OVMF UEFI Firmware

This directory contains OVMF (Open Virtual Machine Firmware) for QEMU testing.

Overview

OVMF provides UEFI firmware implementation for QEMU, allowing us to test MetalOS in a UEFI environment.

Required Files

OVMF_CODE.fd - UEFI firmware code
OVMF_VARS.fd - UEFI variables template

Source

OVMF is part of the EDK II project.

Obtaining OVMF

Option 1: Use System-Installed OVMF (Recommended)

Many distributions provide OVMF packages:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install ovmf

# Copy to deps folder
cp /usr/share/OVMF/OVMF_CODE.fd deps/ovmf/
cp /usr/share/OVMF/OVMF_VARS.fd deps/ovmf/

Option 2: Download Pre-built Binaries

Pre-built OVMF binaries are available from various sources:

# Visit https://www.kraxel.org/repos/jenkins/edk2/ for current builds
# Or use direct links from distributions' mirror sites
# Example (adjust URL to current available version):
wget https://www.kraxel.org/repos/jenkins/edk2/edk2.git-ovmf-x64-<VERSION>.rpm

rpm2cpio edk2.git-ovmf-*.rpm | cpio -idmv
cp usr/share/edk2/ovmf/OVMF_CODE.fd deps/ovmf/
cp usr/share/edk2/ovmf/OVMF_VARS.fd deps/ovmf/

Note: Pre-built binaries may become unavailable. System packages (Option 1) or building from source (Option 3) are more reliable long-term.

Option 3: Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/tianocore/edk2.git
cd edk2
git submodule update --init
make -C BaseTools
source edksetup.sh
build -a X64 -t GCC5 -p OvmfPkg/OvmfPkgX64.dsc

# Files will be in Build/OvmfX64/RELEASE_GCC5/FV/
cp Build/OvmfX64/RELEASE_GCC5/FV/OVMF_CODE.fd ../MetalOS/deps/ovmf/
cp Build/OvmfX64/RELEASE_GCC5/FV/OVMF_VARS.fd ../MetalOS/deps/ovmf/

Usage with QEMU

qemu-system-x86_64 \
    -bios deps/ovmf/OVMF_CODE.fd \
    -drive file=metalos.img,format=raw \
    -m 512M

License

BSD-2-Clause - See EDK II license for full details.

Version Tracking

Create a VERSION file documenting:

EDK II commit hash or version
Build date
Source (pre-built package, jenkins, or self-built)
File checksums (SHA256)

Status

⚠️ Optional - Can use system-installed OVMF or this in-house copy. The Makefile already detects system OVMF paths.