NVIDIA Networking Server-Side Documentation of Flexboot v3.7.300 & UEFI v14.33.10

NVIDIA Networking Server-Side Documentation of Flexboot v3.7.300 & UEFI v14.33.10

Overview

NVIDIA® PreBoot drivers are a multiprotocol remote boot technology that support remote Boot over InfiniBand (BoIB) and over Ethernet.

Using Virtual Protocol Interconnect (VPI) technologies available in NVIDIA® ConnectX® adapters, PreBoot drivers give IT Managers’ the choice to boot from a remote storage target (iSCSI target) or a LAN target (Ethernet Remote Boot Server) using a single ROM image on ConnectX products.

FlexBoot is based on the open source project iPXE available at http://www.ipxe.org.

PreBoot drivers first initialize the adapter device, senses the port protocol – Ethernet or InfiniBand, and brings up the port. Then it connects to a DHCP server to obtain its assigned IP address and network parameters, and also to obtain the source location of the kernel/OS to boot from. The DHCP server instructs the PreBoot drivers to access the kernel/OS through a TFTP server, an iSCSI target, or some other service.

Software Downloads

  • FlexBoot: Please visit FlexBoot page

  • UEFI: Please visit the UEFI webpage.

Document Revision History

A list of the changes made to this document are provided in User Manual Revision History.

© Copyright 2023, NVIDIA. Last updated on Feb 8, 2024.