Defining the Interface Between the Operating System and Platform Firmware
The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Specification, previously known as the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) Specification, defines an interface between an operating system and platform firmware. The interface consists of data tables that contain platform-related information, boot service calls, and runtime service calls that are available to the operating system and its loader. These provide a standard environment for booting an operating system and running pre-boot applications.
The UEFI Specification was primarily intended for the next generation of Intel® architecture–based computers, and is an outgrowth of the Intel Boot Initiative (IBI) program that began in 1998. Intel's original version of this specification was publicly named EFI, ending with the EFI 1.10 version.
In 2005, The Unified EFI Forum was formed as an industry-wide organization to promote adoption and continue the development of the EFI Specification. Using the EFI 1.10 Specification as the starting point, this industry group released the follow on specifications, renamed Unified EFI.
Find out more information about UEFI, the UEFI Forum, and the current version of the UEFI Specification at the UEFI Forum Website.
Training Materials
UEFI and EDK II Learning and Development
UEFI and EDK II Online Courses
Increase your knowledge of UEFI and EDK II with this modular self-paced course. Modules cover the boot phases of UEFI and Platform Initialization (PI) from power-on to booting an OS, with the objective of aiding developers in performing UEFI/PI and EDK II related tasks.
UEFI and EDK II Training Materials
Downloads:
Presentations (90 MB, ZIP)
Lab Material (70 MB, ZIP)
Presentations
Learn more about UEFI by reviewing the presentations below.
Fundamentals
- TianoCore – Open Source UEFI Community Update (Linaro Connect US 2016, Keynote Presentation, Video)
- Using Wind River* Simics Virtual Platforms to Accelerate Firmware Development (2.77 MB, PDF), Intel, (Intel Developer Forum (IDF) Spring 2013- English) (Mandarin 2.79 MB, PDF) (IDF Fall 2012)
- Advanced UEFI Development Environment for Embedded Platforms (1.73 MB, PDF), Intel, SBS*, ByoSoft* (IDF Spring 2012)
- Designing for Next Generation Best-In-Class Platform Responsiveness (2.27 MB, PDF), Intel (IDF Fall 2011)
- UEFI Development and Innovations for System-On-Chip (SOC) (1.8 MB, PDF) Intel (IDF Bejing 2011 - English) (Mandarin 1.92 MB, PDF)
- UEFI and Transparent Computing Technology (2.03 MB, PDF) Intel (IDF Bejing 2011 - English) (Mandarin 2.31 MB, PDF)
- Beyond DOS: UEFI Shell: A Modern Pre-boot Application Environment (1.69 MB, PDF), Intel, IBM*, Insyde* (IDF Fall 2010)
- UEFI Forum Learning Center
Intel UEFI Training
- Accelerating Firmware Development With UEFI Advanced Features (2.57 MB, PDF) (IDF 2016). With the increase in complexity and capabilities of UEFI firmware, the need for standard firmware manageability is increasing. The Redfish RESTful API offers an industry standard, light-weight manageability interface with the scalability and security required for today’s data centers. Recent updates to the UEFI 2.6 Specification offer advancements in networking technologies that enable new scenarios for network boot, OS deployment and boot recovery. (Chinese 2.7 MB, PDF)
- Firmware in the Data Center: Building a Modern Deployment Framework Using Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) and Redfish REST APIs (3.6 MB, PDF)(IDF 2015). Intel and HP discuss networking and data center firmware features described in the UEFI 2.5 Specification (HTTP Boot, Redfish, REST).
- Developing Best-In-Class Security Principles with Open Source Firmware (2.34 MB, PDF) (IDF 2015). This session uses MinnowBoard* Max and Intel® Galileo as examples of using open source firmware to develop more secure platform code. Topics include SMM exploits, the SMI Transfer Monitor (STM), CHIPSEC and UEFI Secure Boot.
- Firmware Flexibility Using the Intel® Firmware Support Package (Intel® FSP) (IDF 2014). This session is an overview of the Intel® FSP to encapsulate Intel silicon initialization. Intel FSP allows customers to scale platform initialization and work more easily with open source Intel architecture (IA) firmware ecosystems, such as UEFI and the open-source EDK II framework.
- Intel® UEFI Development Kit 2010 (Intel® UDK2010) and Intel® Boot Loader Development Kit: Foundations for Advanced Embedded Development (2.34 MB, PDF), Intel (IDF Bejing Spring 2011, English) (Mandarin 4.45 MB, PDF)
Security
- Network Boot in a Zero-Trust Environment with UEFI (1.08 MB, PDF) (openSUSE* Summit 2019)
- Hardware-Enabled Security Powered by Intel® technology
- Developing Best-In-Class Security Principles with Open Source Firmware (2.23 MB, PDF) (IDF Fall 2015)
- UEFI Secure Boot in Linux* - Intel and SUSE (1.79 MB, PDF) (IDF Fall 2013)
- Using UEFI for Secure Firmware Update of Expansion Cards - Intel, Insydde* Software and Emulex* (1.57 MB, PDF) (IDF Fall 2013)
- Build Safety from Bare Metal - Practices on Hardening and Harnessing the Secure Platform (1.32 MB, PDF) - Intel, McAfee, HP (IDF Spring 2013 English) (Mandarin 1.44 MB, PDF)
- Hardening and Harnessing the Secure Platform (1.5 MB, PDF), Intel, McAfee* (Intel Developer Forum (IDF) Fall 2012)
- Implementing Platform Security with UEFI—Intel, (1.12 MB, PDF), HP, Insyde (IDF Spring 2012)
- UEFI Security and Networking Advancements (2.96 MB, PDF), Intel and Insyde (IDF Fall 2011)
- UEFI Innovations for Platform Security (1.12 MB, PDF), Intel and AMI (IDF Fall 2011)
- Security and Networking Advancements Today’s UEFI and Intel® UDK2010, Intel (IDF Spring 2011 – English) (Mandarin)
- Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI): Best Platform Security Practices (3.57 MB, PDF), Intel, Microsoft*, Insyde* (IDF Spring 2010)
- Intel Advanced Technology in the Enterprise: Best Security Practices (2.9 MB, PDF), Intel and IBM (IDF Fall 2009)
- Secure Firmware Lockdown through Standardized (UEFI) Management Protocols (2.16 MB, PDF), Intel, Dell, Insyde (IDF Fall 2009)
- CHIPSEC
Driver Development
- Using UEFI for Secure Firmware Update of Expansion Cards (1.57 MB, PDF), Intel, Insyde Software and Emulex (IDF Fall 2013)
- Beyond DOS: UEFI Modern Pre-boot Application Development Environment, (1.69 MB, PDF) Intel and Phoenix (IDF Fall 2011)
- Microsoft Windows* Platform Evolution and UEFI Requirements (2.61 MB, PDF) Intel and Microsoft (IDF Fall 2011)
- Microsoft Windows Platform Evolution and UEFI, (PDF, English )Intel and Microsoft (IDF Bejing Spring 2011) (Mandarin 1.25 MB, PDF)
Operating System (OS) Support
- UEFI Secure Boot in Linux, Intel and SUSE (IDF Fall 2013)
- UEFI Firmware Enhances Linux Security and Adds New Benefits, Intel, Canonical*, Insyde Software (IDF Spring 2013) English Mandarin (1.85 MB, PDF)
- Developing UEFI Support for Linux (2.72 MB, PDF), Intel, Canonical, Red Hat* (IDF Fall 2012)
- Implementing Platform Security with Microsoft Windows 8 Firmware Developments and Intel Platforms (3.11 MB, PDF), Intel, Microsoft (IDF Fall 2012)
White Papers and Articles
- Using Host-based Analysis to Improve Firmware Resiliency (Feb 2019)
- UEFI Firmware Porting Guide for the Intel Atom® processor E3900 Series (Sept 2018)
- Open Source UEFI Firmware Enabling Guide: Intel Atom Processor E3900 Series Platforms (Aug 2018)
- A Tour Beyond BIOS: Using IOMMU for DMA Protection in UEFI Firmware (1.07 MB, PDF) (Oct 2017)
- A Tour Beyond BIOS: Capsule Update and Recovery in EDK II (PDF) (Dec 2016)
- A Tour Beyond BIOS: Security Enhancement to Mitigate Buffer Overflow in UEFI (PDF) (Oct 2016)
- A Tour Beyond BIOS: Security Design Guide in EDK II (PDF) (Sep 2016)
- A Tour Beyond BIOS: Implementing Profiling in EDK II (1.1 MB, PDF) (July 2016)
- Getting Started with UEFI HTTP over TLS (HTTPS) Boot on EDK II (2.1 MB PDF) (July 2016)
- A Tour Beyond BIOS: Open Source IA Firmware Platform Design Guide in EDK II (839 KB, PDF) (May 2016)
- EDK II HTTP Boot Getting Started Guide (PDF) (April 2016)
- A Tour Beyond BIOS: Secure SMM Communication (PDF) (April 2016)
- A Tour Beyond BIOS: Memory Map and Practices in UEFI BIOS (PDF) (March 2016)
- UEFI PXE Boot Performance Analysis
- Open platforms and the impact of Security Technologies, Initiatives, and Deployment Practices - Intel and Cisco* White Paper
- Trusted Platforms: UEFI, PI, and TCG-based Firmware
- Creating the Intel Firmware Support Package Version 1.1 with the EFI Developer Kit II (April 2015)
- Using the Intel Firmware Support Package 1.1 with the EFI Developer Kit II (April 2015)
Intel UEFI Tools and Utilities
Intel® UEFI Development Kit Debugger Tool (Intel® UDK Debugger Tool) User Manual 1.11 for Ver 1.5 (1.2 MB, PDF)
Downloads:
Intel® Firmware Module Management Tool (Intel® FMMT) (346 KB, ZIP)
Enables removal, addition, and replacement of FFS files in FD image binaries Version .22
Intel® Firmware Configuration Editor (Intel® FCE) (1.2 MB, ZIP)
Retrieve and change HII configuration ("Setup") data in Firmware Device (*.fd) files Version .34
UEFI Disk Utilities (1.1 MB, ZIP)
Contains the source code and documentations required to develop UEFI related tools for the UEFI filesystem. Version 1.3
Intel® UDK Debugger Tool Ver 1.5 for Windows (59.9 MB, ZIP)
Intel® UDK Debugger Tool Ver 1.5.1 for Linux (65.6 MB, ZIP)