Boot and Run¶
Boot via iDRAC Virtual Media¶
- Open iDRAC and navigate to Configuration → Virtual Media
- Map the
azl-validate-<date>.isofrom your management machine - Set boot order to Virtual CD/DVD (one-time boot)
- Power on or reboot the node
- The Beacon menu appears automatically within ~60 seconds
Boot from USB¶
Flash the ISO to a USB drive (or build directly with -BuildUSB):
Flash to USB with Rufus or the build script
# Option A: build script writes USB directly
.\src\Build-WinPEImage.ps1 -BuildUSB -UsbDriveLetter F
# Option B: write a pre-built ISO with Rufus (DD mode recommended)
Set the node's one-time boot order to the USB device.
What happens at boot¶
wpeinit <- WinPE network stack init
Start-AzlBeacon.ps1 <- Menu orchestrator
Start-NetworkBootstrap <- DHCP detect / static IP prompt
Main menu <- Choose: AD / Local Identity / Network+Firewall / Full sweep / PowerShell console
Network bootstrap¶
On boot, Beacon waits 15 seconds for a DHCP lease on the management NIC. If none is detected, you are prompted for:
| Prompt | Example |
|---|---|
| IP address | 10.10.0.50 |
| Subnet mask | 255.255.255.0 |
| Default gateway | 10.10.0.1 |
| Primary DNS | 10.10.0.10 |
This gives Beacon connectivity to run the validation — it has nothing to do with how the eventual Azure Local cluster nodes will be addressed.
Results¶
Results are saved to X:\results\validation-<timestamp>.json for the duration of the WinPE session.