IPMCTL-START-DIAGNOSTIC

NAME

ipmctl-start-diagnostic - Starts a diagnostic test

SYNOPSIS

ipmctl start [OPTIONS] -diagnostic [TARGETS]

DESCRIPTION

Starts a diagnostic test.

OPTIONS

-h, -help

Displays help for the command.

-ddrt

Used to specify DDRT as the desired transport protocol for the current invocation of ipmctl.

-smbus

Used to specify SMBUS as the desired transport protocol for the current invocation of ipmctl.

Note

The -ddrt and -smbus options are mutually exclusive and may not be used together.

-lpmb

Used to specify large transport payload size for the current invocation of ipmctl.

-spmb

Used to specify small transport payload size for the current invocation of ipmctl.

Note

The -lpmb and -spmb options are mutually exclusive and may not be used together.

-o (text|nvmxml), -output (text|nvmxml)

Changes the output format. One of: "text" (default) or "nvmxml".

TARGETS

-diagnostic [Quick|Config|Security|FW]

Start a specific test by supplying its name. All tests are run by default. One of:

• "Quick" - This test verifies that the PMem module host mailbox is accessible and that basic health indicators can be read and are currently reporting acceptable values.

• "Config" - This test verifies that the BIOS platform configuration matches the installed hardware and the platform configuration conform to best known practices.

• "Security" - This test verifies that all PMem modules have a consistent security state. It is a best practice to enable security on all PMem modules rather than just some.

• "FW" - This test verifies that all PMem modules of a given model have consistent FW installed and other FW modifiable attributes are set in accordance with best practices.
Note that the test does not have a means of verifying that the installed FW is the optimal version for a given PMem module model just that it has been consistently applied across the system.

-dimm [DimmIDS]

Starts a diagnostic test on specific PMem modules by optionally supplying one or more comma separated PMem module identifiers. The default is to start the specified tests on all manageable PMem modules. Only valid for the Quick diagnostic test.

EXAMPLES

Starts all diagnostics.

ipmctl start -diagnostic

Starts the quick check diagnostic on PMem module 0x0001.

ipmctl start -diagnostic Quick -dimm 0x0001

LIMITATIONS

If a PMem module is unmanageable, then Quick test will report the reason, while Config, Security and FW tests will skip unmanageable PMem modules.

RETURN DATA

Each diagnostic generates one or more log messages. A successful test generates a single log message per PMem module indicating that no errors were found. A failed test might generate multiple log messages each highlighting a specific error with all the relevant details. Each log contains the following information.

Test

The test name along with overall execution result. One of:

• "Quick"

• "Config"

• "Security"

• "FW"

State

The collective result state for each test. One of:

• "Ok"

• "Warning"

• "Failed"

• "Aborted"

Message

The message indicates the status of the test. One of:

• "Ok"

• "Failed"

SubTestName

The subtest name for given Test.

State

The severity of the error for each sub-test displayed with SubTestName. One of:

• "Ok"

• "Warning"

• "Failed"

• "Aborted"

Events are generated as a result of invoking the Start Diagnostics command in order to analyze the Intel® Optane™ PMem module for potential issues.

Diagnostic events may fall into the following categories:

• Quick health diagnostic test event

• Platform configuration diagnostic test event

• Security diagnostic test event

• Firmware consistency and settings diagnostic test event

Each event includes the following pieces of information:

• The severity of the event that occurred. One of:

• Informational (Info)

• Warning (Warning)

• Error (Failed)

• Aborted (Aborted)

• A unique ID of the item (PMem module UUID, DimmID, NamespaceID, RegionID, etc.) the event refers to.

• A detailed description of the event in English.

The following sections list each of the possible events grouped by category of the event.

Quick Health Check Events

The quick health check diagnostic verifies that the Intel® Optane™ PMem module’s host mailboxes are accessible and that basic health indicators can be read and are currently reporting acceptable values.

Table 1. Table Quick Health Check Events

Platform Configuration Check Events

This diagnostic test group verifies that the BIOS platform configuration matches the installed hardware and the platform configuration conforms to best known practices.

Table 2. Table Platform Configuration Check Events

Security Check Events

The security check diagnostic test group verifies that all Intel® Optane™ PMem modules have a consistent security state.

Table 3. Table Security Check Events

Firmware Consistency and Settings Check Events

This test group verifies that all PMem modules of a given subsystem device ID have consistent FW installed and other FW modifiable attributes are set in accordance with best practices.

Table 4. Table Firmware Consistency and Settings Check Events