NAME
installboot —
install disk bootstrap
software
SYNOPSIS
installboot |
[-fnv]
[-B s2bno]
[-b s1bno]
[-m
machine]
[-o
options]
[-t
fstype] filesystem
primary
[secondary] |
installboot |
-c [-fnv]
[-m
machine]
[-o
options]
[-t
fstype] filesystem |
installboot |
-e [-fnv]
[-m
machine]
[-o
options] bootstrap |
DESCRIPTION
The
installboot utility installs and removes
NetBSD disk bootstrap software into a file system.
installboot can install
primary into
filesystem, or disable an existing bootstrap in
filesystem.
On some architectures the options of an existing installed bootstrap, or those
of a bootstrap file can be changed. Installing a new primary bootstrap will
reset those options to default values.
Generally,
NetBSD disk bootstrap software consists of
two parts: a “primary” bootstrap program usually written into the
disklabel area of the file system by
installboot, and a
“secondary” bootstrap program that usually resides as an ordinary
file in the file system.
When booting, the primary bootstrap program is loaded and invoked by the
machine's PROM or BIOS. After receiving control of the system it loads and
runs the secondary bootstrap program, which in turn loads and runs the kernel.
The secondary bootstrap may allow control over various boot parameters passed
to the kernel.
Perform the following steps to make a file system bootable:
- Copy the secondary bootstrap (usually
/usr/mdec/boot.MACHINE or
/usr/mdec/boot) to the root directory of the target file
system.
- Use installboot to install the primary
bootstrap program (usually
/usr/mdec/bootxx_FSTYPE) into
filesystem.
The following platforms do not require this step if the primary bootstrap
already exists and the secondary bootstrap file is just being updated:
alpha, amd64, amiga,
i386, pmax, sparc64,
and vax.
The following platform does not require the first step since a single
bootstrap file is used. The single bootstrap is installed like the primary
bootstrap on other platforms: next68k.
The options and arguments recognized by
installboot are as
follows:
-
-
- -B
s2bno
- When hard-coding the blocks of
secondary into primary, start
from block s2bno instead of trying to determine the
block numbers occupied by secondary by examining
filesystem. If this option is supplied,
secondary should refer to an actual secondary
bootstrap (rather than the file name of the one present in
filesystem) so that its size can be determined.
-
-
- -b
s1bno
- Install primary at block number
s1bno instead of the default location for the
machine and file system type. [alpha,
i386/amd64 (bootxx_fat16 only), pmax,
vax]
-
-
- -c
- Clear (remove) any existing bootstrap instead of installing
one.
-
-
- -e
- Edit the options of an existing bootstrap. This can be used
to change the options in bootxx_xxxfs files, raw disk partitions, and the
pxeboot_ia32.bin file. With -v and
without -o, show the current options.
[amd64, i386]
-
-
- -f
- Forces installboot to ignore some
errors.
-
-
- -m
machine
- Use machine as the target machine
type. The default machine is determined from
uname(3) and then
MACHINE
. The following machines are currently
supported by installboot:
alpha,
amd64, amiga,
ews4800mips, hp300,
hppa, i386, landisk,
macppc, news68k,
newsmips, next68k,
pmax, sparc,
sparc64, sun2, sun3,
vax, x68k
-
-
- -n
- Do not write to filesystem.
-
-
- -o
options
- Machine specific installboot options,
comma separated.
Supported options are (with the machines for they are valid in brackets):
-
-
- alphasum
- [alpha] Recalculate and restore the
Alpha checksum. This is the default for
NetBSD/alpha.
-
-
- append
- [alpha, pmax,
vax] Append primary to the end
of filesystem, which must be a regular file in
this case.
-
-
- bootconf
- [amd64, i386]
(Don't) read a “boot.cfg” file.
-
-
- command=<boot
command>
- [amiga] Modify the default boot
command line.
-
-
- console=<console
name>
- [amd64, i386] Set
the console device, <console name> must be one of: pc, com0,
com1, com2, com3, com0kbd, com1kbd, com2kbd, com3kbd or auto.
-
-
- ioaddr=<ioaddr>
- [amd64, i386] Set
the IO address to be used for the console serial port. Defaults to the
IO address used by the system BIOS for the specified port.
-
-
- keymap=<keymap>
- [amd64, i386] Set a
boot time keyboard translation map. Each character in <keymap>
will be replaced by the one following it. For example, an argument of
“zyz” would swap the lowercase letters ‘y’ and
‘z’.
-
-
- modules
- [amd64, i386]
(Don't) load kernel modules.
-
-
- password=<password>
- [amd64, i386] Set
the password which must be entered before the boot menu can be
accessed.
-
-
- resetvideo
- [amd64, i386] Reset
the video before booting.
-
-
- speed=<baud
rate>
- [amd64, i386] Set
the baud rate for the serial console. If a value of zero is specified,
then the current baud rate (set by the BIOS) will be used.
-
-
- sunsum
- [alpha, pmax,
vax] Recalculate and restore the Sun and
NetBSD/sparc compatible checksum.
Note: The existing
NetBSD/sparc disklabel should use no more than
4 partitions.
-
-
- timeout=<seconds>
- [amd64, i386] Set
the timeout before the automatic boot begins to the given number of
seconds.
-
-
- -t
fstype
- Use fstype as the type of
filesystem. The default operation is to attempt to
auto-detect this setting. The following file system types are currently
supported by installboot:
-
-
- ffs
- BSD Fast File System.
-
-
- raid
- Mirrored RAIDframe File System.
-
-
- raw
- ‘Raw’ image. Note: if a platform needs to
hard-code the block offset of the secondary bootstrap, it cannot be
searched for on this file system type, and must be provided with
-B s2bno.
-
-
- -v
- Verbose operation.
-
-
- filesystem
- The path name of the device or file system image that
installboot is to operate on. It is not necessary for
filesystem to be a currently mounted file
system.
-
-
- primary
- The path name of the “primary” boot block to
install. The path name must refer to a file in a file system that is
currently mounted.
-
-
- secondary
- The path name of the “secondary” boot block,
relative to the root of the file system in the device or image specified
by the filesystem argument. Note that this may refer
to a file in a file system that is not mounted. Most systems require
secondary to be in the “root” directory
of the file system, so the leading “/” is
not necessary on secondary.
Only certain combinations of platform (-m
machine) and file system type (-t
fstype) require that the name of the secondary
bootstrap is supplied as secondary, so that
information such as the disk block numbers occupied by the secondary
bootstrap can be stored in the primary bootstrap. These are:
Platform |
File systems |
macppc |
ffs, raw |
news68k |
ffs, raw |
newsmips |
ffs, raw |
sparc |
ffs, raid, raw |
sun2 |
ffs, raw |
sun3 |
ffs, raw |
installboot exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
ENVIRONMENT
installboot uses the following environment variables:
-
-
MACHINE
- Default value for machine, overriding
the result from
uname(3).
FILES
Most
NetBSD ports will contain variations of the
following files:
-
-
- /usr/mdec/bootxx_FSTYPE
- Primary bootstrap for file system type
FSTYPE. Installed into the bootstrap area of the file
system by installboot.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/bootxx_fat16
- Primary bootstrap for MS-DOS FAT16 file
systems. This differs from bootxx_msdos in that it
doesn't require the filesystem to have been initialised with any
‘
reserved sectors
’. It also uses the
information in the ‘Boot Parameter
Block
’ to get the media and filesytem properties. The
‘hidden sectors
’ field of the BPB must
be the offset of the partition in the disk. This can be set using the
-b s1bno option.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv1
- Primary bootstrap for FFSv1 file systems
(the ‘
traditional
’ file system prior
to NetBSD 6.0). Use
dumpfs(8) to confirm the
file system format is FFSv1.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv2
- Primary bootstrap for FFSv2 file systems
(the default file system for some platforms as of NetBSD
6.0). Use dumpfs(8)
to confirm the file system format is FFSv2.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/bootxx_lfsv1
- Primary bootstrap for LFSv1 file
systems.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/bootxx_lfsv2
- Primary bootstrap for LFSv2 file systems
(the default LFS version).
-
-
- /usr/mdec/bootxx_msdos
- Primary bootstrap for MS-DOS FAT file
systems.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/bootxx_ustarfs
- Primary bootstrap for TARFS boot images.
This is used by various install media.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/boot.MACHINE
- Secondary bootstrap for machine type
MACHINE. This should be installed into the file system
before installboot is run.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/boot
- Synonym for
/usr/mdec/boot.MACHINE
-
-
- /boot.MACHINE
- Installed copy of secondary bootstrap for machine type
MACHINE.
-
-
- /boot
- Installed copy of secondary bootstrap. Searched for by the
primary bootstrap if /boot.MACHINE is
not found.
NetBSD/evbmips files
The
NetBSD/evbmips bootstrap files currently only apply
to the SBMIPS kernels for the SiByte/Broadcom BCM1250 and BCM1480 CPUs.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/sbmips/boot
- NetBSD/evbmips secondary bootstrap
for FFSv1, FFSv2,
LFSv1, and LFSv2.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/sbmips/bootxx_cd9660
- SBMIPS primary bootstrap for ISO 9660 file system.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/sbmips/bootxx_ffs
- SBMIPS primary bootstrap for FFSv1 and FFSv2 file
system.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/sbmips/bootxx_lfs
- SBMIPS primary bootstrap for LFSv1 and LFSv2 file
system.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/sbmips/netboot
- SBMIPS primary bootstrap for network root.
Note that installboot does not currently support evbmips
directly.
NetBSD/hppa files
-
-
- /usr/mdec/xxboot
- NetBSD/hppa primary bootstrap for
FFSv1, FFSv2, LFSv1,
and LFSv2.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/cdboot
- NetBSD/hppa primary bootstrap for
ISO 9660 file system.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/sdboot
- Synonym for /usr/mdec/xxboot
NetBSD/macppc files
-
-
- /usr/mdec/bootxx
- NetBSD/macppc primary
bootstrap.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/ofwboot
- NetBSD/macppc secondary
bootstrap.
-
-
- /ofwboot
- Installed copy of NetBSD/macppc
secondary bootstrap.
NetBSD/next68k files
-
-
- /usr/mdec/boot
- NetBSD/next68k bootstrap.
NetBSD/sparc64 files
-
-
- /usr/mdec/bootblk
- NetBSD/sparc64 primary
bootstrap.
-
-
- /usr/mdec/ofwboot
- NetBSD/sparc64 secondary
bootstrap.
-
-
- /ofwboot
- Installed copy of NetBSD/sparc64
secondary bootstrap.
EXAMPLES
common
Verbosely install the Berkeley Fast File System primary bootstrap on to disk
‘sd0’:
installboot -v /dev/rsd0c
/usr/mdec/bootxx_ffs
Note: the “whole disk” partition (c on some ports, d on others) is
used here, since the a partition probably is already opened (mounted as
/), so
installboot would not be able to
access it.
Remove the primary bootstrap from disk ‘sd1’:
installboot -c
/dev/rsd1c
NetBSD/amiga
Modify the command line to change the default from "netbsd -ASn2" to
"netbsd -S":
installboot -m amiga -o
command="netbsd -S" /dev/rsd0a /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffs
NetBSD/ews4800mips
Install the System V Boot File System primary bootstrap on to disk
‘sd0’, with the secondary bootstrap
‘
/boot’ already present in the SysVBFS partition
on the disk:
installboot /dev/rsd0c
/usr/mdec/bootxx_bfs
NetBSD/i386 and
NetBSD/amd64
Install new boot blocks on an existing
FFSv2 mounted root file
system on ‘wd0’, setting the timeout to five seconds, after
copying a new secondary bootstrap:
cp /usr/mdec/boot
/boot
installboot -v -o timeout=5
/dev/rwd0a /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv2
Note: Pre
NetBSD 6.0 systems used
FFSv1 file
systems on these platforms; double check with
dumpfs(8) to be sure to use the
correct secondary bootstrap.
Create a bootable CD-ROM with an ISO 9660 file system for an i386 system with a
serial console:
mkdir cdrom
cp
sys/arch/i386/compile/mykernel/netbsd cdrom/netbsd
cp /usr/mdec/boot
cdrom/boot
cp /usr/mdec/bootxx_cd9660
bootxx
installboot -o
console=com0,speed=19200 -m i386 -e bootxx
makefs -t cd9660 -o
'bootimage=i386;bootxx,no-emul-boot' boot.iso cdrom
Create a bootable floppy disk with an FFSv1 file system for a small custom
kernel (note: bigger kernels needing multiple disks are handled with the
ustarfs file system):
newfs -s 1440k
/dev/rfd0a
Note: Ignore the
warnings that
newfs(8) displays;
it can not write a disklabel, which is not a problem for a floppy disk.
mount /dev/fd0a
/mnt
cp /usr/mdec/boot
/mnt/boot
gzip -9 <
sys/arch/i386/compile/mykernel/netbsd > /mnt/netbsd.gz
umount /mnt
installboot -v /dev/rfd0a
/usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv1
Create a bootable FAT file system on ‘wd1a’, which should have the
same offset and size as a FAT primary partition in the Master Boot Record
(MBR):
newfs_msdos -r 16
/dev/rwd1a
Notes: The
-r 16 is to reserve space for the
primary bootstrap.
newfs_msdos(8) will display
an “MBR type” such as ‘
1
’,
‘
4
’, or
‘
6
’; the MBR partition type of the
appropriate primary partition should be changed to this value.
mount -t msdos /dev/wd1a
/mnt
cp /usr/mdec/boot
/mnt/boot
cp path/to/kernel
/mnt/netbsd
umount /mnt
installboot -t raw /dev/rwd1a
/usr/mdec/bootxx_msdos
Make the existing FAT16 filesystem on ‘sd0e’ bootable. This can be
used to make USB memory bootable provided it has 512 byte sectors and that the
manufacturer correctly initialised the file system.
mount -t msdos /dev/sd0e
/mnt
cp /usr/mdec/boot
/mnt/boot
cp path/to/kernel
/mnt/netbsd
umount /mnt
installboot /dev/rsd0e
/usr/mdec/bootxx_fat16
It may also be necessary to use
fdisk to make the device
itself bootable.
Switch the existing installed bootstrap to use a serial console without
reinstalling or altering other options such as timeout.
installboot -e -o console=com0
/dev/rwd0a
NetBSD/macppc
Note the
installboot utility is only required for macppc
machines with OpenFirmware version 2 to boot. OpenFirmware 3 cannot load
bootblocks specified in the Apple partition map.
Install the Berkeley Fast File System primary bootstrap on to disk
‘wd0’:
installboot /dev/rwd0c
/usr/mdec/bootxx /ofwboot
The secondary
NetBSD/macppc bootstrap is located in
/usr/mdec/ofwboot.
The primary bootstrap requires the raw
ofwboot for the
secondary bootstrap, not
ofwboot.xcf, which is used for the
OpenFirmware to load kernels.
NetBSD/next68k
Install the bootstrap on to disk ‘sd0’:
installboot /dev/rsd0c
/usr/mdec/boot
NetBSD/pmax
Install the Berkeley Fast File System primary bootstrap on to disk
‘sd0’:
installboot /dev/rsd0c
/usr/mdec/bootxx_ffs
NetBSD/pmax requires that this file system starts at
block 0 of the disk.
Install the ISO 9660 primary bootstrap in the file
/tmp/cd-image:
installboot -m pmax /tmp/cd-image
/usr/mdec/bootxx_cd9660
Make an ISO 9660 filesystem in the file
/tmp/cd-image and
install the ISO 9660 primary bootstrap in the filesystem, where the source
directory for the ISO 9660 filesystem contains a kernel, the primary bootstrap
bootxx_cd9660 and the secondary bootstrap
boot.pmax:
mkisofs -o /tmp/cd-image -a -l -v
iso-source-dir
...
48 51 iso-source-dir/bootxx_cd9660
...
installboot -b `expr 48 \* 4`
/tmp/cd-image /usr/mdec/bootxx_cd9660
NetBSD/sparc
Install the Berkeley Fast File System primary bootstrap on to disk
‘sd0’, with the secondary bootstrap
‘
/boot’ already present:
installboot /dev/rsd0c
/usr/mdec/bootxx /boot
NetBSD/sparc64
Install the primary bootstrap on to disk ‘sd0’:
installboot /dev/rsd0c
/usr/mdec/bootblk
The secondary
NetBSD/sparc64 bootstrap is located in
/usr/mdec/ofwboot.
NetBSD/sun2 and
NetBSD/sun3
Install the Berkeley Fast File System primary bootstrap on to disk
‘sd0’, with the secondary bootstrap
‘
/boot’ already present:
installboot /dev/rsd0c
/usr/mdec/bootxx /boot
SEE ALSO
uname(3),
boot(8),
disklabel(8),
dumpfs(8),
fdisk(8),
pxeboot(8)
HISTORY
This implementation of
installboot appeared in
NetBSD 1.6.
AUTHORS
The machine independent portion of this implementation of
installboot was written by
Luke
Mewburn. The following people contributed to the various machine
dependent back-ends:
Simon Burge (pmax),
Chris Demetriou (alpha),
Matthew
Fredette (sun2, sun3),
Matthew Green (sparc64),
Ross Harvey (alpha),
Michael
Hitch (amiga),
Paul Kranenburg (sparc),
David Laight (i386),
Christian
Limpach (next68k),
Luke Mewburn (macppc),
Matt Thomas (vax),
Izumi
Tsutsui (news68k, newsmips), and
UCHIYAMA
Yasushi (ews4800mips).
BUGS
There are not currently primary bootstraps to support all file systems types
which are capable of being the root file system.
If a disk has been converted from
FFS to
RAID without the contents of the disk erased, then the
original
FFS installation may be auto-detected instead of
the
RAID installation. In this case, the
-t raid option must be provided.
NetBSD/alpha
The
NetBSD/alpha primary bootstrap program can only load
the secondary bootstrap program from file systems starting at the beginning
(block 0) of disks. Similarly, the secondary bootstrap program can only load
kernels from file systems starting at the beginning of disks.
The size of primary bootstrap programs is restricted to 7.5KB, even though some
file systems (e.g., ISO 9660) are able to accommodate larger ones.
NetBSD/hp300
The disk must have a boot partition large enough to hold the bootstrap code.
Currently the primary bootstrap must be a LIF format file.
NetBSD/i386 and
NetBSD/amd64
The bootstrap must be installed in the
NetBSD partition
that starts at the beginning of the mbr partition. If that is a valid
filesystem and contains the
/boot program then it will be
used as the root filesystem, otherwise the ‘a’ partition will be
booted.
The size of primary bootstrap programs is restricted to 8KB, even though some
file systems (e.g., ISO 9660) are able to accommodate larger ones.
NetBSD/macppc
Due to restrictions in
installboot and the secondary bootstrap
implementation, file systems where kernels exist must start at the beginning
of disks.
Currently,
installboot doesn't recognize an existing Apple
partition map on the disk and always writes a faked map to make disks
bootable.
The
NetBSD/macppc bootstrap program can't load kernels
from
FFSv2 partitions.
NetBSD/next68k
The size of bootstrap programs is restricted to the free space before the file
system at the beginning of the disk minus 8KB.
NetBSD/pmax
The
NetBSD/pmax secondary bootstrap program can only
load kernels from file systems starting at the beginning of disks.
The size of primary bootstrap programs is restricted to 7.5KB, even though some
file systems (e.g., ISO 9660) are able to accommodate larger ones.
NetBSD/sun2 and
NetBSD/sun3
The
NetBSD/sun2 and
NetBSD/sun3
secondary bootstrap program can only load kernels from file systems starting
at the beginning of disks.
NetBSD/vax
The
NetBSD/vax secondary bootstrap program can only load
kernels from file systems starting at the beginning of disks.
The size of primary bootstrap programs is restricted to 7.5KB, even though some
file systems (e.g., ISO 9660) are able to accommodate larger ones.