summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Documentation/driver-api/ipmb.rst
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2026-09-05 11:59:05 -0700
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2026-09-05 11:59:05 -0700
commit9f0346dcbea363787186c94ef94dd01aaa215afa (patch)
treeb81c168f4d0dbe4c7f4750f4598d48a6deb72094 /Documentation/driver-api/ipmb.rst
downloadlinux-stable-9f0346dcbea363787186c94ef94dd01aaa215afa.tar.gz
linux-stable-9f0346dcbea363787186c94ef94dd01aaa215afa.zip
Merge tag 'driver-core-7.3-rc2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/driver-core/driver-coregrafted
Pull driver core fixes from Danilo Krummrich: - Fix kernfs listxattr() not returning security xattr names (e.g. SELinux labels) when the kernfs node has no allocated kernfs_iattrs - Fix silent truncation of IRQ vector indices in the Rust PCI abstractions - Don't select OF from DRIVER_PE_KUNIT_TEST; skip the test when OF is disabled instead of silently enabling extra kernel functionality - Russ Weight is retiring from kernel development; update the Firmware Loader sysfs contact to the driver-core mailing list, add a CREDITS entry for Firmware Upload, and update MAINTAINERS accordingly * tag 'driver-core-7.3-rc2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/driver-core/driver-core: MAINTAINERS: Remove Russ Weight from Firmware Loader CREDITS: Add CREDITS entry for Firmware Upload firmware_loader: Change contact for sysfs nodes rust: pci: reject IRQ vector indices that do not fit in u32 kernfs: preserve security xattrs without allocating iattrs drivers: base: test: DRIVER_PE_KUNIT_TEST should not select OF
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/driver-api/ipmb.rst')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/driver-api/ipmb.rst109
1 files changed, 109 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/driver-api/ipmb.rst b/Documentation/driver-api/ipmb.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..209c49e05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/driver-api/ipmb.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+==============================
+IPMB Driver for a Satellite MC
+==============================
+
+The Intelligent Platform Management Bus or IPMB, is an
+I2C bus that provides a standardized interconnection between
+different boards within a chassis. This interconnection is
+between the baseboard management (BMC) and chassis electronics.
+IPMB is also associated with the messaging protocol through the
+IPMB bus.
+
+The devices using the IPMB are usually management
+controllers that perform management functions such as servicing
+the front panel interface, monitoring the baseboard,
+hot-swapping disk drivers in the system chassis, etc...
+
+When an IPMB is implemented in the system, the BMC serves as
+a controller to give system software access to the IPMB. The BMC
+sends IPMI requests to a device (usually a Satellite Management
+Controller or Satellite MC) via IPMB and the device
+sends a response back to the BMC.
+
+For more information on IPMB and the format of an IPMB message,
+refer to the IPMB and IPMI specifications.
+
+IPMB driver for Satellite MC
+----------------------------
+
+ipmb-dev-int - This is the driver needed on a Satellite MC to
+receive IPMB messages from a BMC and send a response back.
+This driver works with the I2C driver and a userspace
+program such as OpenIPMI:
+
+1) It is an I2C slave backend driver. So, it defines a callback
+ function to set the Satellite MC as an I2C slave.
+ This callback function handles the received IPMI requests.
+
+2) It defines the read and write functions to enable a user
+ space program (such as OpenIPMI) to communicate with the kernel.
+
+
+Load the IPMB driver
+--------------------
+
+The driver needs to be loaded at boot time or manually first.
+First, make sure you have the following in your config file:
+CONFIG_IPMB_DEVICE_INTERFACE=y
+
+1) If you want the driver to be loaded at boot time:
+
+a) Add this entry to your ACPI table, under the appropriate SMBus::
+
+ Device (SMB0) // Example SMBus host controller
+ {
+ Name (_HID, "<Vendor-Specific HID>") // Vendor-Specific HID
+ Name (_UID, 0) // Unique ID of particular host controller
+ :
+ :
+ Device (IPMB)
+ {
+ Name (_HID, "IPMB0001") // IPMB device interface
+ Name (_UID, 0) // Unique device identifier
+ }
+ }
+
+b) Example for device tree::
+
+ &i2c2 {
+ status = "okay";
+
+ ipmb@10 {
+ compatible = "ipmb-dev";
+ reg = <0x10>;
+ i2c-protocol;
+ };
+ };
+
+If xmit of data to be done using raw i2c block vs smbus
+then "i2c-protocol" needs to be defined as above.
+
+2) Manually from Linux::
+
+ modprobe ipmb-dev-int
+
+
+Instantiate the device
+----------------------
+
+After loading the driver, you can instantiate the device as
+described in 'Documentation/i2c/instantiating-devices.rst'.
+If you have multiple BMCs, each connected to your Satellite MC via
+a different I2C bus, you can instantiate a device for each of
+those BMCs.
+
+The name of the instantiated device contains the I2C bus number
+associated with it as follows::
+
+ BMC1 ------ IPMB/I2C bus 1 ---------| /dev/ipmb-1
+ Satellite MC
+ BMC1 ------ IPMB/I2C bus 2 ---------| /dev/ipmb-2
+
+For instance, you can instantiate the ipmb-dev-int device from
+user space at the 7 bit address 0x10 on bus 2::
+
+ # echo ipmb-dev 0x1010 > /sys/bus/i2c/devices/i2c-2/new_device
+
+This will create the device file /dev/ipmb-2, which can be accessed
+by the user space program. The device needs to be instantiated
+before running the user space program.