rackfish - Dynamic Redfish Client

A lightweight, dynamic Python client for interacting with Redfish BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) APIs. Provides intuitive access to server hardware management through lazy-loaded object graphs, automatic OEM property surfacing, and validated action invocation.

🎯 Why rackfish?

• 🚀 Zero Dependencies (except requests) - Minimal footprint
• ⚡ Lazy Loading - Resources fetched on-demand for performance
• 🎨 Pythonic Interface - JSON properties become Python attributes
• 🔧 OEM Support - Vendor extensions (Huawei, Dell, HPE) automatically accessible
• 🔗 Smart Navigation - Related resources directly navigable via Links
• ✅ Action Validation - Parameter validation using ActionInfo schemas
• 📚 Collection Support - Iterate Redfish collections naturally
• 🔐 Flexible Auth - Session tokens or Basic authentication

Installation

From PyPI (recommended)

pip install rackfish

From source

git clone https://github.com/thefrolov/rackfish.git
cd rackfish
pip install -e .

Development installation

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Quick Start

from rackfish import RedfishClient

# Connect to BMC
client = RedfishClient("https://bmc.example.com", "admin", "password", 
                       use_session=True, verify_ssl=False)
root = client.connect()

# Power control - multiple ways to access systems
system = next(iter(client.Systems))  # Traditional iteration
system = client.Systems.Members[0]    # Direct member access
system = client.System                # Singular form (if only one member!)

system.Reset(ResetType="GracefulRestart")

# Access OEM properties (auto-surfaced)
if hasattr(system, "BootMode"):
    print(f"Boot Mode: {system.BootMode}")

# Navigate linked resources
for chassis in system.Chassis:
    print(f"Chassis: {chassis.Name}")

# Logout
client.logout()

Documentation

• docs/EXAMPLES.md - Comprehensive usage examples for all common Redfish operations
• docs/USE_CASES.md - Complete index of 150+ supported use cases
• docs/OEM_LINKS_SURFACING.md - Details on automatic OEM and Links surfacing
• docs/TESTS.md - Test suite documentation
• docs/INDEX.md - Master navigation document
• CHANGELOG.md - Version history and changes
• CONTRIBUTING.md - How to contribute

Common Use Cases

User Management

accounts = client.AccountService.Accounts
new_user = accounts.create({"UserName": "operator", "Password": "pass", "RoleId": "Operator"})
new_user.RoleId = "Administrator"
new_user.delete()

Storage Management

storage = next(iter(client.Systems)).Storage[0]
volume = storage.Volumes.create({"Name": "DataVol", "CapacityBytes": 500*1024**3})

Network Configuration

port = client.Managers[0].EthernetInterfaces[0]
port.patch({"IPv4Addresses": [{"Address": "192.168.1.100", "SubnetMask": "255.255.255.0"}]})

Event Subscriptions

subs = client.EventService.Subscriptions
sub = subs.create({"Destination": "https://listener/events", "EventTypes": ["Alert"]})

Firmware Updates

client.UpdateService.SimpleUpdate(ImageURI="http://server/fw.bin", TransferProtocol="HTTP")

System Health Monitoring

for temp in chassis.Thermal.Temperatures:
    print(f"{temp.Name}: {temp.ReadingCelsius}°C")

See docs/EXAMPLES.md for 100+ more examples covering:

• BIOS configuration
• Certificate management
• Virtual media (KVM)
• LDAP authentication
• Boot order configuration
• SEL/log collection
• And much more...

Project Structure

rackfish/
├── rackfish/          # Main package
│   ├── __init__.py       # Package initialization
│   └── client.py         # Core library implementation
├── tests/                # Test suite
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── test_common_usage.py
│   ├── test_oem_links_surfacing.py
│   └── test_recursion_fix.py
├── examples/             # Usage examples
│   ├── examples_comprehensive.py
│   ├── demo_surfacing_comprehensive.py
│   └── example_oem_links.py
├── docs/                 # Documentation
│   ├── INDEX.md
│   ├── EXAMPLES.md
│   ├── USE_CASES.md
│   ├── TESTS.md
│   ├── OEM_LINKS_SURFACING.md
│   └── COMPLETION_SUMMARY.md
├── .github/
│   └── copilot-instructions.md
├── README.md
├── CHANGELOG.md
├── CONTRIBUTING.md
├── LICENSE
├── pyproject.toml
└── requirements.txt

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Architecture

Core Components

• RedfishClient - HTTP session management, authentication, base URL handling
• RedfishResource - Dynamic resource representation with lazy loading
• _convert - Recursive JSON-to-object mapping with link stub creation
• _hydrate - Property mapping, OEM/Links surfacing, action binding

Key Design Patterns

1. Lazy Loading - Link stubs defer fetching until attribute access
2. OEM Surfacing - Vendor properties promoted to main object (collision-safe)
3. Links Surfacing - Related resources directly accessible (collision-safe)
4. Action Methods - Redfish Actions bound as callable instance methods
5. ActionInfo Validation - Parameter schemas fetched and enforced

Recursion Guard

Deeply nested JSON structures are handled safely by deferring hydration (fetched=False) for all embedded resources, preventing stack overflow.

Supported Use Cases

The library supports 150+ common Redfish operations including:

System Management

• Power control (Reset, ForceOff, GracefulRestart)
• Boot order configuration
• System health monitoring

Storage

• Logical drive creation/deletion
• Storage controller management
• Drive inventory and status

Network

• IP configuration (IPv4/IPv6)
• VLAN management
• DNS/NTP configuration
• SNMP trap configuration

User & Security

• User account CRUD
• Role assignment
• Password policies
• LDAP integration

Certificates

• CSR generation
• SSL/TLS certificate import
• SSH public key management
• Two-factor authentication certs

Firmware & BIOS

• Firmware updates
• BIOS configuration
• BMC reset/rollback

Monitoring & Logs

• Temperature sensors
• Fan speeds
• Voltage readings
• System event logs (SEL)

Virtual Media

• ISO mounting (KVM)
• VNC/KVM configuration
• Virtual media operations

See EXAMPLES.md for complete list and code samples.

OEM Vendor Support

Works with any Redfish-compliant BMC including:

• Huawei - TaiShan servers, FruControl, custom boot modes
• Dell - iDRAC, DellAttributes
• HPE - iLO, HPE-specific extensions
• Lenovo - XClarity
• Supermicro - IPMI/Redfish hybrid
• And any other vendor implementing Redfish standard

OEM extensions are automatically surfaced to the main object for easy access.

Advanced Features

Generic Request Helpers

For operations not exposed as methods:

response = client.get("/redfish/v1/custom/path")
client.post("/redfish/v1/Actions/Custom", data={"param": "value"})
client.patch("/redfish/v1/Systems/1", data={"AssetTag": "NEW"})
client.delete("/redfish/v1/Collection/Item")

Allowable Values

Get valid parameter values:

reset_types = system.get_allowable_values("ResetType")
print(f"Valid reset types: {reset_types}")

Raw JSON Access

raw_data = resource.to_dict()

Contributing

See .github/copilot-instructions.md for development guidelines and architecture details.

License

See LICENSE file.

Version

Current version: 1.0.3

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• requests library

Support

For issues, questions, or contributions, please refer to the project repository.