Configuration, Configuration: intel® boot agent user guide, Configuration setup – Dell Intel PRO Family of Adapters User Manual
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Configuration: Intel® Boot Agent User Guide
Configuring the Boot Agent in a Pre-Boot PXE Environment
Configuring the Boot Agent in a Windows* Environment
Configuration Setup
The Intel® Boot Agent software provides configuration options that allow you to customize the behavior of the Boot Agent
software. You can configure the Boot Agent in any of the following environments:
A pre-boot environment (before operating system is loaded)
A Windows environment
An MS-DOS environment
The Intel Boot Agent supports PXE in pre-boot, Windows, and DOS environments. In each of these environments, a single user
interface allows you to configure the Boot Agent from a PXE BIOS on Fast Ethernet, Gigabit and 10 Gigabit adapters.
Configuring the Boot Agent in a Pre-Boot PXE Environment
You can customize the behavior of the Boot Agent software through a pre-boot (operating system independent) configuration
setup program contained within the adapter's flash ROM. You can access this pre-boot configuration setup program each time
the client computer cycles through the boot process. The boot process is triggered whenever any of the following boot events
occur:
Power on
Hard reset (Reset button on system, if available)
Soft reset (Ctrl+Alt+Del)
Operating system or application-initiated system restart
When the boot process begins, the screen clears and the computer begins its Power On Self Test (POST) sequence. Shortly
after completion of the POST, the Boot Agent software stored in flash ROM executes. The Boot Agent then displays an
initialization message, similar to the one below, indicating that it is active:
Initializing Intel(R) Boot Agent XG vx.x.xx
PXE 2.1 Build 086
Press Ctrl+S to enter the Setup Menu.
NOTE: This display may be hidden by the manufacturer's splash screen. Consult your manufacturer's documentation for
details.
CAUTION: If spanning tree protocol is enabled on a switch port that PXE is trying to be used on, the delay
before the port starts forwarding can cause a DHCP timeout. Either disable spanning tree or turn on the
feature that allows the port to begin forwarding of packets immediately ('port fast learning' for Cisco
switches), rather than wait until the spanning tree discovery is complete.
To customize the behavior of the Boot Agent software in a pre-boot,
environment:
1. Press Ctrl+S immediately after the initialization message appears. A configuration setup menu appears allowing you to
set configuration values for the Boot Agent. The configuration setup menu is the same for all adapters and looks similar
to the screen image below.
NOTE: If you have a plug-in adapter PXE must be enabled on the card to get the control +s menu
NOTE: Immediately after the initialization message appears, and before any subsequent messages appear, you
have several seconds in which to press Ctrl+S to display the Boot Agent's configuration setup menu. If you do
not press Ctrl+S, the Boot Agent software will proceed with the boot process, eventually bringing up the
operating system. If you miss your opportunity to press Ctrl+S within the allowed number of seconds, reboot
the computer to try again. If you select a Setup Menu Wait Time setting of zero and/or a Show Setup
Prompt setting of Disabled, you will not be prompted to press Ctrl+S, even though you can still enter the
configuration setup menu using this key combination.