ADR Redfish Integration

ADR: Redfish Integration and Release Strategy

Status: Proposed

Context

Redfish functionality is currently developed in a forked repository and is planned to be shared with customers for evaluation. Current state:

• Implementation represents a basic feature set of inventory and power management.
• Functionality is exposed via Redfish REST API aligning with DMTF 2025.Q3 release.
• Redfish is not integrated into the Console UI.
• Validation is performed via curl-based API interaction or DMTF Redfish tool.
• General Availability (GA) commitment depends on structured customer evaluation feedback.
• Executive guidance recommends isolating Redfish changes until evaluation is complete, while positioning Redfish as part of the official Console roadmap.

Goals:

• Executive roadmap signaling
• Architectural flexibility during evaluation
• Traceability between Console and Redfish validation states
• Long-term maintainability

Decision

Decision:

• Merge the forked content into a dedicated upstream branch: redfish.
• Keep main as the GA production line.
• Retire the fork after migration.
• Merge into main only after graduation criteria are satisfied and formally approved.

Branching and Tagging Flow

Branch Structure

main  ------------------------------------->  (GA Console Releases)
|                |                 |
|                |                 |
|                |                 |
+------ merge ----> redfish ------------------> (Preview Releases)
                    ^          ^           ^
                    |          |           |
            periodic sync    |      redfish changes
            from main        |
                        console bug fixes

Flow Description

1. main produces GA Console releases.
2. redfish is manually synchronized from main.
3. Redfish-specific preview changes occur only in redfish.
4. Preview releases are tagged from redfish.
5. Upon GA approval, redfish is merged into main.

Release Versioning Strategy (SemVer-Aligned)

Redfish preview releases must reflect:

• The Console version against which validation was performed
• Preview maturity stage
• Incremental Redfish changes

Tag Format

v<console-version>-redfish.<phase>.<iteration>

Versioning Rules

1. Redfish-only changes (same Console base): increment iteration.

2. Console sync only (no Redfish changes): update console version, keep iteration.

   Version	Description
   v1.19.1-redfish.preview.1	First preview release on Console v1.19.1.
   v1.19.1-redfish.preview.2	Second preview release on Console v1.19.1 with Redfish fixes/enhancements.
   v1.20.1-redfish.preview.2	Console sync to v1.20.1 with no Redfish changes (iteration unchanged).
   v1.20.1-redfish.preview.3	Third preview release on Console v1.20.1 with Redfish fixes/enhancements.

3. Transition to GA: upon approval:

   • redfish is merged into main
   • Standard Console SemVer applies
   • No redfish suffix remains

Redfish Preview Release Artifacts

Preview releases will include full Console binaries (UI + backend) and the releases would made available as part of the standard Console release process. The following variants are planned for Redfish preview releases:

• Linux ARM64 Console (Full)
• Linux x64 Console (Full)
• macOS ARM64 Console (Full)
• Windows x64 Console (Full)

Headless variant expansion remains scoped to GA releases under main.

Synchronization Policy (main → redfish)

Synchronization from main into redfish will be manual. Synchronization must occur when:

• Console features are required for Redfish evaluation.
• Console bug fixes impact Redfish functionality.
• A new Console GA release requires validation alignment.
• At least monthly to prevent excessive divergence.

Graduation Criteria (GA Promotion Gate)

Redfish may be merged into main when all of the following are satisfied:

• Customer evaluation phase completed.
• Feedback incorporated and design stabilized.
• Product management GA authorization granted.