pyghmi/README.md

pyghmi

Pyghmi is a pure Python (mostly IPMI) server management library.

Building and installing

(These instructions have been tested on CentOS 7)

Clone the repository, generate the RPM and install it:

$ git clone https://github.com/openstack/pyghmi.git
$ cd pyghmi/
$ python setup.py bdist_rpm
$ sudo rpm -ivh dist/pyghmi-*.noarch.rpm

Using

There are a few use examples in the bin folder:

• fakebmc: simply fakes a BMC that supports a few IPMI commands (useful for testing)
• pyghmicons: a remote console based on SOL redirection over IPMI
• pyghmiutil: an IPMI client that supports a few direct uses of pyghmi (also useful for testing and prototyping new features)
• virshbmc: a BMC emulation wrapper using libvirt

Extending

If you plan on adding support for new features, you'll most likely be interested in adding your methods to pyghmi/ipmi/command.py. See methods such as get_users and set_power for examples of how to use internal mechanisms to implement new features. And please, always document new methods.

Sometimes you may want to implement OEM-specific code. For example, retrieving firmware version information is not a part of standard IPMI, but some servers are known to support it via custom OEM commands. If this is the case, follow these steps:

• Add your generic retrieval function (stub) to the OEMHandler class in pyghmi/ipmi/oem/generic.py. And please, document its intent, parameters and expected return values.
• Implement the specific methods that your server supports in subdirectories in the oem folder (consider the lenovo submodule as an example). A OEM folder will contain at least one class inheriting from OEMHandler, and optionally helpers for running and parsing custom OEM commands.
• Register mapping policies in pyghmi/ipmi/oem/lookup.py so pyghmi knows how to associate a BMC session with the specific OEM code you implemented.

A good way of testing the new feature is using bin/pyghmiutil. Just add an extension for the new feature you just implemented (as a new command) and call it from the command line:

$ IPMIPASSWORD=passw0rd bin/pyghmiutil [BMC IP address] username my_new_feature_command