sun
   microsystems              Systems Architecture Committee

_________________________________________________________________

Subject:       FreeIPMI

Submitted by:  Michal Bachorik

File:          PSARC/2009/245/opinion.ms

Date:          May 6th, 2009

Committee:     Garrett  D'Amore,  Kais  Belgaied,  James  D.
               Carlson,  Richard  Matthews,  Darren  Moffat,
               Sebastien Roy, and Glenn Skinner.

Product Approval Committee:

               Solaris PAC
               solaris-pac-opinion@sun.com

1.  Summary

This case seeks to integrate the open source FreeIMPI  tool,
which is used with platforms conforming to the IPMI v1.5/2.0
specification.  As such, it includes various tools  to  con-
figure BMC and IPMI information, list information about BMC,
manage/monitor a chassis, read FRU information,  read/manage
system  event  log  records among other things.  The project
further includes the necessary libraries  and  header  files
for developing custom IPMI tools.

2.  Decision & Precedence Information

The project is approved as specified in reference [1].

The project may be delivered in a minor release of  the  SFW
consolidation.

3.  Interfaces

The project exports the following interfaces.

_______________________________________________________________________
|                         Interfaces Exported                         |
|______________________|________________|_____________________________|
|Interface             |  Classification|  Comments                   |
|______________________|________________|_____________________________|
|SUNWfreeipmr          |  Uncommitted   |  package                    |
|SUNWfreeipmiu         |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmiconsole           |  Uncommitted   |  /var/log subdirectory      |
|______________________|________________|_____________________________|

PSARC/2009/245               Copyright 2009 Sun Microsystems

                           - 2 -

_______________________________________________________________________
|                         Interfaces Exported                         |
|______________________|________________|_____________________________|
|Interface             |  Classification|  Comments                   |
|______________________|________________|_____________________________|
|freeipmi              |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|freeipmi              |  Uncommitted   |  /var/lib subdirectory      |
|ipmimonitoringsdrcache|  Uncommitted   |  /var/cache subdirectory    |
|etc/logrotate.d       |  Committed     |  directory                  |
|freeipmi              |  Uncommitted   |  /usr/include subdirectory  |
|freeipmi/spec         |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|freeipmi/sdr-cache    |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|freeipmi/locate       |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|freeipmi/cmds         |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|freeipmi/interface    |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|freeipmi/fiid         |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|freeipmi/api          |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|freeipmi/util         |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|freeipmi/record-format|  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|freeipmi/debug        |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|freeipmi/driver       |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|freeipmi              |  Uncommitted   |  /usr/share/doc subdirectory|
|freeipmi/info         |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|libipmidetect         |  Uncommitted   |  library                    |
|libipmiconsole        |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|libfreeipmi           |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|libipmimonitoring     |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|bmc-info              |  Uncommitted   |  command                    |
|bmc-config            |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|bmc-watchdog          |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmi-chassis          |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmi-fru              |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmi-sel              |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmi-sensors          |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmipower             |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmiconsole           |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmimonitoring        |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmi-raw              |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmi-locate           |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|pef-config            |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmi-chassis-config   |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmi-sensors-config   |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|bmc-device            |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmiping              |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|rmcpping              |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmi-oem              |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmidetect            |  Uncommitted   |  "                          |
|ipmidetectd           |  Uncommitted   |  daemon                     |
|______________________|________________|_____________________________|

PSARC/2009/245               Copyright 2009 Sun Microsystems

                           - 3 -

The project imports the following interfaces.

____________________________________________
|           Interfaces Imported            |
|__________|____________________|__________|
|Interface |  Classification    |  Comments|
|__________|____________________|__________|
|bmc_intf.h|  Contracted Private|          |
|libgcrypt |  Committed         |          |
|__________|____________________|__________|

4.  Opinion

4.1.  Multiple IPMI frameworks

During review, concerns about interactions between  multiple
IPMI  frameworks  (FreeIPMI  and ipmitool) were raised.  The
project team indicated that no misbehavior  had  been  found
during testing.

However, a member desired to make clear  that  we  currently
have  an  architecture of record for IPMI, and that is ipmi-
tool  (PSARC  2004/453).   Therefore,  while  this  case  is
approved on the merits of "familiarity", future projects are
advised to use ipmitool when IPMI services are needed.

5.  Minority Opinion(s)

None.

6.  Advisory Information

Future projects wishing to use IPMI services are advised  to
use  ipmitool (PSARC 2004/453) as that is the Solaris archi-
tecture of record.  If a change to some other toolset  (such
as FreeIPMI) is desired, then a PSARC case should be brought
forward to make such a change.

7.  Appendices

7.1.  Appendix A: Technical Changes Required

None.

7.2.  Appendix B: Technical Changes Advised

None.

7.3.  Appendix C: Reference Material

Unless stated otherwise, path names are relative to the case
directory PSARC/2009/245.

PSARC/2009/245               Copyright 2009 Sun Microsystems

                           - 4 -

1.   One Pager.  File:  20090417_michal.bachorik

2.   Intelligent Platform Management Interface  -  IPMI  x86
     Case:  PSARC/2004/453

PSARC/2009/245               Copyright 2009 Sun Microsystems