Restore a Missing DPU Boot Device on Dell PowerEdge v2.2 New

Use this playbook when a Dell PowerEdge server with a DPU no longer lists its UEFI HTTP device. This issue has been observed on PowerEdge R750, R760, and XE9680 systems.

Symptoms and Impact

• The server repeatedly selects boot devices other than the DPU.
• A terminating instance boots the tenant operating system from local storage instead of booting through the DPU.
• Re-ingestion remains in HostInitializing/SetBootOrder.
• Redfish does not return an HTTP Device boot option for the DPU.

Without the DPU boot option, NICo cannot restore the expected boot order. Provisioning, termination, wiping, and re-ingestion can remain blocked.

Confirm That the Boot Device Is Missing

1. Set the BMC connection variables. Obtain credentials from your approved credential store.

   export BMC_IP=<bmc-ip-address>
   export BMC_USER=<bmc-username>
   export BMC_PASS=<bmc-password>

2. List the boot options:

   for device in $(curl --silent --insecure \
     --user "${BMC_USER}:${BMC_PASS}" \
     "https://${BMC_IP}/redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1" \
     | jq -r '.Boot.BootOrder[]'); do
     curl --silent --insecure \
       --user "${BMC_USER}:${BMC_PASS}" \
       "https://${BMC_IP}/redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1/BootOptions/${device}" \
       | jq -r '"\(.DisplayName)\t\(.BootOptionEnabled)"'
   done

3. Check for an enabled HTTP Device entry. A healthy system includes output similar to:

   BOSS in SL 16: ubuntu                               false
   HTTP Device 1: NIC in Slot 40 Port 1 Partition 1   true

If no HTTP device appears, continue with this procedure.

Cause

A PCIe training failure can prevent UEFI from detecting the DPU during boot. UEFI then removes the corresponding device from BootOptions. iDRAC System Lockdown prevents NICo from restoring the boot configuration until lockdown is disabled and the server is rebooted.

Disable System Lockdown

1. Check the current state:

   nico-admin-cli bmc-machine lockdown-status --machine <machine-id>

2. Disable lockdown and reboot the host so the change takes effect:

   nico-admin-cli bmc-machine lockdown \
     --machine <machine-id> --disable --reboot

You can also disable lockdown from the iDRAC dashboard by selecting More Actions > Turn off the System Lockdown Mode, then power cycling the host.

Restore the DPU Boot Device

Try NICo machine setup first:

1. Get the primary DPU interface MAC address:

   MAC_ADDRESS=$(nico-admin-cli -f json machine show <machine-id> \
     | jq -r '.status.interfaces[] | select(.primary_interface == true) | .mac_address')

2. Run machine setup against the BMC:

   nico-admin-cli redfish \
     --address "${BMC_IP}" \
     --username "${BMC_USER}" \
     --password "${BMC_PASS}" \
     machine-setup --boot-interface-mac "${MAC_ADDRESS}"

3. Force-restart the host to apply pending UEFI changes:

   nico-admin-cli redfish \
     --address "${BMC_IP}" \
     --username "${BMC_USER}" \
     --password "${BMC_PASS}" \
     force-restart

If machine setup cannot restore the device, configure it from the UEFI UI:

1. Open the iDRAC remote console and set the next boot device to BIOS Setup.

2. Cold power cycle the system.

3. At the UEFI password prompt, paste the password using the console’s virtual clipboard.

4. Go to System BIOS > Network Settings, disable the PXE devices, and enable HTTP Device1 under UEFI.

5. In HTTP Device1 Settings, select the DPU interface. Confirm the slot against the server inventory and cabling. Common mappings are:

   Model	DPU Interface Example
   PowerEdge R760	NIC PCI Slot 2
   PowerEdge R750	NIC in Slot 5 Port 1
   PowerEdge XE9680	NIC in Slot 40 Port 1 Partition 1

6. Save the settings and exit.

7. If the host still selects local storage first, return to System BIOS > Boot Settings > UEFI Boot Settings and move HTTP Device 1 to the first position.

Re-enable System Lockdown

nico-admin-cli bmc-machine lockdown \
  --machine <machine-id> --enable

If the BMC requires a reboot to apply the change, add --reboot. From the iDRAC UI, select More Actions > Turn on the System Lockdown Mode.

Verify Recovery

1. List the Redfish boot options again and confirm that an enabled HTTP Device entry is present.

2. Confirm that the host boots through the DPU rather than from the tenant OS on local storage.

3. If the host was stuck in HostInitializing/SetBootOrder, confirm that it advances to the next state.

4. Confirm that System Lockdown is enabled:

   nico-admin-cli bmc-machine lockdown-status --machine <machine-id>

For vendor background, refer to the Dell iDRAC System Lockdown overview.