Initialize-HPBiosConfigUtility

Overview

This script automates downloading/extracting the BCU package, verifying the BCU executable, running BCU to read or apply BIOS settings, and interpreting BCU exit codes into human-readable messages.

References:

• HP BIOS Configuration Utility | HP Client Management Solutions
• BIOS_Configuration_Utility_User_Guide.pdf

Requirements

• Windows on HP hardware (manufacturer must be 'HP' or 'Hewlett').
• Administrative privileges (required to write to ProgramData, install utilities, and access BIOS/WMI namespaces).
• PowerShell 5.0 or later (script declares #requires -Version 5).
• Internet access to download the BCU package if it is not present locally.
• Strapper PowerShell module (the script will update/install it automatically if missing).
• NuGet package provider (auto-bootstrapped by the script if missing).

Process

The script follows these main steps:

1. Enforce secure TLS policy (prefers TLS 1.3 then TLS 1.2) for downloads.
2. Prepare working directories under ProgramData where the installer, extraction, and report files are stored.
3. Ensure Strapper module is available and call Set-StrapperEnvironment for consistent logging utilities such as Write-Log.
4. Validate host manufacturer is HP and OS is compatible; exit early on unsupported hosts.
5. Install or verify the HP BIOS Configuration Utility (BCU) by downloading the installer archive and extracting it to the configured extract path.
6. Locate the BCU executable (BIOSConfigUtility64.exe) in the extraction folder.
7. Execute BCU with provided arguments (or default /get) and capture output and exit codes.
8. Parse XML output (when present) to retrieve the BIOS return code, and call Convert-ExitCode to map the numeric code to a descriptive message and log the result.
9. Return the raw command output (and log success/failure). Functions return boolean success/failure for programmatic use.

Payload Usage

This script accepts an optional -Argument string which is forwarded to the BCU executable. If omitted, the script defaults to running BCU with /get to retrieve BIOS configuration.

Example usage:

Run a read-only configuration scan (installs BCU if missing):

.\Initialize-HPBiosConfigUtility.ps1

Get the current value of the "Fast Boot" setting:

.\Initialize-HPBiosConfigUtility.ps1 -Argument '/getvalue:"Fast Boot"'

Set the "Fast Boot" setting to "Enable":

.\Initialize-HPBiosConfigUtility.ps1 -Argument '/setvalue:"Fast Boot","Enable"'

Display BCU help and supported commands:

.\Initialize-HPBiosConfigUtility.ps1 -Argument '/help'

Parameters

Parameter	Alias	Required	Default	Type	Description
Argument		False	'/get'	String	Arguments to forward to the BCU executable (e.g. '/get', '/set:"Name=Value"', '/setconfig config.txt').

Output

The script writes logs using the Write-Log function (provided by the Strapper module). It returns the raw output produced by the BCU executable (string/array) and logs a clear interpretation of the return code.

Log and error files (location depends on Strapper configuration; defaults are):

.\Initialize-HPBiosConfigUtility-log.txt .\Initialize-HPBiosConfigUtility-error.txt