3 .\" This page is based on the lilo docs, which carry the following
6 .\" LILO program code, documentation and auxiliary programs are
7 .\" Copyright 1992-1998 Werner Almesberger.
8 .\" Extensions to LILO, documentation and auxiliary programs are
9 .\" Copyright 1999-2005 John Coffman.
10 .\" Extensions to LILO, documentation and auxiliary programs are
11 .\" Copyright 2009-2011 Joachim Wiedorn.
13 .\" All rights reserved by the respective copyright holders.
15 .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms of parts of or the
16 .\" whole original or derived work are permitted provided that the
17 .\" original work is properly attributed to the author. The name of the
18 .\" author may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from
19 .\" this software without specific prior written permission. This work
20 .\" is provided "as is" and without any express or implied warranties.
22 .TH LILO.CONF 5 "June 2013"
24 lilo.conf \- configuration file for lilo
29 is read by the boot loader installer 'lilo' (see lilo(8)).
31 It might look as follows:
45 menu-title=" John's Computer "
47 ### bootable kernel images ###
48 image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.29-1-i386
50 initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.6.29-1-i386
51 image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.33-1-i386
55 initrd=/tamu/initrd.img
59 ### other operating systems ###
62 boot-as=0x80 # must be C:
65 boot-as=0x80 # must be C:
72 This configuration file specifies that lilo uses the Master
73 Boot Record on /dev/hda. (For a discussion of the various ways
74 to use lilo, and the interaction with other operating systems,
75 see html/user_21-5.html inside the old documentation.)
77 When booting, the boot loader will issue its
79 prompt and wait for you to enter the label of the kernel (and any
80 options) which you wish to boot. At any time you may hit [Tab] to
81 see a list of kernel/other labels.
82 Alternately, if the \fBmenu\fP boot loader is installed,
83 a menu of boot options will be presented for your selection.
84 The title of this menu is overridden with the menu
85 title specification in this configuration file.
86 If you enter nothing, then the default kernel image, the first
87 mentioned, (in the example /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.29-1-i386) will be
88 booted after a timeout of 15 seconds (150 deciseconds). There may
89 be at least 16 images mentioned in lilo.conf. (The exact number
90 depends upon compilation options.)
92 As can be seen above, a configuration file starts with a number
93 of global options (the top 9 lines in the example),
94 followed by descriptions of the options for the various images.
95 An option in an image description will override a global option.
97 Comment lines may appear anywhere, and begin with the "#" character.
100 There are many possible keywords. The description below is almost
101 literally from html/user_21-5.html inside the old documentation
102 (just slightly abbreviated).
104 .BI "backup=" <backup-file>
105 Specifies the location where a copy of any modified boot sector will be
106 saved in a file. 'backup=' may specify this location in one of three ways:
107 a directory where the default backup file 'boot.NNNN' will be created;
108 a file pathname template to which the '.NNNN' suffix will be added; or
109 the full file pathname, which must include the correct '.NNNN' suffix.
110 All RAID installations should use only the first two alternatives, as
111 multiple backups may be created. The '.NNNN' suffix is the hexadecimal
112 representation of the major and minor device numbers of the device or
113 partition. If this option is not specified, the default name of boot sector
114 backups is '/boot/boot.NNNN'. If a backup already exists, it will be
115 preserved, rather than overwritten. C.f., \fBforce-backup=\fP below.
117 .BI "bios-passes-dl=" <option>
118 The option is indicated as \fIyes\fP, \fIno\fP, or \fIunknown\fP. If not
119 specified, a value of "unknown" is assumed, unless additional information
120 is available to the boot installer. When "no" is specified, it indicates
121 that the BIOS is known not to pass the current boot device code to the boot
122 loader in the DL register. Its only function at this point is experimental,
123 as certain RAID installations may benefit from knowing that the
124 BIOS is 100% reliable. Its use should be considered experimental.
126 This option may be specified on the command line with the '\-Z' switch:
129 .BI "bitmap=" <bitmap-file>
130 Specifies use of a 640x480x16 (VGA BIOS) or 640x480x256 (VGA/VESA BIOS)
131 bitmap file as the background on which a boot
132 menu is displayed. May not be used if 'message=' is specified.
133 Use of this option will select a bitmap-capable boot
134 loader, unless overridden with "install=" (see below).
136 When a bitmap file is specified as a background screen during the boot
137 process, the color selection and layout of the text which overlays the
138 graphic image must be specified in one of two ways.
140 One way is the use of header information in the bitmap image (*.bmp) file:
141 From a text file with all the information about 'bmp-colors', 'bmp-table'
142 and 'bmp-timer' options together with the 'bitmap' option are stored in
143 the special LILO header of the bitmap image file by the
145 command. Another way works without these special header information: All
146 the information about 'bmp-colors', 'bmp-table' and 'bmp-timer' options
147 together with the 'bitmap' option are stored in the configuration file.
148 Any use of the 'bmp-' options within the configuration file overrides
149 the options stored in the bitmap file header. If lilo cannot find any of
150 the 'bmp-' options, then default values are used.
152 .BI "bmp-colors=" <fg>,<bg>,<sh>,<hfg>,<hbg>,<hsh>
153 Specifies the decimal values of the colors to be used for the menu display
154 on a 'bitmap=' background. The list consists of 6 entries, 3 for normal
155 text followed by 3 for highlighted text. The order of each triple is:
156 foreground color, background color, shadow color. If background color is
157 not specified, "transparent" is assumed. If shadow color is not specified,
158 then "none" is assumed. The list entries are separated by commas, with no
162 Option applies to all 'image=' and 'other=' sections.
163 (See COMMON OPTIONS, below.)
165 .BI "bmp-table=" <x>,<y>,<ncol>,<nrow>,<xsep>,<spill>
166 Specifies the location and layout of the menu table. <x>,<y> specify the
167 starting x- and y-position of the upper left corner of the table in
168 character coordinates: x in [1..80], y in [1..30]. <ncol> is the number of
169 columns in the menu (1..5); and <nrow> is the number of rows (entries)
171 If more than one column is specified, then <xsep> is the number of character
172 columns between the leftmost characters in each column: (18..40), and
173 <spill> is the number of entries in one column which must be filled before
174 entries spill into the next column. <spill> must be .le. <nrow>. If pixel
175 addressing is used, instead of character addressing, then any of <x>, <y>,
176 or <xsep> may be specified with a 'p' suffix on the decimal value.
178 .BI "bmp-timer=" <x>,<y>,<fg>,<bg>,<sh>
179 Optional specification of the 'timeout='
180 countdown timer. <x>,<y>
181 specifies the character (or pixel) coordinate of the location of the timer
182 the same as 'bmp-table='
183 above; and the color triple specifies the character color attributes
184 the same as 'bmp-colors=' above, with the exception that the background color
186 be specified. If used to override the timer specification in a bitmap file,
187 then the form 'bmp-timer = none' is acceptable. This will disable the timer
190 .BI "boot=" <boot-device>
191 Sets the name of the device (e.g. hard disk or partition) that contains
192 the boot sector and where the new boot sector should be written to. Notice:
193 The boot-device should be the device with the currently mounted root partition.
195 A raid installation is initiated by specifying a RAID1 device as the boot
196 device; e.g., "boot=/dev/md0".
198 On newer systems you need an unique ID for the boot device. If the boot
199 sector should write to a partition you can use its UUID in the same manner
200 is for the root options.
202 If your boot device is a hard disk you need a special ID, which is supported
203 by udev. You find the right ID in the directory /dev/disks/by-id, i. e.:
206 boot = /dev/disk/by-id/ata-SAMSUNG_SV1604N_S01FJ10X999999
210 Defines boot-time changes to partition type numbers (`hiding').
226 The above excerpt from a configuration file specifies that all default
228 are removed ("reset"), and the change-rules for three partition types
229 are specified. Without the \fIreset\fP, the three types specified would
230 have been added to the existing default change-rules. Normally, the default
231 rules are sufficient. The strings which define the partition types
234 section (see below), with the suffixes "_normal" or "_hidden" appended.
235 See section "Partition type change rules" of html/user_21-5.html inside
236 the old documentation for more details.
239 Tries to merge read requests for adjacent sectors into a single
240 read request. This drastically reduces load time and keeps the map file
241 smaller. Using `compact' is especially recommended when booting
242 using a map file on a floppy disk.
244 .BI "default=" <name>
245 Uses the specified image as the default boot image. If `default' is omitted,
246 the image appearing first in the configuration file is used. See also,
251 Specifies the number of tenths of a second the boot loader should
252 wait before automatically booting a locked command line,
253 a command line pre-stored by
254 "lilo \-R", or the default `image=' or `other='.
255 When `delay' is non-zero, the boot loader will wait for an interrupt for the
256 specified interval. If an interrupt is received, or
257 is already waiting, the \fBboot:\fP
258 prompt will be be issued, and no automatic boot will take place. The setting
259 of CAPS LOCK or SCROLL LOCK, or any of the
260 keys ALT, CTRL, or SHIFT, when held down, are taken as interrupts.
262 This action is modified by specifying `prompt' (see below).
264 .BI "disk=" <device-name>
265 Defines non-standard parameters for the specified disk. See section
266 "Disk geometry" of html/user_21-5.html inside the old documentation for details.
267 For versions of LILO prior to 22.5, the `bios=' parameter
268 is quite useful for specifying how the BIOS has assigned
269 device codes to your disks.
281 would say that your SCSI disk is the first BIOS disk (0x80),
282 that your (primary master) IDE disk is the second BIOS disk (0x81),
283 and that your second SCSI disk (perhaps a USB device) receives no
284 device code, and is therefore inaccessible at boot time.
286 NOTE: Use of the 'bios=' option is largely obsolete beginning
287 with LILO version 22.5, as the boot loader now identifies disks
288 by 32-bit Volume-ID, and defers BIOS device code determination
291 Other options include the specification of disk geometry; e.g.,
300 probably only useful for floppy disks and loopback devices,
301 because for hard disks the
303 disk addressing option ignores disk geometry.
305 Developers who have implemented a disk driver for a new block storage
306 device will have to indicate to LILO the maximum number of partitions
307 on the device. This is in addition to making all of the necessary
308 entries for the device in the "/dev" directory (with 'mknod'). The
309 maximum number of partitions must be one of 63 (like an IDE disk),
310 31 (uncommon), 15 (like SCSI disks -- most common value), or 7
311 (like one array controller). An example specification would be:
318 In cases where there is no
319 kernel partition information available, such as on loopback devices,
320 the 'disk=' specification may include paritition start information;
325 bios=0x80 # use this BIOS code
326 max-partitions=7 # declare partitionable
327 paritition=/dev/loop1
328 start=63 # offset from sector 0
329 paritition=/dev/loop2
330 start=102400 # offset from sector 0
334 .BI "disktab=" <disktab-file>
335 Specifies the name of the disk parameter table.
336 The map installer looks for
338 if `disktab' is omitted. The use of disktabs is discouraged.
340 .BI "el-torito-bootable-CD"
341 Flag second stage loader to terminate disk emulation when booting
342 from an El Torito Bootable CD. This option is used by the
343 \fBmkrescue\fP utility when the "\-\-iso" switch is specified.
346 This allows lilo to adjust 3D addresses in partition tables. Each
347 partition entry contains a 3D (cylinder/head/sector) and a linear
348 address of the first and the last sector of the partition. If a
349 partition is not track-aligned and if certain other operating systems
350 (e.g. PC/MS-DOS) are using the same disk, they may change the
351 3D address. lilo can store its boot sector only on partitions where
352 both address types correspond. lilo re-adjusts incorrect 3D start
353 addresses if `fix-table' is set.
355 WARNING: This does not guarantee that other operating systems may
356 not attempt to reset the address later. It is also possible that this
357 change has other, unexpected side-effects. The correct fix is to
358 re-partition the drive with a program that does align partitions to
359 tracks. Also, with some disks (e.g. some large EIDE disks with address
360 translation enabled), under some circumstances, it may even be
361 unavoidable to have conflicting partition table entries.
363 .BI "force-backup=" <backup-file>
364 Operation is identical to \fBbackup=\fP above, except an existing backup
365 file is unconditionally overwritten if it exists.
368 Force disk addressing which is compatible with older versions of LILO.
369 Geometric addressing uses cylinder/head/sector addresses, and is limited to
370 disk cylinders up to 1023. If inaccessible cylinders are referenced,
371 diagnostics will be issued at boot-install time, rather than boot-time.
372 With a newer BIOS, use of 'lba32' is recommended.
375 tells lilo to ignore corrupt partition tables.
377 .BI "install=" <user-interface>
378 Selects the user interface which will be seen at boot time. One of the
379 following three options may be specified: \fBtext\fP, \fBmenu\fP, or
380 \fBbmp\fP. The traditional LILO interface is `text'; but `menu' is now the
381 default, unless the configuration file contains the `bitmap='
382 specification. The \fItext\fP interface is strictly a command-line
383 interface as though the console were a dumb terminal. The \fImenu\fP
384 interface is a text-based screen of the boot choices, with the option to
385 enter additional command line parameters. And the \fIbmp\fP interface is a
386 menu presented against a graphic screen, specified as a 640x480 BitMaP file
387 of 16 or 256 colors. (See the 'lilo \-E' switch for editing options).
389 (Prior to LILO version 22.3, `install=' specified the user interface as
390 a file in the `/boot' directory.)
393 Normally any initial ramdisk (initrd) loaded with a kernel is loaded as
394 high in memory as possible, but never above 15Mb. This is due to a BIOS
395 limitation on older systems. On newer systems, this option enables using
396 memory above 15Mb (up to a kernel imposed limit, around 768Mb) for
397 passing the initrd to the kernel. The presence of this option merely
398 indicates that your system does not have the old BIOS limitation.
400 This switch (or its absence) is not passed to the kernel, and does not
401 in any way affect the
402 amount of physical memory which it will use. (See the
403 kernel documentation for the kernel command line parameter
404 "mem=" for limiting the memory used by the kernel.)
407 Generate 32-bit Logical Block Addresses instead of cylinder/head/sector
408 addresses. If the BIOS supports packet addressing, then packet calls will be
409 used to access the disk. This allows booting from any partition on disks
410 with more than 1024 cylinders.
411 If the BIOS does not support packet addressing, then 'lba32' addresses are
412 translated to cylinder/head/sector ('geometric'), just as for 'linear'.
414 references are retained in C:H:S form. Use of 'lba32' is recommended on
415 all post-1998 systems. Beginning with LILO version 22, 'lba32' is the
416 default disk addressing scheme.
419 Generate 24-bit linear sector addresses instead of cylinder/head/sector
420 (geometric) addresses. Linear addresses are translated at run time to
421 geometric addresses, and are limited to cylinders <= 1023. When using
422 `linear' with large disks,
424 may generate references to inaccessible disk cylinders. 'lba32' avoids
425 many of these pitfalls with its use of packet addressing, but requires a
426 recent BIOS (post-1998). The 'linear' option is considered obsolete,
427 and its use is strongly discouraged.
430 Enables automatic recording of boot command lines as the defaults
431 for the following boots. This way, lilo "locks" on a choice until it is
435 The per-image password option `mandatory' (see below) applies to all images.
437 .BI "map=" <map-file>
438 Specifies the location of the map file. If `map' is omitted, the file
442 On machines with a pre-1998 BIOS, the EDD bios extensions which are required
443 to support "lba32" disk sector addressing may not be present. In this case,
444 the boot-loader will fall back automatically to "geometric" addressing; this
445 fall back situation, or the specific use of "geometric" or "linear"
446 addressing, will require the map file to be located within the first 1024
447 cylinders of the disk drive. This BIOS limitation is not present on
448 post-1998 systems, most of which support the newer EDD disk BIOS calls.
450 .BI "menu-title=" <title-string>
451 Specifies the title line (up to 37 characters) for the boot menu. This
452 title replaces the default "LILO Boot Menu" title string. If
454 is not installed as the boot loader (see
456 option), then this line has no effect.
458 .BI "menu-scheme=" <color-scheme>
459 The default color scheme of the boot menu may be overridden on VGA displays
460 using this option. (The color scheme of MDA displays is fixed.)
463 string is of the form:
466 <text>:<highlight>:<border>:<title>
469 where each entry is two characters which specify a
470 foreground color and a background color. Only the first entry is
471 required. The default highlight is the reverse of the text color; and the
472 default border and title colors are the text color.
473 Colors are specified using the characters \fBkbgcrmyw\fP, for blac\fBK\fP,
474 \fBB\fPlue, \fBG\fPreen, \fBC\fPyan, \fBR\fPed,
475 \fBM\fPagenta, \fBY\fPellow, and \fBW\fPhite: upper case for
476 intense (fg only), lower case for dim.
477 Legal color-scheme strings would be
480 menu-scheme=Wm intense white on magenta
481 menu-scheme=wr:bw:wr:Yr the LILO default
482 menu-scheme=Yk:kw bright yellow on black
487 is not installed as the boot loader, then this line has no effect.
489 .BI "message=" <message-file>
490 specifies a file containing a message that is displayed before
491 the boot prompt. No message is displayed while waiting
492 for a shifting key after printing "LILO ". In the message, the FF
493 character ([Ctrl L]) clears the local screen. This is undesirable when
494 the \fImenu\fP boot loader is installed.
495 The size of the message
496 file is limited to 65535 bytes. The map file has to be rebuilt if the
497 message file is changed or moved. 'message=' and 'bitmap=' are mutually
502 Disables pre-loading of the internal device cache. May be needed for
503 Linux distributions which use non-standard device naming conventions;
504 e.g., when the first IDE disk is not `/dev/hda'.
506 .BI "nokbdefault=" <name>
508 The named descriptor is taken to be the default boot image
509 if no IBM-PC keyboard is
510 present. If no serial interface ("serial=") is in use, then any "prompt"
511 keyword and "timeout" value are bypassed, and default booting occurs as
512 specified by "delay=".
513 The keyboard detection codes cannot detect the presence or absence of
514 a newer USB keyboard.
517 Disables the automatic marking of disk volumes which are components of
518 RAID arrays as \fBinaccessible\fP. This allows the user to edit the \fBdisk=\fP
519 / \fBinaccessible\fP declarations into the configuration file himself. Without
520 such declarations, duplicate Volume IDs will be overwritten, leading to
521 confusing situations at boot-time, and possible failure to boot. The use
522 of this keyword is generally not necessary.
525 Disables warnings about possible future dangers.
528 The per-image option `optional' (see below) applies to all images.
530 .BI "password=" <password>
531 The per-image option `password=...' (see below) applies to all images. This
532 option may prevent unattended booting, if the default image is `password='
533 protected at the default level `mandatory', which is a level higher than
537 Automatic booting (see `delay' above) will not take place unless a locked or
538 pre-stored ("lilo \-R") command line is present. Instead, the boot
539 loader will issue the
541 prompt and wait for user input before proceeding (see
544 Unattended default image reboots are impossible if `prompt' is set
545 and `timeout' is not, or the default image is password protected at a higher
546 level than `restricted'.
548 .BI "raid-extra-boot=" <option>
549 This option only has meaning for RAID1 installations.
550 The <option> may be specified as \fInone\fP, \fIauto\fP, \fImbr\fP,
552 or a comma-separated list of devices; e.g., "/dev/hda,/dev/hdc6". Starting
553 with LILO version 22.0, the boot record is normally written to the first
554 sector of the RAID1 partition. On PARALLEL raid sets, no other boot records
556 default action is \fIauto\fP, meaning, automatically generate auxiliary boot
557 records as needed on SKEWED raid sets. \fInone\fP means
558 suppress generation of all auxiliary boot records.
559 \fImbr-only\fP suppresses generation of a boot record on the raid device,
560 and forces compatibility with versions of LILO earlier than version 22.0
561 by writing boot records to all Master Boot Records (MBRs) of all disks which
562 have partitions in the raid set. \fImbr\fP is like \fImbr-only\fP except the
563 boot record on the RAID partition is not suppressed.
564 Use of an explicit list of devices, forces writing of auxiliary boot records
565 only on those devices enumerated, in addition to the boot record on the RAID1
566 device. Since the version 22 RAID1 codes will never automatically write a boot
567 record on the MBR of device 0x80, if such a boot record is desired, this is
568 one way to have it written. Use of \fImbr\fP is the other way to force
569 writing to the MBR of device 0x80.
572 The per-image password option `restricted' (see below) applies to all images.
574 .BI "serial=" <parameters>
575 enables control from a serial line. The specified serial port is
576 initialized and the boot loader is accepting input from it and from
577 the PC's keyboard. Sending a break on the serial line corresponds to
578 pressing a shift key on the console in order to get the boot loader's
580 All boot images should be password-protected if the serial access is
581 less secure than access to the console, e.g. if the line is connected
582 to a modem. The parameter string has the following syntax:
585 <port>[,<bps>[<parity>[<bits>]]]
588 <port>: the number of the serial port, zero-based. 0 corresponds to
589 COM1 alias /dev/ttyS0, etc. All four ports can be used (if present).
591 <bps>: the baud rate of the serial port. The following baud rates are
592 supported: 110, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2400(default), 4800, 9600, plus the
593 extended rates 19200, 38400, and 57600(56000). 115200 is allowed, but may
594 not work with all COMx port hardware.
596 <parity>: the parity used on the serial line. The boot loader ignores input
597 parity and strips the 8th bit. The following (upper or lower case)
598 characters are used to describe the parity: "n" for no parity, "e"
599 for even parity and "o" for odd parity.
601 <bits>: the number of bits in a character. Only 7 and 8 bits are
602 supported. Default is 8 if parity is "none", 7 if parity is "even"
605 If `serial' is set, the value of `delay' is automatically raised to 20.
607 Example: "serial=0,2400n8" initializes COM1 with the default parameters.
610 This option specifies that boot images or 'other's are to be selected and
611 launched with a single keystroke. Selection is based upon the first
612 character of each name, which must be unique. This option should not be
613 used with the menu or bitmap user interface ("install=").
615 .BI "static-BIOS-codes"
616 Causes the operation of the boot installer and boot loader to bypass the
617 use of Volume-ID information, and to revert to a mode of operation of
618 versions of LILO from 22.4 backward. With Volume-ID booting (22.5 and later),
620 of disks are determined at boot time, not install time; hence they may
621 be switched around, either by adding or removing disk(s) from the hardware
622 configuration, or by using a BIOS menu to select the boot device.
625 this option, BIOS codes of disks MUST be correctly specified at install
626 time; either guessed correctly by LILO (which often fails on
627 mixed IDE/SCSI systems), or explicitly specified with 'disk=/dev/XXX
628 bios=0xYY' statements. The use of this option precludes
629 any activity which may switch around the BIOS codes assigned to particular
630 disk devices, as noted above.
632 In general, this option should
633 never be used, except as a bug workaround.
635 .BI "suppress-boot-time-BIOS-data"
636 This global option suppresses the boot-time real mode collection of BIOS data
637 on systems which hang on certain BIOS calls. It is equivalent to using the
638 boot-time switch 'nobd'.
640 This option defeats the disk volume recognition and BIOS device code
641 detection features of LILO on systems with more than one disk. Thus the use
642 of this option will produce a strong cautionary message,
643 which cannot be suppressed.
645 .BI "timeout=" <tsecs>
646 sets a timeout (in tenths of a second) for keyboard input at the
648 prompt. "timeout" only has meaning if "prompt" is mentioned.
649 If no key is pressed for the specified time, the default image is
650 automatically booted. The default timeout is infinite.
653 (22.6) Alters the operation of the "timeout" parameter in a manner which
655 noisy serial lines. Each typed (or noise) character restarts the "timeout"
656 timer and a timeout will always boot the default descriptor, even if noise
657 characters have appeared on the input line.
659 .BI "verbose=" <number>
660 Turns on lots of progress reporting. Higher numbers give more verbose
661 output. If \-v is additionally specified on the lilo command line,
662 the level is increased accordingly. The maximum verbosity level is 5.
664 .BI "vmdefault=" <name>
665 The named boot image is used as the default boot if booting in "virtual"
666 mode with a virtual monitor, such as VMware(tm). Thus a real mode boot and
667 a virtual mode boot can be made to have different default boot images.
671 Additionally, the kernel configuration parameters
672 .BR append ", " ramdisk ", " read-only ", " read-write ", " root
675 can be set in the global options section. They are used as defaults
676 if they aren't specified in the configuration sections of the
677 respective kernel images.
679 .SH "PER-IMAGE SECTION"
680 A per-image section starts with either a line
683 \fBimage=\fP\fI<pathname>\fP
686 to indicate a file or device containing the boot image of a Linux
690 \fBother=\fP\fI<device>\fP
693 to indicate an arbitrary system to boot.
696 In the former case, if an \fBimage\fP line specifies booting
697 from a device, then one has to indicate the range of sectors to be mapped
701 \fBrange=\fP\fI<start>-<end>\fP
702 \fBrange=\fP\fI<start>+<nsec>\fP
703 \fBrange=\fP\fI<sector>\fP
706 In the third case, 'nsec=1' is assumed.
708 .SH "KERNEL OPTIONS (image=)"
709 If the booted image is a Linux kernel, then one may pass
710 command line parameters to this kernel.
712 .BI "addappend=" <string>
713 The kernel parameters of this string are concatenated to the
717 The string of addappend must be enclosed within double quotes.
718 Usually, the previous
720 will set parameters common to all kernels by appearing in the global
721 section of the configuration file and
723 will be used to add local parameter(s) to an individual image.
724 The addappend option may be used only once per "image=" section.
726 If the string is a very long line, this line can be divided
727 in more lines using "\\" as last character of a line, e.g.
730 addappend="noapic acpi=off pci=usepirqmask \\
731 pnpbios=off pnpacpi=off noisapnp"
734 .BI "append=" <string>
735 Appends the options specified to the parameter line passed to the kernel.
736 This is typically used to specify hardware parameters that can't be
737 entirely auto-detected or for which probing may be dangerous. Multiple
738 kernel parameters are separated by a blank space, and the string must be
739 enclosed in double quotes. A local append= appearing withing an image=
740 section overrides any
741 global append= appearing in the global section of the configuration file.
742 The append option may be used only once per "image="
743 section. To concatenate parameter strings, use "addappend=". Example:
746 append="mem=96M hd=576,64,32 console=ttyS1,9600"
749 If the string is a very long line, this line can be divided in more lines
750 using "\\" as last character of a line. See example of addappend option.
753 Specifies the initial ramdisk image to be loaded with the kernel. The
754 image will contain modules needed at boot time, such as network and scsi
755 drivers. See man pages for \fImkinitrd(8)\fP.
757 .BI "literal=" <string>
758 Like `append', but removes all other options (e.g. setting of the root
759 device). 'literal' overrides all 'append' and 'addappend' options.
760 Because vital options can be removed unintentionally with `literal',
761 this option cannot be set in the global options section.
763 .BI "ramdisk=" <size>
764 This specifies the size (e.g., "4096k") of the optional RAM disk. A value of
765 zero indicates that no RAM disk should be created. If this variable is
766 omitted, the RAM disk size configured into the boot image is used.
769 This specifies that the root file system should be mounted read-only.
770 It may be specified as a global option.
771 Typically, the system startup procedure re-mounts the root
772 file system read-write later (e.g. after fsck'ing it).
775 This specifies that the root file system should be mounted read-write.
776 It may be specified as a global option.
778 .BI "root=" <root-device>
779 This specifies the device that should be mounted as root.
780 It may be specified as a global option.
783 is used, the root device is set to the device on which the root file
784 system is currently mounted. If the root has been changed with \-r ,
785 the respective device is used. If the variable `root' is omitted,
786 the root device setting contained in the running kernel image is used.
787 Warning: This can induce to an unbootable system!
789 The root filesystem may also be specified by a
793 directive, as in '/etc/fstab'. In this case, the argument to
795 must be enclosed in quotation marks, to avoid a syntax error on the second
800 root="UUID=5472fd8e-9089-4256-bcaa-ceab4f01a439"
803 Note: The command line
805 parameter passed to the kernel will be: 'root=LABEL=MyDisk'; i.e., without
806 the quotation marks. If the
808 parameter is passed from the boot time
810 prompt, no quotes are used. The quotes are only there to satisfy the
811 requirements of the boot-installer parser, which treats an equal sign as
812 an operator. The kernel command line parser is very much simpler, and
813 must not see any quotation marks. Simply stated, only use the quotation
818 This specifies the VGA text mode that should be selected when
820 It may be specified as a global option.
821 The following values are recognized (case is ignored):
824 select normal 80x25 text mode.
826 .BR extended " (or " ext ):
827 select 80x50 text mode.
830 stop and ask for user input (at boot time).
832 <number>: use the corresponding text mode (can specify the number in decimal
833 or in hex with the usual '0x' convention). A list of available modes
834 can be obtained by booting with
836 and pressing [Enter].
838 If this variable is omitted, the VGA mode setting contained in the
839 kernel image is used. (And that is set at compile time using the
840 SVGA_MODE variable in the kernel Makefile, and can later be changed with
841 the rdev(8) program.)
843 .SH "ALTERNATE SYSTEM (other=)"
845 Used to load systems other than Linux. The `other = <device>' specifies
846 the boot sector of an alternate system contained on a device or disk
847 partition; e.g., DOS on, say, `/dev/hda2', or a floppy on `/dev/fd0'.
848 In the case of booting another system there are these options:
850 .BI "loader=" <chain-loader>
851 This specifies the chain loader that should be used. It may also be
852 specified as a global option.
855 is used. This chain loader passes partition and drive information in the
856 boot sector it loads only to DOS on FAT12 or FAT16, Windows on FAT16 or
861 .BI "table=" <device>
862 This specifies the device that contains the partition table.
863 The boot loader will pass default partition information to the booted
864 operating system if this variable is omitted. (Some operating systems
865 have other means to determine from which partition they have been booted.
866 E.g., MS-DOS usually stores the geometry of the boot disk or partition
868 Note that /sbin/lilo must be re-run if a partition table mapped referenced
869 with `table' is modified.
872 This keyword starts a section which describes how primary partition IDs are
873 changed, and how primary partitions are activated and deactivated. If
875 is omitted, change rules are generated as though the
877 keyword were specified. The keyword
879 alone, without any rules following, will suppress automatic change-rules.
896 specifies that when primary partition /dev/hda2 is booted, automatic
897 change-rules will be in effect; plus, partition 1, a DOS12 partition, will
898 be set hidden, and deactivated. In addition, partition 2, will be set
899 normal, and activated. Activation sets the boot-flag in the partition
902 keyword may conflict with default change rules, so the
904 lines above may be redundant.
906 .BI "boot-as=" "<bios>"
907 This option (LILO version 22.5.1) indicates the BIOS device code which must
908 be assigned to the specified drive in order for the "other=" operating
909 system to boot. If the chain loader detects that another BIOS device code
910 is assigned to this disk, then it will dynamically swap the assigned device
911 code with the specified device code.
913 This option is easier to specify than "map-drive=" and more general than
914 "master-boot" in that any device code may be specified. Unlike
915 "map-drive=", the determination whether to swap device codes is made at boot
916 time, not install time. This is advantageous on systems where the BIOS
917 presents a boot menu of devices, and will map disks to devices in different
918 ways, depending upon the BIOS boot selection.
920 This option may be specified as a global option, in which case it applies to
921 all "other=" sections unless overridden with a specific "master-boot" option.
922 If one of "boot-as=" or "master-boot" is specified as a global option, it is
923 better to specify "master-boot" as the global option, as it will not
924 interfere with floppy disk BIOS device codes; "boot-as=" is then used as a
925 local option to override "master-boot" as necessary.
928 This flag (LILO version 22.5) indicates a DOS/Windows or other
929 system which will only boot from BIOS device 0x80, the "C:" drive, or BIOS
930 device 0, the A: drive. When this
931 flag is specified, if this drive is not assigned device code 0x80 or 0 by the
932 BIOS, then the chain loader will dynamically swap the device code actually
933 assigned with device code 0x80 or 0 to make this drive appear
934 to be the first hard or floppy drive, "C:" or "A:".
936 This flag is easier to use than "map-drive=" (see below), and is preferred,
937 if simple forcing of device code 0x80 is all that is required. It is also
938 more general, in that the necessity to swap BIOS device codes is determined
939 dynamically at boot-time, not at boot install-time, as with "map-drive=".
940 It is slightly more powerful than "boot-as=", in that the device code which
941 is assigned, 0 or 0x80, is determined dynamically.
943 This option may be specified as a global option, in which case it applies to
944 all "other=" sections unless overridden with a specific "boot-as=" option.
946 .BI "map-drive=" <num>
947 Maps BIOS calls for the specified drive to the device code specified on the
948 next line as \fBto=\fP<num>. This mapping is useful for booting operating
949 systems, such as DOS, from the second hard drive. The following, swaps the
959 This option is largely
960 rendered obsolete by "boot-as=", introduced with LILO version 22.5.
963 Do not access the boot sector at map creation time. This disables
964 some sanity checks, including a partition table check. If the boot
965 sector is on a fixed-format floppy disk device, using UNSAFE avoids the
966 need to put a readable disk into the drive when running the map
967 installer. If the boot sector is on a hard drive, the BIOS device code
968 of the drive will have to be specified explicitly with "disk=/dev/XXXX
969 bios=0x8X inaccessible" in the configuration file.
970 `unsafe' and `table' (explicit or implicit) are mutually incompatible.
972 .SH "COMMON DESCRIPTOR OPTIONS (image= & other=)"
975 .BR image= " and " other=
976 cases, the following options apply.
979 No password is required to boot this image. Used to indicate that the global
980 password does not apply to this `image=' or `other='. See 'password=' below.
983 The boot loader uses the main file name (without its path)
984 of each image specification to identify that image.
985 A different name can be used by setting the variable `label'.
988 A second name for the same entry can be used by specifying an alias.
991 The bitmap graphic (install=bmp) is retained when control is passed to the
992 loaded kernel image, or other= bootloader; i.e., the screen is not
993 blanked to alphanumeric mode before starting the kernel. This feature is
994 considered EXPERIMENTAL, for those users working with startup splash
997 .BI "fallback=" <command-line>
998 Specifies a string that is stored as the default
999 command line if the current image is booted. This is useful when
1000 experimenting with kernels which may crash before allowing interaction
1001 with the system. If using the
1003 option, the next reboot (e.g.
1004 triggered by a manual reset or by a watchdog timer) will load a
1005 different (supposedly stable) kernel. The command line stored by the fallback
1006 mechanism is cleared by removing or changing the default command line
1009 option, which should be a part of the boot startup scripts.
1015 Omit the image if it is not available at map creation time.
1016 It may be specified as a global option.
1017 This is useful to specify test kernels that are not always present.
1019 .BI "password=" <password>
1020 Protect the `image=' or `other=' with a password (or passphrase).
1021 It may be specified as a global option.
1022 The interpretation of the `password=' setting is modified by the words
1023 `mandatory', `restricted', and `bypass' (see below).
1025 The password may be specified in the config-file (less secure) or entered
1026 at the time the boot loader is installed. To request interactive entry of
1027 the password, it should be specified: \fBpassword=""\fP.
1028 Passwords entered interactively are not required to be entered again if the
1029 boot installer is re-run. They are cached, in hashed form, in a companion
1030 file to the config-file, default name: \fB/etc/lilo.conf.crc\fP. If the
1031 config-file is updated, a warning message
1032 will be issued telling you to re-run \fIlilo \-p\fP to force re-creation of the
1033 password cache file.
1036 A password is required to boot this image. This is the default. May be used
1037 on a single `image=' or `other=' to override a different global setting.
1041 The specified descriptor is not bootable if the IBM-PC keyboard is not present.
1042 This option is really only useful if the "serial=" boot terminal is in use.
1043 With no keyboard (and no serial terminal) attached, selecting a boot descriptor
1044 other than the default is impossible.
1050 A password is only required to boot the image if kernel parameters
1051 are specified on the command line (e.g. 'single'). May be used
1052 on a single `image=' or `other=' to override a different global setting.
1055 If booting under a virtual monitor such as VMware(tm), the image with this
1056 label will cause a cautionary warning to be issued at boot time, and user
1057 intervention will be required to continue or to abort the boot process.
1060 If booting under a virtual monitor, the image with this label will not be
1061 displayed as a boot option. The image is only bootable in real mode. See
1068 lilo(8), mkinitrd(8), mknod(1), mkrescue(8), rdev(8).
projects / rrq / maintain_lilo.git / blob