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Is there's a setting somewhere in the BIOS that I can set a "one-time" boot from a specific source, and then the rest of the time return to a default boot?

I am hoping to inform the hardware manufacturers to set something like that so that when I first turn it on after it has been shipped to me, it will first boot from a local network install server, and after that, boot the typical OS.

Rail24
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  • No need to inform the manufacturers. Many have a one-time boot menu already and, missing that, there's usually a boot override option in UEFi. –  Jul 11 '19 at 18:05
  • Well I'd like to be able to install these without any need for a monitor. – Rail24 Jul 11 '19 at 18:07
  • You already have an answer ;) –  Jul 11 '19 at 18:10
  • pressing a particular function key at bootup may show a one-time boot menu ... try F12 or F8 – jsotola Jul 11 '19 at 22:44

2 Answers2

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UEFI firmware defines a set of boot variables that determine in which order the different boot entries are tried. There is also a BootNext variable that may be exactly what you want.

Johan Myréen
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BIOS does not really have that as standard, although some individual BIOS implementations might have.

The UEFI firmware standard includes BootNext which is precisely what you want.

But in general, what you're aiming for can be achieved with both BIOS and UEFI by setting the boot order to have the highest priority for the local disk, and the second place for network boot. When the OS has not been installed yet, the boot attempt from the local disk will fail, and network boot will be attempted next automatically. Once the OS has been installed to a local disk, any subsequent boot attempts will prefer the local disk.

This is actually how many server-grade systems are configured at the factory by default.

telcoM
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