# 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

- A DOS environment

The Boot Agent supports PXE and RPL 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 and RPL BIOS on both Fast Ethernet and Gigabit adapters.

Select from the following options for instructions on configuring the Boot Agent in the environments listed:

- PXE or RPL for Pre-Boot

- PXE or RPL for Windows

- PXE or RPL for DOS

## Configuring the Boot Agent in a Pre-Boot PXE or RPL 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 Version X.X.XX
>     PXE 2.0 Build 083 (WfM 2.0)

>     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.

To customize the behavior of the Boot Agent software in a pre-boot, PXE or RPL 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 both kinds of adapters and looks similar to the screen image below.

| 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.

> The configuration setup menu shows a list of configuration settings on the left and their corresponding values on the right. Key descriptions near the bottom of the menu indicate how to change values for the configuration settings. For each selected setting, a brief "mini-Help" description of its function appears just above the key descriptions.

2. Highlight the setting you need to change by using the arrow keys.

3. Once you have accessed the setting you want to change, press the spacebar until the desired value appears.

4. If you want to change additional settings, repeat steps 2 and 3.

5. Once you have completed your changes, press F4 to update the adapter with the new values. Any changed configuration values are applied as the boot process resumes.

The table below provides a list of configuration settings, their possible values, and their detailed descriptions:

### Boot Agent Configuration Settings

#### Configuration Setting | #### Possible Values | #### Description
--- | --- | ---
Network Boot Protocol | PXE (Preboot eXecution Environment) RPL (Remote Program Load) | Controls whether the RPL or PXE boot protocol will be used. Select PXE for use with WfM-compatible network management programs, such as Intel® LANDesk® Management Suite, Windows* 2000 RIS, and Linux*. Select RPL for legacy-style remote booting, as well as for Novell* Netware* remote boot solutions. NOTE: Depending on the configuration of the Boot Agent, this parameter may not be changeable.
Boot Order | Use BIOS Setup Boot Order Try network first, then local drives Try local drives first, then network Try network only Try local drives only | Sets the boot order in which devices are selected during boot up if the computer does not have its own control method. If your client computer's BIOS supports the BIOS Boot Specification (BBS), or allows PnP-compliant selection of the boot order in the BIOS setup program, then this setting will always be Use BIOS Setup Boot Order and cannot be changed. In this case, refer to the BIOS setup manual specific to your client computer to set up boot options. If your client computer does not have a BBS- or PnP-compliant BIOS, you can select any one of the other possible values listed for this setting except for Use BIOS Setup Boot Order.
Show Setup Prompt | Enabled Disabled | Controls whether or not the Boot Agent displays the Ctrl-S prompt after POST. If you select Enabled, the Ctrl+S prompt appears after POST so that you can press Ctrl+S within the number of seconds allowed by the Setup Menu Wait Time setting to display the configuration setup menu. If you select Disabled and/or the Setup Menu Wait Time setting is zero, the Ctrl+S setup prompt will not appear during the boot process. However, you can display the configuration setup menu by repeatedly pressing Ctrl+S immediately after POST until the menu appears. If the configuration setup menu does not appear after repeated pressings of Ctrl+S, you were likely not fast enough. In this case, reboot and try again.
Setup Menu Wait Time | 0 seconds 2 seconds 3 seconds 5 seconds | Controls the number of seconds the Boot Agent waits for you to press Ctrl+S, so as to suspend the boot process and then configure the way the Boot Agent operates. If you select a Setup Menu Wait Time setting of zero and/or a Show Setup Prompt setting of Disabled, the Ctrl+S setup prompt will not appear during the boot process. However, you can still display the configuration setup menu by repeatedly pressing Ctrl+S immediately after POST until the menu appears. If the configuration setup menu does not appear after repeated pressings of Ctrl+S, you were likely not fast enough. In this case, reboot and try again.

| NOTE: If, during PXE or RPL boot, more than one adapter is installed in a computer and you want to boot from the boot ROM located on a specific adapter, you can do so by setting Show Setup Prompt to Disabled and setting Setup Menu Wait Time to 0 for the adapter(s) you do not want to boot from.

Anytime the configuration setup menu is displayed, you may press the D key to display diagnostics information in the lower half of the screen. This information can be helpful during interaction with Intel Customer Support personnel or your IT team members. Once you press the D key, the information displayed remains until you leave the configuration setup screen (either by pressing F4, pressing the Esc key, or by rebooting the computer). For more information about how to interpret the information displayed, refer to Diagnostics Information for Pre-boot PXE or RPL Environments.

## Configuring the Boot Agent in a Windows* Environment

If you use Windows on your client computer, you can use the Intel® PROSet II program to configure and update the Boot Agent software. The Intel PROSet II program is available under the standard Windows Control Panel facility. The Intel PROSet II program provides a special tab, called the Boot Agent tab, used for configuring and updating the Boot Agent software.

To access the Intel PROSet Boot Agent tab:

| NOTE: Changing the Boot Agent configuration settings requires Intel PROSet II Version 4.0 or higher, and involves changes to the Windows network device driver. Updating configuration settings will temporarily disable the operation of the Windows network device driver. Depending on what software is installed on your system, you may need to reboot the computer following this operation. To use Intel PROSet II, you must use Intel Driver Release 4.0 or later.

1. From the Windows Start menu, click Settings, and then click Control Panel. The Control Panel window appears.

2. Double-click the Intel PROSet icon. The Intel PROSet II screen appears.

3. Select the appropriate adapter and click the Boot Agent tab. The Boot Agent tab appears. If the tab does not appear, update your network driver or make sure you have Intel PROSet II Version 4.0 or higher.

| NOTES: Intel PROSet allows you to change configuration settings for PXE and RPL environments. Therefore, if you select an adapter that operates in PXE or RPL environments from the devices listed under Network Components on the left side of the Intel PROSet screen below, you may view or change configuration settings that appear on the right side of the screen. To do so, refer to Configuring the Boot Agent in a Windows* Environment. Not all configuration settings are available for some flash ROMs. You can also use Intel PROSet to update the boot ROM for any adapter listed under Network Components on the left side of the screen, regardless of whether the adapter's flash contains boot ROM for PXE or RPL environments. To do so, select the adapter and press the Update Boot Agent button on the right side of the screen.

4. The Boot Agent tab shows a list of current configuration parameters and their corresponding values. To change configuration parameters, double-click the configuration setting and press Ctrl+S. Corresponding configuration values appear for the selected setting in a drop-down box. A brief description of the setting’s function appears in the Description box below it. See Boot Agent Configuration Settings for a list of configuration parameters, their possible values, and detailed descriptions.

5. Select a setting you want to change from the Setting selection box.

6. Select a value for that setting from the Value drop-down list.

   | NOTE: Notice that once you change a value, the Apply Settings button is no longer grayed.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to change any additional settings.

8. Once you have completed your changes, click Apply Settings to immediately update the adapter with the new values.

   | NOTE: Exiting Intel PROSet II by clicking the OK button also updates the adapter with the new values.

   If the Windows network device driver is active (loaded and enabled) and you click Update Boot Agent, the following dialog box appears:

   If the Windows network device driver is inactive (disabled or not loaded), the following dialog box appears:

9. In either case, click Yes to continue with the configuration update process. Clicking Yes updates the adapter with the new settings. If the network driver is loaded on the adapter, be sure to reboot the system after the update operation completes.

## Configuring the Boot Agent in a DOS Environment

You can use the IBACFG.EXE program to configure and update the Boot Agent software in a DOS environment. This executable provides a more user-friendly method for configuring Boot Agent images than does IBAUtil. IBACFG controls the same settings as those offered on the configuration setup menu when you press Ctrl+S after POST for PXE implementations.

| NOTES: IBACFG.EXE does not work with emm386.e.
| Himem.sys must be loaded in your boot disk's config.sys in order for the Boot Agent utilities to work properly.

| CAUTION: If you attempt to configure the Boot Agent in a DOS environment where the boot source is a LOM or a NIC without flash ROM, you will receive a warning message. This message indicates that any configuration settings you've changed may not take effect if you do not have the Boot Agent image built into the system BIOS.

To configure the Boot Agent in a DOS environment:

1. Boot your computer to a DOS prompt. IBACfg must be run with the computer booted to DOS only. This utility cannot be run in a DOS window in any Microsoft Windows* product or in DOS compatibility mode in IBM OS/2*.

2. Insert a CD-ROM or floppy diskette containing the IBACfg.exe utility.

3. Make the directory containing IBACfg.exe the current directory.

4. Enter the following command to invoke the IBACfg utility:

   > IBACfg

> A list of NICs will be displayed as in the following screen.

5. Use the up/down arrow keys to highlight the NIC to be configured and press Enter to continue.

> The Configuration Setup Menu is displayed. This menu shows a list of configuration settings on the left and their corresponding values on the right. Key descriptions near the bottom of the menu indicate how to change setting values. For each selected setting, a brief "mini-Help" description of its function also appears near the bottom of the menu.

6. Select the setting you want to change by pressing the up/down arrow keys to highlight the setting. Press Enter to display a list of possible values for the setting.

7. Select the value you want by pressing the up/down arrow keys to highlight the desired value. Press Enter to select the value.

8. If you want to change additional settings, repeat Steps 7 and 8.

9. Once you have completed your changes, select the Save option from the menu and press Enter. Press Esc at any time during selection to exit without
   saving changes. A confirmation box is displayed if changes have been made.

10. Press Esc to exit the IBACfg utility.
    See Boot Agent Configuration Settings for a list of configuration settings, their possible values, and a description of the effects of each value.

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