System and method for utilizing a modular operating system (OS) resident agent allowing an out-of-band server management

• US 8,260,741 B2
• Filed: 08/15/2003
• Issued: 09/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Kutch, Patrick G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Hosain
• Assistant Examiner(s): HARPER, ELIYAH STONE
• Application Number:
  US10/641,820
• Publication Number:
  US 20050038808A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,308 Days
• Field of Search: 707/10, 707/9, 707/104.1, 707/100, 707/609, 707/634
• US Class Current: 707/609
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/344 Out-of-band transfers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers

Abstract

A pluggable, extensible, lightweight framework is described that allows an out-of-band server management connection to interact with a plurality of operating system (OS) resident agents.

Claims

1. A method for remotely managing a host computing device, comprising:

sending, from a remote application, a package to the host computing device via an out-of-band connection;

receiving, by the host computing device, the sent package;

parsing the package, the package comprising one or more packets, wherein each packet is a size capable of being accommodated by the out-of-band-connection;

determining an action requested based on the parsed package; and

performing the requested action,

wherein sending packages via the out-of-band-connection comprises communicating packets to a baseboard management controller (BMC) on the host computing device, wherein the BMC communicates with an operating system (OS) agent on the host computing device, and

wherein the requested action is selected from a group consisting of request OS version, perform shutdown, request BIOS version, request SMBIOS information, request independent hardware vendor (IHV) information, and update host computing device firmware.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the OS agent comprises a framework for dispatching received requests.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the packets are encoded in extensible Markup Language (XML).

4. A method for requesting an action on a host computing device, by a remote management system, comprising:

determining an action to be performed by the host computing device, wherein the action to be performed is selected from a group consisting of request OS version, perform shutdown, request BIOS version, request SMBIOS information, request independent hardware vendor (IHV) information, and update host computing device firmware;

generating a request package, wherein the package indicates an action to be performed and includes corresponding data;

generating at least one packet of information from the request package, wherein each packet is of a size capable of being accessed by a baseboard management controller on the host computing device; and

transmitting the at least one generated packet to the baseboard management controller operatively connected to the computing device.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the transmitting is via an out-of-band connection.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the packets are encoded in extensible Markup Language (XML).

7. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the computing device is a network server.

8. A method for enabling remote, out-of-band management of a host computing device, comprising:

receiving a request package, the request package comprising one or more request packets, wherein the package indicates a request and includes data corresponding to the request, wherein the request is selected from a group consisting of request OS version, perform shutdown, request BIOS version, request SMBIOS information, request independent hardware vendor (IHV) information, and update host computing device firmware;

determining a beginning packet and an end packet of the request package;

reconstructing the request package from the one or more request packets; and

sending the request package to a dispatcher, wherein the dispatcher comprises an operating system (OS) agent, and wherein the request packets are received via an out-of-band connection by a baseboard management controller coupled to the host computing device.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the beginning packet and end packet are the same packet.

10. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the dispatcher

parses a header of the received package;

determines whether a type is associated with the package request; and

executes a method corresponding to the associated type of the package request.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising determining whether a response is requested, and if so, then sending the requested response to a remote application via the out-of-band connection.

12. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the type is one of plugin and framework.

13. A tangible non-transitory machine accessible medium comprising instructions for remotely managing a host computing device, the instructions structured to enable a machine to:

receive, by an operating system (OS) agent on the host computing device, a package sent from a remote application, the package sent via an out-of-band connection and first received by a baseboard management controller coupled to the host computing device;

parse the package, the package comprising one or more packets, wherein each packet is a size capable of being accommodated by the out-of-band-connection;

determine an action requested; and

perform the requested action, wherein the requested action is selected from a group consisting of request OS version, perform shutdown, request BIOS version, request SMBIOS information, request independent hardware vendor (IHV) information, and update host computing device firmware.

14. The tangible non-transitory machine accessible medium as recited in claim 13, wherein the packets are encoded in extensible Markup Language (XML).

15. A non-transitory machine accessible medium comprising instructions for requesting an action on a host computing device, by a remote management system, the instructions structured to enable a machine to:

determine an action to be performed by the computing device, wherein the action to be performed is selected from a group consisting of request OS version, perform shutdown, request BIOS version, request SMBIOS information, request independent hardware vendor (IHV) information, and update host computing device firmware;

generate a request package, wherein the package indicates an action to be performed and includes corresponding data;

generate at least one packet of information from the request package, wherein each packet is of a size capable of being accessed by a baseboard management controller on the host computing device; and

transmit the at least one generated packet to the baseboard management controller operatively connected to the computing device.

16. The non-transitory machine accessible medium as recited by claim 15, wherein the transmitting is via an out-of-band connection.

17. The non-transitory machine accessible medium as recited by claim 15, wherein the packets are encoded in extensible Markup Language (XML).

18. A tangible machine accessible medium comprising instructions for enabling remote, out-of-band management of a computing device, the instructions structured to enable a machine to:

receive a request package, the request package comprising one or more request packets, wherein the package indicates a request and includes data corresponding to the request;

determine a beginning packet and an end packet of the request package;

reconstruct the request package from the one or more request packets; and

send the request package to a dispatcher, wherein the dispatcher comprises an operating system (OS) agent, and wherein the request packets are received by a baseboard management controller coupled to the host computing device via an out-of-band connection, and

wherein the request is selected from a group consisting of request OS version, perform shutdown, request BIOS version, request SMBIOS information, request independent hardware vendor (IHV) information, and update host computing device firmware.

19. The machine accessible medium as recited in claim 18, wherein the dispatcher further comprises instructions causing the machine to:

parse a header of the received package;

determine whether a type associated with the package request; and

execute a method corresponding to the associated type of the package request.

20. The machine accessible medium as recited in claim 19, wherein the instructions further comprise determining whether a response is requested, and if so, then sending the requested response to a remote application via an out-of-band connection.

21. A system for remote management of a host computing device, comprising:

the host computing device capable of communicating with a remote application, the host computing device having a baseboard management controller (BMC) and processor running an operating system (OS), wherein the remote application communicates with the BMC via an out of band connection; and

an OS resident agent capable of communicating with the BMC, wherein the OS resident agent receives request packages from the remote application via the BMC, wherein the request package comprises a request to perform an action and related data, and

wherein the action to be performed is selected from a group consisting of request OS version, perform shutdown, request BIOS version, request SMBIOS information, request independent hardware vendor (IHV) information, and update host computing device firmware.

22. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein the OS resident agent further comprises a plugin framework for dispatching requests received in the request package.

23. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein the request package comprises one or more packets of information.

24. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein the packets are formatted in extensible Markup Language (XML).