Extensible Firmware Interface System Boot Environment

On HP Integrity servers the system boot environment is provided by the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI).

EFI is available through an nPartition console interface before an operating system has booted and after the cells have booted and performed nPartition rendezvous (to make the nPartition active).

The EFI environment enables you to manage and configure the operating system boot process for an nPartition. You also can configure some settings for the local nPartition, get information about the nPartition and its server complex, and perform other tasks such as reboot.

The EFI boot environment has two main components:

EFI Boot Manager — A menu-driven interface that enables to you configure and select boot options. From the EFI Boot Manager you can load an operating system, reset the nPartition, and configure various system boot and console options.
EFI Shell — A command-line system boot interface that you can enter by selecting the EFI Shell option from the EFI Boot Manager Menu.
Type exit to leave the EFI Shell interface and return to the EFI Boot Manager Menu.
The EFI Shell provides much of the same functionality as the Boot Console Handler (BCH) interface on HP 9000 systems (PA-RISC systems).
For details on using the EFI Shell use the help command.

The following commands are supported for accessing and using the EFI system boot environment for an nPartition:

To access an nPartition console type CO from the service processor (MP or GSP) Main menu.
To force console write access, type ^ecf (Control-e c f).
To exit the console, type ^b (Control-b) to return to the Main Menu.

Extensible Firmware Interface System Boot Environment

Technical documentation

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