xref: /openbmc/entity-manager/CONFIG_FORMAT.md (revision 4e1142d6f418f48ea260132ebb5a4995b2310c90)
1# Config Files
2
3## Intent
4
5Configuration files are intended to represent the minimum amount of
6configuration required to describe a given piece of hardware. As such, they are
7intended to be simple, and are guided by the following principles.
8
91. Configuration files should be easy to write. If a tradeoff is to be made
10   between a config file being complex to write, and a reactor being complex to
11   write, the reactor will be the one to hold the complexity. Why?
12   - Configuration files will get replicated and built to support hundreds of
13     systems over time, and scale linearly with the number of systems. In
14     contrast, reactors tend to scale as a logarithm of system count, with each
15     new system supported adding fewer and fewer reactors. As such, pushing the
16     complexity to the reactors leads to fewer lines of code overall, even if
17     the reactor itself contains more complex actions.
18   - Reactor writers tend to be domain experts on their subsystem, and
19     intimately understand the constraints that are emplaced on that subsystem.
20     Config file writers are generally building support for a wide range of
21     reactors on a single piece of hardware, and will generally have less
22     knowledge of each individual reactors constraints.
23
242. Configuration files should trend toward one config file per physical piece of
25   hardware, and should avoid attempting to support multiple variations of a
26   given piece of hardware in a single file, even at the risk of duplicating
27   information. Why?
28   - Hardware constraints, bugs, and oddities are generally found over time. The
29     initial commit of a configuration file is far from the final time that
30     changes will be submitted. Having each individual piece of hardware in its
31     own file minimizes the change needed between different components when bugs
32     are found, or features are added.
33   - Having separate config files reduces the number of platforms that need to
34     be tested for any given config file change, thus limiting the "blast
35     radius" of particular kinds of changes, as well as making an explicit log
36     of what changed for a specific platform.
37   - Having one config file per piece of hardware makes it much easier and clear
38     for a user to determine if a piece of hardware is supported.
39   - Note: This is a "guideline" not a "rule". There are many cases of hardware
40     that despite having different part numbers, are actually physically
41     identical, and as such, the config files will never differ.
42     - Example: SAS modules and cards made by the same company, on the same
43       process, and branded with different manufacturers and part numbers.
44     - Non-Example: Power supplies. While all pmbus power supplies appear
45       similar, there tend to be significant differences in featuresets, bugs,
46       and OEM supported firmware features. As such, they require separate
47       config files.
48
493. Configuration files are not a long-term stable ABI. Why?
50   - Configuration files occasionally need to modify their schema in pursuit of
51     simplicity, or based on a greater understanding of the system level
52     constraints.
53   - The repo will ensure that all schema changes are enacted such that the
54     files in the repo will not be broken as a result of the schema change, and
55     will be carried forward. The recommended way to avoid merge problems is to
56     upstream your configurations.
57   - Note: This drives the requirement that config files shall not be checked
58     into OpenBMC meta layers.
59
604. Configurations should represent only the things that are _different_ and
61   undetectable between platforms. Why?
62   - There are many behaviors that the BMC has that are very easily detected at
63     runtime, or where the behavior can be identical between different
64     platforms. Things like timeouts, protocol versions, and communcation
65     channels can generally be represented with a default that works for all
66     platforms, and doesn't need to be an entity-configurable parameter. In
67     general, reducing the config files to _only_ the differences reduces
68     complexity, and explicitly bounds where dicsussion is needed for platform
69     differences, and where a difference is "supported" and "reasonable" to
70     maintain in the long run.
71
72## Configuration Syntax
73
74In most cases a server system is built with multiple hardware modules (circuit
75boards) such as baseboard, risers, and hot-swap backplanes. While it is
76perfectly legal to combine the JSON configuration information for all the
77hardware modules into a single file if desired, it is recommended to divide them
78into multiple configuration files. For example, there may be a baseboard JSON
79file (describes all devices on the baseboard) and a chassis JSON file (describes
80devices attached to the chassis). Other examples of entities might be removable
81power supplies, fans, and PCIe add in cards.
82
83Within a configuration file, there is a JSON object which consists of multiple
84"string : value" pairs. This Entity Manager defines the following strings.
85
86| String        | Example Value                                                       | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
87| :------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
88| "Name"        | `"X1000 1U Chassis"`                                                | Human readable name used for identification and sorting.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
89| "Probe"       | `"xyz.openbmc_project.FruDevice({'BOARD_PRODUCT_NAME':'FFPANEL'})"` | Statement which attempts to read from d-bus. The result determines if a configuration record should be applied. The value for probe can be set to “TRUE” in the case the record should always be applied, or set to more complex lookups, for instance a field in a FRU file that is exposed by the frudevice |
90| "Exposes"     | `[{"Name" : "CPU fan"}, ...]`                                       | An array of JSON objects which are valid if the probe result is successful. These objects describe the devices BMC can interact.                                                                                                                                                                              |
91| "Status"      | `"disabled"`                                                        | An indicator that allows for some records to be disabled by default.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
92| "Bind\*"      | `"2U System Fan connector 1"`                                       | The record isn't complete and needs to be combined with another to be functional. The value is a unique reference to a record elsewhere.                                                                                                                                                                      |
93| "DisableNode" | `"Fan 1"`                                                           | Sets the status of another Entity to disabled.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
94
95Template strings in the form of "$identifier" may be used in configuration
96files. The following table describes the template strings currently defined.
97
98| Template String | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
99| :-------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
100| "$bus"          | During a I2C bus scan and when the "probe" command is successful, this template string is substituted with the bus number to which the device is connected.                                                                         |
101| "$address"      | When the "probe" is successful, this template string is substituted with the (7-bit) I2C address of the FRU device.                                                                                                                 |
102| "$index"        | A run-tim enumeration. This template string is substituted with a unique index value when the "probe" command is successful. This allows multiple identical devices (e.g., HSBPs) to exist in a system but each with a unique name. |
103
104## Configuration HowTos
105
106If you're just getting started and your goal is to add sensors dynamically,
107check out [My First Sensors](docs/my_first_sensors.md)
108
109## When adding/moving/removing a configuration file
110
111Please run `scripts/generate_config_list.sh` from the root of the repository so
112that configuration files are correctly referenced by meson.
113
114## Configuration schema
115
116The config schema is documented in [README.md](schemas/README.md)
117
118## Configuration Records - Baseboard Example
119
120The configuration JSON files attempt to model the actual hardware modules which
121make up a complete system. An example baseboard JSON file shown below defines
122two fan connectors and two temperature sensors of TMP75 type. These objects are
123considered valid by BMC when the probe command (reads and compares the product
124name in FRU) is successful and this baseboard is named as "WFP baseboard".
125
126```json
127{
128  "Exposes": [
129    {
130      "Name": "1U System Fan connector 1",
131      "Pwm": 1,
132      "Status": "disabled",
133      "Tachs": [1, 2],
134      "Type": "IntelFanConnector"
135    },
136    {
137      "Name": "2U System Fan connector 1",
138      "Pwm": 1,
139      "Status": "disabled",
140      "Tachs": [1],
141      "Type": "IntelFanConnector"
142    },
143    {
144      "Address": "0x49",
145      "Bus": 6,
146      "Name": "Left Rear Temp",
147      "Thresholds": [
148        {
149          "Direction": "greater than",
150          "Name": "upper critical",
151          "Severity": 1,
152          "Value": 115
153        },
154        {
155          "Direction": "greater than",
156          "Name": "upper non critical",
157          "Severity": 0,
158          "Value": 110
159        },
160        {
161          "Direction": "less than",
162          "Name": "lower non critical",
163          "Severity": 0,
164          "Value": 5
165        },
166        {
167          "Direction": "less than",
168          "Name": "lower critical",
169          "Severity": 1,
170          "Value": 0
171        }
172      ],
173      "Type": "TMP75"
174    },
175    {
176      "Address": "0x48",
177      "Bus": 6,
178      "Name": "Voltage Regulator 1 Temp",
179      "Thresholds": [
180        {
181          "Direction": "greater than",
182          "Name": "upper critical",
183          "Severity": 1,
184          "Value": 115
185        },
186        {
187          "Direction": "greater than",
188          "Name": "upper non critical",
189          "Severity": 0,
190          "Value": 110
191        },
192        {
193          "Direction": "less than",
194          "Name": "lower non critical",
195          "Severity": 0,
196          "Value": 5
197        },
198        {
199          "Direction": "less than",
200          "Name": "lower critical",
201          "Severity": 1,
202          "Value": 0
203        }
204      ],
205      "Type": "TMP75"
206    }
207  ],
208  "Name": "WFP Baseboard",
209  "Probe": "xyz.openbmc_project.FruDevice({'BOARD_PRODUCT_NAME' : '.*WFT'})"
210}
211```
212
213[Full Configuration](https://github.com/openbmc/entity-manager/blob/master/configurations/WFT_Baseboard.json)
214
215## Configuration Records - Chassis Example
216
217Although fan connectors are considered a part of a baseboard, the physical fans
218themselves are considered as a part of a chassis. In order for a fan to be
219matched with a fan connector, the keyword "Bind" is used. The example below
220shows how a chassis fan named "Fan 1" is connected to the connector named "1U
221System Fan connector 1". When the probe command finds the correct product name
222in baseboard FRU, the fan and the connector are considered as being joined
223together.
224
225```json
226{
227  "Exposes": [
228    {
229      "BindConnector": "1U System Fan connector 1",
230      "Name": "Fan 1",
231      "Thresholds": [
232        {
233          "Direction": "less than",
234          "Name": "lower critical",
235          "Severity": 1,
236          "Value": 1750
237        },
238        {
239          "Direction": "less than",
240          "Name": "lower non critical",
241          "Severity": 0,
242          "Value": 2000
243        }
244      ],
245      "Type": "AspeedFan"
246    }
247  ]
248}
249```
250
251## Enabling Sensors
252
253As daemons can trigger off of shared types, sometimes some handshaking will be
254needed to enable sensors. Using the TMP75 sensor as an example, when the sensor
255object is enabled, the device tree must be updated before scanning may begin.
256The entity-manager can key off of different types and export devices for
257specific configurations. Once this is done, the baseboard temperature sensor
258daemon can scan the sensors.
259
260## C-Style Comments Support
261
262The configuration JSON file supports c-style comments base on the rules as
263below:
264
265- Single-line style comments (//) can be on a new line or at the end of a line
266  with contents.
267
268```json5
269{
270  // Single-line style comment (new line)
271  Key: "Value", // Single-line comment (end of content)
272}
273```
274
275- Multi-line style comments (/\* \*/) use the must be free-standing.
276
277```json5
278{
279  /* Multi-line style comment */
280  /*
281   * Multi-line style comments
282   */
283}
284```
285
286- When running autojson.py on a configuration JSON file, the comments will be
287  removed first and then get inserted back into the file in the line they came
288  from. If keys are resorted or the number of lines change, all bets for
289  correctness are off.
290
291- No attempts to re-indent multi-line comments will be made.
292
293In light of this, it is highly recommended to use a JSON formatter such as
294prettier before using this script and planning to move multi-line comments
295around after key resorting.
296