Delaying the boot operation is useful when you change BIOS or EFI settings such as the boot order. For example, you can change the BIOS or EFI settings to force a virtual machine to boot from a CD-ROM.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that vSphere Web Client is logged in to a vCenter Server.
  • Verify that you have access to at least one virtual machine in the inventory.
  • Verify that you have privileges to edit boot options for the virtual machine.

Procedure

  1. Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.
  2. Click VM Options tab and expand Boot Options.
  3. Select the time in milliseconds to delay the boot operation.
  4. (Optional) Select whether to force entry into the BIOS or EFI setup screen the next time the virtual machine boots.
  5. (Optional) Select whether to try to reboot after a boot failure.
  6. Click OK.