DMTF’s Redfish^®, Release 2023.2 is now available for public download. Designed to deliver simple and secure management for hybrid IT and the Software Defined Data Center (SDDC), the latest release of the Redfish standard includes 31 schema updates and 6 new schemas including a NEW Outbound Connection capability that uses a WebSocket mechanism for connecting Redfish-enabled devices to Internet-based or cloud services. The release also includes NEW data model support for applications, containers, and operating systems, which increases Redfish coverage “up the software stack.”

Other key highlights of the Redfish 2023.2 release are support for:

• MemoryRegion - supports CXL dynamic capacity devices (DCD)
• Enhancements to the Drive and Storage models with new DriveMetrics and StorageControllerMetrics resources and StorageController actions

To improve developer access to and synchronization with the latest Redfish releases, a new public GitHub repository has been created to host copies of the published Redfish schemas and standard message registries.  The new Redfish-Publications GitHub repository contains the contents of DSP8010 and DSP8011, providing the ability to both download and create durable links to DMTF-maintained materials.

These latest enhancements are driven by the growth of Redfish and interoperability feedback received from implementers. Some of the items in the new Redfish 2023.2 update include:

• Redfish Specification v1.19.0 – Added Atomic Password Changes clause, Outbound Connections clause, and updated Session Login clause to define behavior when a token is required but not provided.
• Redfish Specification v1.18.1 (errata release) – Recommend weak Etag compares for PUT and PATCH, updated Deep Operations clause to show deep POST may include different types of resources, added guidance for URI patterns for Task Monitors, recommend that $expand responses include entire resources.
• 2023.2 Redfish Schema Bundle – This .zip file contains the current versions of all Redfish schemas. The bundle includes 6 new schemas and 31 schema updates and developer resources.
  • NEW – OutboundConnection schema provides a standardized means to configure and establish a Redfish Session using a WebSocket to address Internet and other “cloud-based” usage models
    • Internet-based applications or other “cloud-based” services cannot typically initiate HTTP connections to Redfish-enabled devices contained within data centers
    • Firewalls or other security practices prevent inbound connections unless exceptions are configured to allow specific use cases – and this process is both cumbersome and problematic
    • The WebSocket-based Outbound Connection model allows Redfish-enabled devices to initiate connections to those services, avoiding those issues and concerns
  • NEW – Data model support for applications, containers, and operating systems - increases Redfish coverage “up the software stack”
    • OperatingSystem - Represents information about the operating system running on a system, including virtualization engines
    • Application - Represents a software instance running on a system
    • ContainerImage - Represents an available software container image
    • Container - Represents a software container instance running on a system
      • Contains its own EthernetInterfaceCollection to represent network connectivity of the container
    • New links added to show hosting ComputerSystem for virtual machines
  • NEW – PhysicalAddress replaces PostalAddress (now deprecated)
    • Fewer properties needed to render a complete address
  • NEW – Additional password handling mechanisms
    • One-time Passcode support for multifactor authentication and ChangePassword action in ManagerAccount
    • Added RequireChangePasswordAction, EmailAttribute, OneTimePasscode and OutboundConnection to Account Service
• Redfish Message Registry Bundle 2023.2 – The Message Registry Bundle contains all released Redfish message registries.
  • Added OneTimePasscodeSent to Base message registry
• Redfish Release 2023.2 Overview – This presentation provides detailed descriptions of each revision in Redfish 2023.2.
• Redfish Resource and Schema Guide – Updated for 2023.2 this human-readable guide to the Redfish Schema is designed to help educate users of Redfish. Application developers and DevOps personnel creating client-side software to communicate with a Redfish service, as well as other consumers of the standard, will benefit from the explanations in this resource.  Includes example payloads for each resource type.
• Redfish Property Guide – Intended primarily for schema authors, this newly reference guide helps with locating existing property definitions within the Redfish schema. Additionally, it helps avoid re-defining property names already in use.
• Redfish Data Model Specification – Includes normative statements (“LongDescription”) and informative description details from schema in a single document. Intended for both Redfish Service and client-side developers.
•  Redfish Release History – Updated with each new release, this presentation offers a comprehensive view of each revision to Redfish since 2016.
• Redfish Conformance Testing Tools - Open source tools for service developers to validate their conformance with the Redfish protocol, data model, and profiles. Tools include the Redfish Protocol Validator, Redfish Service Validator, Redfish Interop Validator.

DMTF’s Redfish Forum would like to invite anyone interested in learning about the Redfish 2023.2 release to join a live webinar, hosted via Zoom, on Thursday October 26, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. PT. The Forum chairs will present the contents of the release followed by a round table discussion. For questions regarding the webinar, email: webinars@dmtf.org. Don’t delay, be sure to register today!

To learn more about Redfish, click here. The Redfish Developer Hub is a one-stop, in-depth technical resource and provides all the files, tools, community support, tutorials and other advanced education you may need to help you use Redfish. Technical work on the Redfish standard takes place in DMTF’s Redfish Forum. To find out how you can join and contribute to this standard, click here. To submit input via the DMTF Technology Submission and Feedback Portal click here.