1. Introduction

This document defines the functions and the interfaces provided by the BMC software on an IPU-Machine.

To access the BMC, you will need the following information from the system administrator:

BMC host name or IP address
OpenBMC user ID and password

Initially, there will a single default user account on the BMC. When you log in as that user you can create further accounts, if you wish (see Section 9, User management).

1.1. BMC command line interface

To use the command-line interface, you must be logged in to the BMC via SSH or the serial console.

The command line interface uses either standard Linux commands or the ipum_utils command.

1.2. Graphical user interface

Support for graphical user interface is removed from BMC starting software bundle release 2.4.4.

1.3. REST API

You can send REST API commands using curl or the openbmctool.py command line tool on the host server. You can find openbmctool.py in the IPU-M software, typically at /home/ipuuser/IPU-M_releases/IPU_M_SW-<version>/bmc/bmc_software.

OpenBMC recommends token-based authentication when using the REST interface and provides some command examples, including power related operations. See the OpenBMC REST cheat sheet. A successful REST command results in a “200 OK” message as shown below:

{
  "data": null,
  "message": "200 OK",
  "status": "ok"
}

1.4. IPMI

You can use the the ipmitool to control the BMC over IPMI. You can download this from https://github.com/ipmitool/ipmitool.

1.5. Redfish

The Redfish standard is a suite of specifications that deliver an industry standard protocol providing a RESTful interface for the management of servers, storage and networking.

The IPU-Machine BMC supports a Redfish basic profile. You can perform operations through the Redfish interface by sending curl queries to the URI.

1.6. Abbreviations and acronyms

Common abbreviations used by this document are listed in Table 1.1. See A Dictionary of Graphcore Terminology for definitions of other Graphcore-specific terminology.

Table 1.1 Abbreviations
Abbreviation	Description
BGA	Ball grid array package
BIST	Built-in self-test
BMC	Baseboard management controller
CLI	Command line interface
FRU	Field replaceable unit
GUI	Graphical user interface
IPMI	Intelligent platform management interface
ICU	IPU control unit
IPU	Intelligence Processing Unit
JSON	JavaScript object notation format for representing data
NTP	Network time protocol
PSU	Power supply unit
REST	Representational state transfer web API
RPM	Revolutions per minute
SDR	Sensor data record
SEL	System event log
SNMP	Simple network management protocol
SoL	Serial over LAN

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