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Course Outline

Introduction to OpenBMC

  • Definition of a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC)
  • History of the OpenBMC project and governance by the Linux Foundation
  • Supported platforms: x86, ARM, OpenPOWER
  • Overview of the OpenBMC software stack

OpenBMC Architecture

  • Phosphor application framework and D-Bus
  • Systemd integration and service management
  • Entity Manager and inventory management
  • Key repositories and component relationships

Setting Up the Development Environment

  • Installing dependencies on Ubuntu
  • Utilizing Docker containers for reproducible builds
  • Cloning the OpenBMC source tree
  • Configuring Gerrit for code review

Yocto and BitBake Essentials

  • OpenEmbedded layer structure: meta-phosphor, meta-aspeed
  • Understanding recipes, bbappend files, and configuration settings
  • Building a reference image for QEMU
  • Working with local.conf and bblayers.conf

Creating Your First BMC Image

  • Selecting a machine target
  • Executing bitbake obmc-phosphor-image
  • Interpreting the build output structure
  • Flashing the image to actual hardware or QEMU

Customization and Configuration

  • Adding new machine layers
  • Tailoring D-Bus interfaces using YAML descriptors
  • Entity Manager JSON configuration for new hardware
  • Modifying systemd service files

Debugging and Troubleshooting

  • Tackling build failures and debugging with bitbake
  • Using journalctl on the BMC
  • Establishing SSH access and console debugging
  • Common porting issues and their solutions

Recent Updates and Modern Practices

  • Migration to C++ sdbusplus bindings
  • New web UI (Vue.js) and bmcweb Redfish server
  • Modern testing frameworks and CI integration

Requirements

  • Fundamental knowledge of Linux system administration
  • Understanding of embedded systems concepts
  • Practical experience with Git and version control

Target Audience

  • Embedded firmware engineers
  • System administrators managing server hardware
  • DevOps engineers overseeing data center infrastructure
 14 Hours

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