Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 09:15:58 -0700
From: Randy Dunlap <randy.dunlap@oracle.com>
To: Martin Knoblauch <knobi@knobisoft.de>
Cc: "Altobelli, David" <david.altobelli@hp.com>, Pavel Machek <pavel@suse.cz>,
       "linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>,
       "greg@kroah.com" <greg@kroah.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH][resubmit] HP iLO driver
Message-Id: <20080709091558.9b4e823c.randy.dunlap@oracle.com>
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On Wed, 9 Jul 2008 08:15:09 -0700 (PDT) Martin Knoblauch wrote:

> ----- Original Message ----
> 
> > From: "Altobelli, David" <david.altobelli@hp.com>
> > To: Martin Knoblauch <knobi@knobisoft.de>; Pavel Machek <pavel@suse.cz>
> > Cc: "linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>; "greg@kroah.com" <greg@kroah.com>
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 9, 2008 4:47:14 PM
> > Subject: RE: [PATCH][resubmit] HP iLO driver
> > 
> > Martin Knoblauch wrote:
> > > Somehow I feel the need to step in, as I believe that this
> > > thread is really going in the wrong direction.
> > >
> > > It is true that David (or HP) definitely could have done a
> > > better job in describing why this driver is needed and what
> > > HP-Utilities are depending on it. This might have lead some
> > > people to misinterpret what ILO is about.
> > 
> > I'm sorry about that.  This driver is needed for tools like:
> > hponcfg, hpdiags, hp-snmp-agents, and iLO flash utilities.
> > 
> 
>  hponcfg - configuration
>  hpdiags - ???
>  hp-snmp-agents - ??? Do they provide sensor information?
>  iLO Flash - Firmware upgrade
>  
> > > ILO (Q: does HP still sell RILOE boards and are they
> > > supporten by the driver?) is a command processor that allows
> > 
> > RILOE cards are not sold any more, and are not supported by this driver.
> > 
> 
>  OK, so this is really Proliant and likely Blades only? No chance that this will show up elsewhere?
> 
> > >
> > > ILO can be configured either offline (server OS shut down),
> > > or via the external interfaces, or from a running OS via some
> > > HP provided utilities. For this a driver is needed, and that
> > > is what we are talking about. From my experience as an
> > > administrator of HP Proliant systems the only local uses for
> > > the *internal* ILO interface is to set-up the thing, and to
> > > do firmware upgrades.
> > 
> > Yeah, those are most common.  This driver will also surface data
> > through HPSMH or HPSIM, if the proper packages are installed.
> > 
> 
>  Hmm. I am a bit out of touch. What are they doing?
> 
> > > To obtain sensor data locally there are other ways, which do
> > > not need the ILO kernel driver (hplog together with hpasmd,
> > > which unfortunately are closed source). So , unless the
> > > HP-ILO driver is just a replacement of the old "cpqci"
> > > driver, there is no need to pester David on functionality.
> > > If, of course the HP-ILO driver is needed to get to the
> > > hpasm/hplog functionality (no driver was needed so far) the
> > > story might be different. But then HP should provide the
> > > specs for the Proliant sensor interface anyway and work
> > > together with the lm_sensors project. But that is a different story.
> > 
> > This is a replacement for cpqci, which was released in the
> > "hprsm" package, and later replaced by the "hp-ilo" package.
> > The former package was not GPL, the latter is.
> > I rewrote the driver to make it (hopefully) more palatable,
> > in terms of both style and functionality.
> 
>  I really believe that if the HP-ILO driver is only needed for configuration and FW upgrades, it is OK in the current state. I do not think that anybody really wants to write another hponcfg or iLO-flash.
> 
>  But if it is also needed to obtain sensor information, your colleagues should really think about supporting the lm_sensors framework.

I use it (hp_ilo driver previous to 2.6.25 nopage changes, from some HP package, not
_this_ driver) for scripted power usage readings over the lifetime of a kernel test run.
(xml command scripts)

---
~Randy
Linux Plumbers Conference, 17-19 September 2008, Portland, Oregon USA
http://linuxplumbersconf.org/
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