Supermicro Saa

SAA Server Management Guide

Overview

SAA (SuperServer Automation Assistant) is Supermicro's official CLI tool for automating server management tasks. It supports both in-band (local OS) and out-of-band (BMC/CMM) operations, single or multiple system management.

For complete command reference, see SAA Help Reference

Usage Modes

Single System Out-Of-Band (OOB)

Operates on single BMC/CMM remotely:

saa -i <BMC_IP> -u <USER> -p <PASSWORD> -c <COMMAND> [OPTIONS]

Single System In-Band

Operates on local OS (no -i option). In-Band mode requires root privileges to access hardware interfaces directly.

Note: Only commands that access hardware require sudo. Help queries (-h) do not need sudo. Before executing In-Band commands, ask user for <SUDO_PASSWORD>. Never store or log the password.

echo <SUDO_PASSWORD> | sudo -S saa -c <COMMAND> [OPTIONS]

Single System Remote In-Band

Operates on remote OS via SSH:

# Remote_INB: Direct OS access
saa -I Remote_INB --oi <OS_IP> --ou <OS_USER> --op <OS_PASSWORD> -c <COMMAND> --remote_saa /path/to/saa

# Remote_RHI: Through Redfish Host Interface
saa -I Remote_RHI --oi <OS_IP> --ou <OS_USER> --op <OS_PASSWORD> -u <BMC_USER> -p <BMC_PASS> -c <COMMAND> --remote_saa /path/to/saa

Multiple Systems Management

Replace -i with -l for batch operations:

saa -l <IP_LIST_FILE> -u <USER> -p <PASSWORD> -c <COMMAND> [OPTIONS]

Global Options

Command Categories

Health Management

• CheckOOBSupport, CheckAssetInfo, CheckSystemUtilization
• CheckSensorData, SystemPFA, MemoryHealthCheck
• ChassisIntrusion, AlertManage, CheckSelfTest, SuperDiag

BIOS Management

• GetBiosInfo, UpdateBios, GetCurrentBiosCfg, ChangeBiosCfg
• LoadDefaultBiosCfg, SetBiosPassword, GetDmiInfo, ChangeDmiInfo
• GetBootOption, SetBootOption, SetHttpBoot

BMC Management

• GetBmcInfo, UpdateBmc, GetBmcCfg, ChangeBmcCfg
• GetBmcLANCfg, ChangeBmcLANCfg, SetBmcPassword
• GetBmcUserList, SetBmcUserList, BmcReset

Power Management

• GetPowerStatus, SetPowerAction, GetPsuInfo, UpdatePsu
• PowerPolicy, CpuPowerManage, DcmiManage

Storage Management

• GetRaidControllerInfo, GetRaidCfg, ChangeRaidCfg
• GetNvmeInfo, ControlNVMe, GetSmartData
• GetPMemInfo, GetVROCCfg, ChangeVROCCfg

Firmware Updates

• UpdateBios, UpdateBmc, UpdateCpld, UpdateGpu
• GetFirmwareInventoryInfo

Event Logs

• GetEventLog, ClearEventLog
• GetMaintenEventLog, ClearMaintenEventLog

Virtual Media

• MountIsoImage, UnmountIsoImage
• MountFloppyImage, UnmountFloppyImage, GetVmInfo

Security Management

• SecureBootManage, BiosRotManage, BmcRotManage
• GetLockdownMode, SetLockdownMode
• TpmManage, GetTpmInfo, Attestation
• SecureEraseDisk, SecureEraseRaidHdd

GPU Management

• GetGpuInfo, UpdateGpu, DiagGpuStatus, GetGpuLog, GpuPowerManage

Common Examples

Get System Information

# Get BIOS info (OOB)
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c GetBiosInfo

# Get firmware inventory
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c GetFirmwareInventoryInfo

# Get BMC info (In-Band)
echo <SUDO_PASSWORD> | sudo -S saa -c GetBmcInfo

Health Monitoring

# Check sensor data (temperature, fan, voltage)
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c CheckSensorData

# Check system utilization
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c CheckSystemUtilization

# Get event log
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c GetEventLog

Power Control

# Get power status
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c GetPowerStatus

# Power actions: on, off, cycle, reset
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c SetPowerAction --action on
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c SetPowerAction --action cycle

Firmware Updates

# Update BIOS (OOB)
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c UpdateBios --file BIOS.bin

# Update BMC
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c UpdateBmc --file BMC.bin

# Update BIOS (In-Band, local)
echo <SUDO_PASSWORD> | sudo -S saa -c UpdateBios --file BIOS.bin

Configuration Management

# Export BIOS configuration
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c GetCurrentBiosCfg --file bios_cfg.txt

# Apply BIOS configuration
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c ChangeBiosCfg --file bios_cfg.txt

# Export/Import BMC configuration
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c GetBmcCfg --file bmc_cfg.txt
saa -i 192.168.1.100 -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c ChangeBmcCfg --file bmc_cfg.txt

Multiple Systems (Batch Operations)

# Update BIOS across fleet
saa -l servers.txt -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c UpdateBios --file BIOS.bin

# Check health across fleet with full status
saa -l servers.txt -u ADMIN -p ADMIN -c CheckSensorData --show_multi_full

Getting Command Help

Always check command-specific options before use:

saa -h -c <COMMAND>

# Examples
saa -h -c UpdateBios
saa -h -c SetPowerAction
saa -h -c ChangeBmcCfg

IP List File Format

For multiple systems management (-l option):

# Single IPs
192.168.1.100
192.168.1.101

# IP range
192.168.1.102-110

# With credentials per line (optional)
192.168.1.100,ADMIN,password123

Best Practices

1. Get help first: Run saa -h -c <COMMAND> before using unfamiliar commands
2. Test on single system: Before batch operations, verify on one server
3. Use password files: Use -f password.txt instead of -p in scripts for security
4. Backup configurations: Export configs before making changes
5. Check compatibility: Verify firmware versions match your hardware platform
6. Monitor batch jobs: Use --show_multi_full to track multi-system progress

Troubleshooting

• Connection failed: Verify BMC IP, credentials, and network connectivity
• Permission denied: Check BMC user has sufficient privileges
• Command not supported: Some commands are platform-dependent (see user guide)
• Special characters in password: Quote the password or use -f option

Reference Files

• SAA Help Reference - Complete saa -h output with all commands
• Command Help Directory - Detailed help for each command (217 files)
  • Example: ./reference/commands/UpdateBios.txt for UpdateBios command details
  • Each file contains: description, required/optional arguments, usage modes, and examples

Scripts

• export_help.sh - Script to regenerate all help documentation

  # Regenerate help files (default: ./reference)
  ./scripts/export_help.sh
  
  # Specify custom output directory
  ./scripts/export_help.sh /path/to/output