Firmware update using rest over IPMI interface

• US 10,572,242 B1
• Filed: 02/09/2018
• Issued: 02/25/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Megatrends International, LLC
• Original Assignee: American Megatrends International, LLC
• Inventors: Santharam, Madhan B., Doppalapudi, Harikrishna, Nallagatla, Purandhar, Rathineswaran, Chandrasekar, Kulchytskyy, Igor
• Primary Examiner(s): Rivera, Anibal
• Application Number:
  US15/893,534
• Time in Patent Office: 746 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1004 to protect a block of data words, e.g. CRC or checksum G06F11/1076 takes precedence; security arrangements for protecting computers or computer systems against unauthorized activity G06F21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1435 using file system or storage system metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3013 where the computing system is an embedded system, i.e. a combination of hardware and software dedicated to perform a certain function in mobile devices, printers, automotive or aircraft systems testing or monitoring of control systems or parts thereof G05B23/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/36 for access to common bus or bus system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/572 Secure firmware programming, e.g. of basic input output system [BIOS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/575 Secure boot
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/034 Test or assess a computer or a system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/63 Image based installation; Cloning; Build to order
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4401 Bootstrapping security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4416 Network booting; Remote initial program loading [RIPL]

Abstract

Technologies are described herein for a representational state transfer (“REST” or “RESTful”) over an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (“IPMI”) interface for firmware to a baseboard management controller (“BMC”) communication and applications thereof. These applications include, but are not limited to, remote firmware configuration, firmware updates, peripheral device firmware updates, provision of management information such as system inventory data, cloning and batch migration of firmware configuration settings, and firmware integrity monitoring. This functionality can be provided in a way that enables communication between BMCs and firmware to utilize modern manageability interfaces while maintaining backward compatibility with previous IPMI implementations.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for updating a firmware of a computing system, comprising:

transmitting a request for a firmware update instruction from the firmware to a baseboard management controller (BMC) over a representational state transfer (REST) over intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) interface;

responsive to receiving the request at the BMC, providing data identifying a location of a firmware image to the firmware over the REST over IPMI interface;

retrieving, by way of the firmware, the firmware image from the location of the firmware image identified by the data provided by the BMC; and

updating, by way of the firmware, the firmware of the computing system using the firmware image.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the data identifying a location of a firmware image comprises non-standard data stored in a standard property.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the standard property comprises a property for identifying a location of a boot device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the request for the firmware update instruction is transmitted from the firmware to the BMC using original equipment manufacturer (OEM) IPMI commands containing REST Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requests.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the data identifying the location of the firmware image is transmitted from the BMC to the firmware using original equipment manufacturer (OEM) IPMI commands containing REST Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requests.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the request for the firmware update instruction is expressed using a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format based on an Open Data Protocol (OData).

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the data identifying a location of a firmware image is expressed using a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format based on an Open Data Protocol (OData).

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises transmitting data from the firmware to the BMC describing the success or failure of the updating of the firmware that is expressed using a JSON format based on OData.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to:

transmit a request for a firmware update instruction from a firmware of the computing system to a baseboard management controller (BMC) over a representational state transfer (REST) over intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) interface;

responsive to receiving the request at the BMC, provide data identifying a location of a firmware image to the firmware over the REST over IPMI interface;

retrieve, by way of the firmware, the firmware image from the location of the firmware image identified by the data provided by the BMC; and

update, by way of the firmware, the firmware of the computing system using the firmware image.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the data identifying a location of a firmware image comprises non-standard data stored in a standard property.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the standard property comprises a property for identifying a location of a boot device.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the request for the firmware update instruction is transmitted from the firmware to the BMC using original equipment manufacturer (OEM) IPMI commands containing REST Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requests.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the data identifying the location of the firmware image is transmitted from the BMC to the firmware using original equipment manufacturer (OEM) IPMI commands containing REST Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requests.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the request for the firmware update instruction is expressed using a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format based on an Open Data Protocol (OData).

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the data identifying a location of a firmware image is expressed using a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format based on an Open Data Protocol (OData).

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon to transmit data from the firmware to the BMC describing the success or failure of the updating of the firmware that is expressed using a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format based on an Open Data Protocol (OData).

17. A computing system, comprising:

one or more processors;

a baseboard management controller (BMC); and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to;

transmit a request for a firmware update instruction from a firmware of the computing system to the BMC;

responsive to receiving the request at the BMC, provide data identifying a location of a firmware image to the firmware over a representational state transfer (REST) over intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) interface;

retrieve, by way of the firmware, the firmware image from the location of the firmware image identified by the data provided by the BMC; and

update, by way of the firmware, the firmware of the computing system using the firmware image.

18. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the request for the firmware update instruction is transmitted from the firmware of the computing system to the BMC over a representational state transfer (REST) over intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) interface.

19. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the data identifying a location of a firmware image comprises non-standard data stored in a standard property, and wherein the standard property comprises a property for identifying a location of a boot device.

20. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the request for the firmware update instruction is transmitted from the firmware to the BMC using original equipment manufacturer (OEM) IPMI commands containing REST Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requests.