Is it possible to change BIOS settings from Linux?

Question

I'm trying to write a script to enable IPMI on a ton of machines without having to hook up a KVM to them one by one. Is it possible to change the BIOS settings from Linux? OS is SL6.

I understand that each machine will likely need to be power cycled, but I can do that programmatically of course.

The answer is maybe. It almost certainly depends on your hardware. — Zoredache, Apr 11 '13 at 20:58
What hardware are you using? On HP servers, BIOS settings can be changed. — ewwhite, Jun 07 '13 at 14:02

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 11 '13 at 21:00

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In general, no. There is no standard for how settings are stored, or even what settings there are. This information is proprietary to each individual bios.

answered Apr 11 '13 at 21:00

psusi

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So if you are going to downvote a question ( especially after so much time ) you're really expected to leave a comment explaining why. – psusi Jan 22 '15 at 03:43

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 07 '13 at 13:51

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Use:

... to Read

dmidecode (tool for dumping a computer's DMI (some say SMBIOS))

... to write

http://flashrom.org (tool for identifying, reading, writing, verifying and erasing flash chips....)
http://www.coreboot.org (is a Free Software project aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS (firmware) found in most computers.)

answered Jun 07 '13 at 13:51

macm

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The question is about writing settings, not overwriting the BIOS itself. – wRAR May 21 '16 at 18:34

Jaroslav Kucera · Answer 3 · 2018-03-08T09:33:32.947

On HPE servers you can change settings using utility called conrep. It's part of the hp-scripting-tools RPM. The usage is described here:

h20566.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?sp4ts.oid=5249594&docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-c05182235

It's quite simple. With -s (save) parameter you say it to save the configuration, like:

conrep -s -f BL460Gen8.dat

And with -l (load) parameter you say it to load the configuration:

conrep -l -f BL460Gen8.dat

The dat file is actually XML code. So if you want for example enable/disable hyperthreading settings, find respective line and modify the value. See the example for G6 and newer generations:

<Section name="Intel_Hyperthreading" helptext="Toggles hyperthreading on Intel based G6 and greater systems">Enabled</Section>

Is it possible to change BIOS settings from Linux?

3 Answers3