PEF-CONFIG(8)

NAME
pef-config - configure PEF values

SYNOPSIS
pef-config [OPTION...]

DESCRIPTION
Pef-config is a Platform Event Filtering (PEF) configuration utility. This configuration tool is for advanced IPMI users and generally not-required for IPMI to function. Most IPMI users will not need to use this tool. For configuration of general BMC parameters, sensors, or chassis, please see the bmc-config(8), ipmi-sensors-config(8), and ipmi-chassis-config(8) tools respectively.

See GENERAL USE below for a description on how most will want to use Pef-config.

GENERAL OPTIONS
The following options are general options for configuring IPMI communication and executing general tool commands.

-D, --driver-type=IPMIDRIVER
    Specify the driver type to use instead of doing an auto selection. The currently available outofband drivers are LAN and LAN_2_0, which perform IPMI 1.5 and IPMI 2.0 respectively. The currently available inband drivers are KCS, SSIF, OPENIPMI, and SUNBMC (SUNBMC is currently experimental).

--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.

-h, --hostname=IPMIHOST1,IPMIHOST2,...
    Specify the remote host(s) to communicate with. Multiple hostnames may be separated by comma or may be specified in a range format; see HOSTRANGED SUPPORT below.

-u, --username=USERNAME
    Specify the username to use when authenticating with the remote host. If not specified, a null (i.e. anonymous) username is assumed. The user must have atleast ADMIN privileges in order for this tool to operate fully.

-p, --password=PASSWORD
    Specify the password to use when authenticationg with the remote host. If not specified, a null password is assumed. Maximum password length is 16 for IPMI 1.5 and 20 for IPMI 2.0.

-P, --password-prompt
    Prompt for password to avoid possibility of listing it in process lists.

-k, --k-g=K_G
    Specify the K_g BMC key to use when authenticating with the remote host for IPMI 2.0. If not specified, a null key is assumed. To input the key in hexadecimal form, prefix the string with '0x'. E.g., the key 'abc' can be entered with the either the string 'abc' or the string '0x616263'

-K, --k-g-prompt
    Prompt for k-g to avoid possibility of listing it in process lists.

--session-timeout=MILLISECONDS
    Specify the session timeout in milliseconds. Defaults to 20000 milliseconds (20 seconds) if not specified.

--retransmission-timeout=MILLISECONDS
    Specify the packet retransmission timeout in milliseconds. Defaults to 1000 milliseconds (1 second) if not specified. The retransmission timeout cannot be larger than the session timeout.

-a, --authentication-type=AUTHENTICATION-TYPE
    Specify the IPMI 1.5 authentication type to use. The currently available authentication types are NONE, STRAIGHT_PASSWORD_KEY, MD2, and MD5. Defaults to MD5 if not specified.

-I, --cipher-suite-id=CIPHER-SUITE-ID
    Specify the IPMI 2.0 cipher suite ID to use. The Cipher Suite ID identifies a set of authentication, integrity, and confidentiality algorithms to use for IPMI 2.0 communication. The authentication algorithm identifies the algorithm to use for session setup, the integrity algorithm identifies the algorithm to use for session packet signatures, and the confidentiality algorithm identifies the algorithm to use for payload encryption. Defaults to cipher suite ID 3 if not specified. The following cipher suite ids are currently supported:

    0 - Authentication Algorithm = None; Integrity Algorithm = None; Confidentiality Algorithm = None

    1 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1; Integrity Algorithm = None; Confidentiality Algorithm = None

    2 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1-96; Confidentiality Algorithm = None

    3 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1-96; Confidentiality Algorithm = AES-CBC-128 ." .sp ." 4 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1-96; Confidentiality Algorithm = xRC4-128 ." .sp ." 5 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC-SHA1-96; Confidentiality Algorithm = xRC4-40

    6 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = None; Confidentiality Algorithm = None

    7 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC-MD5-128; Confidentiality Algorithm = None

    8 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC-MD5-128; Confidentiality Algorithm = AES-CBC-128 ." .sp ." 9 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC-MD5-128; Confidentiality Algorithm = xRC4-128 ." .sp ." 10 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = HMAC-MD5-128; Confidentiality Algorithm = xRC4-40

    11 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = MD5-128; Confidentiality Algorithm = None

    12 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = MD5-128; Confidentiality Algorithm = AES-CBC-128 ." .sp ." 13 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = MD5-128; Confidentiality Algorithm = xRC4-128 ." .sp ." 14 - Authentication Algorithm = HMAC-MD5; Integrity Algorithm = MD5-128; Confidentiality Algorithm = xRC4-40

-l, --privilege-level=PRIVILEGE-LEVEL
    Specify the privilege level to be used. The currently available privilege levels are USER, OPERATOR, and ADMIN. Defaults to ADMIN if not specified.

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

-W, --workaround-flags=WORKAROUNDS
    Specify workarounds to vendor compliance issues. Multiple workarounds can be specified separated by commas. 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.

PEF-CONFIG OPTIONS
The following options are specific to Pef-config.

-i, --info
    Show general information about PEF configuration.

CONFIG OPTIONS
The following options are used to read, write, and find differences in configuration values.

-o, --checkout
    Fetch configuration information.

-c, --commit
    Update configuration information from a config file or key pairs.

-d, --diff
    Show differences between stored information and a config file or key pairs.

-n FILENAME, --filename=FILENAME
    Specify a config file for checkout/commit/diff.

-e "KEY=VALUE", --key-pair="KEY=VALUE"
    Specify KEY=VALUE pairs for checkout/commit/diff. Specify KEY by SectionName:FieldName. This option can be used multiple times. On commit, any KEY=VALUE pairs will overwrite any pairs specified in a file with --filename.

-S "SECTION", --section="SECTION"
    Specify a SECTION for checkout. This option can be used multiple times.

-L, --listsections
    List available sections for checkout.

-v, --verbose
    Output additional detailed information. In general will output more detailed information about what fields can and cannot be checked out, committed, etc. When used with --checkout, additional uncommon, unconfigurable, and/or unused fields may be output.

HOSTRANGED OPTIONS
The following options manipulate hostranged output. See HOSTRANGED SUPPORT below for additional information on hostranges.

-B, --buffer-output
    Buffer hostranged output. For each node, buffer standard output until the node has completed its IPMI operation. When specifying this option, data may appear to output slower to the user since the the entire IPMI operation must complete before any data can be output. See HOSTRANGED SUPPORT below for additional information.

-C, --consolidate-output
    Consolidate hostranged output. The complete standard output from every node specified will be consolidated so that nodes with identical output are not output twice. A header will list those nodes with the consolidated output. When this option is specified, no output can be seen until the IPMI operations to all nodes has completed. If the user breaks out of the program early, all currently consolidated output will be dumped. See HOSTRANGED SUPPORT below for additional information.

-F, --fanout
    Specify multiple host fanout. A "sliding window" (or fanout) algorithm is used for parallel IPMI communication so that slower nodes or timed out nodes will not impede parallel communication. The maximum number of threads available at the same time is limited by the fanout. The default is 64.

-E, --eliminate
    Eliminate hosts determined as undetected by ipmidetect. This attempts to remove the common issue of hostranged execution timing out due to several nodes being removed from service in a large cluster. The ipmidetectd daemon must be running on the node executing the command.

--always-prefix
    Always prefix output, even if only one host is specified or communicating in-band. This option is primarily useful for scripting purposes. Option will be ignored if specified with the -C option.

GENERAL USE
Most users of will want to:

A) Run with --checkout to get a copy of the current configuration and store it in a file. The standard output can be redirected to a file or a file can be specified with the --filename option.

B) Edit the configuration file with an editor.

C) Commit the configuration back using the --commit option and specifying the configuration file with the --filename option. The configuration can be committed to multiple hosts in parallel via the hostrange support.

EDITING THE CHECKOUT FILE
Options for editing fields in the checkout file are usually listed in a comment above the field. When there are to many options to make it practical, they are listed here in the MAN page.

Sensor_Type Options
    Reserved, Temperature, Voltage, Current, Fan, Platform_Chassis_Intrusion, Platform_Security_Violation, Processor, Power_Supply, Power_Unit, Cooling_Device, FRU_Sensor, Memory, Drive_Slot, Post_Memory_Resize, System_Firmware, Event_Logging_Disabled, Watchdog1, System_Event, Critical_Interrupt, Button, Module_Board, Microcontroller, Add_In_Card, Chassis, Chip_Set, Other_FRU, Cable_Interconnect, Terminator, System_Boot_Initiated, Boot_Error, OS_Boot, OS_Critical_Stop, Slot_Connector, ACPI_Power_State, Watchdog2, Platform_Alert, Entity_Presence, Monitor_Asic, Lan, Management_Subsystem_Health, Battery, Session_Audit, Version_Change, FRU_State, and Any

HOSTRANGED SUPPORT
Multiple hosts can be input either as an explicit comma seperated lists of hosts or a range of hostnames in the general form: prefix[n-m,l-k,...], where n < m and l < k, etc. The later form should not be confused with regular expression character classes (also denoted by []). For example, foo[19] does not represent foo1 or foo9, but rather represents a degenerate range: foo19.

This range syntax is meant only as a convenience on clusters with a prefixNN naming convention and specification of ranges should not be considered necessary -- the list foo1,foo9 could be specified as such, or by the range foo[1,9].

Some examples of range usage follow:
    foo[01-05] instead of foo01,foo02,foo03,foo04,foo05
    foo[7,9-10] instead of foo7,foo9,foo10
    foo[0-3] instead of foo0,foo1,foo2,foo3

As a reminder to the reader, some shells will interpret brackets ([ and ]) for pattern matching. Depending on your shell, it may be necessary to enclose ranged lists within quotes.

By default, standard output from each node specified will be output with the hostname prepended to each line. Although this output is readable in many situations, it may be difficult to read in other situations. For example, output from multiple nodes may be mixed together. The -B and -C options can be used to change this default.

In-band IPMI Communication will be used when the host "localhost" is specified. This allows the user to add the localhost into the hostranged output.

GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING
Most often, IPMI over LAN problems involve a misconfiguration of the remote machine's BMC. Double check to make sure the following are configured properly in the remote machine's BMC: IP address, MAC address, subnet mask, username, user enablement, user privilege, password, LAN privilege, LAN enablement, and allowed authentication type(s). For IPMI 2.0 connections, double check to make sure the cipher suite privilege(s) and K_g key are configured properly. The bmc-config(8) tool can be used to check and/or change these configuration settings.

The following are common issues for given error messages:

"username invalid" - The username entered (or a NULL username if none was entered) is not available on the remote machine. It may also be possible the remote BMC's username configuration is incorrect.

"password invalid" - The password entered (or a NULL password if none was entered) is not correct. It may also be possible the password for the user is not correctly configured on the remote BMC.

"password verification timeout" - Password verification has timed out. A "password invalid" error (described above) or a generic "session timeout" (described below) occurred. During this point in the protocol it cannot be differentiated which occurred.

"k_g invalid" - The K_g key entered (or a NULL K_g key if none was entered) is not correct. It may also be possible the K_g key is not correctly configured on the remote BMC.

"privilege level insufficient" - An IPMI command requires a higher user privilege than the one authenticated with. Please try to authenticate with a higher privilege. This may require authenticating to a different user which has a higher maximum privilege.

"privilege level cannot be obtained for this user" - The privilege level you are attempting to authenticate with is higher than the maximum allowed for this user. Please try again with a lower privilege. It may also be possible the maximum privilege level allowed for a user is not configured properly on the remote BMC.

"authentication type unavailable for attempted privilege level" - The authentication type you wish to authenticate with is not available for this privilege level. Please try again with an alternate authentication type or alternate privilege level. It may also be possible the available authentication types you can authenticate with are not correctly configured on the remote BMC.

"cipher suite id unavailable" - The cipher suite id you wish to authenticate with is not available on the remote BMC. Please try again with an alternate cipher suite id. It may also be possible the available cipher suite ids are not correctly configured on the remote BMC.

"ipmi 2.0 unavailable" - IPMI 2.0 was not discovered on the remote machine. Please try to use IPMI 1.5 instead.

"connection timeout" - Initial IPMI communication failed. A number of potential errors are possible, including an invalid hostname specified, an IPMI IP address cannot be resolved, IPMI is not enabled on the remote server, the network connection is bad, etc. Please verify configuration and connectivity.

"session timeout" - The IPMI session has timed out. Please reconnect.

If IPMI over LAN continually times out, you may wish to increase the retransmission timeout. Some remote BMCs are considerably slower than others.

Please see WORKAROUNDS below to also if there are any vendor specific bugs that have been discovered and worked around.

WORKAROUNDS
With so many different vendors implementing their own IPMI solutions, different vendors may implement their IPMI protocols incorrectly. The following lists the handful of compliance issues discovered and the workarounds currently supported.

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.

Intel SR870BN4: BMCs would not respond to retransmissions of a Get Session Challenge Request if a previous Get Session Challenge response was lost. Resolved by sending retransmitted Get Session Challenge requests from a different source port. Automatically handled.

Tyan S2882 with m3289 BMC: After the IPMI session is brought up, packet responses return empty session IDs to the client. This will likely cause "session timeout" errors to occur. In order to work around this issue, the "idzero" workaround must be specified. The option will allow empty session IDs to be accepted by the client. This problem is reported to be fixed in later firmware releases.

Dell PowerEdge 2850,SC1425: When Per-Message Authentication is disabled, packet responses contain non-null authentication data (when it should in fact be null). This will likely cause "session timeout" errors to occur. In order to work around this issue, the "unexpectedauth" workaround must be specified. The option will allow unexpected non-null authcodes to be checked as though they were expected. This compliance bug is confirmed to be fixed on newer firmware.

IBM eServer 325: The remote BMC will advertise that Per Message Authentication is disabled, but actually require it for the protocol. This will likely cause "session timeout" errors to occur. In order to work around this issue, the "forcepermsg" workaround must be specified. The option will force Per Message Authentication to be used no matter what is advertised by the remote BMC.

Supermicro H8QME with SIMSO daughter card: The remote BMC will advertise that Per Message Authentication is disabled, but actually require it for the protocol. Automatically handled.

Asus P5M2/P5MT-R/RS162-E4/RX4: The motherboard does not properly report username capabilities and/or K_g status. This will likely cause "username invalid" or "k_g invalid" errors to occur. In order to work around this issue, the "authcap" workaround must be specified.

Intel SR1520ML/X38ML: The motherboard does not properly report username capabilities and/or K_g status. This will likely cause "username invalid" or "k_g invalid" errors to occur. In order to work around this issue, the "authcap" workaround must be specified.

Sun ILOM 2.0: The session sequence numbers returned for IPMI 1.5 sessions are the wrong endian on some systems running ILOM 2.0. The incorrect endian depends on the service processor endianness. This will likely cause "session timeout" errors to occur. In order to work around this issue, the "endianseq" workaround must be specified. This problem is reported to be fixed in a later release.

Sun Fire X4150/X4450: The motherboard does not properly report username capabilities. This will likely cause "username invalid" errors to occur. In order to work around this issue, the "authcap" workaround must be specified.

Intel SE7520AF2 with Intel Server Management Module (Professional Edition): There are a number of Intel IPMI 2.0 bugs which can be worked around by specifying the "intel20" workaround. The workarounds include padding of usernames, automatic acceptance of a RAKP 4 response integrity check when using the integrity algorithm MD5-128, and password truncation if the authentication algorithm is HMAC-MD5-128. These problems may cause "username invalid", "password invalid", or "k_g invalid" errors to occur.

Supermicro H8QME with SIMSO daughter card: There are several Supermicro IPMI 2.0 bugs on early firmware revisions which can be worked around using the "supermicro20" workaround. These problems may cause "password invalid" errors to occur. These compliance bugs are confirmed to be fixed on newer firmware.

Sun Fire 4100 with ILOM: There are several IPMI 2.0 bugs which can be worked around by specifying the "sun20" workaround. The workarounds include handling invalid lengthed hash keys and invalid cipher suite records. These problems may cause "password invalid" or "bmc error" errors to occur

EXAMPLES
# pef-config --checkout

Output all configuration information to the console.

# pef-config --checkout --filename=pef-data1.conf

Store all configuration information in pef-data1.conf.

# pef-config --diff --filename=pef-data2.conf

Show all difference between the current configuration and the pef-data2.conf file.

# pef-config --commit --filename=pef-data1.conf

Commit all configuration values from the pef-data1.conf file.

KNOWN ISSUES
On older operating systems, if you input your username, password, and other potentially security relevant information on the command line, this information may be discovered by other users when using tools like the ps(1) command or looking in the /proc file system. It is generally more secure to input password information with options like the -P or -K options. Configuring security relevant information in the FreeIPMI configuration file would also be an appropriate way to hide this information.

In order to prevent brute force attacks, some BMCs will temporarily "lock up" after a number of remote authentication errors. You may need to wait awhile in order to this temporary "lock up" to pass before you may authenticate again.

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

COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2007-2008 FreeIPMI Core Team.

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 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

SEE ALSO
freeipmi(7), bmc-config(8), ipmi-sensors-config(8), ipmi-chassis-config(8)

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