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From: Christian Ludwig <christian_ludwig@genua.de>
To: <pve-devel@lists.proxmox.com>
Subject: [PATCH v2 pve-docs 16/16] qm: document the efi-firmware VM option
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2026 07:48:21 +0200	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <525f33f9db850afd248a34fe23df5ff6a6aed1e4.1790338117.git@genua.de> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <cover.1790337423.git@genua.de>

Describe how to set and remove a custom EFI firmware image.

Signed-off-by: Christian Ludwig <christian_ludwig@genua.de>
---
 qm.adoc | 48 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 48 insertions(+)

diff --git a/qm.adoc b/qm.adoc
index 5b46cdc..4186067 100644
--- a/qm.adoc
+++ b/qm.adoc
@@ -1246,6 +1246,54 @@ NOTE: The markers `ms-cert=2023` and `ms-cert=2023w` may indicate partial
 enrollment. The VM start task log will warn about this. You should apply the
 enrollment procedure for such EFI disks too.
 
+[[qm_custom_efi_firmware]]
+Custom EFI Firmware
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+By default, {pve} uses the system-provided OVMF firmware images. If you need a
+custom or vendor-specific EFI firmware code image, you can override the default
+firmware with the `efi-firmware` VM option.
+
+The firmware image must first be uploaded to a storage that has the
+`efi-firmware` content type enabled.
+
+To configure a VM to use a custom firmware image:
+
+----
+# qm set <vmid> -efi-firmware <storage>:efi-firmware/<name>
+----
+
+For example:
+
+----
+# qm set 100 -efi-firmware local:efi-firmware/custom-ovmf-code.fd
+----
+
+NOTE: The `efi-firmware` option requires `bios` to be set to `ovmf`.
+
+The custom image replaces the firmware code (pflash0) only. The EFI vars disk
+(`efidisk0`) keeps its contents, which are created from the vars template of
+the system-provided firmware. If they do not match the custom image, the guest
+may fail to boot. A matching vars image can be imported with:
+
+----
+# qm set <vmid> -efidisk0 <storage>:0,efitype=4m,pre-enrolled-keys=0,import-from=<source>
+----
+
+Confidential VMs (AMD SEV-SNP, Intel TDX) load the firmware read-only via
+`-bios` and use no EFI vars disk at all, so this does not apply to them. For
+that reason, the web interface only offers custom firmware images for such VMs,
+through the 'BIOS' entry in the 'Hardware' panel of a VM.
+
+The firmware image is not copied when a VM migrates, so it has to be on a
+shared storage.
+
+To remove a custom firmware assignment and revert to the default OVMF image:
+
+----
+# qm set <vmid> -delete efi-firmware
+----
+
 [[qm_tpm]]
 Trusted Platform Module (TPM)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- 
2.34.1




      parent reply	other threads:[~2026-09-28  5:50 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 17+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-09-28  5:47 [PATCH v2 0/16] Support for custom EFI firmware Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:47 ` [PATCH v2 pve-storage 1/16] plugin: add efi-firmware content type Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:47 ` [PATCH v2 pve-storage 2/16] test: get_subdir: cover the " Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 pve-storage 3/16] plugins: allow the efi-firmware content type on file based storages Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 pve-storage 4/16] api: status: support efi-firmware in upload and download-url Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 pve-storage 5/16] test: volume access: cover efi-firmware volumes Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 pve-storage 6/16] test: list volumes: " Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 qemu-server 07/16] config: add the efi-firmware option Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 qemu-server 08/16] api: allow setting " Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 qemu-server 09/16] ovmf: use a custom firmware image if configured Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 qemu-server 10/16] test: efi-firmware key in VM config Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 qemu-server 11/16] test: efi-firmware volumes replication Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 pve-manager 12/16] ui: storage: add efi-firmware content type support Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 pve-manager 13/16] ui: form: support other content types in the ISO selector Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 pve-manager 14/16] ui: qemu: allow selecting a custom EFI firmware image Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` [PATCH v2 pve-docs 15/16] pvesm: document the efi-firmware content type Christian Ludwig
2026-09-28  5:48 ` Christian Ludwig [this message]

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