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PSQN | Boot Device Fully Qualified Device Descriptor Name Changes in 15G BIOS UEFI Boot Sequence After BIOS Update

Summary: After upgrading Dell PowerEdge 15G servers to March 2022 BIOS release, the Fully Qualified Device Descriptor (FQDD) for storage volumes within the UEFI boot sequence changes. Changes to the FQDD may impact systems management and deployment services that leverage the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC9) to read or modify the UEFI boot sequence of the system. ...

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Symptoms

Dell PowerEdge 15G March 2022 server BIOS releases introduced a new feature that impacts the FQDD attribute list that is contained within the UEFI boot sequence attribute output. Dell 15G BIOS releases historically populated the FQDD of the bootable storage controller within the UEFI boot sequence (ex: RAID.SL.8-1). The controller FQDD was used as a placeholder in the boot sequence for the volume hosted on the storage controller. In use cases where multiple boot volumes were hosted on the same physical controller, the same controller FQDD populates within the boot sequence multiple times (see BIOS 2.5.6 example below). 
 
R7525 BIOS 2.5.6 Example: 
racadm>>racadm get BIOS.biosbootsettings.uefibootseq
[Key=BIOS.Setup.1-1#biosbootsettings]
UefiBootSeq=RAID.SL.8-1,RAID.SL.8-1,NIC.PxeDevice.1-1,NIC.HttpDevice.1-1,Floppy.iDRACVirtual.1-1,Optical.iDRACVirtual.1-1,AHCI.Slot.4-2
In order to allow configuration of the boot volume sequences through iDRAC9 management interfaces in this scenario, the March 2022 server BIOS appended the existing controller FQDD to specify the disk volume within the sequence (see BIOS 2.6.6 example below).
 
R7525 BIOS 2.6.6 Example: 
racadm>>racadm get BIOS.biosbootsettings.uefibootseq
[Key=BIOS.Setup.1-1#biosbootsettings]
UefiBootSeq=RAID.SL.8-3,RAID.SL.8-2,NIC.PxeDevice.1-1,NIC.HttpDevice.1-1,Floppy.iDRACVirtual.1-1,Optical.iDRACVirtual.1-1,AHCI.Slot.4-2
In the R7525 BIOS 2.5.6 example above, both bootable virtual disks on the PERC H745 controller are defined by the FQDD of the PERC (RAID.SL.8-1). In this scenario, modifying the virtual disk sequence is not possible through iDRAC9 management interfaces. In the R7525 BIOS 2.6.6 example above, the BIOS is appending the last integer to differentiate the bootable virtual disk volumes. RAID.SL.8-2 would be used for the first bootable virtual disk that is added to the boot sequence. Each bootable virtual disk volume increments the last integer +1. In this example, RAID.SL.8-3 would be the second bootable volume that is added to the boot sequence. This feature now allows the server administrator to modify multiple bootable disk volumes within the boot sequence through the iDRAC9 management interfaces.
 
These FQDD changes are propagated within all iDRAC9 management interfaces (UI, RACADM, WS-MAN, and REDFISH) where the UEFI boot sequence can be managed, while the BIOS Setup and Boot Menus remain unchanged.
 
iDRAC9 web UI > Configuration > BIOS Settings > Boot Settings Example:
 
iDRAC9 WebUI BootSeqSettings

The following Dell PowerEdge 15G server BIOS releases introduced this change in behavior:
  • 15G Intel 1S BIOS version 1.2.5 (R250, R350, T150, and T350)
  • 15G Intel 2S BIOS version 1.5.4 (C6520, MX750c, R450, R550, R650, R750, and T550)
  • 15G AMD BIOS version 2.6.6 (C6525, R6515, R6525, R7515, and R7525)
Systems Management applications, like Dell OpenManage Enterprise, that leverage the iDRAC9 for compliance management may report noncompliant devices after the referenced March BIOS releases are deployed. Deployment jobs that leverage Server Configuration Profile templates that are based on previous BIOS releases fail to apply the UEFI boot sequence settings. Scripts and runbooks that leverage the storage controller FQDD within the UEFI boot sequence are unable to successfully apply changes. 

Cause

The Dell PowerEdge 15G server March BIOS releases modified the FQDD referenced for bootable storage volumes. This change was implemented to overcome multiple instances of the same FQDD within the UEFI boot sequence when multiple bootable storage volumes are present on the same controller.

Resolution

Systems Management applications that leverage this FQDD as part of compliance adherence must update their compliance templates to reflect this UEFi boot sequence change. Server Configuration Profile templates that define the 'uefibootseq' attribute must be updated with the new bootable storage Volume FQDD to support PowerEdge 15G servers after the March 2022 BIOS update. Scripts or runbooks that previously leveraged the FQDD of the storage controller to modify the UEFI boot sequence require updates to the new bootable volume FQDD.

Affected Products

iDRAC9, PowerEdge C6520, PowerEdge C6525, PowerEdge MX750c, PowerEdge R250, PowerEdge R350, PowerEdge R450, PowerEdge R550, PowerEdge R650, PowerEdge R650xs, PowerEdge R6515, PowerEdge R6525, PowerEdge R750, PowerEdge R750XA, PowerEdge R750xs , PowerEdge R7515, PowerEdge R7525, PowerEdge T150, PowerEdge T550, PowerEdge XR11, PowerEdge XR12 ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000198504
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 30 Nov 2023
Version:  6
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