ipmitool sel get is not showing hour in the timestamp details

[Frederic Temporelli]

[ Impact ]

ipmitool is incorrectly parsing the timestamp of event fields, showing two dates instead of a date and a time. It's important to get the correct timestamp of events, and the current situation limits this information to purely a day, instead of a proper timestamp.

[ Test Plan ]

The test plan involves getting an event and checking if the timestamp contains a date and a time, instead of just a date shown twice. There are several ways to do this, but they all need a working BMC listening to IPMI commands.

For the test plan, we will deploy 24.04 on a bare metal machine which has a BMC that ipmitool can query via localhost, without credentials. And then for the testing, use a LXD container for each ubuntu release under test, and run ipmitool inside that LXC.

Here are the steps.

# Deploy ubuntu 24.04 on a bare metal machine with a working BMC

# setup LXD
sudo lxd init --auto

# For each ubuntu release under test, run the following commands. Here we will show it for noble, but iterate using oracular and plucky:

lxc launch ubuntu-daily:$release $release-test

# this will passthrough the IPMI device from the host to the container
lxc config device add $release-test ipmi unix-char path=/dev/ipmi0

# enter the container to run the ipmitool command that will show the bug
lxc exec $release-test -- bash -c "apt update; apt install ipmitool -y"
lxc exec $release-test -- ipmitool sel get 1

# With the bug, the output of the ipmitool command above will show a timestamp with two dates, instead of one date and one time:

 Timestamp : 02/25/12 02/25/12

# With the fix, that timestamp will show a date and a time:

 Timestamp : 02/25/12 00:41:13 UTC

[ Where problems could occur ]

There might exist scripts and tools out there that parse the Timestamp field, and are by now relying on the bug. In other words, they are expecting both tokens from the Timestamp field to be dates. Unfortunately that output is incorrect, and this SRU is fixing that, thus changing the behavior to be correct. If other tools rely on the bug, they will have to be changed.

If there are other places with timestamps that use the same code that is now fixed, they will also change.

The fix could also expose bugs that were not there before, since now a data value is being parsed and printed as time.

[ Other Info ]

Not at this time.

[ Original Description ]

Hello,

when running impitool sel get <event id>,
the timestamp information is showing twice the date, but not the hour

fr3d@safact:~/gbtipmitool/run$ ipmitool -I lanplus -U admin -P <password> -H 10.197.177.97 sel get 0x28a
SEL Record ID : 028a
 Record Type : 02
 Timestamp : 04/16/2025 04/16/2025
 Generator ID : 0020
 EvM Revision : 04
 Sensor Type : Unknown
 Sensor Number : 00
 Event Type : Sensor-specific Discrete
 Event Direction : Assertion Event
 Event Data : 030000
 Description :

Using ipmi-sel / free-ipmi, the hour is reported in the nice way

fr3d@safact:~/gbtipmitool/run$ ipmi-sel -h 10.197.177.97 -u admin -p <password> --display=650
ID | Date | Time | Name | Type | Event
650 | Apr-16-2025 | 23:58:03 | Sensor #0 | OEM Reserved | Event Offset = 03h

(note: this is the same event 0x28a = 650)

Still using free-ipmi, in debug mode we can see the 32b timetsamp:

10.197.177.97: [ 19h] = checksum2[ 8b]
10.197.177.97: =====================================================
10.197.177.97: SEL Event Record
10.197.177.97: =====================================================
10.197.177.97: [ 28Ah] = record_id[16b]
10.197.177.97: [ 2h] = record_type[ 8b]
10.197.177.97: [ 6800440Bh] = timestamp[32b]
10.197.177.97: [ 0h] = generator_id.id_type[ 1b]
10.197.177.97: [ 10h] = generator_id.id[ 7b]
10.197.177.97: [ 0h] = ipmb_device_lun[ 2b]
10.197.177.97: [ 0h] = reserved[ 2b]
10.197.177.97: [ 0h] = channel_number[ 4b]
10.197.177.97: [ 4h] = event_message_format_version[ 8b]
10.197.177.97: [ C3h] = sensor_type[ 8b]
10.197.177.97: [ 0h] = sensor_number[ 8b]
10.197.177.97: [ 6Fh] = event_type_code[ 7b]
10.197.177.97: [ 0h] = event_dir[ 1b]
10.197.177.97: [ 3h] = offset_from_event_reading_type_code[ 4b]
10.197.177.97: [ 0h] = event_data3_flag[ 2b]
10.197.177.97: [ 0h] = event_data2_flag[ 2b]
10.197.177.97: [ 0h] = event_data2[ 8b]
10.197.177.97: [ 0h] = event_data3[ 8b]
10.197.177.97: =====================================================
10.197.177.97: IPMI 1.5 Reserve SEL Request
10.197.177.97: =====================================================
10.197.177.97: RMCP Header:

Then, using ipmitool with -vvv flag, we can see the righttime stamp has been reported by the BMC

Looking up SEL entry 0x28a

>> Sending IPMI command payload
>> netfn : 0x0a
>> command : 0x43
>> data : 0x00 0x00 0x8a 0x02 0x00 0xff

BUILDING A v2 COMMAND
Local RqAddr 0x20 transit 0:0 target 0x20:0 bridgePossible 1
>> Initialization vector (16 bytes)
 9a 01 24 2a 62 43 84 3b ae 2d 64 04 34 71 32 74
authcode input (48 bytes)
 06 c0 80 0e 5e 9d 0c 00 00 00 20 00 9a 01 24 2a
 62 43 84 3b ae 2d 64 04 34 71 32 74 5c ee 34 ac
 0e f8 83 ca 27 56 99 07 72 21 83 f1 ff ff 02 07
authcode output (16 bytes)
 2a b7 99 68 b5 d5 e4 31 c0 3b a0 87 a1 10 48 b4
<< IPMI Response Session Header
<< Authtype : RMCP+
<< Payload type : IPMI (0)
<< Session ID : 0xa0a2a3a4
<< Sequence : 0x00000006
<< IPMI Msg/Payload Length : 48
<< IPMI Response Message Header
<< Rq Addr : 81
<< NetFn : 0b
<< Rq LUN : 0
<< Rs Addr : 20
<< Rq Seq : 0a
<< Rs Lun : 0
<< Command : 43
<< Compl Code : 0x00
SEL Entry: 8a02020b440068200004c3006f030000

=> in the SEL Entry, the timestamp is "0b440068" (=> 0x6800440b as it is a 32b integer)

So the issue is not related to IPMI data (both free-ipmi and ipmitool got the right timestamp)
but it seems to be a display issue in ipmitool

Note: in an old stackoverflow thread, we can see ipmitool output with Hour in the event timestamp
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9265148/ipmitool-sel-command-on-per610-does-not-provide-detailed-information
machine:/ # ipmitool sel get 0x2c
SEL Record ID : 002c
 Record Type : 02
 Timestamp : 02/13/2012 17:49:21
 Generator ID : 0021
 EvM Revision : 04
 Sensor Type : Voltage
 Sensor Number : 60
 Event Type : Threshold
 Event Direction : Assertion Event
 Event Data : 02ffff
 Description : Lower Critical going low

Thanks
--
Fred

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
Package: ipmitool 1.8.19-7ubuntu0.24.04.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.8.0-57.59-generic 6.8.12
Uname: Linux 6.8.0-57-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.28.1-0ubuntu3.5
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
CloudArchitecture: x86_64
CloudID: none
CloudName: none
CloudPlatform: none
CloudSubPlatform: config
Date: Thu Apr 17 09:36:35 2025
InstallationDate: Installed on 2022-04-26 (1087 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 22.04 LTS "Jammy Jellyfish" - Release amd64 (20220421)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 TERM=xterm
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
SourcePackage: ipmitool
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to noble on 2024-10-23 (176 days ago)

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

I suspect this could be the fix: https://codeberg.org/IPMITool/ipmitool/commit/01c572b911035726526b9bfe685031f2bf925130

I applied it to ipmitool in noble, and uploaded to this ppa:

https://launchpad.net/~ahasenack/+archive/ubuntu/ipmitool-2107550

Frederic, when the builds finish, would you mind giving that patched package a try, and see if it fixes the problem?

[Frederic Temporelli (ftemporelli)]

Hello Andreas,

seems to be fixed by your patch:

With initial (not fixed) package

fr3d@safact:~$ ipmitool -I lanplus -U admin -P <password> -H 10.197.177.97 sel get 0x23
SEL Record ID : 0023
 Record Type : 02
 Timestamp : 05/05/2025 05/05/2025
 Generator ID : 0001
 EvM Revision : 04
 Sensor Type : OS Boot
 Sensor Number : 22
 Event Type : Sensor-specific Discrete
 Event Direction : Assertion Event
 Event Data : 06ffff
 Description : boot completed - device not specified

With the fixed version:

fr3d@safact:~$ ipmitool -I lanplus -U admin -P <password> -H 10.197.177.97 sel get 0x23
SEL Record ID : 0023
 Record Type : 02
 Timestamp : 05/05/2025 07:58:13 AM UTC
 Generator ID : 0001
 EvM Revision : 04
 Sensor Type : OS Boot
 Sensor Number : 22
 Event Type : Sensor-specific Discrete
 Event Direction : Assertion Event
 Event Data : 06ffff
 Description : boot completed - device not specified

Thanks

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

Great!

I'm going to prepare an official update for Noble, Oracular, and Plucky. And Questing (the devel release) looks like it needs the fix too.

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

Looks like focal is affected too, by a quick code inspection.

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

From my testing, focal and jammy are not affected after all.

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

Confirmed from noble onwards in my testing.

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

Uploaded to questing:

Uploading ipmitool_1.8.19-7.1ubuntu2.dsc
Uploading ipmitool_1.8.19-7.1ubuntu2.debian.tar.xz
Uploading ipmitool_1.8.19-7.1ubuntu2_source.buildinfo
Uploading ipmitool_1.8.19-7.1ubuntu2_source.changes

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package ipmitool - 1.8.19-7.1ubuntu2

---------------
ipmitool (1.8.19-7.1ubuntu2) questing; urgency=medium

  * d/p/fix-date-time-output-of-timestamps.patch: fix showing date twice,
    instead of date and hour (LP: #2107550)

 -- Andreas Hasenack <email address hidden> Thu, 15 May 2025 11:28:24 +0200

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

Uploaded to plucky unapproved as well.

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Hello Frederic, or anyone else affected,

Accepted ipmitool into plucky-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ipmitool/1.8.19-7.1ubuntu0.2 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-plucky to verification-done-plucky. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-plucky. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

# Plucky verification

## Reproducing the bug
root@plucky-test:~# ipmitool sel get 1
SEL Record ID : 0001
 Record Type : 02
 Timestamp : 08/16/15 08/16/15 <========
 Generator ID : 0020
 EvM Revision : 04
 Sensor Type : Power Supply
 Sensor Number : 3c
 Event Type : Sensor-specific Discrete
 Event Direction : Assertion Event
 Event Data (RAW) : 01ffff
 Event Interpretation : Missing
 Description : Failure detected

Sensor ID : Power Supply 1 (0x3c)
 Entity ID : 10.1
 Sensor Type (Discrete): Power Supply
 Sensor Reading : 30 Watts
 States Asserted : Power Supply
                         [Presence detected]

root@plucky-test:~# apt-cache policy ipmitool
ipmitool:
  Installed: 1.8.19-7.1ubuntu0.1
  Candidate: 1.8.19-7.1ubuntu0.1
  Version table:
 *** 1.8.19-7.1ubuntu0.1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu plucky-updates/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.8.19-7.1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu plucky/universe amd64 Packages

## Installing proposed update
root@plucky-test:~# apt-cache policy ipmitool
ipmitool:
  Installed: 1.8.19-7.1ubuntu0.2
  Candidate: 1.8.19-7.1ubuntu0.2
  Version table:
 *** 1.8.19-7.1ubuntu0.2 100
        100 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu plucky-proposed/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.8.19-7.1ubuntu0.1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu plucky-updates/universe amd64 Packages
     1.8.19-7.1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu plucky/universe amd64 Packages

Now we have a proper date and time:
root@plucky-test:~# ipmitool sel get 1
SEL Record ID : 0001
 Record Type : 02
 Timestamp : 08/16/15 02:03:15 UTC <========
 Generator ID : 0020
 EvM Revision : 04
 Sensor Type : Power Supply
 Sensor Number : 3c
 Event Type : Sensor-specific Discrete
 Event Direction : Assertion Event
 Event Data (RAW) : 01ffff
 Event Interpretation : Missing
 Description : Failure detected

Sensor ID : Power Supply 1 (0x3c)
 Entity ID : 10.1
 Sensor Type (Discrete): Power Supply
 Sensor Reading : 30 Watts
 States Asserted : Power Supply
                         [Presence detected]

Plucky verification succeeded.

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

Fixes for noble and oracular will be uploaded as soon as the current[1] ipmitool SRU for those ubuntu releases is over.

1. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ipmitool/+bug/2076173

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

(Note to self: I used the audino bare metal machine)

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

Uploaded to noble-unapproved and oracular-unapproved.

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

The verification of the Stable Release Update for ipmitool has completed successfully and the package is now being released to -updates. Subsequently, the Ubuntu Stable Release Updates Team is being unsubscribed and will not receive messages about this bug report. In the event that you encounter a regression using the package from -updates please report a new bug using ubuntu-bug and tag the bug report regression-update so we can easily find any regressions.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package ipmitool - 1.8.19-7.1ubuntu0.2

---------------
ipmitool (1.8.19-7.1ubuntu0.2) plucky; urgency=medium

  * d/p/fix-date-time-output-of-timestamps.patch: fix showing date twice,
    intead of date and hour (LP: #2107550)

 -- Andreas Hasenack <email address hidden> Tue, 13 May 2025 10:45:44 +0200

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Hello Frederic, or anyone else affected,

Accepted ipmitool into oracular-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ipmitool/1.8.19-7ubuntu1.2 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-oracular to verification-done-oracular. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-oracular. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Hello Frederic, or anyone else affected,

Accepted ipmitool into noble-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ipmitool/1.8.19-7ubuntu0.24.04.3 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-noble to verification-done-noble. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-noble. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

[Ubuntu SRU Bot (ubuntu-sru-bot)]

All autopkgtests for the newly accepted ipmitool (1.8.19-7ubuntu1.2) for oracular have finished running.
The following regressions have been reported in tests triggered by the package:

ceilometer/unknown (arm64)
ironic/1:26.1.0-0ubuntu1 (amd64, i386)
ironic/unknown (arm64)

Please visit the excuses page listed below and investigate the failures, proceeding afterwards as per the StableReleaseUpdates policy regarding autopkgtest regressions [1].

https://people.canonical.com/~ubuntu-archive/proposed-migration/oracular/update_excuses.html#ipmitool

[1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates#Autopkgtest_Regressions

Thank you!

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

# Oracular verification

## Reproducing the bug

$ lxc exec $release-test -- ipmitool sel get 1

SEL Record ID : 0001
 Record Type : 02
 Timestamp : 08/16/15 08/16/15 <----
(...)

$ lxc exec $release-test -- apt-cache policy ipmitool
ipmitool:
  Installed: 1.8.19-7ubuntu1.1
  Candidate: 1.8.19-7ubuntu1.1
  Version table:
 *** 1.8.19-7ubuntu1.1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu oracular-updates/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.8.19-7ubuntu1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu oracular/universe amd64 Packages

## Installing proposed package and retesting

$ lxc exec $release-test -- ipmitool sel get 1
SEL Record ID : 0001
 Record Type : 02
 Timestamp : 08/16/15 02:03:15 UTC <---
(...)

$ lxc exec $release-test -- apt-cache policy ipmitool
ipmitool:
  Installed: 1.8.19-7ubuntu1.2
  Candidate: 1.8.19-7ubuntu1.2
  Version table:
 *** 1.8.19-7ubuntu1.2 100
        100 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu oracular-proposed/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.8.19-7ubuntu1.1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu oracular-updates/universe amd64 Packages
     1.8.19-7ubuntu1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu oracular/universe amd64 Packages

Oracular verification succeeded.

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

# Noble verification

## Reproducing the bug

$ lxc exec $release-test -- ipmitool sel get 1

SEL Record ID : 0001
 Record Type : 02
 Timestamp : 08/16/15 08/16/15
(...)

$ lxc exec $release-test -- apt-cache policy ipmitool
ipmitool:
  Installed: 1.8.19-7ubuntu0.24.04.2
  Candidate: 1.8.19-7ubuntu0.24.04.2
  Version table:
 *** 1.8.19-7ubuntu0.24.04.2 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.8.19-7build2 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble/universe amd64 Packages

## Upgrading to proposed package and retesting

$ lxc exec $release-test -- ipmitool sel get 1
SEL Record ID : 0001
 Record Type : 02
 Timestamp : 08/16/15 02:03:15 UTC <---
(...)

$ lxc exec $release-test -- apt-cache policy ipmitool
ipmitool:
  Installed: 1.8.19-7ubuntu0.24.04.3
  Candidate: 1.8.19-7ubuntu0.24.04.3
  Version table:
 *** 1.8.19-7ubuntu0.24.04.3 100
        100 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-proposed/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.8.19-7ubuntu0.24.04.2 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/universe amd64 Packages
     1.8.19-7build2 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble/universe amd64 Packages

Noble verification succeeded.

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

I have retried the failed autopkgtests, hopefully they will pass soon.

[Ubuntu SRU Bot (ubuntu-sru-bot)]

All autopkgtests for the newly accepted ipmitool (1.8.19-7ubuntu0.24.04.3) for noble have finished running.
The following regressions have been reported in tests triggered by the package:

ironic/1:24.1.1-0ubuntu1.2 (amd64)

Please visit the excuses page listed below and investigate the failures, proceeding afterwards as per the StableReleaseUpdates policy regarding autopkgtest regressions [1].

https://people.canonical.com/~ubuntu-archive/proposed-migration/noble/update_excuses.html#ipmitool

[1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates#Autopkgtest_Regressions

Thank you!

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

autopkgtests are green again.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package ipmitool - 1.8.19-7ubuntu1.2

---------------
ipmitool (1.8.19-7ubuntu1.2) oracular; urgency=medium

  * d/p/fix-date-time-output-of-timestamps.patch: fix showing date twice,
    intead of date and hour (LP: #2107550)

 -- Andreas Hasenack <email address hidden> Mon, 26 May 2025 09:26:05 -0300

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package ipmitool - 1.8.19-7ubuntu0.24.04.3

---------------
ipmitool (1.8.19-7ubuntu0.24.04.3) noble; urgency=medium

  * d/p/fix-date-time-output-of-timestamps.patch: fix showing date twice,
    intead of date and hour (LP: #2107550)

 -- Andreas Hasenack <email address hidden> Mon, 26 May 2025 09:28:02 -0300