TWI709045B - Method of checking the boot status of a server from remote node and server - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of checking the boot status of a server from remote node is performed by a server for reading data from a remote host, the server comprising a central processing unit and a baseboard management controller, the central processing unit executes a plurality of basic input/output system sub-programs, the baseboard management controller is communicate with a remote host, and the method is when the central processor unit executes one of the basic input-output system sub-programs, the central processor compares whether the current power-on self-test program corresponding to the executed basic input-output system sub-program meets one of the plurality of preset power-on self-test programs, if yes, the central processor unit generates a corresponding preset power-on self-test code, and converts it into a readable string and stored by the baseboard management controller for the remote host to read.

Description

Method and server for remotely viewing server startup status

The present invention relates to a method and system for providing error detection, error correction or monitoring in the process of power-on self-checking program by means of firmware.

The existing server executes the basic input output system program after power-on to perform the power-on self-check program during the boot process to all related system events and statuses entering the operating system, which are successively transmitted by the central processing unit to the baseboard management controller For the baseboard management controller to record in the system event log, when the remote computer wants to view the latest status of the server, it must communicate with the baseboard management controller by means of interrupt commands from the remote end and request the baseboard management controller to return All the system event logs that have been recorded are transmitted, so the baseboard management controller will suspend the work currently being executed, and will not continue to execute the pre-interruption until all the system event logs stored before the interruption are transferred to the remote computer. The work being executed, therefore, the baseboard management controller will delay the execution of the work being executed before the interruption. If all system event logs have too much data, it will take a long time to transfer all system event logs, which will not only cause the baseboard management controller It is not easy for users of remote computers to quickly obtain and check the status of the server, and it is time-consuming.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for remotely viewing the server startup status that can directly view the system status.

Therefore, the method for remotely checking the boot status of a server of the present invention is executed by a server. The server includes a central processing unit and a baseboard management controller coupled to the central processing unit. The central processing unit is connected to the server. After the controller is powered on, it executes a basic input output system program including a plurality of basic input output system subprograms to sequentially perform a plurality of current power-on self-check procedures. The baseboard management controller includes a main controller and operates independently of the The primary controller of the main controller, and the communication is connected to a remote host.

The method for remotely checking the server boot status includes the following:

When the central processing unit executes one of the basic input output system sub-programs, the central processing unit compares whether the current power-on self-check procedure corresponding to the basic input output system sub-program conforms to multiple preset power-ups One of the self-check procedures.

If the result of the comparison is yes, the central processing unit generates a preset power-on self-check code corresponding to the preset power-on self-check procedure of the basic input output system subprogram to be executed, and the generated The current power-on self-check code is converted into a readable string related to the operation status of the server.

The central processing unit transmits the readable character string to the secondary controller for the secondary controller to store the readable character string.

The remote host reads the readable string through the baseboard management controller.

Moreover, another object of the present invention is to provide a server that can directly view the system status.

Therefore, the server of the present invention is connected to a remote host through the network, and the server includes a central processing unit and a baseboard management controller.

After the server is powered on, the central processing unit executes a basic input output system program including a plurality of basic input output system subprograms to sequentially perform a plurality of current power-on self-check procedures.

The baseboard management controller is coupled to the central processing unit, and includes a primary controller and a secondary controller independently operating on the primary controller, and is communicatively connected to a remote host.

When the central processing unit executes one of the basic input output system subprograms included in the basic input output system program, the central processing unit compares the current power-on corresponding to the executed basic input output system subprogram Whether the self-check program conforms to one of multiple preset power-on self-check procedures, if the comparison result is yes, the central processing unit generates the preset power-on self-check corresponding to the basic input output system subprogram to be executed A preset power-on self-check code corresponding to the program, and the generated current power-on self-check code is converted into a readable string related to the operating state of the server, and the CPU uses the readable word The string is transmitted to the secondary controller for the secondary controller to store the readable string, and the remote host reads the readable string through the baseboard management controller.

The effect of the present invention is that when the current power-on self-test procedure corresponding to the executed basic input output system sub-program is matched with one of a plurality of preset power-on self-test procedures by the central processing unit, further Generate the corresponding operating status data and convert it into a corresponding readable string, and send it to the secondary controller for storage in its register, so that the remote host does not need to interrupt the CPU's execution through the baseboard management controller The current power-on self-check program can be read from the baseboard management controller to execute the query program.

In this embodiment, a secondary controller that operates independently within the baseboard management controller (BMC: Baseboard Management Controller), such as a mailbox controller, receives the CPU to execute the basic input output system program. The current power-on self-test code that matches the preset power-on self-test code (POST code) is converted into a readable string, for example, a status string. When it receives the status string corresponding to the current power-on self-test code, That is, the status string is overwritten and stored to the corresponding register.

The current power-on self-test code will be sent to the main controller of the baseboard management controller for storage in the form of system event logs, of which only a few important ones are consistent with the preset power-on self-test code The current power-on self-test code will be converted into a status string and sent to the mailbox controller for the mailbox controller to overwrite and store in its corresponding register. Not every current power-on self-test code will be Is passed to the mailbox controller. Because the system event log stored by the main controller of the baseboard management controller is accumulated for a long time, and not only the system event log that stores the relevant information generated by the CPU executing the basic input output system program, the CPU executes the operating system program (OS : Operation System) or the relevant information generated by the baseboard management controller executing the firmware will also be recorded in the form of system event log. Therefore, the amount of data in the system event log may be extremely large. This case mainly provides remote host to view the server The CPU executes the current status of the basic input output system, so the data seen is only the final state, and there is no need to save the previous data. In this case, the current power-on self-check code is sent to when the CPU executes the basic input output system program. Before the mailbox controller of the baseboard management controller, first convert the current power-on self-test code into a corresponding readable string and then send it to the mailbox controller of the baseboard management controller without interrupting the main controller of the baseboard management controller. Operation, the specific method of the embodiment of the server of the present invention will be described in detail below.

Referring to Figure 1, the server of the present invention includes a system-on-a-chip 21, a memory unit 22 (for example, flash memory, hard disk (not shown), network disk, or a flash drive external to the server). It is a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk externally connected to the server. In this embodiment, the memory unit 22 is illustrated by using a flash memory as an example), and a baseboard management controller 23.

The system-on-a-chip 21 includes a central processing unit (CPU: Central Processing Unit) 211, and a volatile memory electrically connected to the central processing unit 211 is, for example, a dual-line memory module (DIMM: Dual In-line Memory Module). 212, and a platform path controller (PCH: Platform Controller Hub) 213 electrically connected to the central processing unit 211.

The two-wire memory module 212 is used for the central processing unit 211 to temporarily store the executed programs.

The platform path controller 213 replaces some function sets of the original South Bridge and North Bridge and connects to other data bus input/output, such as audio equipment, serial high-end technology attachment bus, universal serial bus (USB: Universal Serial Bus) and Local area network.

The flash memory (Flash) 22 is electrically connected to the platform path controller 213, and stores a basic input output system program including a plurality of basic input output system subprograms. The CPU 211 starts up after the system is powered on The process executes multiple multiple basic input output system subroutines of the basic input output system program to perform corresponding multiple current power-on self-test (POST: Power-on self-test) procedures. A current power-on self-test program corresponds to a current power-on self-test phase, and each current power-on self-test phase corresponds to a current power-on self-test code (POST Code). The flash memory 214 has a control stored in advance The comparison table includes preset power-on self-check codes corresponding to a plurality of preset power-on self-check procedures, and the preset power-on self-check procedures respectively correspond to the subprograms of the basic input output system Several of the current power-on self-test procedures, that is, from the current power-on self-test procedures that are marked as monitoring points to be used as the preset power-on self-test procedures, and the marked ones The current power-on self-check program codes corresponding to the current power-on self-check program are respectively the corresponding preset power-on self-check program codes. When the CPU 211 executes the marked current power-on self-check When one of the procedures is one of the procedures, the relevant data corresponding to the currently executed power-on self-check program, for example, the preset power-on self-check program code, is converted into a readable string, and transmitted to the platform path controller 213 The baseboard management controller 23 is for storage. It should be noted that the relevant data can be, for example, the basic input output system subprogram corresponding to the pre-extensible firmware interface phase (PEI phase: Pre-Extensible Firmware Interface phase) The current power-on self-test code, or the current power-on self-test code corresponding to the basic input output system subprogram of the DXE phase: Driver Execution Environment phase (DXE phase: Driver Execution Environment phase), or the last phase of the current power-on self-test program (End of POST), or the relevant data of the stage before entering the operating system (Boot to OS) after executing these basic input output system subprograms.

In addition, after the CPU 211 executes the basic input output system sub-programs, the CPU 211 then executes storage via the platform path controller 213 in a storage unit corresponding to the platform path controller (for example, Non-volatile memory such as hard disk (not shown in the figure), network disk, flash drive connected to the server, or hard disk connected to the server. The following takes the hard disk as an example.) OS: Operating System) program. Similarly, the operating system is further subdivided into multiple operating system subroutines. These operating system subroutines correspond to multiple current operating system monitoring programs, and each current operating system monitoring program corresponds to In a current operating system monitoring program code, a comparison table is pre-stored in the hard disk, and the comparison table is written into preset operating system monitoring program codes corresponding to a plurality of preset operating system monitoring programs, and the preset operating system monitoring The program code corresponds to several of the current operating system monitoring program codes of the current operating system monitoring programs, that is, several of the current operating system monitoring programs are marked as monitoring points to be used as the preset operating system monitoring Programs, and the current operating system monitoring program codes corresponding to the marked current operating system monitoring programs are respectively the corresponding preset operating system monitoring program codes. When the central processing unit 211 executes those marked as When one of the current operating system monitoring programs of the monitoring point is one of the current operating system monitoring programs, the corresponding data of the current operating system monitoring program being executed, for example, the preset operating system monitoring program code is converted into a readable string, and the platform path controller 213 It is sent to the baseboard management controller 23 for storage, so that the remote host 3 can be read by the baseboard management controller 23. The mechanism of the baseboard management controller 23 for storing readable strings will be described in detail below.

The baseboard management controller 23 is electrically connected to the platform path controller, including a main controller 231, and a secondary control that is electrically connected to the main controller 231 and operates independently of the main controller 231 232. In this embodiment, the secondary controller 232 uses a mailbox controller in the baseboard management controller 23. When the central processing unit 211 executes the current power-on marked as a monitoring point The self-checking program correspondingly transfers a readable character string, and the secondary controller 232 is used to receive the readable character string and store the readable character string in the basic management controller 23. A data that can be read and written The main controller 231, which controls the overall operation of the baseboard management controller 23, is used for receiving, converting and storing, so as to avoid interrupting the operation of the main controller 231 and affecting the overall operation of the baseboard management controller 23 , The following specifically describes the flow of the method for remotely checking the server status in this embodiment.

With reference to FIG. 2, this embodiment executes the specific process of a method for remotely checking the server startup status, including an initialization step 411, a startup step 412, a comparison step 413, a conversion step 414, and a transmission step 415, A reading step 416, a starting operating system step 417, a comparison step 418, a conversion step 419, a transmission step 420, and a reading step 421.

In the initialization step 411, after the central processing unit 211 is powered on and the system will start up due to receiving the power-on signal, the central processing unit first triggers the secondary controller 232 of the baseboard management controller 23 Perform initialization.

In the booting step 412, the CPU 211 executes related booting procedures according to the basic input output system program stored in the flash memory 22, that is, executes the basic input output system subprograms one by one.

The comparison step 413 is to compare whether the current power-on self-check procedures corresponding to the basic input output system subprograms executed by the central processing unit 211 one by one are in compliance with multiple preset power-on self-check procedures (monitoring points). One of them is to further describe the comparison method: the central processing unit 211 will correspond to whether the current power-on self-test code corresponding to the current power-on self-test program corresponding to the basic input output system subroutine being executed currently corresponds to multiple The code of the preset power-on self-check program corresponding to the preset power-on self-check program matches. If the comparison result is no, the next basic input output system subroutine will continue to be executed.

The conversion step 414 is that if the comparison result of the comparison step 413 is yes, the central processing unit 211 executes the basic input output system sub-program corresponding to the current power-on self-check procedure. The code of the electrical self-checking program is converted into a readable string and transmitted to the secondary controller 232 of the baseboard management controller 23.

The transmission step 415 is for the central processing unit 211 to transmit the transferred readable character string to the secondary controller 232 of the baseboard management controller 23 for the secondary controller 232 to receive the readable character string Stored in its readable and writable register.

In the reading step 416, the remote host 3 reads, through the baseboard management controller 23, the status string stored in the readable and writable register of the secondary controller 232 and related to the current power-on self-check code. That is, read the readable string.

In step 417 of opening the operating system, the CPU 211 then switches to execute the operating system program stored in the hard disk, that is, executes multiple operating system subroutines included in the operating system program to perform multiple operations corresponding to the operations. The current operating system monitoring program of the system subroutine.

In the comparison step 418, when the central processing unit 211 executes the operating system sub-programs, it compares whether the current operating system monitoring program corresponding to the executed operating system sub-program is multiple preset operating system monitoring programs (monitoring points). ), if the comparison result is no, continue to execute the next operating system subroutine.

In the conversion step 419, if the comparison result of the comparison step 418 is yes, the CPU 211 generates data corresponding to the relevant operating state when the operating system subprogram is executed and converts it into a readable string.

In the transmission step 420, the central processing unit 211 then transmits the transferred readable character string to the secondary controller 232 via the platform path controller 213, and the secondary controller 232 transfers the received readable character string Stored in its corresponding register.

In the reading step 421, the remote host 3 reads the readable string stored in the register corresponding to the secondary controller 232 through the baseboard management controller 23. In more detail, the remote host 3 Log in to the main controller 231 of the baseboard management controller 23 via the network, and use the main controller 231 to read the register corresponding to the secondary controller 232.

To sum up, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the basic input and output subprograms are executed by the central processing unit, and the comparison results are corresponding to the preset basic input and output subprograms written in the flash memory in advance. During the input and output monitoring program, the central processing unit converts the corresponding data generated during the execution of the basic input and output subroutine into a readable string, and transmits it to the secondary controller for the secondary controller to read it. The string is stored in its corresponding register and is read by the remote host via the baseboard management controller. Similarly, when the central processing unit executes the operating system sub-programs, it is compared with the pre-written When entering the comparison table on the hard disk or the default operating system monitoring program corresponding to the marked current operating system monitoring program, the central processing unit will execute the operating system subroutine when the corresponding data is generated, for example, the current operating system monitoring The program code is converted into a readable string, and is also transmitted to the secondary controller for storage in its corresponding register, and for the remote host 3 to read through the baseboard management controller, so that The administrator of the remote host 3 can directly view the current operating status of the server, that is, the operating status indicated by the readable string stored in the register corresponding to the secondary controller, so it can indeed achieve the cost The purpose of the invention.

However, the above are only examples of the present invention. When the scope of implementation of the present invention cannot be limited by this, all simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application of the present invention and the content of the patent specification still belong to Within the scope of the patent for the present invention.

21: System-on-a-chip 211: Central Processing Unit 212: Two-wire memory module 213: Platform Path Controller 22: Flash memory 23: baseboard management controller 231: main controller 232: secondary controller 3: remote host 411: Initialization step 412: boot steps 413: comparison steps 414: Conversion steps 415: Transmission Step 416: Read step 417: Open the operating system steps 418: comparison step 419: conversion steps 420: Transmission Step 421: Reading step

Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the server of the present invention; and FIG. 2 is a flowchart to assist in explaining a method for remotely checking the server startup status executed in this embodiment.

21: System-on-a-chip

211: Central Processing Unit

212: Two-wire memory module

213: Platform Path Controller

22: Flash memory

23: baseboard management controller

231: main controller

232: secondary controller

3: remote host

Claims (10)

A method for remotely viewing the boot status of a server, executed by a server, the server includes a central processing unit, and a baseboard management controller coupled to the central processing unit, and the central processing unit is powered on the server Then execute a basic input output system program including a plurality of basic input output system subprograms to sequentially perform a plurality of current power-on self-check procedures. The baseboard management controller includes a main controller and an independent operation of the main controller Once the controller is required, and a remote host is connected in communication, the method for remotely viewing the server's boot status includes: When the central processing unit executes one of the basic input output system subprograms, the central processing unit compares whether the current power-on self-check procedure corresponding to the executed basic input output system subprogram meets multiple pre-programs. Set one of the power-on self-check procedures; If the result of the comparison is yes, the central processing unit generates a preset power-on self-check code corresponding to the preset power-on self-check procedure of the executed basic input output system subprogram, and replaces the generated The current power-on self-check code is converted into a readable string related to the operating status of the server; The central processing unit transmits the readable character string to the secondary controller for the secondary controller to store the readable character string; and The remote host reads the readable string through the baseboard management controller. The method for remotely checking the power-on status of a server as described in claim 1, further includes: the central processing unit triggers the secondary controller to perform initialization. According to the method for remotely checking the boot status of a server as described in claim 1, the central processing unit also switches to execute an operating system program including multiple operating system subroutines to perform multiple current operating system monitoring procedures, wherein, when the When the central processing unit executes one of the operating system subprograms, the central processing unit compares whether the current operating system monitoring program corresponding to the operating system subprogram being executed conforms to one of the preset operating system monitoring programs If the comparison result is yes, the central processing unit generates the operating status data corresponding to the currently executed operating system subprogram and converts it into the readable string related to the operating status of the server. According to the method for remotely checking the boot status of a server as described in claim 3, the central processing unit transmits the readable string corresponding to the operating status data of the currently executed operating system subprogram to the baseboard management control The secondary controller of the device. According to the method for remotely checking the power-on status of a server as described in claim 4, the remote host reads the stored readable string through the main controller of the baseboard management controller. A server that connects to a remote host through a network. The server includes: A central processing unit, after the server is powered on, executes a basic input output system program including a plurality of basic input output system subprograms to sequentially perform a plurality of current power-on self-check procedures; and A baseboard management controller, coupled to the central processing unit and including a primary controller and a secondary controller independently operating on the primary controller, and communicatively connected to the remote host, When the central processing unit executes one of the basic input output system subprograms included in the basic input output system program, the central processing unit compares the current power-on corresponding to the executed basic input output system subprogram Whether the self-checking procedure complies with one of the preset power-on self-checking procedures, if the comparison result is yes, the central processing unit generates an operating status data corresponding to the executed basic input output system sub-program and converts it into relevant A readable character string in the operating state of the server, the CPU transmits the readable character string to the secondary controller for the secondary controller to store the readable character string and for the remote The end host is read via the baseboard management controller. The server according to claim 6, wherein the central processing unit triggers the secondary controller to perform initialization. The server according to claim 6, wherein the central processing unit also switches to execute an operating system program including multiple operating system subroutines to perform multiple current operating system monitoring procedures, and when the central processing unit executes the operations When one of the system subroutines, the central processing unit compares whether the current operating system monitoring program corresponding to the executed operating system subroutine matches one of the preset operating system monitoring programs, and if the comparison result is yes The central processing unit generates the operating status data corresponding to the current operating system monitoring program corresponding to the executed operating system subroutine and converts it into the readable string related to the operating status of the server. The server according to claim 8, wherein the central processing unit transmits the readable character string transferred from the operation status data of the subprogram corresponding to the executed operating system to the secondary of the baseboard management controller Controller. The server according to claim 9, wherein the secondary controller stores the readable string for providing the remote host to read the stored data through the primary controller of the baseboard management controller Read the string.

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