Overview¶
The RBLN SDK provides a comprehensive suite of command-line tools for managing, monitoring, and maintaining RBLN NPUs. These tools enable system administrators, developers, and operators to effectively utilize RBLN hardware in production environments.
Management Tools¶
The RBLN management toolset consists of the following utilities:
| Tool | Purpose | Primary Use Cases |
|---|---|---|
| rbln-smi | System Management Interface | Device monitoring, resource tracking, performance management, process inspection |
| rblnBandwidthLatencyTest | Performance Testing | Bandwidth measurement, latency testing, topology validation, system benchmarking |
| rblnvs | Validation Suite | BIOS/GRUB verification, fan speed monitoring |
| rbln-flash | Firmware Update Utility | CP/MCU firmware updates |
| RSMD | System Management Daemon | Background device monitoring, gRPC API service, event logging |
Tool Categories¶
Monitoring and Management¶
rbln-smi is the primary tool for real-time monitoring and management of RBLN NPUs. It provides device information (hardware, PCI topology), performance metrics (power, temperature, utilization), process tracking, and resource management through RSD groups. Supports multiple output formats including human-readable tables, JSON, and CSV.
Performance and Validation¶
rblnBandwidthLatencyTest measures data transfer performance between host and device memory, including bandwidth (H2D, D2D, D2H) and latency testing. Useful for system validation, performance benchmarking, and topology verification.
rblnvs (RBLN Validation Suite) verifies system configuration including GRUB parameters, BIOS settings (IOMMU, SR-IOV, PCIe, NUMA), and fan speed monitoring via BMC.
Limitations
BIOS settings validation and fan speed monitoring require BMC access via Redfish API and are currently supported only on Supermicro servers with a DCMS license.
Firmware Update¶
rbln-flash manages CP and MCU firmware updates for RBLN NPUs. Supports parallel updates across multiple RBLN NPUs with per-device status tracking. Requires driver unload before operation.
System Services¶
RSMD (Rebellions System Management Daemon) is a background service that provides centralized device management through a gRPC API. The daemon monitors kernel events via netlink, collects device telemetry (temperature, power, memory, utilization), and maintains event history as CSV logs. Includes rbln-smdi CLI tool for interactive device management and rbln_daemon systemd service for automatic startup.