Redfish MCP Server

Overview

The Redfish MCP Server is a natural language interface designed for agentic applications to efficiently manage infrastructure that exposes Redfish API for this purpose. It integrates seamlessly with MCP (Model Content Protocol) clients, enabling AI-driven workflows to interact with structured and unstructured data of the infrastructure. Using this MCP Server, you can ask questions like:

• "List the available infrastructure components"
• "Get the data of ethernet interfaces of the infrastructure component X"

Features

• Natural Language Queries: Enables AI agents to query the data of infrastructure components using natural language.
• Seamless MCP Integration: Works with any MCP client for smooth communication.
• Full Redfish Support: It wraps the Python Redfish library

Tools

This MCP Server provides tools to manage the data of infrastructure via the Redfish API.

• list_endpoints to query the Redfish API endpoints that are configured for the MCP Server.
• get_resource_data to read the data of a specific resource (e.g. System, EthernetInterface, etc.)

Quick Start

# Clone and setup
git clone <repository-url>
cd mcp-redfish
make install  # or 'make dev' for development setup

# Option 1: Run with console script (recommended)
uv run mcp-redfish
# OR use Makefile shortcut:
make run-stdio

# Option 2: Run as module (development/CI)
uv run python -m src.main

Installation

Follow these instructions to install the server.

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd mcp-redfish

# Install dependencies using uv
make install

# Or install with development dependencies
make install-dev

Configuration

The Redfish MCP Server uses environment variables for configuration. The server includes comprehensive validation to ensure all settings are properly configured.

Environment Variables

Name	Description	Default Value	Required
REDFISH_HOSTS	JSON array of Redfish endpoint configurations	[{"address":"127.0.0.1"}]	Yes
REDFISH_PORT	Default port for Redfish API (used when not specified per-host)	443	No
REDFISH_AUTH_METHOD	Authentication method: basic or session	session	No
REDFISH_USERNAME	Default username for authentication	""	No
REDFISH_PASSWORD	Default password for authentication	""	No
REDFISH_SERVER_CA_CERT	Path to CA certificate for server verification	None	No
REDFISH_DISCOVERY_ENABLED	Enable automatic endpoint discovery	false	No
REDFISH_DISCOVERY_INTERVAL	Discovery interval in seconds	30	No
MCP_TRANSPORT	Transport method: stdio, sse, or streamable-http	stdio	No
MCP_REDFISH_LOG_LEVEL	Logging level: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL	INFO	No

REDFISH_HOSTS Configuration

The REDFISH_HOSTS environment variable accepts a JSON array of endpoint configurations. Each endpoint can have the following properties:

[
  {
    "address": "192.168.1.100",
    "port": 443,
    "username": "admin",
    "password": "password123",
    "auth_method": "session",
    "tls_server_ca_cert": "/path/to/ca-cert.pem"
  },
  {
    "address": "192.168.1.101",
    "port": 8443,
    "username": "operator",
    "password": "secret456",
    "auth_method": "basic"
  }
]

Per-host properties:

• address (required): IP address or hostname of the Redfish endpoint
• port (optional): Port number (defaults to global REDFISH_PORT)
• username (optional): Username (defaults to global REDFISH_USERNAME)
• password (optional): Password (defaults to global REDFISH_PASSWORD)
• auth_method (optional): Authentication method (defaults to global REDFISH_AUTH_METHOD)
• tls_server_ca_cert (optional): Path to CA certificate (defaults to global REDFISH_SERVER_CA_CERT)

Configuration Methods

There are several ways to set environment variables:

1. Using a .env File (Recommended): Place a .env file in your project directory with key-value pairs for each environment variable. This is secure and convenient, keeping sensitive data out of version control.

   # Copy the example configuration
   cp .env.example .env
   
   # Edit the .env file with your settings
   nano .env
   

   Example .env file:

   # Redfish endpoint configuration
   REDFISH_HOSTS='[{"address": "192.168.1.100", "username": "admin", "password": "secret123"}, {"address": "192.168.1.101", "port": 8443}]'
   REDFISH_AUTH_METHOD=session
   REDFISH_USERNAME=default_user
   REDFISH_PASSWORD=default_pass
   
   # MCP configuration
   MCP_TRANSPORT=stdio
   MCP_REDFISH_LOG_LEVEL=INFO
   

2. Setting Variables in the Shell: Export environment variables directly in your shell before running the application:

   export REDFISH_HOSTS='[{"address": "127.0.0.1"}]'
   export MCP_TRANSPORT="stdio"
   export MCP_REDFISH_LOG_LEVEL="DEBUG"
   

Configuration Validation

The server performs comprehensive validation on startup:

• JSON Syntax: REDFISH_HOSTS must be valid JSON
• Required Fields: Each host must have an address field
• Port Ranges: Ports must be between 1 and 65535
• Authentication Methods: Must be basic or session
• Transport Types: Must be stdio, sse, or streamable-http
• Log Levels: Must be DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, or CRITICAL

If validation fails, the server will:

1. Log detailed error messages
2. Show a deprecation warning about falling back to legacy parsing
3. Attempt to continue with basic configuration parsing

Note: The legacy fallback is deprecated and will be removed in future versions. Please ensure your configuration follows the validated format.

Running the Server

The MCP Redfish server supports multiple execution methods:

Console Script (Recommended)

# For end users and production deployments
uv run mcp-redfish

Module Execution

# For development and CI/CD environments
uv run python -m src.main

Makefile Targets

# Development shortcuts
make run-stdio    # Run with stdio transport
make run-sse      # Run with SSE transport
make inspect      # Run with MCP Inspector

Transports

The MCP Redfish server supports multiple transport mechanisms for different deployment scenarios:

stdio Transport (Default)

Uses standard input/output for communication, suitable for direct MCP client integration and automated testing environments.

# Set transport mode
export MCP_TRANSPORT="stdio"

# Console script execution
uv run mcp-redfish

# Module execution (for CI/CD)
uv run python -m src.main

SSE Transport (Server-Sent Events)

Enables network-based communication, allowing remote MCP clients to connect over HTTP.

# Configure SSE transport
export MCP_TRANSPORT="sse"

# Start server - multiple options:
make run-sse                                    # Makefile shortcut (recommended)
uv run mcp-redfish --transport sse --port 8080  # Manual console script
uv run python -m src.main --transport sse --port 8080  # Manual module execution

Test the SSE server:

curl -i http://127.0.0.1:8080/sse
HTTP/1.1 200 OK

streamable-http Transport

Another network transport option for specific MCP client implementations.

export MCP_TRANSPORT="streamable-http"
make run-streamable-http    # Makefile shortcut (recommended)
# OR
uv run mcp-redfish         # Manual execution

Integrate with your favorite tool or client. The VS Code configuration for GitHub Copilot is:

"mcp": {
    "servers": {
        "redfish-mcp": {
            "type": "sse",
            "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8000/sse"
        },
    }
},

Integration with Claude Desktop

Manual configuration

You can configure Claude Desktop to use this MCP Server.

1. Retrieve your uv command full path (e.g. which uv)
2. Edit the claude_desktop_config.json configuration file
   • on a MacOS, at ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "redfish": {
            "command": "<full_path_uv_command>",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "<your_mcp_server_directory>",
                "run",
                "mcp-redfish"
            ],
            "env": {
                "REDFISH_HOSTS": "[{\"address\": \"192.168.1.100\", \"username\": \"admin\", \"password\": \"secret123\"}]",
                "REDFISH_AUTH_METHOD": "session",
                "MCP_TRANSPORT": "stdio",
                "MCP_REDFISH_LOG_LEVEL": "INFO"
            }
        }
    }
}

Note: You can also use module execution by changing the args to ["run", "python", "-m", "src.main"] if needed for development or troubleshooting.

Troubleshooting

You can troubleshoot problems by tailing the log file.

tail -f ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp-server-redfish.log

Integration with VS Code

To use the Redfish MCP Server with VS Code, you need:

1. Enable the agent mode tools. Add the following to your settings.json:

{
  "chat.agent.enabled": true
}

2. Add the Redfish MCP Server configuration to your mcp.json or settings.json:

// Example .vscode/mcp.json
{
  "servers": {
    "redfish": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "<full_path_uv_command>",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "<your_mcp_server_directory>",
        "run",
        "mcp-redfish"
      ],
      "env": {
        "REDFISH_HOSTS": "[{\"address\": \"192.168.1.100\", \"username\": \"admin\", \"password\": \"secret123\"}]",
        "REDFISH_AUTH_METHOD": "session",
        "MCP_TRANSPORT": "stdio"
      }
    }
  }
}

// Example settings.json
{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "redfish": {
        "type": "stdio",
        "command": "<full_path_uv_command>",
        "args": [
          "--directory",
          "<your_mcp_server_directory>",
          "run",
          "mcp-redfish"
        ],
        "env": {
          "REDFISH_HOSTS": "[{\"address\": \"192.168.1.100\", \"username\": \"admin\", \"password\": \"secret123\"}]",
          "REDFISH_AUTH_METHOD": "session",
          "MCP_TRANSPORT": "stdio"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: For development or troubleshooting, you can use module execution by changing the last arg from "mcp-redfish" to "python", "-m", "src.main".

For more information, see the VS Code documentation.

Integration with mcphost

mcphost is a command-line host application that manages connections between language models and MCP servers. It acts as the host in the MCP client-server architecture, enabling LLM applications to access external tools, maintain consistent context, and execute commands safely.

mcphost supports a wide range of language models:

• Anthropic Claude: Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 3.5 Haiku, and other Claude models
• OpenAI: GPT-4, GPT-4 Turbo, GPT-3.5, and compatible models
• Google Gemini: Gemini 2.0 Flash, Gemini 1.5 Pro, and other Gemini models
• Ollama: Any Ollama-compatible model with function calling support
• Custom APIs: Any OpenAI-compatible API endpoint

Example Configuration using locally hosted models

Create a configuration file at ~/.config/mcphost/mcp-redfish.yaml:

mcpServers:
  redfish:
    type: local
    command: ["python3", "-m", "src.main"]
    environment:
      REDFISH_HOSTS: "[{\"address\": \"<host1>\", \"username\": \"<user1>\", \"password\": \"<pass1>\"}, {\"address\": \"<host2>\", \"username\": \"<user2>\", \"password\": \"<pass2>\"}]"
      REDFISH_AUTH_METHOD: "session"
      MCP_TRANSPORT: "stdio"
      MCP_REDFISH_LOG_LEVEL: "INFO"

Replace the placeholder values (<host1>, <user1>, <pass1>, etc.) with actual Redfish endpoint details.

Usage Examples

Local Models with Ollama:

# Using Ollama models
mcphost -m ollama:llama3 --config ~/.config/mcphost/mcp-redfish.yaml
mcphost -m ollama:mistral --config ~/.config/mcphost/mcp-redfish.yaml
mcphost -m ollama:qwen3 --config ~/.config/mcphost/mcp-redfish.yaml

For detailed information and advanced configuration options, visit the mcphost GitHub repository.

Testing

Interactive Testing

You can use the MCP Inspector for visual debugging of this MCP Server.

# Using console script (recommended)
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv run mcp-redfish

# Using module execution (for development)
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv run python -m src.main

# Or use the Makefile shortcut
make inspect

End-to-End Testing

For comprehensive testing, including testing against a real Redfish API, the project includes an e2e testing environment using the DMTF Redfish Interface Emulator:

# Quick start - run all e2e tests
make e2e-test

# Or step by step:
make e2e-emulator-setup    # Set up emulator and certificates
make e2e-emulator-start    # Start Redfish Interface Emulator
make e2e-test-framework    # Run comprehensive tests with Python framework (recommended)
make e2e-emulator-stop     # Stop emulator

Note: The old target names (e.g., make e2e-setup, make e2e-start) are still supported for backward compatibility, but the new emulator-specific names are recommended for clarity.

The e2e tests provide:

• Redfish Interface Emulator: Simulated Redfish API for testing
• SSL/TLS Support: Self-signed certificates for HTTPS testing
• CI/CD Integration: Automated testing on pull requests
• Local Development: Full testing environment on your machine

For detailed e2e testing documentation, see E2E_TESTING.md.

Container Runtime Support

The project supports both Docker and Podman as container runtimes:

• Auto-Detection: Automatically detects and uses available container runtime
• Docker: Uses optimized Dockerfile with BuildKit cache mounts when available
• Podman: Uses compatible Dockerfile without cache mounts for broader compatibility
• Manual Override: Force specific runtime with CONTAINER_RUNTIME environment variable

# Auto-detect (default)
make container-build

# Force Docker
CONTAINER_RUNTIME=docker make container-build

# Force Podman
CONTAINER_RUNTIME=podman make container-build
# Or use convenience target
make podman-build

Unit Testing

Run the standard test suite:

make test        # Run tests
make test-cov    # Run with coverage
make check       # Quick lint + test

Example Use Cases

• AI Assistants: Enable LLMs to fetch infrastructure data via Redfish API.
• Chatbots & Virtual Agents: Retrieve data, and personalize responses.

Development

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9+ (Python 3.13.5 recommended)
• uv for package management

Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd mcp-redfish

# Install development environment (includes dependencies + pre-commit hooks)
make dev

# Or install components separately:
make install-dev    # Install development dependencies
make pre-commit-install  # Set up pre-commit hooks

Development Workflow

The project includes a comprehensive Makefile with 42+ targets for development:

# Code quality
make lint          # Run ruff linting
make format        # Format code with ruff
make type-check    # Run MyPy type checking
make test          # Run pytest tests
make security      # Run bandit security scan

# Development servers
make run-stdio     # Run with stdio transport
make run-sse       # Run with SSE transport
make run-streamable-http  # Run with streamable-http transport
make inspect       # Run with MCP Inspector

# All-in-one commands
make all-checks    # Run full quality suite (lint, format, type-check, security, pre-commit)
make check         # Quick check: linting and tests only
make pre-commit-run # Run all pre-commit checks

Code Organization

src/
├── main.py              # Entry point and console script
├── common/              # Shared utilities
│   ├── __init__.py     # Package exports
│   ├── config.py       # Configuration management
│   └── hosts.py        # Host discovery and validation
└── tools/              # MCP tool implementations
    ├── __init__.py
    ├── redfish_tools.py # Core Redfish operations
    └── tool_registry.py # Tool registration

Execution Patterns

• Console Script: uv run mcp-redfish (recommended for users)
• Module Execution: uv run python -m src.main (for development/CI)
• Direct Python: python src/main.py (basic execution)

Testing

# Run all tests
make test

# Run with coverage
make test-cov

# Run specific test files (manual uv command needed)
uv run pytest tests/test_config.py -v

# Integration testing with MCP Inspector
make inspect

Pre-commit Hooks

The project uses pre-commit hooks for code quality:

• ruff: Linting and formatting
• mypy: Type checking
• Custom checks: Import sorting, trailing whitespace

Type System

• Uses modern Python 3.9+ built-in types (dict, list) instead of typing.Dict, typing.List
• Comprehensive type annotations with MyPy strict mode
• Return type annotations for all functions

For more details, see the Makefile targets: make help