Re: bhyve: bootindex= not working?

On Sun, 2025-05-25 at 13:14 +0200, Roman Bogorodskiy wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm trying to understand how to use bootindex= configuration for disk
> devices.
> 
> I start with a fresh copy of the VARs file:
> 
> sudo cp /usr/local/share/uefi-firmware/BHYVE_UEFI_VARS.fd
> /data/vars/freebsd_VARS.fd
> 
> Then start a VM:
> 
> sudo bhyve -c 2 -m 4096 -A -I -u -H -P
> \                                            
> -s 0:0,hostbridge \
> -l bootrom,/usr/local/share/uefi-
> firmware/BHYVE_UEFI.fd,/data/vars/freebsd_VARS.fd,fwcfg=qemu \
> -s 2:0,xhci,tablet -s 1:0,lpc \
> -s 3:0,ahci,hd:/data/img/freebsd.img,bootindex=1,cd:/data/isos/FreeBSD-14.2-
> RELEASE-amd64-disc1.iso,bootindex=2 \
> -s 5:0,fbuf,tcp=127.0.0.1:5920 -l com1,/dev/nmdm5A \
> freebsd
> 
> With this configuration I expect it to boot from the "hd" device. Instead, it
> boots into the installer.
> 
> In the installer I see:
> 
> # efibootmgr -v
> Boot to FW : false
> BootCurrent: 0001
> Timeout    : 0 seconds
> BootOrder  : 0000, 0001, 0002, 0003
>  Boot0000* UiApp Fv(7cb8bdc9-f8eb-4f34-aaea-3ee4af6516a1)/FvFile(462caa21-
> 7614-4503-836e-8ab6f4662331)
> +Boot0001* UEFI BHYVE SATA DVD ROM BHYVE-6057-BC56-DB6C
> PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x3,0x0)/Sata(0x1,0xffff,0x0)
>  Boot0002* UEFI BHYVE SATA DISK BHYVE-412B-5D46-BC34
> PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x3,0x0)/Sata(0x0,0xffff,0x0)
>  Boot0003* EFI Internal Shell Fv(7cb8bdc9-f8eb-4f34-aaea-
> 3ee4af6516a1)/FvFile(7c04a583-9e3e-4f1c-ad65-e05268d0b4d1)
> 
> 
> Unreferenced Variables:
> #
> 
> I thought maybe it doesn't pay attention to bootindex= when the VARs
> file is specified, so I tried like this:
> 
> sudo bhyve -c 2 -m 4096 -A -I -u -H -P \
> -s 0:0,hostbridge \
> -l bootrom,/usr/local/share/uefi-firmware/BHYVE_UEFI.fd,fwcfg=qemu \ 
> -s 2:0,xhci,tablet -s 1:0,lpc \
> -s 3:0,ahci,hd:/data/img/freebsd.img,bootindex=1,cd:/data/isos/FreeBSD-14.2-
> RELEASE-amd64-disc1.iso,bootindex=2 \
> -s 5:0,fbuf,tcp=127.0.0.1:5920 -l com1,/dev/nmdm5A \
> freebsd
> 
> Result is the same.
> 
> Also, instead of this:
> 
> -s 3:0,ahci,hd:/data/img/freebsd.img,bootindex=1,cd:/data/isos/FreeBSD-14.2-
> RELEASE-amd64-disc1.iso,bootindex=2 \
> 
> I've tried:
> 
> -s 3:0,ahci-hd,/data/img/freebsd.img,bootindex=1 -s 4:0,ahci-
> cd,/data/isos/FreeBSD-14.2-RELEASE-amd64-disc1.iso,bootindex=2 \
> 
> No difference.
> 
> No, going back to the very first command I used. In the installer's
> shell, I execute:
> 
> # efibootmgr -o 0002
> Boot to FW : false
> BootCurrent: 0001
> Timeout    : 0 seconds
> BootOrder  : 0002
>  Boot0002* UEFI BHYVE SATA DISK BHYVE-412B-5D46-BC34
> #
> 
> And reboot. It boots from the disk now, according to the configuration:
> 
> root@freebsd:~ # efibootmgr -v
> Boot to FW : false
> BootCurrent: 0002
> Timeout    : 0 seconds
> BootOrder  : 0002, 0000, 0001, 0003
> +Boot0002* UEFI BHYVE SATA DISK BHYVE-412B-5D46-BC34
> PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x3,0x0)/Sata(0x0,0xffff,0x0)
>  Boot0000* UiApp Fv(7cb8bdc9-f8eb-4f34-aaea-3ee4af6516a1)/FvFile(462caa21-
> 7614-4503-836e-8ab6f4662331)
>  Boot0001* UEFI BHYVE SATA DVD ROM BHYVE-6057-BC56-DB6C
> PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x3,0x0)/Sata(0x1,0xffff,0x0)
>  Boot0003* EFI Internal Shell Fv(7cb8bdc9-f8eb-4f34-aaea-
> 3ee4af6516a1)/FvFile(7c04a583-9e3e-4f1c-ad65-e05268d0b4d1)
> 
> 
> Unreferenced Variables:
> root@freebsd:~ #
> 
> Now, if I swap the bootindex= values to force to boot from the CD, it
> also has no effect, from now on it'll be booting from the disk.
> 
> All in all, it looks like it stores boot options in the VARS file
> properly, but completely ignores the bootindex command line
> configuration.
> 
> Is it a bug somewhere or am I doing something wrong?
> 
> I'm running 15.0-CURRENT ~1 month old and edk2-bhyve-g202308_5.
> Guest is FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE.
> 
> Thanks,
> Roman
> 

Hi Roman,

EDKII honors bootindex since 202408 [1]. So, our latest EDKII port, based on
202308, is too old.

[1]
https://github.com/tianocore/edk2/commit/ffce430d2b65d508a1604dc986ba16db3583943d


-- 
Kind regards,
Corvin