Understanding IPMI output on PE 1950

[Stephen Childs]

Hi all,

Just trying to integrate IPMI into an existing monitoring tool and trying 
to understand the somewhat confusing output. For a start, it's hard to 
distinguish the various temperature sensors as they have the same name:

[root at wn056 ~]# ipmitool  sdr type temp
Temp             | 01h | ok  |  3.1 | -68 degrees C
Temp             | 02h | ok  |  3.2 | -72 degrees C
Temp             | 05h | ok  | 10.1 | 40 degrees C
Temp             | 06h | ok  | 10.2 | 40 degrees C
Ambient Temp     | 08h | ok  |  7.1 | 20 degrees C
CPU Temp Interf  | 76h | ns  |  7.1 | Disabled

I can work it out using -v but is there any reason why these shouldn't be 
named properly?

Then the next thing is understanding the CPU temp readings (below). Does 
-68 (+/- -124) actually mean -68 + 124 == 56 degrees C. If so, does it 
sound sensible to set an upper limit of (say) -60 corresponding to a real 
temperature of 64 degrees C. Again, why do these values have to be 
reported in such a confusing way?

Stephen


Sensor ID              : Temp (0x1)
  Entity ID             : 3.1 (Processor)
  Sensor Type (Analog)  : Temperature
  Sensor Reading        : -68 (+/- -124) degrees C
  Status                : ok
  Nominal Reading       : 50.000
  Normal Minimum        : 11.000
  Normal Maximum        : 69.000
  Positive Hysteresis   : 129.000
  Negative Hysteresis   : 129.000
  Minimum sensor range  : Unspecified
  Maximum sensor range  : Unspecified
  Event Message Control : Per-threshold
  Readable Thresholds   :
  Settable Thresholds   : unc ucr
  Threshold Read Mask   : unc ucr
  Event Status          : Event Messages Disabled
  Assertion Events      :
  Event Enable          : Event Messages Disabled
  Assertions Enabled    :

Sensor ID              : Temp (0x2)
  Entity ID             : 3.2 (Processor)
  Sensor Type (Analog)  : Temperature
  Sensor Reading        : -73 (+/- -124) degrees C
  Status                : ok
  Nominal Reading       : 50.000
  Normal Minimum        : 11.000
  Normal Maximum        : 69.000
  Positive Hysteresis   : 129.000
  Negative Hysteresis   : 129.000
  Minimum sensor range  : Unspecified
  Maximum sensor range  : Unspecified
  Event Message Control : Per-threshold
  Readable Thresholds   :
  Settable Thresholds   : unc ucr
  Threshold Read Mask   : unc ucr
  Event Status          : Event Messages Disabled
  Assertion Events      :
  Event Enable          : Event Messages Disabled
  Assertions Enabled    :



-- 
Dr. Stephen Childs,
Research Fellow, EGEE Project,    phone:                    +353-1-8961797
Computer Architecture Group,      email:        Stephen.Childs @ cs.tcd.ie
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland   web: http://www.cs.tcd.ie/Stephen.Childs
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