Ironic Inspection Guide

This guide explains how to inspect baremetal nodes in OpenStack Ironic, covering both out-of-band (Redfish) and in-band (Agent) inspection methods.

Overview

UnderStack uses a two-phase inspection process:

Redfish Inspection (Out-of-Band): Queries the BMC directly via Redfish API to gather hardware inventory without booting the server
Agent Inspection (In-Band): Boots the Ironic Python Agent (IPA) to collect detailed hardware information including LLDP data from network switches

The Argo workflow inspect-server automates this process, running both inspection phases sequentially.

Inspection Interfaces

Redfish / iDRAC-Redfish (Out-of-Band)

Out-of-band inspection queries the BMC directly without booting the server. Use redfish for generic Redfish-compliant hardware or idrac-redfish for Dell servers.

# Set the inspect interface
openstack baremetal node set <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> --inspect-interface idrac-redfish

# Run inspection
openstack baremetal node inspect <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> --wait

Redfish Inspection Hooks (configured in values.yaml):

redfish:
  inspection_hooks: "validate-interfaces,ports,port-bios-name,architecture,pci-devices,resource-class"

Hook	Description
`validate-interfaces`	Validates discovered network interfaces
`ports`	Creates Ironic port objects from Redfish ethernet interfaces
`port-bios-name`	Sets port name and `extra.bios_name` from Redfish interface identity (e.g., "NIC.Integrated.1-1")
`architecture`	Detects CPU architecture (x86_64, aarch64)
`pci-devices`	Discovers PCI devices (GPUs, NICs, storage controllers)
`resource-class`	Matches hardware specs against device-types to set the node's resource class

Agent (In-Band)

In-band inspection boots the Ironic Python Agent (IPA) ramdisk to collect detailed hardware information, including LLDP data from connected switches.

# Set the inspect interface
openstack baremetal node set <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> --inspect-interface agent

# Run inspection
openstack baremetal node inspect <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> --wait

Agent Inspection Hooks (configured in values.yaml):

inspector:
  extra_kernel_params: ipa-collect-lldp=1
  hooks: "ramdisk-error,validate-interfaces,architecture,pci-devices,validate-interfaces,parse-lldp,resource-class,update-baremetal-port"

Hook	Description
`ramdisk-error`	Reports errors from the IPA ramdisk
`validate-interfaces`	Validates discovered network interfaces
`architecture`	Detects CPU architecture
`pci-devices`	Discovers PCI devices
`parse-lldp`	Parses LLDP TLVs to extract switch connection info (switch name, port, chassis ID)
`resource-class`	Matches hardware specs against device-types to set the node's resource class
`update-baremetal-port`	Updates port `local_link_connection` and `physical_network` from LLDP data

Automated Inspection Workflow

The inspect-server Argo workflow handles the complete inspection process:

Reads the node's current driver and provision state
Moves the node to manageable state if needed
Runs Redfish inspection (sets --inspect-interface redfish or idrac-redfish)
Runs Agent inspection (sets --inspect-interface agent)
Returns the node to its original state

To trigger the workflow manually:

argo submit -n argo-events --from workflowtemplate/inspect-server -p node=<NODE_UUID_OR_NAME>

Viewing Inspection Data

Node Inventory

After inspection completes, retrieve the full hardware inventory:

openstack baremetal node inventory save <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> --file inspection-data.json

Sample inventory data:

{
    "inventory": {
        "memory": {
            "physical_mb": 98304
        },
        "cpu": {
            "count": 32,
            "model_name": "AMD EPYC 9124 16-Core Processor",
            "frequency": 4400,
            "architecture": "x86_64"
        },
        "disks": [
            {
                "name": "Solid State Disk 0:1:0",
                "size": 479559942144
            }
        ],
        "interfaces": [
            {
                "mac_address": "D4:CB:E1:BF:8E:21",
                "name": "NIC.Integrated.1-1"
            }
        ],
        "system_vendor": {
            "product_name": "PowerEdge R7615",
            "serial_number": "MXVX4003C100KL",
            "manufacturer": "Dell Inc."
        },
        "boot": {
            "current_boot_mode": "uefi"
        }
    },
    "plugin_data": {
        "parsed_lldp": {
            "eno1": {
                "switch_system_name": "a1-1-1.ord1.rackspace.net",
                "switch_chassis_id": "aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff",
                "switch_port_id": "Ethernet1/1"
            }
        }
    }
}

Node Properties and Ports

# View node details including resource_class and properties
openstack baremetal node show <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> -f json

# List ports with local_link_connection info
openstack baremetal port list --node <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> --long

Check Node History

The node history shows recent errors and state transitions:

openstack baremetal node history list <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME>

For detailed error information:

openstack baremetal node history get <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> <EVENT_UUID>

Inspection Timeout

# Check the node's last error
openstack baremetal node show <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> -c last_error

# Abort the stuck inspection
openstack baremetal node abort <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME>

Conductor Logs

For deeper investigation, check the Ironic conductor logs:

kubectl logs -n openstack -l application=ironic,component=conductor --tail=500 | grep <NODE_UUID>

Manual Inspection Commands

Switch Between Inspection Interfaces

# Use Redfish (out-of-band) inspection
openstack baremetal node set <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> --inspect-interface redfish

# Use iDRAC-Redfish for Dell servers
openstack baremetal node set <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> --inspect-interface idrac-redfish

# Use Agent (in-band) inspection
openstack baremetal node set <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> --inspect-interface agent

Re-run Inspection

# Ensure node is in manageable state
openstack baremetal node manage <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> --wait

# Run inspection
openstack baremetal node inspect <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> --wait

# Return to available state
openstack baremetal node provide <NODE_UUID_OR_NAME> --wait