check_ilorest

This is the public repository for the check_ilorest monitoring plugin.

check_ilorest is a monitoring plugin to monitor the hardware health on HPE servers.

The plugin uses the ilorest command in the background, to query the hardware status from ILO (on HPE servers).

Authors:

• Swisscom (Schweiz) AG
• Claudio Kuenzler

This monitoring plugin was developed at and for Swisscom (Schweiz) AG and was published as open source software in 2025.

Usage

Requirements

As mentioned, check_ilorest uses the ilorest command. This command can be installed as RPM package, as PyPI package (using pip3) or built from source. Have a look at the official ilorest repository. The ilorest user guide lists different installation method.

Besides ilorest available as command, the following requirements are needed:

• python3
• Must be run locally on a HPE server (remote ILO target is TODO)
• Must be run as root (ilorest requirement)
• TMPDIR (default: /tmp) must be mounted with exec option => alternatively use -t parameter (see --help)

Monitoring Plugin

The plugin was developped for the purpose to easily integrate into classic system monitoring software, such as Icinga or Nagios.

root@linux ~ # /usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_ilorest.py
ILOREST HARDWARE OK: Hardware is healthy. Server: HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen11, S/N: XXXXXXXXXX, System BIOS: U54 v1.40 (06/29/2023)

The exit codes of check_ilorest are based on other monitoring plugins and follow the monitoring plugin development guidelines.

• Exit Code 0: OK, no hardware problems detected
• Exit Code 1: WARNING, degraded hardware detected
• Exit Code 2: CRITICAL, hardware failure detected
• Exit Code 3: UNKNOWN, there was a problem executing check_ilorest correctly

Prometheus readiness

check_ilorest was developed for both classic and metrics-based monitoring tools. The plugin can be executed with the optional parameter -o to choose a different output format. By using -o prometheus the plugin outputs the information in Prometheus metrics exposition format. It could be used in combination with the Prometheus Script Exporter to execute the plugin and scrape the metrics through Script Exporter's API.

root@linux ~ # /usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_ilorest.py -o prometheus
#HELP ilorest_hardware_health Overall health status of server. 0=OK. 1=Warning. 2=Critical
#TYPE ilorest_hardware_health gauge
ilorest_hardware_health 0
#HELP ilorest_hardware_health_biosorhardwarehealth Health status of hardware component BiosOrHardwareHealth
#TYPE ilorest_hardware_health_biosorhardwarehealth gauge
ilorest_hardware_health_biosorhardwarehealth 0
#HELP ilorest_hardware_health_fans Health status of hardware component Fans
#TYPE ilorest_hardware_health_fans gauge
ilorest_hardware_health_fans 0
#HELP ilorest_hardware_health_memory Health status of hardware component Memory
#TYPE ilorest_hardware_health_memory gauge
ilorest_hardware_health_memory 0
#HELP ilorest_hardware_health_network Health status of hardware component Network
#TYPE ilorest_hardware_health_network gauge
ilorest_hardware_health_network 0
#HELP ilorest_hardware_health_powersupplies Health status of hardware component PowerSupplies
#TYPE ilorest_hardware_health_powersupplies gauge
ilorest_hardware_health_powersupplies 0
#HELP ilorest_hardware_health_processors Health status of hardware component Processors
#TYPE ilorest_hardware_health_processors gauge
ilorest_hardware_health_processors 0
#HELP ilorest_hardware_health_smartstoragebattery Health status of hardware component SmartStorageBattery
#TYPE ilorest_hardware_health_smartstoragebattery gauge
ilorest_hardware_health_smartstoragebattery 0
#HELP ilorest_hardware_health_storage Health status of hardware component Storage
#TYPE ilorest_hardware_health_storage gauge
ilorest_hardware_health_storage 0
#HELP ilorest_hardware_health_temperatures Health status of hardware component Temperatures
#TYPE ilorest_hardware_health_temperatures gauge
ilorest_hardware_health_temperatures 0

Compatibility with ProLiant server generations

The ilorest command, used in the background of the plugin, queries the Redfish API integrated into the ILO controller (available since ILO4 v2.10+, ILO5 v1.20+, ILO6 v1.05+). Newer server generations have a better and more detailled implementation inside ILO, allowing to query more information and more hardware elements.

HW generation	supported	notes
Gen9	✅	limited number of hardware elements, shows overall health state
Gen10	✅
Gen11	✅

Compatibility with ilorest releases

The check_ilorest monitoring plugin has been successfully tested on the following ilorest releases. This list is non-conclusive. Most ilorest releases should actually work.

ilorest release	supported	notes
4.6.0	✅
6.2.0	❌	--nocache not working
6.3.0	✅	Slower than 4.6.x release

ToDos

• Support remote ILO (using -a and credentials)
• Support ignore list to ignore specific discovered hardware elements
• Support performance data / metrics (in progress)