Change BIOS Boot Order from Linux/Solaris ( x86 )

[Bejoy C Alias]

Is it possible to change the boot order in BIOS using any linux/solaris commands ( Any command similar to setboot in HP-UX ? ) ? If yes , how ?

[Matti_Kurkela]

Depends on your hardware. There is just too much variation in the the PC/x86 architecture.

Usually this information is stored in the NVRAM of the hardware real-time clock, which can be accessed in Linux using the "nvram" kernel module. ("modprobe nvram" to load the module, then see /proc/driver/nvram for human-readable contents)

Unfortunately, the "standard" information in that NVRAM is basically obsolete. There is no standardized (or even common) location for the boot order information: every BIOS manufacturer can do it differently.

If you're talking about HP Proliant servers, the newer versions of "hpasm" driver kit contain the "hpasmcli" tool, which can change some boot-related settings.

IBM apparently has a similar Linux command-line tool, at least for some IBM server models.

Checking the support Web pages of your hardware vendor is your best bet.

MK

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

No. this requires console access and is controlled by the BIOS itself.

Some server vendors provide Linux applications for this purpose but there are no standard linux commands for this.

No idea about solaris.

SEP

[Bejoy C Alias]

It seems there is no commands available for x86 machines to set the boot order from linux and solaris.