B Efi Utilities; Introduction To Efi; Efi Boot Manager; Efi Shell - HP Integrity rx7620 Installation Manual

B EFI Utilities

This appendix provides an overview of the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and the EFI-Based
Setup Utility (EBSU). The EFI provides access to the server before the operating system (OS)
stage, which enables you to flash the firmware, partition the hard disk, install diagnostic tools,
configure storage controllers, and run other EFI utilities.

Introduction to EFI

EFI is an interface between operating system, firmware, and hardware. EFI serves the same
purpose on Itanium-based computers as BIOS does on x86-based computers. EFI provides a
standard environment for running preboot applications and for booting the OS.
HP Integrity servers use EFI to initialize the platform firmware and load the OS. After the system
is initialized, EFI provides two interfaces that you can interact with:
•

EFI Boot Manager

•

EFI Shell

EFI Boot Manager

First displayed when you power on the server, the EFI Boot Manager provides a menu-based
interface with options for booting the OS, loading EFI applications, configuring the server, and
other preboot operations. You use arrow keys to scroll through the menus.
Figure B-1 EFI Boot Manager
EFI Shell
Available as a selection from the EFI Boot Manager, the EFI Shell provides a command-line
interface to obtain information about the system, install an OS, boot the OS, execute batch scripts,
launch EFI applications, load EFI drivers, and manage files and system variables.
See Also
• EFI documentation:
http://www.intel.com/technology/efi/
• EFI Shell commands:
From the EFI shell, enter help or ? at the EFI prompt for a list of EFI Shell commands.
Introduction to EFI 79