🌡️ iDRAC Fan Speed Control

Intelligent fan speed control for Dell PowerEdge servers with smart temperature monitoring and GPU support. Control your server fans through IPMI commands over LAN, tested on R730XD servers with iDRAC 8.

✨ Features

• 🧠 Smart Temperature Monitoring: Automatically adjusts fan speed based on NVMe disk temperatures
• 🎮 GPU Temperature Support: Optional GPU temperature monitoring with NVIDIA Container Toolkit
• ⚙️ Environment Variable Control: Complete configuration through .env files
• 🐳 Docker Deployment: One-click deployment with no manual environment setup
• 🔥 Decision Temperature Algorithm: max(disk_temp, gpu_temp - GPU_TEMP_OFFSET) ensures optimal cooling
• 📊 Configurable Thresholds: Customize temperature and fan speed settings
• 🔄 Auto/Manual Modes: Flexible operation modes for different use cases

🚀 Quick Start

Step 1: Setup Environment

Clone the repository and copy the example configuration:

git clone <repository-url>
cd iDRACFanSpeedControl
cp .env.example .env

Edit the .env file with your iDRAC and ESXi connection details:

# iDRAC Configuration
IDRAC_IP=192.168.1.100
IDRAC_ID=root  
IDRAC_PASSWORD=calvin

# ESXi Configuration (for disk temperature)
ESXI_HOST=192.168.1.10
ESXI_USERNAME=root
ESXI_PASSWORD=your_esxi_password

# Drive Identifier
DRIVE_DEVICE=t10.NVMe____KCD61LUL7T68____________________________015E8306E28EE38C

# GPU Temperature Monitoring (Optional)
WITH_GPU_TEMP=false  # Set to true to enable GPU temperature monitoring

Step 2: Deploy the Service

Deploy using Docker Compose:

docker-compose up -d

Step 3: Enable GPU Temperature Monitoring (Optional)

To enable GPU temperature monitoring:

1. Set WITH_GPU_TEMP=true in your .env file
2. Uncomment the GPU configuration in docker-compose.yml:

deploy:
  resources:
    reservations:
      devices:
        - driver: nvidia
          count: all
          capabilities: [gpu]

⚙️ Configuration

Temperature Thresholds

TEMP_LOW=65        # Low temperature threshold (°C)
TEMP_MEDIUM=70     # Medium temperature threshold (°C)  
TEMP_HIGH=75       # High temperature threshold (°C)
TEMP_CRITICAL=80   # Critical temperature threshold (°C)

Fan Speed Settings

FAN_SPEED_LOW=30      # Fan speed for low temperature (%)
FAN_SPEED_MEDIUM=40   # Fan speed for medium temperature (%)
FAN_SPEED_HIGH=50     # Fan speed for high temperature (%)
FAN_SPEED_CRITICAL=60 # Fan speed for critical temperature (%)

Operation Modes

OPERATION_MODE=auto   # auto: Automatic mode | manual: Manual mode
CHECK_INTERVAL=60     # Check interval in seconds (auto mode only)

🧮 Decision Temperature Algorithm

When GPU temperature monitoring is enabled, the system uses this algorithm to calculate the decision temperature:

Decision Temperature = max(Disk Temperature, GPU Temperature - GPU_TEMP_OFFSET)

This algorithm ensures:

• Proactive GPU cooling: High GPU temperatures trigger increased fan speeds
• Configurable offset compensation: Adjustable offset (GPU_TEMP_OFFSET) accounts for thermal differences between GPU and system
• Disk temperature baseline: Disk temperature always serves as the minimum baseline

Algorithm Examples

With default GPU_TEMP_OFFSET=15°C:

Disk Temp	GPU Temp	GPU-15	Decision Temp	Reasoning
65°C	70°C	55°C	65°C	Disk temperature is higher
65°C	85°C	70°C	70°C	GPU-15 is higher, use adjusted GPU temp
75°C	80°C	65°C	75°C	Disk temperature remains baseline

🔧 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

GPU Temperature Reading Fails

# Check if NVIDIA GPU is available
nvidia-smi

# Verify Docker GPU support
docker run --rm --gpus all nvidia/cuda:12.9.0-runtime-ubuntu24.04 nvidia-smi

Cannot Connect to ESXi Host

# Test SSH connection
ssh root@your_esxi_host

# Note: ESXi SSH service must be enabled

iDRAC Connection Failed

# Test iDRAC connection
ipmitool -I lanplus -H your_idrac_ip -U root -P calvin chassis status

Monitoring and Logs

# View container logs
docker logs idrac-fan-control

# View fan control records
docker exec idrac-fan-control tail -f /var/log/fan-control/fan_control.log

📋 Environment Variables Reference

Variable	Default	Description
IDRAC_IP	-	iDRAC IP address
IDRAC_ID	root	iDRAC username
IDRAC_PASSWORD	-	iDRAC password
ESXI_HOST	-	ESXi host IP
ESXI_USERNAME	root	ESXi username
ESXI_PASSWORD	-	ESXi password
DRIVE_DEVICE	-	Disk identifier to monitor
TEMP_LOW	65	Low temperature threshold (°C)
TEMP_MEDIUM	70	Medium temperature threshold (°C)
TEMP_HIGH	75	High temperature threshold (°C)
TEMP_CRITICAL	80	Critical temperature threshold (°C)
FAN_SPEED_LOW	30	Low temperature fan speed (%)
FAN_SPEED_MEDIUM	40	Medium temperature fan speed (%)
FAN_SPEED_HIGH	50	High temperature fan speed (%)
FAN_SPEED_CRITICAL	60	Critical temperature fan speed (%)
OPERATION_MODE	auto	Operation mode (auto/manual)
CHECK_INTERVAL	60	Check interval in seconds
WITH_GPU_TEMP	false	Enable GPU temperature monitoring
GPU_TEMP_OFFSET	15	GPU temperature offset for decision algorithm (°C)

🐳 Docker Compose Examples

Basic Configuration (Disk Temperature Only)

version: '3.8'
services:
  idrac-fan-control:
    container_name: idrac-fan-control
    image: ghcr.io/df-wu/idrac-fan-control:latest
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - ./logs:/var/log/fan-control
    network_mode: host
    restart: always

GPU-Enabled Configuration

version: '3.8'
services:
  idrac-fan-control:
    container_name: idrac-fan-control
    image: ghcr.io/df-wu/idrac-fan-control:latest
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - ./logs:/var/log/fan-control
    network_mode: host
    restart: always
    deploy:
      resources:
        reservations:
          devices:
            - driver: nvidia
              count: all
              capabilities: [gpu]

🔍 Performance Tuning

Adjusting Check Intervals

# Reduce system load (slower response)
CHECK_INTERVAL=120  # Check every 2 minutes

# Increase responsiveness (higher system load)
CHECK_INTERVAL=30   # Check every 30 seconds

Custom Temperature Profiles

# Conservative Profile (fans start early, quieter operation)
TEMP_LOW=60
TEMP_MEDIUM=65
TEMP_HIGH=70
TEMP_CRITICAL=75

# Aggressive Profile (fans start later, potentially noisier but more efficient)
TEMP_LOW=70
TEMP_MEDIUM=75
TEMP_HIGH=80
TEMP_CRITICAL=85

💻 Supported Hardware

• ✅ Tested: Dell PowerEdge R730XD (iDRAC 8)
• 🔄 Compatible: All Dell PowerEdge servers with IPMI 2.0 support
• 🎮 GPU Support: NVIDIA GPUs (requires NVIDIA Container Toolkit)

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request or open an Issue for bugs and feature requests.

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🇹🇼 中文說明

這是一個 Dell PowerEdge 伺服器的智慧風扇控制工具，主要功能包括：

• 智慧溫度監控：根據磁碟和 GPU 溫度自動調節風扇轉速
• Docker 部署：使用 Docker Compose 一鍵部署
• 環境變數控制：所有設定都可以透過 .env 文件控制
• 決策溫度算法：max(磁碟溫度, GPU溫度-20°C) 確保最佳散熱效果

快速使用

1. 複製 .env.example 為 .env 並修改設定
2. 執行 docker-compose up -d 啟動服務
3. 如需 GPU 支援，請設定 WITH_GPU_TEMP=true 並開啟 Docker Compose 中的 GPU 配置

已在 Dell R730XD (iDRAC 8) 上測試通過。