Method for monitoring starting state of arm server and arm server

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for monitoring the starting state of an arm server and the corresponding arm server, and the monitoring method comprises the steps: after the arm server is powered on and firmware of HOST is normally loaded, the normally loaded firmware transmits starting mark information of a starting process to a preset memory independent of the firmware, and the preset memory is used for storing the starting mark information of the starting process; the starting flag information is stored in a preset starting flag bit area in the preset memory, and the starting flag information comprises a starting stage and a corresponding starting result; after the BMC firmware is normally loaded to enable the BMC to complete startup, the BMC reads startup flag information from the startup flag bit area of the preset memory; and when the system is abnormal, the BMC outputs starting mark information according to an external command. Compared with the prior art, the method has the advantages that the starting mark information of the firmware can be stored by the memory independent of the firmware when the BMC is not started, and then the starting mark information is acquired from the memory after the BMC is started, so that an abnormal position can be conveniently determined when a fault occurs, and operation and maintenance personnel can accurately locate which stage has a problem through the BMC.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of computers, and in particular to a method for monitoring the startup status of an ARM server and an ARM server. Background Art

[0002] BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) as a management module of the server mainly has the following functions: 1. Detect the health status of the machine and provide it to the operation and maintenance personnel in the form of logs for analysis; 2. The operation and maintenance personnel can manage the server through BMC, such as issuing power consumption control, upgrading the firmware of related modules, etc. These functions BMC can obtain by communicating with the management software on the HOST side, such as MSCP (microservice communication proxy module MSCP), or by directly connecting to the hardware device to read the status register. There are two scenarios in the power-on of the server that cannot be monitored and accurately located by BMC: one is to connect to the power supply and immediately press the power button. The BMC and HOST (the server is divided into the system side and the BMC side. On the system side, for arm architecture servers, there are hardware such as CPU / MEMORY / HDD (hard disk drive) / PCIe (interface) / NvMe (solid state drive), as shown in the attached Figure 1 , the software includes BOOTROM (the starting point for chip loading) / ATF (arm trusted firmware) / SCP / MCP / UEFI and other firmware) and is powered on at the same time. BMC and HOST start to initialize at the same time. After BMC initialization is completed, it starts to communicate with MSCP. At this time, if the system is abnormal, such as overtemperature / overvoltage in a certain core of the CPU, BMC can monitor normally, but during the BMC initialization period, it fails to monitor the startup and monitoring status of the server; the second is that after connecting to the power supply, the power button is not pressed immediately. At this time, it is in standby state, but BMC is initialized normally. After BMC initialization is completed, it is turned on by pressing the button or BMC, and BMC communicates with MSCP for monitoring. This is based on the fact that MSCP firmware is working normally. BMC captures through MSCP. If MSCP itself is abnormal, BMC can only judge which stage of startup is through some hardware registers, such as the status GPIO of SCP (system control processor) firmware initialization completion, and the specific startup abnormality cannot be accurately located.

[0003] Therefore, a new method and system for solving the above problems are urgently needed. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for monitoring the startup status of an arm server and an arm server, wherein a memory independent of the firmware can store the startup flag information of the firmware when the BMC has not completed the startup, and then obtain the startup flag information from the memory after the BMC is started, so that the operation and maintenance personnel can accurately locate at which stage the problem occurs through the BMC when a fault occurs.

[0005] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention discloses a method for monitoring the startup status of an arm server, comprising: after the arm server is powered on and the firmware of the HOST is loaded normally, the normally loaded firmware transmits the startup flag information of the startup process to a preset memory independent of the firmware, and stores it in a preset startup flag bit area in the preset memory, wherein the startup flag information includes a startup stage and a corresponding startup result; after the BMC firmware is loaded normally so that the BMC completes the startup, the BMC reads the startup flag information from the startup flag bit area of ​​the preset memory; when the system is abnormal, the BMC outputs the startup flag information according to an external command.

[0006] Preferably, the preset memory is an EEPROM, a flash memory or an external SD card of a server mainboard.

[0007] Specifically, when the preset memory is eeprom, the storage area of ​​the boot program in the bootrom stage of startup and the boot flag area are independent of or shared with each other.

[0008] The startup phase includes: ATF BL1 phase, ATF BL2 phase, ATF BL31 phase, ATF BL32 phase and ATF BL33 phase.

[0009] Preferably, the firmware transmits the startup flag information to an independent preset memory via I2C / I3C.

[0010] Preferably, the firmware includes BMC firmware, MCP firmware, SCP firmware and ATF firmware.

[0011] The present invention also provides an arm server capable of performing startup status monitoring, comprising a HOST firmware, a preset memory independent of the firmware, and a BMC, wherein the firmware is communicatively connected to the preset memory, the BMC is communicatively connected to the preset memory, and the firmware is communicatively connected to the preset memory, and after the firmware is powered on and loaded normally on the arm server, the startup flag information of the startup process is transmitted to the preset memory and stored in a preset startup flag bit area in the preset memory, wherein the startup flag information includes a startup stage and a corresponding startup result; after the BMC firmware is loaded normally so that the BMC completes the startup, the BMC reads the startup flag information from the startup flag bit area of ​​the preset memory; when the system is abnormal, the BMC outputs the startup flag information according to an external command.

[0012] Preferably, the preset memory is an EEPROM, a flash memory or an external SD card of a server mainboard.

[0013] Preferably, when the preset memory is eeprom, the storage area of ​​the boot program in the bootrom stage of startup and the boot flag area are independent of or shared with each other.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, after the arm server is powered on, when the BMC has not completed the startup, the HOST firmware stores its startup flag information in a startup flag bit area of ​​a memory independent of the firmware when it is started, and then directly reads all the startup flag information of this startup from the startup flag bit area after the BMC completes the startup, so that when an abnormality occurs at any stage in the startup process, the BMC outputs the startup flag information according to an external command, and the operation and maintenance personnel can determine the abnormal position of the HOST startup through the startup flag information before and after the abnormally missing startup flag information, accurately locate which stage the problem occurs, and facilitate subsequent solutions by R&D personnel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 It is a structural diagram of startup status monitoring in the arm server of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 2 It is a flow chart of the method for monitoring the startup status of an ARM server of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] In order to explain the technical content, structural features, achieved objectives and effects of the present invention in detail, the following is a detailed description in conjunction with the implementation methods and the accompanying drawings.

[0018] refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 The present invention discloses a method for monitoring the startup status of an ARM server, comprising steps S1 to S5.

[0019] S1, the arm server is powered on.

[0020] S2, after the arm server is powered on, the HOST firmware starts loading to start.

[0021] The firmware includes BMC firmware, MCP firmware, SCP firmware and ATF firmware.

[0022] S3, after each firmware is loaded normally to complete the startup, the startup flag information of the startup process is transmitted to a preset memory independent of the firmware, and stored in a preset startup flag area in the preset memory, wherein the startup flag information includes the startup stage and the corresponding startup result, which can be a specific startup flag value, and the startup flag value represents the corresponding startup stage and startup result, for example, indicating that the bootrom stage is started normally.

[0023] The preset memory is the eeprom, flash memory or external sd card of the server mainboard. Specifically, when the preset memory is the eeprom, the storage area of ​​the boot program in the bootrom phase of startup is independent of or shared with the boot flag area.

[0024] The startup phase includes: ATF BL1 phase, ATF BL2 phase, ATF BL31 phase, ATF BL32 phase and ATF BL33 phase.

[0025] S4, after the BMC firmware is loaded normally so that the BMC completes the startup, the startup flag information is read from the startup flag area of ​​the preset memory. The BMC includes a BMC chip and a BCM firmware. The BMC firmware is a software program running in the BMC chip, and in the present invention, it particularly refers to the program for the BMC to start.

[0026] After the BMC firmware is loaded normally to complete the startup, the startup flag information of the startup process can also be transmitted to a preset memory independent of the firmware, and after the transmission is completed, the startup flag bit area of ​​the preset memory is obtained to read the startup flag information.

[0027] S5, when the system is abnormal, the BMC outputs the startup flag information according to the external command. When the system is abnormal, the operation and maintenance personnel input the relevant command to obtain all the startup flag information from the BMC, so as to determine the precise location of the HOST startup abnormality according to the BMC, which is convenient for the R&D personnel to solve it later.

[0028] The firmware transmits the startup flag information to an independent preset memory via I2C / I3C, and the BMC also communicates with the preset memory via I2C / I3C to obtain the startup flag information.

[0029] refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 The present invention also discloses an arm server capable of performing startup status monitoring, comprising a firmware of a HOST, a preset memory independent of the firmware, and a BMC, wherein the firmware is communicatively connected to the preset memory, the BMC is communicatively connected to the preset memory, the firmware is communicatively connected to the preset memory, and after the firmware is powered on and loaded normally on the arm server, the startup flag information of the startup process is transmitted to the preset memory and stored in a preset startup flag bit area in the preset memory, wherein the startup flag information includes a startup stage and a corresponding startup result; after the BMC firmware is loaded normally so that the BMC completes the startup, the BMC reads the startup flag information from the startup flag bit area of ​​the preset memory; when the system is abnormal, the BMC outputs the startup flag information according to an external command.

[0030] Wherein, the preset memory is the eeprom of the server mainboard, flash memory or external sd card. Preferably, when the preset memory is the eeprom, the storage area of ​​the boot program in the bootrom stage of startup and the boot flag area are independent of or shared with each other.

[0031] The firmware includes BMC firmware, MCP firmware, SCP firmware and ATF firmware.

[0032] The startup phase includes: ATF BL1 phase, ATF BL2 phase, ATF BL31 phase, ATF BL32 phase and ATF BL33 phase. The HOST firmware startup process of the Arm server belongs to common knowledge in the art and will not be described in detail here.

[0033] The firmware transmits the startup flag information to an independent preset memory via I2C / I3C, and the BMC also communicates with the preset memory via I2C / I3C to obtain the startup flag information.

[0034] Compared with the prior art, after the arm server is powered on, when the BMC has not completed the startup, the HOST firmware stores its startup flag information in a startup flag bit area of ​​a memory independent of the firmware when it is started, and then directly reads all the startup flag information of this startup from the startup flag bit area after the BMC completes the startup. Therefore, when an abnormality occurs at any stage in the startup process, the operation and maintenance personnel can determine the abnormal position of the HOST startup through the BMC, accurately locate which stage the problem occurs, and facilitate subsequent solutions by R&D personnel.

[0035] Wherein, the program for executing the method for monitoring the startup status of the arm server is built into a preset memory or an arm server host, and the HOST firmware.

[0036] After the Arm server of the present invention is powered on, when the firmware MSCP of the HOST is started, the startup flag information of the startup process is output to the agreed interval (called the startup flag area) of the preset memory (EEPROM, FLASH, etc.) through I2C / I3C (2-wire (SDA, SCL) synchronous serial interface). For example, in the bootrom stage, reading is started from eeprom (this flash / eeprom can also be shared with the storage startup flag area or can be separate). At this time, the SCP firmware that supports writing the startup flag writes a specific value (startup flag information) into the eeprom, and reads the startup flag from the eeprom after the BMC that supports reading the startup flag is initialized. Even if the SCP is abnormally hung later, the BMC determines which startup stage has an abnormality by judging the flag. When other startup stages are abnormal, the method is the same. By judging the startup flag information before and after, it is determined at which stage the HOST is started and what abnormality occurs.

[0037] BMC: Baseboard Management Controller. MCP: Management Control Processor. SCP: System Control Processor. ATF: arm-trusted-firmware. The BOOTROM program is the starting point for chip loading. The program is stored in only two physical devices: the ROM chip inside the scp_block and the Flash chip connected to the QSPI0 interface CS0 outside the chip. MicroService Computing Platform, or MSCP for short.

[0038] The above disclosure is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which certainly cannot be used to limit the scope of rights of the present invention. Therefore, equivalent changes made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention are still within the scope covered by the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring the startup status of an arm server, characterized in that: include: After the arm server is powered on and the firmware of the HOST is loaded normally, the normally loaded firmware transmits the startup flag information of the startup process to a preset memory independent of the firmware and stores it in a preset startup flag bit area in the preset memory, wherein the startup flag information includes the startup stage and the corresponding startup result; After the BMC firmware is loaded normally so that the BMC completes startup, the BMC reads the startup flag information from the startup flag bit area of ​​the preset memory; When the system is abnormal, the BMC outputs the startup flag information according to the external command.

2. The method for monitoring the startup status of an ARM server as claimed in claim 1, wherein: The preset memory is the eeprom of the server mainboard, a flash memory or an external sd card.

3. The method for monitoring the startup status of an ARM server as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: When the preset memory is eeprom, the storage area of ​​the startup program in the bootrom stage of startup and the startup flag bit area are independent of or shared with each other.

4. The method for monitoring the startup status of an ARM server as claimed in claim 1, wherein: The method also includes the following steps: the startup phase includes: an ATF BL1 phase, an ATF BL2 phase, an ATF BL31 phase, an ATF BL32 phase and an ATF BL33 phase.

5. The method for monitoring the startup status of an ARM server as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The firmware transmits the startup flag information to an independent preset memory via I2C / I3C.

6. The method for monitoring the startup status of an ARM server as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The firmware includes BMC firmware, MCP firmware, SCP firmware and ATF firmware.

7. An arm server capable of monitoring startup status, characterized in that: The device comprises a HOST firmware, a preset memory independent of the firmware, and a BMC, wherein the firmware is communicatively connected to the preset memory, the BMC is communicatively connected to the preset memory, the firmware is communicatively connected to the preset memory, and after the firmware is powered on and loaded normally on the arm server, the startup flag information of the startup process is transmitted to the preset memory and stored in a preset startup flag bit area in the preset memory, wherein the startup flag information includes a startup stage and a corresponding startup result; After the BMC firmware is normally loaded so that the BMC completes startup, the BMC reads the startup flag information from the startup flag bit area of ​​the preset memory; When the system is abnormal, the BMC outputs the startup flag information according to the external command.

8. The ARM server capable of performing startup status monitoring as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that: The preset memory is the eeprom of the server mainboard, a flash memory or an external sd card.

9. The ARM server capable of performing startup status monitoring as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that: When the preset memory is eeprom, the storage area of ​​the startup program in the bootrom stage of startup and the startup flag bit area are independent of or shared with each other.

10. The ARM server capable of performing startup status monitoring as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that: The firmware includes BMC firmware, MCP firmware, SCP firmware and ATF firmware.

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