About boot settings

The server hardware type selected in the server profile or server profile template determines the available boot options. These boot options control the default server boot behavior.

Manage boot mode

The Manage boot mode option, when enabled, allows you to manage the boot mode and PXE boot policy, if applicable. When the boot mode option is disabled, HPE OneView does not allow changes to the PXE boot mode or the PXE boot policy.

PXE boot policy controls the ordering of the network modes available to the FlexibleLOM for Blade servers (FLB). You may set the PXE boot to one of the following policies on the server profile template screen:
  • Auto
  • IPv4 only
  • IPv6 only
  • IPv4 then IPv6
  • IPv6 then IPv4
NOTE:

The Auto policy configures the server hardware to use the BIOS-defined PXE boot policy.

When Manage boot mode is disabled on a server profile template to which the server profile is associated, HPE OneView does not perform compliance checks and remediation on boot-related settings on the server profile.

For example, if you change a SAN attachment that is not set as a boot volume in the server profile template to be bootable in an associated server profile, HPE OneView will not flag the server profile as non-compliant with the server profile template.

The Manage boot mode option allows you to set the boot mode to one of the following:
  • UEFI

  • UEFI optimized

  • Legacy BIOS

HPE ProLiant Gen9 servers support both legacy BIOS and UEFI for configuring the boot process. See the appropriate support or compatibility matrix on the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Information Library for a complete list of supported servers.

For the UEFI or UEFI optimized boot mode options, the boot mode choice is based on the expected OS and required boot features for the server hardware. UEFI optimized boot mode reduces the time the system spends in Power-On Self-Test (POST).

Consider the following factors while selecting the appropriate boot mode:
  • For enabling secured boot, the server type boot mode must be set to UEFI optimized. If UEFI optimized option is not available, it can be set to UEFI.

  • For operating systems that do not support UEFI (such as DOS, or older versions of Windows and Linux), the boot mode must be set to Legacy BIOS.

  • For Windows 7, Server 2008, or 2008 R2 using UEFI mode, disable the UEFI optimized mode, because Legacy BIOS components are needed for video operations in Windows.

Manage boot order

The Manage boot order option when enabled specifies the order in which devices are presented as boot targets. When you disable the Manage boot order, BIOS determines the server boot order on the selected server hardware. The Manage boot order option is available only if the Manage boot mode is enabled as part of the server profile and server profile template configuration.

When you select an available boot target as the primary boot device and apply the server profile, then that boot device is listed first in the boot sequence. If you change the primary boot device, you must re-define the boot priority and apply the sever profile to provision the servers. When the server hardware boots and the first device specified is unavailable, the server attempts to boot from the second device, and so on. To provide redundant paths, primary and secondary sources can be defined when booting via Ethernet or SAN connections.

Boot targets depend on the server type. Hard Disk, PXE, and SD boot are the most commonly available boot devices. HPE OneView allows you to set the primary and secondary boot device by setting the boot order.

SD boot is available only on Gen9 and Gen10 SY servers that support UEFI boot mode. SD card option is unavailable for Rack servers, and Gen8 or older servers.

If the SD card is unavailable on the server, and you select the boot target as SD card, then the server profile fails to apply the configuration. The system returns an error, with instructions to remediate the issue.