Redfish Guide¶

This guide covers using the Redfish RESTful API with KubeVirtBMC for managing virtual machines.

Overview¶

Redfish is a modern RESTful API standard for systems management. KubeVirtBMC implements Redfish version 1.16.1.

Service Endpoint:

http://<vm-name>-virtbmc.<namespace>.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1

Example:

http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1

Accessing Redfish¶

Run Redfish Client in Pod (Recommended)¶

Since Redfish requires cluster network access, run a Redfish client pod:

kubectl run -it --rm redfish-client \
    --image=curlimages/curl:latest \
    --restart=Never \
    --command -- /bin/sh

Inside the pod, use the service DNS name:

curl http://<vm-name>-virtbmc.<namespace>.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1

Authentication¶

Redfish supports two authentication methods:

Session-based authentication (recommended) - Create a session to obtain a token
Basic authentication - Use HTTP Basic Auth directly

NOTE: Redfish uses a backend server that validates credentials from the Kubernetes Secret. Unlike IPMI, Redfish supports proper session management and token-based authentication. Credentials are read from the Secret specified in the VirtualMachineBMC resource.

Basic Authentication¶

You can use HTTP Basic Auth directly without creating a session:

curl -u admin:admin123 \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1

Or with explicit Basic Auth header:

curl -H "Authorization: Basic $(echo -n 'admin:admin123' | base64)" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1

Session-Based Authentication¶

Create a session to obtain an authentication token for better security and session management.

Create Session¶

curl -i -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/SessionService/Sessions \
    -d '{"UserName":"admin","Password":"admin123"}'

Extract Token¶

TOKEN=$(curl -s -i -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/SessionService/Sessions \
    -d '{"UserName":"admin","Password":"admin123"}' \
    | grep -i "X-Auth-Token" | cut -d' ' -f2 | tr -d '\r')

Use Token¶

Include the token in the X-Auth-Token header for all authenticated requests:

curl -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1

Service Discovery¶

Service Root¶

curl http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1

Returns available resources including Systems, Managers, and SessionService.

Power Management¶

Get System Status¶

curl -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1

Power On¶

curl -i -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1/Actions/ComputerSystem.Reset \
    -d '{"ResetType":"On"}'

Graceful Shutdown¶

curl -i -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1/Actions/ComputerSystem.Reset \
    -d '{"ResetType":"GracefulShutdown"}'

Force Off¶

curl -i -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1/Actions/ComputerSystem.Reset \
    -d '{"ResetType":"ForceOff"}'

Graceful Restart¶

curl -i -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1/Actions/ComputerSystem.Reset \
    -d '{"ResetType":"GracefulRestart"}'

Force Restart¶

curl -i -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1/Actions/ComputerSystem.Reset \
    -d '{"ResetType":"ForceRestart"}'

Reset Types¶

ResetType	Description	Graceful
`On`	Power on	N/A
`GracefulShutdown`	Shutdown with ACPI	Yes
`ForceOff`	Immediate power off	No
`GracefulRestart`	Restart with ACPI	Yes
`ForceRestart`	Immediate restart	No

Boot Configuration¶

Get Current Boot Configuration¶

curl -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1 \
    | jq '.Boot'

Set Boot to PXE (One-time)¶

curl -i -X PATCH \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1 \
    -d '{
        "Boot": {
            "BootSourceOverrideTarget": "Pxe",
            "BootSourceOverrideEnabled": "Once"
        }
    }'

Set Boot to PXE (Continuous)¶

curl -i -X PATCH \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1 \
    -d '{
        "Boot": {
            "BootSourceOverrideTarget": "Pxe",
            "BootSourceOverrideEnabled": "Continuous"
        }
    }'

Set Boot to Disk¶

curl -i -X PATCH \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1 \
    -d '{
        "Boot": {
            "BootSourceOverrideTarget": "Hdd",
            "BootSourceOverrideEnabled": "Once"
        }
    }'

Set Boot Mode¶

# UEFI mode
curl -i -X PATCH \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1 \
    -d '{"Boot": {"BootSourceOverrideMode": "UEFI"}}'

# Legacy mode
curl -i -X PATCH \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1 \
    -d '{"Boot": {"BootSourceOverrideMode": "Legacy"}}'

Boot Configuration Options¶

Option	Values	Description
`BootSourceOverrideTarget`	`Pxe`, `Hdd`, `Cd`	Boot device
`BootSourceOverrideEnabled`	`Once`, `Continuous`, `Disabled`	Override behavior
`BootSourceOverrideMode`	`Legacy`, `UEFI`	Boot mode

System Information¶

Get System Details¶

curl -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Systems/1 \

Get Manager Information¶

curl -H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
    http://testvm-virtbmc.default.svc.cluster.local/redfish/v1/Managers/BMC

Next Steps¶

Read the Virtual Media Guide for virtual media and ISO management