8. BMC Management and Infrastructure Automation

Date

2025-03-09

Status

Accepted

Decision Makers

• Development Team
• Infrastructure Team

Stakeholders

• DevOps Engineers
• System Administrators
• Development Team

Context

The project requires robust automation for managing Baseboard Management Controllers (BMC) and infrastructure components. This includes DNS configuration, storage management, and deployment automation. The solution needs to support both development and production environments while maintaining consistency and reliability.

Considered Options

1. Manual configuration with documentation
2. Custom Python/Shell scripts without standardization
3. Ansible-based automation
4. Standardized shell scripts with modular design
5. Third-party management tools

Decision

We have implemented a comprehensive set of automation tools through standardized shell scripts:

1. BMC Management through Redfish
   • Implemented in configure-sushy-unix.sh
   • Standardized BMC interface through Redfish API
   • Container-based emulation for testing
2. Infrastructure Configuration
   • DNS Management (configure_dns_entries.sh)
   • LVM Storage Configuration (configure-lvm.sh)
   • FreeIPA Integration (deploy-freeipa.sh)
3. Deployment Automation
   • KVM Deployment Scripts (deploy-on-kvm.sh)
   • ISO Creation Tools (create-iso.sh)
   • Network Configuration (vyos-router.sh)
4. Monitoring and Maintenance
   • VM State Management (watch-and-reboot-kvm-vms.sh)
   • Testing Tools (test-libvirt-ssh.sh)
   • BMC Host Generation (generate_bmc_acm_hosts.py)

Rationale

• Shell scripts provide native OS integration
• Modular design allows for easy maintenance
• Standardized approach ensures consistency
• Built-in error handling and logging
• Support for both development and production use cases

Consequences

Positive

1. Consistent deployment process
2. Reduced manual intervention
3. Reproducible configurations
4. Easy troubleshooting
5. Version control friendly
6. Cross-environment compatibility

Negative

1. Requires shell scripting knowledge
2. Platform-specific considerations
3. Maintenance overhead for scripts
4. Requires regular updates for new OS versions

Implementation Details

DNS Configuration (configure_dns_entries.sh)

• Automated DNS record management
• Support for multiple zones
• Integration with existing DNS infrastructure

Storage Management (configure-lvm.sh)

• LVM volume creation and management
• Flexible storage allocation
• Support for various storage configurations

FreeIPA Integration (deploy-freeipa.sh)

• Identity management setup
• Authentication integration
• Directory services configuration

Network Automation (vyos-router.sh)

• VyOS router configuration
• Network segregation
• VLAN management

Links

Test Cases

• Integration tests in e2e-tests/
• Network validation scripts
• Storage configuration tests

Related ADRs

• ADR-0007: Virtual Infrastructure Testing Environment
• ADR-0003: Ansible Automation Approach
• ADR-0004: Disconnected Installation Support

Code References

• hack/configure_dns_entries.sh
• hack/configure-lvm.sh
• hack/deploy-freeipa.sh
• hack/vyos-router.sh
• hack/generate_bmc_acm_hosts.py

External References

• Redfish API Specification
• VyOS Documentation
• FreeIPA Implementation Guide

Related

• Installation Guide
• Configuration Guide
• Network Configuration
• Example Configurations