PowerShell One-Liners to ensure Dell system is configured for UEFI when imaging

While planning and configuring the Windows 10 upgrades, we had to also include the transition to UEFI from BIOS. I wanted to make sure that when the build team builds new models that they are configured for UEFI when applicable, otherwise the build fails within seconds after it starts.

We use Dell systems, so interacting with the BIOS is simple. The Dell Command | Configure allows for the BIOS to be queried, which is what we need here to verify specific models are set correctly. We do have a few models that are not compatible with UEFI, so those have to be exempted. In looking at Dell Latitude models, anything newer than the E6320 is compatible with UEFI. Granted, there may be other models that we never had that could be compatible.

There are four key settings in the BIOS that determine if a system is compatible with UEFI. Those settings are the Boot List Option, Legacy Option ROMs, UEFI Network Stack, and Secure Boot. I have found the most reliable one of the four to verify compatibility is the UEFI Network Stack. If a system does not have this option, then UEFI is not compatible.

I set this up as four task sequences within a folder called Verify UEFI. The folder performs two WMI queries to make sure it is a Dell machine, and it is not one of the five models we still have in production that are not UEFI compatible. The conditions are set up as shown in the screenshot below.

The first WMI query makes sure the system is a Dell.

• select * from Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE Manufacturer like "%Dell%"

The second WMI query makes sure the system is not one of the specified models that are not compatible with UEFI.

• select * from Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE (model != "Latitude E6320") and (model != "Latitude E6410") and (model != "Optiplex 980") and (model != "Optiplex 990") and (model != "Optiplex 9010")

This is the setup in MDT that I have configured

Now that the folder is set up, you will need to create each of the four Run Command Line task sequences. Before doing this, you will need to have Dell Command | Configure installed and loaded into the WinPE environment. You can refer to my blog posting that details how to load this into WinPE. 

Each one of the four tests is a Run Command Line. They will look like the pic below. All you will need to do is to copy the PowerShell one-liner code below and paste it into the command line of each task sequence.

Here is the PowerShell one-liner code for each task sequence:

• Boot List Option
• powershell.exe -executionpolicy bypass -command "&{If ((x:\cctk\cctk.exe bootorder --activebootlist) -like '*uefi') {exit 0} else {exit 1}}"
• Legacy Option ROMs
• powershell.exe -executionpolicy bypass -command "&{If ((x:\cctk\cctk.exe --legacyorom) -like '*disable') {exit 0} else {exit 1}}"
• UEFI Network Stack
• powershell.exe -executionpolicy bypass -command "&{If ((x:\cctk\cctk.exe --uefinwstack) -like '*enable') {exit 0} else {exit 1}}"
• Secure Boot
• powershell.exe -executionpolicy bypass -command "&{If ((x:\cctk\cctk.exe --secureboot) -like '*enable') {exit 0} else {exit 1}}"

As you can see, if any of these fail, they will return an error code 1 and then fail the build.