IPMI

Categorizing "unknown" IPMI sensors

When the plugin returns a sensor tagged with "dataType": "unknown", it means the sensor name matched none of the regex rules configured for that host's vendor. Unknown sensors are still listed by the raw inventory, but they are dropped from the categorized get_ipmi_sensors output (consumed by the XO5 UI), because the plugin only keeps sensors it knows how to classify.

This guide explains how to map those unknown sensors to a known data type.

1. Understand the pipeline

• get_ipmi_sensors returns sensors grouped by data type, after filtering out everything irrelevant/unknown. This is what the XO5 UI shows. (XO6 uses the GET /rest/v0/plugins/ipmi-sensors/hosts/{id}/ipmi REST route instead.)
• GET /rest/v0/plugins/ipmi-sensors/hosts/{id}/ipmi returns every raw sensor with its resolved dataType (or "unknown"). Use it to discover what needs a rule.

Both resolve the vendor from the host BIOS strings (system-product-name, lowercased). Note that all Dell hosts are collapsed to the vendor dell and all Lenovo hosts to lenovo, regardless of model.

2. Get the list of sensors to categorize

Fetch the raw inventory for the host with GET /rest/v0/plugins/ipmi-sensors/hosts/{id}/ipmi. You'll get output like:

{
  "productName": "dell",
  "systemManufacturer": "dell inc.",
  "sensors": [
    { "name": "Inlet Temp", "value": "22 degrees C", "event": "ok", "dataType": "inletTemp" },
    { "name": "Pwr Consumption", "value": "140 Watts", "event": "ok", "dataType": "totalPower" },
    { "name": "Current 1", "value": "0.60 Amps", "event": "ok", "dataType": "unknown" },
    { "name": "Current 2", "value": "0 Amps", "event": "ok", "dataType": "unknown" }
  ]
}

Pick out the unknown sensors that carry data you actually want to surface. Most 0x00 / Not Readable status flags are noise and can stay unknown — only promote sensors that map to a real metric. In the example above, Current 1 / Current 2 (PSU amperage) are good candidates; the dozens of PG / Presence flags are not.

3. Pick the target data type

A rule maps a sensor name to one of these data types (types.mts, IPMI_SENSOR_DATA_TYPE):

Data type	Meaning
totalPower	Total power consumption (Watts)
inletTemp	Inlet / ambient temperature
outletTemp	Outlet / exhaust temperature
cpuTemp	CPU temperature
fanSpeed	Fan speed (RPM)
fanStatus	Fan status
psuPower	PSU power / voltage
psuStatus	PSU status
bmcStatus	BMC status
ip	Management IP address

4. Write the regex

Each rule is a /pattern/flags string keyed by data type, grouped under a vendor. Patterns are matched against the sensor name. Anchor with ^…$ and use the i flag so casing doesn't matter:

{
  "vendors": [
    {
      "vendor": "dell",
      "sensorRegexps": {
        "fanSpeed": "/^fan[0-9]+(a|b)$/i",
        "psuPower": "/^voltage [0-9]+$/i",
        "psuStatus": "/^ps[0-9]+ pg fail$/i",
        "cpuTemp": "/^temp$/i",
        "totalPower": "/^pwr consumption$/i",
        "inletTemp": "/^inlet temp$/i",
        "outletTemp": "/^exhaust temp$/i",
        "ip": "/^ip address$/i"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Tip: when several sensors share the same name (e.g. Voltage 1 / Voltage 2), the plugin automatically groups them into an array under that data type. Write one pattern that matches all of them rather than one rule per sensor.

5. Apply the configuration

• Per deployment: edit the plugin configuration in the XO web interface (Settings → Plugins → ipmi-sensors → vendors). This overrides the defaults without touching the code.
• As a new default preset: add/extend the vendor entry in DEFAULT_IPMI_SENSOR_REGEX_BY_DATA_TYPE_BY_SUPPORTED_PRODUCT_NAME in default-rules.mts. These ship as the built-in defaults for everyone.

To support a brand-new vendor, add a new { vendor, sensorRegexps } object. The vendor must equal the lowercased system-product-name of the host (or dell / lenovo, which are normalized in index.mts).

6. Verify

Re-run GET /rest/v0/plugins/ipmi-sensors/hosts/{id}/ipmi and confirm the previously-unknown sensors now report the expected dataType, then check that the categorized get_ipmi_sensors output groups them correctly.