This blog post is written by Shine KA and Ananthanarayanan AKfrom Dell iDRAC team
You can now use Virtual console for selecting Next Boot Device. No need to switch between Virtual Console and iDRAC GUI for setting Next Boot Device. With this feature you can select a device from a list of 12 devices for next boot. Supported next boot devices are mentioned below
- PXE
- BIOS Setup
- Local Floppy/Primary Removable Media
- Local CD/DVD
- Hard Disk Drive
- Virtual Floppy
- Virtual CD/DVD/ISO
- Remote File Share
- Local SD Card
- Lifecycle Controller
- BIOS Boot Manager
- VFlash Partitions
The Next Boot feature is supported in both “Native & Java Plug-in” clients. The Next Boot option will only be available to a user who has “Configure” privilege. You need to install iDRAC7 Firmware version 1.30.30 or higher to use this feature
Virtual Console will display a new menu item named “Next Boot” on the menu bar to the right of the Power menu. Each of the boot device names will appear in this menu. vFlash partitions will be available only if vFlash is enabled and at least one partition is attached in iDRAC. vFlash boot device will appear as a cascade menu. vFlash menu will have the list of available partitions by name. The list will reflect the currently available partitions which are attached.
To use these feature you have to launch Virtual Console and select a device from Next Boot menu. After selecting the device, rebooting the server will boot the server to the selected device. On next reboot onwards server will boot to Normal boot settings. User can cancel the selected Next boot device by selecting “Normal Boot” from Next Boot menu.
Additional Information
Learn more about iDRAC7 at http:/www.delltechcenter.com/iDRAC