how to read all bios settings in linux programmatically

Question

I have problem with replication of hosts enrolled to FreeIPA between my IPA server and replica (both Centos 6.6 ipa-server-3.0.0).

If the host is enrolled to replica I can't see it on Master WEB UI. Although user replication works and the host seem to be in both DNS records (on master and replica)

This behaviour stops me from being able to manage users and groups from one WEB UI as I can't assign access to host which are missing from interface.

To enrol hosts I use puppet with following command:

/usr/sbin/ipa-client-install --realm DOMAIN.COM --password password1 --principal [email protected] --mkhomedir --domain doamin.com --server master.domain.com --server replica.domain.com --enable-dns-updates --force --unattended

I tried to use that command with --force-join and --fixed-primary however the result were the same which is:

The command performs discovery with random output i.e. sometimes it will choose master other time replica server.

A bit of how I build master:

ipa-server-install --no-ntp --setup-dns --no-reverse --no-forwarders -n domain.com --hostname master.domain.com -p password1 -a password2 -r DOMAIN.COM

and replica:

ipa-replica-prepare replica.domain.com --ip-address 10.0.0.2

ipa-replica-install --setup-ca --setup-dns --no-forwarders /var/lib/ipa/replica-info-replica.domain.com.gpg

Any help will be appreciated, the ports are open as per RedHat manual. CLI command such as ipa-replica-manage list shows good relation between both master and replica.

Solution 1

HP, DELL, IBM they all provide toolkit to export/import BIOS settings to/from a XML file. Check support/download page of your hardware model.

Solution 2

This string helped me: https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-software-2/viewing-bios-settings-from-within-linux-290492/

In essence, running dmidecode as root generated lots of info on my system.

Comments

[phk]

Reading the EEPROM (where BIOS settings are stored, see superuser.com/questions/707254/where-is-the-bios-stored) might be one thing, decoding another. Probably differs between manufacturers a lot. :/

[meuh]

If you have UEFI firmware (i.e. not bios) you might see some stuff under /sys/firmware/efi/vars/.

[CivFan]

This worked for me for a couple Dell machines. I found "Dell Command | Configure". Works for latest Ubuntu versions from 16.04 to 20.04. I was able to read and configure my AC power loss configuration this way.