BASIC INPUT/OUTPUT SYSTEM (BIOS) UPDATE CONTROL
First Claim
1. A method for version control of a basic input/output system (BIOS) of an information handling system, comprising:
- providing an interface for the BIOS;
altering one or more parameters via the interface, wherein the one or more parameters are associated with a version control policy for the BIOS;
populating one or more values of an extensible firmware interface system resource table (ESRT) based, at least in part, on the one or more parameters, wherein the one or more values are indicative of a unique identifier associated with the BIOS and a BIOS version, and wherein the BIOS version is based, at least in part, on the version control policy;
providing the one or more values to a BIOS distribution service; and
updating the BIOS of the information handling system with a BIOS update from the BIOS distribution service based, at least in part, on the one or more values.
14 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A basic input/output system (BIOS) may be automatically updated by a BIOS distribution service. In certain environments such automatic updates may not be desirable as the update may not have been tested or may cause interruptions in one or more information handling systems or applications. Updating an extensible firmware interface system resource table (ESRT) with one or more values may disable such automatic updates. A BIOS version control policy may be utilized to determine the one or more values for the ESRT such that BIOS updates are not automatic or that only predetermined, tested, or otherwise approved BIOS updates are permitted. One or more values of the BIOS version control policy may be set or determined and may be protected, for example, password protected so that all information handling systems within a given environment or network maintain the proper BIOS version.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method for version control of a basic input/output system (BIOS) of an information handling system, comprising:
-
providing an interface for the BIOS; altering one or more parameters via the interface, wherein the one or more parameters are associated with a version control policy for the BIOS; populating one or more values of an extensible firmware interface system resource table (ESRT) based, at least in part, on the one or more parameters, wherein the one or more values are indicative of a unique identifier associated with the BIOS and a BIOS version, and wherein the BIOS version is based, at least in part, on the version control policy; providing the one or more values to a BIOS distribution service; and updating the BIOS of the information handling system with a BIOS update from the BIOS distribution service based, at least in part, on the one or more values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. An information handling system, comprising:
-
a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor has access to a basic input/output system (BIOS), wherein the BIOS includes one or more instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to; provide an interface for the BIOS of the information handling system; alter one or more parameters via the interface, wherein the one or more parameters are associated with a version control policy for the BIOS of the information handling system, and wherein the version control policy provides a target BIOS version; set a value of an extensible firmware interface system resource table (ESRT) based, at least in part, on the one or more parameters, wherein the value is indicative of the target BIOS version; provide the value to a BIOS distribution service; and update the BIOS of the information handling system with a BIOS update from the BIOS distribution service based, at least in part, on the value. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions, the one or more instructions representing a basic input/output system (BIOS), that, when executed by a processor of an information handling system, cause the processor to:
-
receive a version control policy associated with the information handling system; determine a version of the BIOS of the information handling system; provide via an interface a version control policy for the BIOS of the information handling system, wherein the BIOS of the information handling system comprises unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI) firmware, and wherein the version control policy comprises the version of the BIOS of the information handling system and a target BIOS version; alter one or more parameters of the version control policy via the interface; set a value of an extensible firmware interface system resource table (ESRT) based, at least in part, on the one or more parameters, wherein the value is indicative of the target BIOS version; receive a request from a BIOS distribution service; provide the value to a BIOS distribution service in response to the request; and update the BIOS of the information handling system with a BIOS update from the BIOS distribution service based, at least in part, on the value. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification