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BIOS Target Config Guide

The bios-target-configuration parameter defines the desired BIOS/firmware settings for a machine type. This guide covers how to capture current settings, identify what to change, and build a reusable target configuration.

Once created, the target config is placed in a hardware profile for the operator to apply. See the BIOS Plugin Guide for how the operator uses it in workflows.

Capture Current Settings

Run the bios-inventory stage on a representative machine. This populates bios-current-configuration with all available BIOS settings and their current values.

The settings structure varies by manufacturer:

  • Dell — uses Lifecycle Controller / RACADM attributes
  • HPE — uses iLO RESTful API BIOS attributes
  • Lenovo — uses OneCli settings

Review and Select Settings

Compare bios-current-configuration across machines of the same type to identify which settings need standardization. Common settings to configure:

  • Boot order — UEFI vs Legacy, boot device priority
  • Virtualization — Intel VT-x / AMD-V, SR-IOV
  • Power management — performance vs efficiency profiles
  • Security — Secure Boot, TPM, execution prevention
  • Memory — NUMA, interleaving, sub-NUMA clustering

Only include settings you want to enforce. Omitted settings are left unchanged.

Build the bios-target-configuration

The parameter is a map of setting names to desired values. The exact names come from bios-current-configuration — use those names verbatim.

JSON
{
  "LogicalProc": "Enabled",
  "SysProfile": "PerfOptimized",
  "BootMode": "Uefi",
  "SecureBoot": "Enabled",
  "ProcVirtualization": "Enabled"
}

Create a Baseline Shortcut

Instead of manually building the target config, you can use bios-set-baseline on a known-good machine. This copies bios-current-configuration into bios-target-configuration, giving you a complete snapshot to trim down to only the settings you care about.

Considerations

  • Setting names and available values vary by manufacturer, model, and firmware version
  • Some settings require a reboot to take effect — the workflow handles this automatically
  • Settings are applied idempotently: only changed values trigger updates
  • Legacy BIOS and UEFI modes expose different setting sets
  • Test on a representative machine before applying to a hardware profile