DeployingUEFIAwareOperating SystemsonDellPowerEdge Servers

ByAnandJoshi,BillMunger,MarkShutt, ThomasCantwell,andJohnSieber

 THISWHITEPAPERISFORINFORMATIONALPURPOSESONLY,ANDMAYCONTAINTYPOGRAPHICALERRORSAND TECHNICALINACCURACIES.THECONTENTISPROVIDEDASIS,WITHOUTEXPRESSORIMPLIEDWARRANTIESOF ANYKIND. 2009DellInc.Allrightsreserved.Reproductionofthismaterialinanymannerwhatsoeverwithouttheexpress writtenpermissionofDellInc.isstrictlyforbidden.Formoreinformation,contactDell. Dell,theDELLlogo,andtheDELLbadge,andPowerEdgearetrademarksofDellInc.Microsoft,Windows,Windows Server,andActiveDirectoryareeithertrademarksorregisteredtrademarksofMicrosoftCorporationintheUnited Statesand/orothercountries.;SUSEisaregisteredtrademarkofNovell,Inc.,intheUnitedStatesandother countries.

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Table of Contents
History................................................................................................................................................................... 2 WhatisUEFI?......................................................................................................................................................... 2 WhatUEFIhastoOffer.......................................................................................................................................... 3 HowisDellsUEFIimplemented?.......................................................................................................................... 3 DifferencesbetweenBIOSandUEFIBootModes........................................................................................... 4 UEFIBootOptions........................................................................................................................................... 4 AutomaticandManualBootOptions.................................................................................................................... 4 BootingtoaRemovableMediaDevice .................................................................................................................. 5 UEFIBootManager......................................................................................................................................... 5 BootOptions.......................................................................................................................................................... 5 UEFIBootSettings................................................................................................................................................. 5 SystemUtilities...................................................................................................................................................... 6 DeployingaUEFIAwareOperatingSystem.................................................................................................... 7 DeployingaUEFIOperatingSystem...................................................................................................................... 7 Limitations....................................................................................................................................................... 8 LargeOperatingSystemPartitions........................................................................................................................ 8 ThirdPartyImagingUtilities.................................................................................................................................. 8 TransferringHardDisks......................................................................................................................................... 8 UEFILegacyBootControllers................................................................................................................................. 8

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History
Inthemid1990sduringthedevelopmentofIntelsItaniumbasedsystem,PCBIOSlimitations(forexample,16bit processormode,1MBaddressablespace,PCAThardwaredependencies,etc.)hinderedplatformdevelopmentfor Itanium.WhiletheItaniumchipwasnotwellreceived,thedevelopmentexposedsignificantlimitationstothe originalPCfirmwarearchitecturethatledtothedevelopmentofanewframework,calledExtensibleFirmware Interface(EFI). In2005,severalleadingtechcompaniescametogethertocreatetheEFIForum.BasedonEFIarchitecture,the UEFIForumsmissionwastocreatethefirsteverindustrystandardfirmwareinterfacespecificationUnified ExtensibleFirmwareInterface(UEFI).DellisrepresentedontheboardofdirectorsoftheUEFIForum.

WhatisUEFI?
TheUEFIspecificationdefinesaninterfacebetweenoperatingsystemsandplatformfirmware.Theinterface consistsofdatatablesthatcontainplatformrelatedinformation,plusbootandruntimeservicecallsthatare availabletotheoperatingsystemanditsloader. Together,theseprovideastandard,modern environmentforbootinganoperatingsystemand runningprebootapplications. Inadditiontotheservices,UEFIdefinesvarious protocols/APIstoaccessvarioushardwareandthe bootdevicesinthesystem.TheUEFIspecificationalso definesadrivermodelthatisgenericandcanbe adaptedtoanytypeofbusordevice.TheUEFIDriver Modelisdesignedtosupporttheexecutionof modularpiecesofcode,knownasdrivers,thatrunin theprebootenvironment.Thesedriversmaymanage orcontrolhardwarebusesanddevicesonthe platform,ortheymayprovidesomesoftwarederived, platformspecificservice. Thereare3typesofentitiesthatcanexecuteunderUEFIenvironment: Applications:SomeexamplesofcommonEFIapplicationsincludetheEFIshell,EFIshell commands,flashutilities,anddiagnosticutilities.ItisperfectlyacceptabletoinvokeEFI applicationsfrominsideotherEFIapplications. OperatingSystemLoader:AspecialtypeofEFIapplication,calledanoperatingsystemboot loader,providesthenecessaryinitializationroutinesuntiltheloaderhassetupenoughofthe operatingsysteminfrastructuretobereadytoassumeownershipofthesystemresources.Once theoperatingsystemassumescontrol,theEFIcorefreesallofitsboottimeservicesanddrivers, leavingonlytheruntimeservicesanddrivers. Drivers:EFIdriversdifferfromEFIapplicationsinthatthedriverstaysresidentinmemoryunless anerrorisreturnedfromthedriver'sentrypoint.TheEFIcorefirmware,thebootmanager,or otherEFIapplicationsmayloaddrivers.

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WhatUEFIhastoOffer
TheprimarygoalofUEFIistodefineanarchitecturethatcanscalewithtimeandtoofferstructuredcoding environmentallowingeasyenablementofnewtechnology.ThemaincharacteristicsofUEFIare: AbstractionfortheOperationSystem.TheUEFIspecificationprovidesaninterfacebetweentheplatform firmwareandtheoperatingsystem.Theinterfaces/API/protocolsmarkaclearboundarybetweenthe firmwareandtheoperatingsystemandtheoperatingsystemloader. Abstractionfordevicesandrelatedcode.UEFIabstractsinterfacesthatmakeitpossibletobuildcode whichworksonarangeofunderlyinghardwaredeviceswithouthavingexplicitknowledgeofthespecifics foreachdevice.Thespecificationdefinesinterfacestoplatformcapabilitiessuchasstandardbustypes (PCI,USB,andSCSI).Thelistofsupportedbustypesmaygrowovertime.Thesedefinedinterfacesandthe abilitytoextendtofuturebustypesarecomponentsoftheUEFIDriverModel. Scalableplatformenvironment.Thespecificationdefinesacompletesolutionforthefirmwareto describeallplatformfeaturesandcapabilitiestotheoperatingsystemduringthebootprocess.These definitionscoverarangeofthecontemporaryplatformdesignsbutaresimpleenoughtobeableto extendinthefuture. OperatingSystemAgnosticRichPreBootenvironment.TheUEFIspecificationdefinesextensible interfacesthatenablecreationofplatformdrivers.Thedrivers,analogoustooperatingsystemdrivers, providesupportfornewdevicesandmayprovideenhancedplatformcapabilities,suchasfirmware update,platformconfiguration,diagnosticsanddeploymentservices.Theexistenceofnetworking,USB, andfilesystemcapabilitiesaddstotherichnessoftheprebootenvironment. GUIDPartitionTable.TheUEFIdefinesanewstandardlayoutforthepartitiontable,knownasGUID PartitionTable(GPT).GPTprovidesamoreflexiblemechanismforpartitioningdisksthantheMaster BootRecord(MBR)partitioningschemethathasbeencommontocomputers.MBRdiskssupportonly fourpartitiontableentriesandthepartitionsizeislimitedto2TB.GPTschemeallowsupto128primary partitionsandcansupportlargerthan2terabytepartitions.Someneartermlimitationsto2terabyte supportexistduetodevicesupport,butoncedevicesfullysupportGPT/UEFI,thiswillnolongerbean issue.SeetheLimitationssection.

HowisDellsUEFIimplemented?
TosupportbootingtobothUEFIandnonUEFIawareoperatingsystems,theDellBIOSsupportsaBootMode optionintheBIOSSetupUtility.TheBootModecanbesettoBIOSorUEFI. SettingtheBootModetoUEFIallowsbootingtoaUEFIawareoperatingsystemandprovidestheUEFIBoot Manager.ThisistheonlychangerequiredtoenableUEFIonthesystem.SettingtheBootModetoBIOSprovides supportforallcurrentandlegacyoperationsystems.

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DifferencesbetweenBIOSandUEFIBootModes
Thefollowingtablehighlightsthedifferencesbetweenthebootmodes.

BootMode Feature BIOS OperatingSystemSupport UEFI

Compatiblewithoperatingsystems MustsupportUEFI thatdonotsupportUEFI.Allthe currentandlegacyoperation systemscanbeinstalledinthis bootmode. EntersBIOSBootManager EntersUEFIBootManager

BIOSPOST<F11>Boot ManagerHotKey BootOrderControl USBEmulation DefaultBootOrder

ViaBIOSSetupUtility SupportedviaBIOSSetupUtility TraditionalDellBIOSdefaultboot order LegacyBIOSbootstoadrive. Supportformultibootdrive requiresabootloader.

ViaUEFIBootManager Notneeded None

BootOptions

InUEFImode,thereisaconceptofa bootfile.Thisallowsmultiplefiles tobeaddedasabootoptionona singledrive.

UEFIBootOptions
ThewaybootoptionsworkinUEFImodediffersfromthatofthelegacyBIOS.TheUEFIbootoption: Specifiesafileonadriveasaboottarget(vs.adriveasinlegacyBIOS). Isautomaticallycreatedbytheoperatingsystemduringinstallationandpointstoitsbootfile. Providesapredeterminedbootpathforremovablemedia. CanbemanuallyaddedbytheuserviatheUEFIBootManager. Pointstoaspecificbootfile;henceasystemformatisnotnecessarytomakeadevicebootable. AutomaticandManualBootOptions InUEFImode,bootoptionsareautomaticallyaddedforremovabledevices.Theseautomaticallyaddedboot optionscannotbedeleted.OperatingSysteminstallationautomaticallyaddsabootoptionthatpointstothe OperatingSystemBootloader.BootoptionscanalsobeaddedmanuallybyusingtheUEFIBootManager.Whether optionsareaddedmanuallyorbytheoperatingsystem,theycanbedeletedusingUEFIBootManager. Multiplebootoptionsperdevice,orperfile,areallowed.Youmaywanttohavetwobootoptionsforthesame filewithdifferentinputparameters,suchasadebugparameter.WheninstallingaUEFIawareoperatingsystem, theinstallationprocesswilladdacorrespondingbootoption. Page4

BootingtoaRemovableMediaDevice Tomakearemovabledevicebootable,theUEFIapplicationsimplyneedstoberenamedtoBOOTx64.EFI(case insensitive)andplacedinthe\EFI\BOOTdirectory. Whenaremovabledevice,suchasaUSBkey,isdetectedinUEFIBootMode,abootoptionisautomaticallyadded topointtothefollowinglocation:

\EFI\BOOT\BOOTx64.EFI

UEFIBootManager
TheUEFIBootManagerisenteredbypressing<F11>duringtheprebootphaseofsystemstartup.InUEFIboot mode,itreplacesboththeBIOSBootManagerandthebootconfigurationoptionsintheBIOSSetupUtility<F2>. WhentheBootModeissettoUEFItheBIOSSetupUtilityfields,BootSequenceandUSBFlashDriveEmulation Typearegrayedout,replacedbyenhancedoptionsintheUEFIBootManager. BootOptions ThefrontpageoftheUEFIBootManagerlistsbootoptionsinorderofbootpriority.Selectionofanyofthese optionsresultsinanattempttoboot.Iftheoptionisnotbootable(forexample,nomediainanopticaldrive),an errormessagedisplaysalongwithaprompttoentertheUEFIBootManagerortheBIOSSetupUtility. Incaseswhereabootoptionhasbeenaddedmanuallyorbyanoperatingsysteminstallationandthatoptionisno longervalid(forexample,aharddiskdrivehasbeenremoved),theoptionwillcontinuetobelisted,butwillbe grayedoutanddisplayUnavailable.BootOptionentriesforremovabledevicesareautomaticallyaddedand removedbasedininsertionandremovalofthedevice. UEFIBootSettings TheUEFIBootSettingsmenucanbeenteredfromthefrontpage.Thefollowingoptionsareavailablefromthis menu:

Option AddBootOption

Description Providesamenufromwhichtoselectabootoption. FormassstoragedeviceswithaFAT32filesystem,amenu displaystonavigatetoafiletoselectasthebootoption. ForPXEcapabledevices,thedeviceitselfcanbeselected. Whenaddinganewbootoption,theDescriptionandOptionalDatacan beentered.TheDescriptionidentifiesthedeviceintheUEFIBoot Manager;theOptionalDataispassedtothebootimage,pertheUEFI specification.

DeleteBootOption

Providesamenuofbootoptionsthatweremanuallyandoperating systeminstalledandcanbedeleted.Bootoptionsthatwere automaticallyaddedarenotlisted. Providesamenuofbootoptionsthatcanbedisabledwhichremoves themfromthebootoptionlist.Disableddevicescanbereenabledfrom

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Enable/DisableBoot

Option ChangeBootOrder OneTimeBootFromFile

thismenu. Allowsthebootpriorityofthebootoptionstobemodified. ProvidesamenusimilartothatofAddBootOption,butdoesnotaddthe bootoption.Instead,itattemptstoboottotheselectedfileordevice.

SystemUtilities TheSystemUtilitiesmenucanbeenteredfromthefrontpage.Thefollowingoptionsareavailablefromthis menu:

Option SystemSetup

Description EnterstheSystemSetupUtility.Thiscanalsobeenteredbypressing<F2> duringtheprebootphaseofsystemstartup. EntersSystemServices.Thiscanalsobeenteredbypressing<F10> duringtheprebootphaseofsystemstartup. EnterstheBIOSBootManagertoprovidetheabilitytoboottoanonUEFI awareoperatingsystemwhiletheBootModeissettoUEFI.Thisisthe sameBootManagerthatwouldbeenteredbypressing<F11>duringthe prebootphaseofsystemstartupiftheBootModeissettoBIOS. Rebootssystem.

SystemServices

BIOSBootManager

RebootSystem

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DeployingaUEFIAwareOperatingSystem
OncethehardwareandfirmwaresupportUEFI,theoperatingsystemneedstoberedesignedtosupportUEFI. UEFIisstillanemergingtechnologyandstandard,sothereareonlyafewoperatingsystemsthathavefullsupport. DelloffersbothlegacyBIOSmodeandUEFImode. OperatingSystemsthatsupportUEFI 1) MicrosoftWindowsVista,SP1andWindowsServer2008X64versionsonly. 2) SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer,release11,willcontainsupport 3) GeneralLinuxsupportisavailable,butaskyouroperatingsystemvendoriftheyfullysupportUEFIorwhat theirplansare.

DeployingaUEFIOperatingSystem
ForMicrosoftoperatingsystems,press<F11>andchangetheBootManagertoUEFI.Oncethisisdone,simply bootfromtheWindowsServer2008orVistaDVDandfollowthenormalinstallationsteps.Fromthisperspective, everythingwillbethesameasBIOSmodeinstallation. WhatHASchanged? Theprimaryvisiblechangesaretotheharddrivesetupalthoughthisisnotvisibletothecustomerduring installation.BIOSmodesetupinstallsMBRandhasasinglebootpartition.UEFIusesGPT.ForaMicrosoft Windowsinstallation,threepartitionsarecreated: Partition EFISystemPartition(ESP) MicrosoftReservedPartition(MSR) Windowsoperatingsystempartition TheESPcontainstheEFIcapableWindowsBootManager,bootconfigurationdata(BCD),andrelatedfontfiles TheMSRisusedtostoremetadataoutsideoftheWindowsvolume.TheMSRpartitionmustexistbetweenthe ESPandtheWindowsoperatingsystempartitions. ThesepartitionsarevisiblewiththeDiskpartutilityDONOTchangeorremovethesepartitions. IMPORTANT:YoucannotswitchbetweenBIOSmodeandUEFImodewithoutfullywipingthedrive,eitherby usingtheDiskpartCleancommandorthroughtheharddiskcontrollerandreinitializingtheharddrive.Onceyou transitiontoUEFI,DellrecommendsthatyouleavethesysteminUEFImode. Oncetheoperatingsystemisinstalled,youcaninstallapplicationsandusethesystemnormallywithafewcaveats. Thereareapplicationsthatmaytrytointeractwiththeharddrivedirectly(imagingtools)thesemaynotworkas Page7 Type EFI(hidden) MSR Primary NTFS Format FAT32

expected.Dellrecommendsthatyoucontactyourapplicationvendorsforallmissioncriticalapplicationsto ensuretheyworkintheUEFIenvironment.

Limitations
ThissectionexplainspotentialproblemswhichmayoccurwhileinstallingaUEFIawareoperatingsystemandhow toavoidthem. LargeOperatingSystemPartitions Anoperatingsysteminstallerreliesondiskcontrollerfirmwaretoperformdiskread/writefunctionspriortothe diskdriverisavailable.Certainlegacydiskcontrollersuseolderfirmware(suchasInterrupt0x13handlers)to executeread/writefunctionsinUEFImodeanddonotprovidenativeaccessdisksinUEFImode.TheUEFIlayer providestheabstractiondrivertoaccessthedisksusingtheoldfirmware.Themostnotablerestrictionisthatthe legacyinterrupt0x13functionsareunabletoaccesslogicalblockaddresseshigherthan2terabytes(TB).Forthis reason,Dellstronglyrecommendsusingapartitionorvirtualdisksmallerthan2TBforthepartitionwherethe operatingsystemresides.Failuretouseapartitionsizeoflessthan2TBfortheoperatingsystemvirtualdiskmay causeundesiredbehaviorandwilleliminatetheinherentGPTpartitionredundancy.Datapartitions(nonsystem partitions)canbelargerthan2TBsincethediskdriverisavailablewhentheoperatingsystemaccessesthese partitions. ThirdPartyImagingUtilities UEFIusesapartitioningschemeknownasaGPT.ThisschemeassignsaGloballyUniqueIdentifier(GUID)toeach partitioninadisk.Beawarethatimagingutilities(suchasNortonGhost)needtorecreatetheGPTinorderto haveuniqueGUIDsforpartitionswhicharecopiedfromonedisktoanother.Otherwisedifferentdiskswillusethe sameGUIDformultiplepartitions,whichmaycauseconflictsforsoftwarewhichusestheGUIDstodistinguisheach partition. TransferringHardDisks UEFIBootOptionsarestoredinnonvolatilememoryonasystem.Whenanoperatingsysteminstallerexecutes,it createsabootoptionfortheoperatingsysteminthesystemsnonvolatilememory.Iftheharddiskwhich containstheoperatingsystemisremovedandtransferredtoanothersystem,thisnewsystemwillnothavethe bootoptioninitsnonvolatilememory,andauserwillnotbeabletoboottotheoperatingsystem. Dellhasaddressedthisproblembykeepingacopyoftheoperatingsystembootoptionontheharddiskwiththe operatingsystem.WhentheharddiskistransferredtoanotherDellsystem,thesystemusesthecopyofthe operatingsystembootoptiontocreateabootoptioninitsnonvolatilememory.Thisallowsausertoboottothe operatingsystem.Theprocessisautomatic;nouserinteractionisnecessarytocreatethebootoptiononthe secondsystem. UEFILegacyBootControllers TheUEFIlayerprovidestheabstractiondrivertoaccessthedisksusingtheinterrupt0x13functions.Thefollowing DellUEFILegacybootcontrollersoperateusinglegacyabstractionsupportedinUEFImode: DellPERC6/i DellSAS6/iR FuturecontrollerswillprovidenativeUEFIdrivers.

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