Release Notes for System Configuration Utility(Syscfg)
Version 14.1 Build 21

Apr 18, 2018
Copyright (c) 2018 Intel Corporation.
=====================================

Contents
--------

1. Introduction
2. Supported Platforms
3. Supported Operating Systems
4. Pre-requisites
5. Getting started
6. Usage
7. Reference Documentation
8. Known Issues
9. Unsupported Features
10. Change List
11. Legal Information

1. Introduction
---------------
The Save and Restore System Configuration utility (syscfg) is used for saving and restoring Firmware and BIOS 
settings to a binary/INI file, and for configuring Firmware and BIOS settings via a command line interface.

2. Supported Platforms
----------------------
   Intel(R) Server Board based on Intel(R) Xeon(R) Processor Scalable Performance Family

3. Supported Operating Systems
------------------------------
   UEFI Shell
   WinPE* 4.0 (x64)
   Windows* Server 2016 
   Windows* Server 2012 R2 
   Windows* 10 
   RHEL* 6.8 (x64)
   RHEL* 7.3
   SLES* 11.4 (x64)
   SLES* 12.2
   CentOS* 7.3 (x64)
   Debian* 8.10

4. Pre-requisites
-----------------
   1. On RHEL*, SLES*, CentOS*, UEFI aware Linux or other Linux
      Install necessary libs if the utility fails while loading libs. 
      64 bit libs with "x86_64" suffix for 64 bit binary, 32 bit libs with "i686" suffix for 32 bit binary.
      For example: 
      a. If the utility fails with error message
         "error while loading shared libraries: libncurses.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory"
         Then use "rpm -ivh xxxx.rpm" to install libstdc++ and ncurses rpms from the OS

      b. If the utility fails with error message
         "Error: /lib/ld-linux.so.2: Bad ELF interpreter: No such file or directory" 
         This indicates development and optional packages are not installed, 
         please install the necessary packages accordingly.
      
      c. If the utility installation fails with error message
         "depends on libncurses5 (>= 6); however: Version of libncurses5:amd64 on system is 5.9+20140913-1+deb8u2."
         This indicates libncurses version must be >= 6, please install new libncurses. 

   2. On RHEL*, SLES*, CentOS*, UEFI aware Linux or other Linux
      There might be a driver conflict between internal driver and kernel. You need to start up OpenIPMI driver and make sure "/dev/ipmi0" device exists.

      For RHEL* run the below command and make sure "/dev/ipmi0" device exists.
         #modprobe ipmi_devintf or #modprobe ipmi_si
      For SLES* run the below command and make sure "/dev/ipmi0" device exists.
         #service ipmi start

   3. Utility works only if it is executed with Administrator privilege on Windows* and with root privilege on Linux* OSes.
   
5. Getting started
------------------
   1. For 32 bit Windows, go to folder "SysCfgxx\Drivers\win\x86" and run "install.cmd" as administrator to install ipmi, smi and memory map drivers.
   2. For 64 bit Windows and WinPE, go to folder "SysCfgxx\Drivers\win\x64" and run "install.cmd" as administrator to install ipmi, smi and memory map drivers.
   3. For 32 bit Windows, please use syscfg in "SysCfgxx\Win_x86".
   4. For 64 bit Windows and WinPE, please use syscfg in "SysCfgxx\Win_x64".
   5. For UEFI shell, please use syscfg.efi in "SysCfgxxx\UEFI_x64". And syscfg_temp.efi is internal temporary file, please do not remove or use it.
   6. Linux*
     I.  RPM Installation:
         --------------------
          1. Copy syscfg rpm from "Linux_x86" or "Linux_x64" folder (for RHEL or SLES) to local folder.
          2. If there is another version already has been installed previously, uninstall that version first before installing the new version.
          3. Install syscfg utility by using "rpm -ivh syscfgxx.rpm". This will install the utility in "/usr/bin/syscfg/".
          4. On RHEL utility can now be executed from any terminal (example: "# syscfg -i").
          5. On SLES after installing the rpm close the terminal from which rpm was installed and then execute utility from a new terminal (example: "# syscfg -i").
         RPM Uninstallation:
         -------------------
          1. To uninstall the utility use "rpm -e syscfg" command.

    II. Regular Installation:
        ---------------------
        1. Linux OS version, unzip package and use "# chmod 755" to change executable. The executable can be executed directly. 
     
   III. DEB Installation:
        ---------------------
        1. dpkg -i xxxx.deb

        DEB Uninstallation:
        ---------------------
        1. dpkg -r syscfg
        
6. Usage
--------
   1. Command line Interface
      Linux Shell>> ./syscfg [Switches] [parameters]
			 			 
      Examples
      --------
      a. To display the system BIOS/BMC Version:
             >> ./syscfg -i

      b. To display the BIOS Parameters:
             >> ./syscfg /d biossettings <"BIOS variable Name">

      c. To Set the BIOS Parameters:
             >> ./syscfg /bcs <AdminPw> <"BIOS variable Name"> <Value>

         Note: If AdminPw is not set use ""
		 
 * "BIOS variable Name" should be the same as shown in BIOS F2 screen.
 * "AdminPw" is the BIOS administrator password if not set use "". 

      d. To save BIOS and BMC settings to INI file use
            >> ./syscfg /s BIOSBMC.ini /b /f
                 or
            >> ./syscfg /s BIOSBMC.ini

      e. To save only BIOS settings to INI file use
            >> ./syscfg /s BIOS.ini /b 

      f. To save only BMC settings to INI file use
            >> ./syscfg /s BMC.ini /f

      g. To restore BIOS and BMC settings from saved INI file use
            >> ./syscfg /r BIOSBMC.ini /b /f    
            Note: If AdminPw is set use 
            >> ./syscfg /r BIOSBMC.ini /b /f /bap <"AdminPw">

      Windows and EFI Shell>> syscfg [Switches] [parameters]

      Examples
      --------
      a. To display the system BIOS/BMC Version:
             >> syscfg -i

      b. To display the BIOS Parameters:
             >> syscfg /d biossettings <"BIOS variable Name">

      c. To Set the BIOS Parameters:
             >> syscfg /bcs <AdminPw> <"BIOS variable Name"> <Value>

         Note: If AdminPw is not set use ""  

 * "BIOS variable Name" should be the same as shown in BIOS F2 screen.
 * "AdminPw" is the BIOS administrator password if not set use "". 

      d. To save BIOS and BMC settings to INI file use
            >> syscfg /s BIOSBMC.ini /b /f
                 or
            >> syscfg /s BIOSBMC.ini

      e. To save only BIOS settings to INI file use
            >> syscfg /s BIOS.ini /b 

      f. To save only BMC settings to INI file use
            >> syscfg /s BMC.ini /f


      g. To restore BIOS and BMC settings from saved INI file use
            >> syscfg /r BIOSBMC.ini /b /f     
            Note: If AdminPw is set use 
            >> syscfg /r BIOSBMC.ini /b /f /bap <"AdminPw">

7. Reference Documentation
--------------------------
    IPMI v2.0 specification
    SYSCFG Utility User Guide

8. Known Issues
---------------
  1. To be noted, any BIOS setting changed by SYSCFG, it requires reboot to make BIOS setting change take effective.
  2. Reordering boot devices using /bbo should be followed by a system reset as per IPMI spec. 
     Otherwise an immediate display command using /bbo switch may not display the correct boot device order.
  3. Restore of BIOS variables will not work for Read only variables or variables which may become read only due to dependent variables.
  4. BIOS variables with leading/tailed space can't be restored successfully.
  5. As some BIOS settings have dependencies, using syscfg INI file to save/restore BIOS settings only once may not be able to achieve the goal. 
     The solution is to use command line or INI file to change/restore twice. 
     For example, if you want to restore "ATS Support", you have to restore "Intel(R) VT for Directed I/O" from "Disable" to "Enable" first in order to make "ATS Support" visible, then to do second restore to change "ATS Support" value. Upon system reboot, the new BIOS settings will take effect.
  6. Utilities, SNMP-SA and IASC cannot run at the same time due to KCS port conflict. There will be error message 
     "Error: Application Cannot Communicate to the BMC.".
  7. The settings under server management are saved in BMC. For some of the settings under server  
     management, after a reboot the values from BMC will override the values set through "/bcs" switch.  
	 
           The following settings will be overwritten 
                1. Resume on AC Power Loss
                2. Shutdown Policy
     "Resume on AC Power Loss" BIOS variable can be set using BMC switch "/prp".
     "Shutdown Policy" BIOS variable can be set using BMC switch "/sdp".
     Please refer to the help for more details.
  8. When using syscfg to get BIOS setting, there will be some difference between UEFI shell and OS. For example, syscfg cannot get "Processor PCIe Link Speed" in OS.
  9. IO port access is not allowed in Linux when UEFI secure boot is enabled. Please disable UEFI secure boot in F2 menu before running utility.
  10. Debian OS does not allow IO memory map by default. User needs to add "iomem=relaxed" to grub boot option to enable IO memory map. Otherwise some features may not work.

9. Unsupported Features
------------------------
   Utility cannot be executed successfully when UEFI secure boot is enabled under Linux because Linux closes all IO port access when UEFI secure boot is enabled. If customer wants to use it under Linux environment, please ensure UEFI secure boot is disabled in BIOS F2 menu. 

10. Change List
------------------------
   Build 21
   Add "/gpc" to support graceful power cycle
   Add deb package for Debian
   Fix BIOS /bcs failure when option name contains ","

   Build 20
   Fix BMC restoration failure when channel 1 is not available

   Build 19
   Support new SKU

   Build 18
   Fix a defect for BMC LAN configuration
   Support Fan PWM Offset display and setting

   Build 17
   Support BMC LAN DNS setting and display

   Build 16
   Support new BMC user configuration model
   Support new BMC version format

   Build 15
   Support new SKU

   Build 14
   Support new SKU

   Build 13
   Fix exception hang issue under EFI shell

   Build 12
   Add two new SMTP command parameters
   Offer backward compatibility for dumping BMC SOL log on older platforms

   Build 11
   Support new IPMI commands for SMTP configuration

   Build 10
   Support BIOS security fix
   Fix a defect for EFI variable creation and deletion
   Fix error handling of "/sbmcsol"

   Build 9
   Fix system boot order restoration
   Fix error handling of "/dt"

   Build 8
   Support a new SKU
   Update supported OS list

   Build 7
   Remove boot code information display if it is not supported

   Build 6
   Fix a defect of BIOS setting save and restoration

11. Legal Information
---------------------

==============================================================================

                               LEGAL INFORMATION

==============================================================================

Information in this document is provided in connection with Intel Products

and for the purpose of supporting Intel developed server boards and systems.

No license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual 

property rights is granted by this document. Except as provided in Intel's 

Terms and Conditions of Sale for such products, Intel assumes no liability 

whatsoever, and Intel disclaims any express or implied warranty, relating to 

sale and/or use of Intel products including liability or warranties relating 

to fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, or infringement of any 

patent, copyright or other intellectual property right. Intel Corporation may 

have patents or pending patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other 

intellectual property rights that relate to the presented subject matter.  

The furnishing of documents and other materials and information does not 

provide any license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any 

such patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights.  

Intel products are not intended for use in medical, life saving, or life 

sustaining applications. Intel may make changes to specifications and product 

descriptions at any time, without notice.

 

Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. 

 

*Other names and brands are the property of their respective owners.

 

Copyright (c) 2018 Intel Corporation.



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