 120 is not successfully updated, the control device 110 may report the update failure message and the specific error message, so that the administrator can debug and Update again.

Through the above steps, the control device 110 can capture the substrate management controller settings and the system state before updating the firmware of the substrate management controller 120, and after receiving the firmware of the substrate management controller 120, the received substrate The controller settings and system state settings are managed to the baseboard management controller 120.

In this way, the administrator does not need to restart the computer system 100 after updating the firmware of the baseboard management controller 120 and manually set the relevant settings of the baseboard management controller 120. Therefore, the efficiency of updating the substrate management controller 120 can be effectively improved, the error caused by manually setting the relevant settings of the substrate management controller 120 can be reduced, and the service that is running due to restarting the computer system 100 can be avoided. The negative impact.

In the following paragraphs, more specific implementation details regarding the above update method 200 will be provided, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in step S2, the control device 110 can pass at least one intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) standard instruction, and/or through at least one original equipment manufacturer (Original Equipment Manufacturer, The OEM) command retrieves at least one substrate management controller setting and at least one system state. Here, the smart platform management interface is an industry standard for peripheral devices (such as servers) of the enterprise system, and the standard instructions of the smart platform management interface can control the operation of the peripheral devices and automatically report the operation status of the peripheral devices. . On the other hand, the original equipment manufacturer's instructions here are instructions set by the equipment manufacturer and are not general standards.

For example, the control device 110 can access the baseboard management controller area network setting through the standard command Get LAN Configuration Parameters of the smart platform management interface. The control device 110 can obtain the base management controller physical network address through the standard command Get LAN Configuration Parameters of the smart platform management interface. The control device 110 can obtain the power state of the system advanced configuration and the power interface through the standard command Get ACPI Power State of the smart platform management interface. The control device 110 can retrieve the system global unique identifier through the standard instruction Get System GUID of the smart platform management interface.

On the other hand, the control device 110 can transmit the baseboard management controller fan control table through the original equipment manufacturer's instruction OEM Dump FCT . The control device 110 can pass the original device manufacturer's instruction OEM Get System Health LED Status to capture the state of the light state of the system health state.

In contrast, in step S5, the control device 110 can also set the substrate management controller 120 through at least one standard instruction of the smart platform management interface and/or through at least one original equipment manufacturer instruction.

For example, the control device 110 can set the baseboard management controller area network setting through the standard command set LAN Configuration Parameters of the smart platform management interface. The control device 110 can set the power state of the system advanced configuration and the power interface through the standard command Set ACPI Power State of the smart platform management interface.

On the other hand, the control device 110 can set the baseboard management controller fan control table through the original equipment manufacturer's instruction OEM Update FCT . The control device 110 can set the baseboard management controller physical network address through the original equipment manufacturer's instruction OEM Set BMC MAC Address . The control device 110 can set the system global unique identifier through the original equipment manufacturer's instruction OEM Set System GUID . The control device 110 can set the system global unique identifier through the original equipment manufacturer's instruction OEM Set System Health LED Status .

According to an embodiment of the invention, in step S5, the control device 110 can determine whether the firmware of the updated substrate management controller 120 has completed initialization. After the firmware of the updated substrate management controller 120 is initialized, the control device 110 may set the extracted at least one substrate management controller setting and the at least one system state to the substrate management controller 120. For example, after the firmware of the substrate management controller 120 is initialized, the substrate management controller 120 can provide an initialization completion signal to the control device 110, and the control device 110 can set the substrate management control after receiving the initialization completion signal. 120.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present case. Anyone skilled in the art can make various changes and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present case. The scope defined in the patent application is subject to change.

200‧‧‧ update method

S1-S6‧‧‧ steps

Claims (8)

An update method of a baseboard management controller, the update method includes: before a start of the update, a control device sends a capture command to the baseboard management controller; and the baseboard management controller sends at least one baseboard management according to the capture command a controller setting and at least one system state to the control device; the control device updating a firmware of the baseboard management controller; the control device determining whether the firmware of the baseboard management controller is successfully updated; and successfully updating the substrate In the case of managing the firmware of the controller, the at least one substrate management controller setting extracted and the at least one system state are set to the substrate management controller. The method for updating a substrate management controller according to claim 1, wherein the control device is a remote control end coupled to the baseboard management controller via a network interface. The method for updating a substrate management controller according to claim 1, wherein the control device is an external memory and is plugged into the computer system. The method for updating the baseboard management controller according to claim 1, further comprising: reporting the update failure message if the firmware of the baseboard management controller is not successfully updated. The method for updating a substrate management controller according to claim 1, wherein the step of setting the extracted at least one substrate management controller and setting the at least one system state to the substrate management controller comprises: determining the updated Whether the firmware of the baseboard management controller is initialized; and after the updated firmware of the baseboard management controller is initialized, setting the at least one baseboard management controller and the at least one system state setting To the substrate management controller. The method for updating a substrate management controller according to claim 1, wherein the substrate management controller stores the at least one substrate management controller setting and the at least one system state to a storage unit, wherein the at least one extracted The substrate management controller setting and the at least one system state, the step of setting to the substrate management controller includes: rewriting the extracted at least one substrate management controller setting and the at least one system state, and rewriting the substrate management controller The storage unit. The method for updating a substrate management controller according to claim 1, wherein the step of capturing the at least one substrate management controller and the at least one system state comprises: transmitting, by using at least one smart platform management interface, a standard instruction, and/or The at least one baseboard management controller setting of the baseboard management controller and the at least one system state are retrieved by at least one original equipment manufacturer command. The method for updating a substrate management controller according to claim 1, wherein the step of the substrate management controller transmitting the at least one substrate management controller setting and the at least one system state to the control device further comprises: the control device A baseboard management controller is set and at least one system state is stored to one of its internal storage spaces.