Provided by: freeipmi-bmc-watchdog_1.4.11-1.1ubuntu4.1_amd64 bug

NAME

       bmc-watchdog - BMC watchdog timer daemon and control utility

SYNOPSIS

       bmc-watchdog command [OPTION...] [COMMAND_OPTIONS...]

DESCRIPTION

       bmc-watchdog  controls  a  Baseboard  Management Controller (BMC) watchdog timer. The bmc-
       watchdog tool typically executes as a cronjob or daemon to manage the  watchdog  timer.  A
       user must be root in order to run bmc-watchdog.

       Listed  below  are bmc-watchdog details, option details, examples, and known issues. For a
       general introduction to FreeIPMI please see freeipmi(7).

BMC WATCHDOG DETAILS

       A BMC watchdog timer is part of  the  Intelligent  Platform  Management  Interface  (IPMI)
       specification  and  is  only  available  to  BMCs that are compliant with IPMI. When a BMC
       watchdog timer is started, it begins counting down to zero from some  positive  number  of
       seconds.  When  the  timer  hits zero, the timer will execute a pre-configured pre-timeout
       interrupt and/or timeout action.

       In order to stop the pre-timeout interrupt or timeout  action  from  being  executed,  the
       watchdog timer must be periodically reset back to its initial beginning value.

       The BMC watchdog timer automatically stops itself when the machine is rebooted. Therefore,
       when a machine is brought up, the BMC watchdog timer must be setup again before it can  be
       used.

       Typically, a BMC watchdog timer is used to automatically reset a machine that has crashed.
       When the operating system first starts up, the BMC timer is set to its  initial  countdown
       value.  At  periodic  intervals,  when  the  operating system is functioning properly, the
       watchdog timer can be reset by the OS or a userspace program. Thus, the timer never counts
       down  to  zero.  When the system crashes, the timer cannot be reset by the OS or userspace
       program. Eventually, the timer will countdown to zero and reset the machine.

       See EXAMPLES below for examples of how bmc-watchdog is commonly used.

COMMANDS

       The following commands are available to bmc-watchdog.

       -s, --set
              Set BMC Watchdog Configuration. BMC watchdog timer configuration values can be  set
              using  the  set  command  options  listed  below under SET OPTIONS. If a particular
              configuration  parameter  is  not  specified  on  the  command  line,  the  current
              configuration of that parameter will not be changed.

       -g, --get
              Get  BMC  Watchdog  Configuration and State. The current configuration and state is
              printed to standard output.

       -r, --reset
              Reset BMC Watchdog Timer.

       -t, --start
              Start BMC Watchdog Timer. Does nothing if the timer is currently running. Identical
              to  --reset  command  when  the  timer  is  stopped with the exception of the start
              command options listed below under START OPTIONS.

       -y, --stop
              Stop BMC Watchdog Timer. Stops the current timer.

       -c, --clear
              Clear BMC Watchdog Configuration. Clears all configuration values for the  watchdog
              timer, except for timer use, which is kept at its current value.

       -d, --daemon
              Run  bmc-watchdog  as  a daemon. Configurable BMC watchdog timer options are listed
              below under DAEMON OPTIONS. The configuration values are set once, then the  daemon
              will  reset  the  timer  at specified periodic intervals. The daemon can be stopped
              using the --stop command, --clear command, or by setting the stop_timer flag on the
              --set command.

GENERAL OPTIONS

       The following options are general options for configuring IPMI communication and executing
       general tool commands.  These options are generic and can be used by any command.

       -D IPMIDRIVER, --driver-type=IPMIDRIVER
              Specify the driver type to use instead of doing an auto selection.   The  currently
              available inband drivers are KCS, SSIF, OPENIPMI, SUNBMC, and INTELDCMI.

       --disable-auto-probe
              Do not probe in-band IPMI devices for default settings.

       --driver-address=DRIVER-ADDRESS
              Specify  the in-band driver address to be used instead of the probed value. DRIVER-
              ADDRESS should be prefixed with "0x" for a hex value and '0' for an octal value.

       --driver-device=DEVICE
              Specify the in-band driver device path to be used instead of the probed path.

       --register-spacing=REGISTER-SPACING
              Specify the in-band driver register spacing instead of the probed  value.  Argument
              is in bytes (i.e. 32bit register spacing = 4)

       --target-channel-number=CHANNEL-NUMBER
              Specify the in-band driver target channel number to send IPMI requests to.

       --target-slave-address=SLAVE-ADDRESS
              Specify the in-band driver target slave number to send IPMI requests to.

       -v, --verbose-logging
              Increase verbosity of logging.

       -n, --no-logging
              Turns off all logging done by bmc-watchdog.

       --config-file=FILE
              Specify an alternate configuration file.

       -W WORKAROUNDS, --workaround-flags=WORKAROUNDS
              Specify  workarounds  to  vendor  compliance  issues.  Multiple  workarounds can be
              specified separated by commas. A special command line flag of "none", will indicate
              no  workarounds (may be useful for overriding configured defaults). See WORKAROUNDS
              below for a list of available workarounds.

       --debug
              Turn on debugging.

       -?, --help
              Output a help list and exit.

       --usage
              Output a usage message and exit.

       -V, --version
              Output the program version and exit.

SET OPTIONS

       The following options can be used by the set command to set or clear various BMC  watchdog
       configuration parameters.

       -u INT, --timer-use=INT
              Set  timer  use.  The  timer use value can be set to one of the following: 1 = BIOS
              FRB2, 2 = BIOS POST, 3 = OS_LOAD, 4 = SMS OS, 5 = OEM.

       -m INT, --stop-timer=INT
              Set Stop Timer Flag. A flag value of 0 stops the  current  BMC  watchdog  timer.  A
              value of 1 doesn't turn off the current watchdog timer.

       -l INT, --log=INT
              Set Log Flag. A flag value of 0 turns logging on. A value of 1 turns logging off.

       -a INT, --timeout-action=INT
              Set  timeout  action. The timeout action can be set to one of the following: 0 = No
              action, 1 = Hard Reset, 2 = Power Down, 3 = Power Cycle.

       -p INT, --pre-timeout-interrupt=INT
              Set pre-timeout interrupt. The pre timeout interrupt can  be  set  to  one  of  the
              following: 0 = None, 1 = SMI, 2 = NMI, 3 = Messaging Interrupt.

       -z SECONDS, --pre-timeout-interval=SECONDS
              Set pre-timeout interval in seconds.

       -F, --clear-bios-frb2
              Clear BIOS FRB2 Timer Use Flag.

       -P, --clear-bios-post
              Clear BIOS POST Timer Use Flag.

       -L, --clear-os-load
              Clear OS Load Timer Use Flag.

       -S, --clear-sms-os
              Clear SMS/OS Timer Use Flag.

       -O, --clear-oem
              Clear OEM Timer Use Flag.

       -i SECONDS, --initial-countdown=SECONDS
              Set initial countdown in seconds.

       -w, --start-after-set
              Start timer after set command if timer is stopped. This is typically used when bmc-
              watchdog is used as a cronjob. This can be used to automatically  start  the  timer
              after it has been set the first time.

       -x, --reset-after-set
              Reset timer after set command if timer is running.

       -j, --start-if-stopped
              Don't execute set command if timer is stopped, just start timer.

       -k, --reset-if-running
              Don't  execute set command if timer is running, just reset timer. This is typically
              used when bmc-watchdog is used as a cronjob. This can be used to  reset  the  timer
              after it has been initially started.

START OPTIONS

       The following options can be used by the start command.

       -G INT, --gratuitous-arp=INT
              Suspend  or  don't  suspend  gratuitous ARPs while the BMC timer is running. A flag
              value of 1 suspends gratuitous ARPs. A value of 0 will not suspend gratuitous ARPs.
              If this option is not specified, gratuitous ARPs will not be suspended.

       -A INT, --arp-response=INT
              Suspend  or  don't  suspend  BMC-generated  ARP  responses  while  the BMC timer is
              running. A flag value of 1 suspends ARP responses. A value of 0  will  not  suspend
              ARP  responses.  If  this  option  is  not  specified,  ARP  responses  will not be
              suspended.

DAEMON OPTIONS

       The following options can be used by the daemon command to set the  initial  BMC  watchdog
       configuration parameters.

       -u INT, --timer-use=INT
              Set  timer  use.  The  timer use value can be set to one of the following: 1 = BIOS
              FRB2, 2 = BIOS POST, 3 = OS_LOAD, 4 = SMS OS, 5 = OEM.

       -l INT, --log=INT
              Set Log Flag. A flag value of 0 turns logging on. A value of 1 turns logging off.

       -a INT, --timeout-action=INT
              Set timeout action. The timeout action can be set to one of the following: 0  =  No
              action, 1 = Hard Reset, 2 = Power Down, 3 = Power Cycle.

       -p INT, --pre-timeout-interrupt=INT
              Set  pre-timeout  interrupt.  The  pre  timeout  interrupt can be set to one of the
              following: 0 = None, 1 = SMI, 2 = NMI, 3 = Messaging Interrupt.

       -z SECONDS, --pre-timeout-interval=SECONDS
              Set pre-timeout interval in seconds.

       -F, --clear-bios-frb2
              Clear BIOS FRB2 Timer Use Flag.

       -P, --clear-bios-post
              Clear BIOS POST Timer Use Flag.

       -L, --clear-os-load
              Clear OS Load Timer Use Flag.

       -S, --clear-sms-os
              Clear SMS/OS Timer Use Flag.

       -O, --clear-oem
              Clear OEM Timer Use Flag.

       -i SECONDS, --initial-countdown=SECONDS
              Set initial countdown in seconds.

       -G INT, --gratuitous-arp=INT
              Suspend or don't suspend gratuitous ARPs while the BMC timer  is  running.  A  flag
              value of 1 suspends gratuitous ARPs. A value of 0 will not suspend gratuitous ARPs.
              If this option is not specified, gratuitous ARPs will not be suspended.

       -A INT, --arp-response=INT
              Suspend or don't suspend  BMC-generated  ARP  responses  while  the  BMC  timer  is
              running.  A  flag  value of 1 suspends ARP responses. A value of 0 will not suspend
              ARP responses. If  this  option  is  not  specified,  ARP  responses  will  not  be
              suspended.

       -e, --reset-period
              Time interval to wait before resetting timer. The default is 60 seconds.

ERRORS

       Errors are logged to syslog.

WORKAROUNDS

       With  so  many  different vendors implementing their own IPMI solutions, different vendors
       may implement their IPMI protocols  incorrectly.  The  following  describes  a  number  of
       workarounds  currently  available  to  handle discovered compliance issues. When possible,
       workarounds have been implemented so they will be transparent to the user.  However,  some
       will require the user to specify a workaround be used via the -W option.

       The hardware listed below may only indicate the hardware that a problem was discovered on.
       Newer versions of hardware may fix the problems indicated  below.  Similar  machines  from
       vendors  may  or  may  not  exhibit the same problems. Different vendors may license their
       firmware from the same IPMI firmware developer, so it may be worthwhile to try workarounds
       listed below even if your motherboard is not listed.

       If you believe your hardware has an additional compliance issue that needs a workaround to
       be implemented, please contact the FreeIPMI  maintainers  on  <freeipmi-users@gnu.org>  or
       <freeipmi-devel@gnu.org>.

       assumeio  - This workaround flag will assume inband interfaces communicate with system I/O
       rather than being memory-mapped. This will work around systems that  report  invalid  base
       addresses.  Those  hitting  this  issue  may see "device not supported" or "could not find
       inband device" errors.  Issue observed on HP ProLiant DL145 G1.

       spinpoll - This workaround flag will inform some inband  drivers  (most  notably  the  KCS
       driver)  to  spin  while  polling  rather  than  putting  the  process  to sleep. This may
       significantly improve the wall clock running time of tools  because  an  operating  system
       scheduler's granularity may be much larger than the time it takes to perform a single IPMI
       message transaction. However, by spinning, your system may be performing less useful  work
       by not contexting out the tool for a more useful task.

       ignorestateflag  - This workaround option will ignore the BMC timer state flag (indicating
       if the timer is running or stopped) when running in daemon mode. On some BMCs, the flag is
       broken  and  will  never report that a BMC timer is running, even if it is. The workaround
       will take notice of changes in the countdown seconds to determine if a timer is running or
       stopped. With this type of implementation, the reset-period must be large enough to ensure
       minor  fluctuations  in  the  countdown  will  not  affect  the  workaround.  Due  to  the
       implementation  of this workaround, if another process stops the watchdog timer, it may be
       detectable. This option is confirmed to work  around  compliances  issues  on  Sun  x4100,
       x4200, and x4500.

EXAMPLES

       Setup  a bmc-watchdog daemon that resets the machine after 15 minutes (900 seconds) if the
       OS has crashed (see default bmc-watchdog rc script  /etc/init.d/bmc-watchdog  for  a  more
       complete example):
               bmc-watchdog -d -u 4 -p 0 -a 1 -i 900

DIAGNOSTICS

       Upon successful execution, exit status is 0. On error, exit status is 1.

KNOWN ISSUES

       Bmc-watchdog  may fail to reset the watchdog timer if it is not scheduled properly.  It is
       always recommended that bmc-watchdog be executed with a high scheduling priority.

       On some machines, the hardware based SMI Handler may disable a processor after a  watchdog
       timer timeout if the timer use is set to something other than SMS/OS.

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to <freeipmi-users@gnu.org> or <freeipmi-devel@gnu.org>.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 2007-2014 Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC.
       Copyright (C) 2004-2007 The Regents of the University of California.

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of
       the GNU General Public License as  published  by  the  Free  Software  Foundation;  either
       version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

SEE ALSO

       freeipmi(7)

       http://www.gnu.org/software/freeipmi/