WallaBMC is a simple, lightweight Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) firmware suitable for STM32 and similar class microcontrollers. Built on the Zephyr RTOS, WallaBMC provides essential BMC functionality including network management, host power control, and web-based administration through a Redfish-compliant interface.
WallaBMC is designed for embedded systems requiring BMC capabilities without the complexity of full-featured BMC solutions. It provides core functionality for monitoring and managing host systems through industry-standard interfaces.
- LED Status Indicators: Visual feedback for system status
- IPv4 Networking: Static IP or DHCP with mDNS hostname resolution
- Redfish Interface: Industry-standard RESTful API for management
- Web Interface: HTTP/HTTPS web UI for administration
- BMC Console: Management console accessible via serial or web interface
- Persistent Configuration: Settings stored across reboots
- Host Power Control: Power on/off management for host systems
- Host Console: Serial console access
WallaBMC currently supports the following hardware platforms:
| Hardware | Zephyr board name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| SiFive HiFive Premier P550 MCU | hifive_premier_p550_mcu | RISC-V based platform |
| STM32 Nucleo F767ZI | nucleo_f767zi | ARM Cortex-M7 development board (standalone, no host CPU) |
| qemu | qemu_cortex_m3 | see run_qemu_ci.py |
Before getting started, ensure you have a proper Zephyr development environment. Follow the official Zephyr Getting Started Guide.
Required tools:
- West (Zephyr's meta-tool)
- CMake (version 3.20.0 or later)
- Python 3
- A toolchain for your target platform (ARM or RISC-V)
- OpenOCD or appropriate flashing tool for your hardware
Clone the repo into your home dir
cd $HOME
git clone https://github.com/tenstorrent/wallabmc.git
Go to your zephyr build dir:
west build --sysbuild -b nucleo_f767zi ~/wallabmc
Where nucleo_f767zi can be replaced with the boards in Hardware Support.
See flashing on how to install
For those without a pre-existing zephyr build env
The first step is to initialize the workspace folder where WallaBMC and all Zephyr modules will be cloned:
# Initialize workspace for WallaBMC (main branch)
west init -m https://github.com/tenstorrent/wallabmc.git --mr main workspace
# update Zephyr modules
cd workspace
west update
To build the application, run the following command:
cd zephyr
west build --sysbuild -b nucleo_f767zi ../wallabmc
Where nucleo_f767zi can be replaced with the boards in Hardware Support
See the Hardware Support section.
west flash --runner openocd
Alternatively, use the build/wallabmc/zephyr/zephyr.signed.hex and
build/mcuboot/zephyr/zephyr.hex files, and run the openocd commands:
flash write_image erase build/mcuboot/zephyr/zephyr.hex
flash write_image erase build/wallabmc/zephyr/zephyr.signed.hex
Also see instructions on flashing the p550
When the system has booted, a slow-blinking status LED indicates the system is running.
The Nucleo exposes an STM32 UART as a serial device over the USB port. WallaBMC puts the BMC console on this serial device that displays boot and log messages, and can be used to query and configure the device.
WallaBMC supports networking over ethernet and by default uses DHCP with the
hostname wallabmc to get an IP address.
WallaBMC opens an HTTP (and possibly HTTPS) port, which provides Redfish and Web UI. The Web UI can also access the BMC console.
The Zephyr shell has been extended with wallabmc commands, and can be accessed via the MCU serial console or the WebUI or websocket.
The websocket BMC shell endpoint URL is /console/bmc and supports ws and
wss if CONFIG_APP_HTTPS (e.g., wss://wallabmc.local.net/console/bmc).
The Nucleo has USART6 connected to pins D0/D1 RX/TX on the CN10 connector. WallaBMC uses this as the host serial console which can be accessed with the WebUI terminal or telnet port 22. The pins would have to be connected to something useful (e.g., each other have a loopback UART that echoes back what is transmitted to it).
The P550 host serial console UART is connected to an actual serial console UART on the host CPU.
The websocket host console endpoint URL is /console/host and supports ws and
wss if CONFIG_APP_HTTPS (e.g., wss://wallabmc.local.net/console/host).
helpcommand listing with hierarchical help (e.g.,help config).configshell command can be used to configure the BMC.powercan power the host on and off. On the Nucleo board there is no host CPU so one of the LEDs is a stand-in for a host power GPIO.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for information on how to contribute to this project.
This project is licensed under the terms described in:
- LICENSE – code license
- LICENSE_understanding.txt – license summary and clarification
- LICENSE-DOCS – Creative Commons license for all documentation and logos