Manage hardware buttons

ik
Minnow

Posts: 2

Manage hardware buttons Jul 12, 2023 6:56:29 GMT

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Post by ik on Jul 12, 2023 6:56:29 GMT

Good day!

I am looking for a way to configure hardware buttons via the Redfish.
Some hardware buttons, e.g. PowerButton, ResetButton, NMIButton, that are usually attached to the front-panel (for RackMount chassis) could be masked on the BMC side to disallow related operations.

The IPMI protocol allows to configure this setting, the details described in the `28.6 Set Front Panel Enables`.

Unfortunately, I've not found the same setting in the Redfish schemas definition.

Could anybody suggest the right way to resolve the issue?

In the current environment I see the following ways:
* Define OEM property (I've very disliked this approach, it seems to me it would be better to use standard schemes)
* Use the Cable node:
In this way I want to represent the approach to enable/disable related hw-cable which connected to the baseboard and hw-button(downstream).
How far is this approach is response to the specification?

Thanks!

--
ik.

Last Edit: Jul 12, 2023 15:09:26 GMT by ik

jautor
Administrator

Posts: 519

Manage hardware buttons Jul 12, 2023 16:28:17 GMT

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Post by jautor on Jul 12, 2023 16:28:17 GMT

You're correct that the standard schemas don't have a method currently to enable/disable buttons. And I agree that there's certainly some industry-normal functionality there - especially for the power button. Many systems allow for the power button to be disabled, or to choose the reaction to a button press.

Other buttons like a reset/NMI - are those configurable by the user? Turning off a "hard to accidentally hit" reset button would seem counter-productive...

Jeff

mraineri
Administrator

Posts: 1,134

Manage hardware buttons Jul 12, 2023 16:43:50 GMT

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Post by mraineri on Jul 12, 2023 16:43:50 GMT

It would also be good to understand if the buttons described in the IPMI spec are even applicable to newer designs. If some of the buttons listed in the IPMI spec aren't even part of systems anymore, then I would like to avoid bringing them into Redfish. For example, the designs I'm familiar with haven't implemented NMI buttons in recent generations, and that sort of functionality is purely done via commands to the BMC.

ik
Minnow

Posts: 2

Manage hardware buttons Jul 13, 2023 9:38:56 GMT

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Post by ik on Jul 13, 2023 9:38:56 GMT

First of all, I want to say thanks for the reply!

Jul 12, 2023 16:28:17 GMT jautor said:

Other buttons like a reset/NMI - are those configurable by the user? Turning off a "hard to accidentally hit" reset button would seem counter-productive...

I guess there are cases when end users want to disable hw-buttons on front panel at all, independent of having the opportunity to accidentally hit.

Jul 12, 2023 16:43:50 GMT mraineri said:

It would also be good to understand if the buttons described in the IPMI spec are even applicable to newer designs. If some of the buttons listed in the IPMI spec aren't even part of systems anymore, then I would like to avoid bringing them into Redfish. For example, the designs I'm familiar with haven't implemented NMI buttons in recent generations, and that sort of functionality is purely done via commands to the BMC.

I quick looked at the OCP-reference specifications, and, e.g. the `facebook-xeon-motherboard-v31` contains the following definition for NMI: `00h, Front Panel NMI/Diagnostic Interrupt`.

In our implementation, we have four hw buttons on front-panel: ID, Power, Reset, NMI.
It seems to me it would be useful to have a definition in the redfish schemes for those buttons and having an opportunity to extend hw-button-types enumeration via an OEM-extension.

Again, has anybody the same point to use the `Cable` schema for that purpose, as I've mentioned above?

Thanks!

--
ik

Last Edit: Jul 13, 2023 9:42:29 GMT by ik

mraineri Administrator Posts: 1,134	Manage hardware buttons Jul 13, 2023 12:11:36 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by mraineri on Jul 13, 2023 12:11:36 GMT Thanks for checking the button usage on a newer design. I haven't seen anyone use the "Cable" model for this purpose. A few systems I've seen with configurable buttons have done so via OEM properties.

Post by ik on Jul 12, 2023 6:56:29 GMT

Post by jautor on Jul 12, 2023 16:28:17 GMT

Post by mraineri on Jul 12, 2023 16:43:50 GMT

Post by ik on Jul 13, 2023 9:38:56 GMT

Post by mraineri on Jul 13, 2023 12:11:36 GMT