Unlocking the operating system drive
There are two supported mechanisms for securing and unlocking operating system drives:
User‑managed key
EKMS‑managed key
During a system reboot:
If the key required to unlock the OS drives is not automatically available, the system prompts the user to manually enter the key.
For EKMS‑managed keys, the unlock key must be entered in hex‑encoded format.
In case of transient failures, you may retry the process by performing an IPMI power cycle.
Note:
Avoid using power reset. A power reset after an incorrect key entry is counted as a failed unlock attempt. After two failed attempts combined with power resets, the disks become permanently locked, even if the correct key is entered later.
A power cycle (full off → on) is the recommended method for retrying after any incorrect key entry. This prevents the system from counting the failed attempt toward disk lockout.