Meta's OpenBMC process: a case study from the Bletchley system

Meta has historically used their own BMC code stack, confusingly also called "OpenBMC", but having nearly nothing in common with the Linux Foundation project of the same name. A transition to the Linux Foundation code base is underway and our first production system using that code is a chassis controller named "Bletchley". This talk will discuss the approach we took, collaborating with our JDM, to develop OpenBMC in an "upstream-first" manner.

In 2015, two different projects started with the same name: OpenBMC. One project was lead by developers at Facebook (now Meta) and others by developers at IBM. While the IBM effort later picked up more industry momentum and became a project managed under the Linux Foundation, the Meta software stacks has been used on many OCP designs and has extensive deployment in Meta's data centers. The OCP designs are typically developed using an JDM model where Meta engineers and a manufacturing vendor partner to design and build a server.

In 2022, we began a project code-named "Bletchley" which would be our first custom design utilizing the Linux Foundation OpenBMC code-stack. This talk is a case-study of the approaches we took in the JDM process to develop the BMC software for a new system design, collaborating both between companies and with the upstream community, leveraging our long experience in the JDM process and BMC software lifecycle to successfully put the Bletchley chassis controller into production in 2023.