Setting First Boot Device
You can specify the CMC first boot device for each server. This may not be the actual first boot device for
the server, or may not even represent a device present in that server. It represents a device sent by CMC
to the server and used as its first boot device of that server. This device can be set as the default first-boot
device or an one-time device so that you can boot an image to perform tasks such as running
diagnostics or reinstalling an operating system.
You can set the first boot device for the next boot only or for all subsequent reboots. You can also set the
first boot device for the server. The system boots from the selected device on the next and subsequent
reboots and remains as the first boot device in the BIOS boot order, until it is changed again either from
the CMC web interface (Chassis Overview → Server Overview → Setup → First Boot Device) or from the
BIOS boot sequence.
NOTE: The first boot device setting in CMC web Interface overrides the system BIOS boot settings.
The boot device that you specify must exist and contain a bootable media.
You can set the following devices for first boot.
Table 10. Boot Devices
Boot Device Description
PXE Boot from a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) protocol on the Network Interface
Card.
Hard Drive Boot from the hard disk drive on the server.
Local
CD/DVD
Boot from a CD or DVD drive on the server.
Virtual Floppy Boot from the virtual floppy drive. The floppy drive (or a floppy disk image) is on another
computer on the management network, and is attached using the iDRAC GUI console
viewer.
Virtual
CD/DVD
Boot from a virtual CD or DVD drive or CD or DVD ISO image. The optical drive or ISO
image file is located on another computer or boot disk available on the management
network and is attached using the iDRAC GUI console viewer.
Local SD
Card
Boot from the local SD (Secure Digital) card—for servers that support iDRAC 6 and
iDRAC 7 systems only.
Local Floppy Boot from a floppy disk in the local floppy disk drive.
Remote File
Share
Boot from a Remote File Share (RFS) image. The image file is attached using the iDRAC
GUI console viewer.

Setting First Boot Device For Multiple Servers Using CMC Web Interface

NOTE: To set the first boot device for servers, you must have the Server Administrator privileges or
Chassis Configuration Administrator privileges, and the iDRAC login privileges.
104