installboot(8)
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INSTALLBOOT(8) NetBSD System Manager's Manual INSTALLBOOT(8)
NAME
installboot - install disk bootstrap software
SYNOPSIS
installboot [-nv] [-m machine] [-o options] [-t fstype] [-b s1bno]
[-B s2bno] filesystem primary [secondary]
installboot -c [-nv] [-m machine] [-o options] [-t fstype] filesystem
DESCRIPTION
The installboot utility installs and removes NetBSD disk bootstrap soft-
ware into a file system. installboot can install primary into
filesystem, or disable an existing bootstrap in filesystem.
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.
Some platform (-m machine) and file system type (-t fstype) combinations
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, raw
sun2 ffs, raw
sun3 ffs, raw
Perform the following steps to make a file system bootable:
1. Copy the secondary bootstrap (usually /usr/mdec/boot.MACHINE or
/usr/mdec/boot) to the root directory of the target file system.
2. 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, pmax, sparc64, and vax.
The options recognized by installboot are as follows:
-b s1bno Install primary at block number s1bno instead of the default
location for the machine and file system type. [alpha, pmax,
vax]
-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.
-c Clear (remove) any existing bootstrap instead of installing
one.
-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, macppc, news68k, newsmips, pmax, sparc, sparc64,
sun2, sun3, vax
-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 [pmax, vax] Append primary to the end of
filesystem, which must be a regular file in
this case.
sunsum [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.
-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.
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.
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/boot.MACHINE Secondary bootstrap for machine type MACHINE.
This should be installed into the file system
before installboot is run.
/boot.MACHINE Installed copy of secondary bootstrap for ma-
chine type MACHINE.
/boot Installed copy of secondary bootstrap. Searched
for by the primary bootstrap if /boot.MACHINE is
not found.
NetBSD/sparc64 files
/usr/mdec/bootblk NetBSD/sparc64 primary bootstrap.
/usr/mdec/ofwboot NetBSD/sparc64 secondary bootstrap.
/ofwboot Installed copy of NetBSD/sparc64 secondary boot-
strap.
EXAMPLES
common
Verbosely install the Berkeley Fast File System primary bootstrap on to
disk `sd0':
installboot -v /dev/rsd0c /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffs
Remove the primary bootstrap from disk `sd1':
installboot -c /dev/rsd1c
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 Berkeley Fast File System primary bootstrap on to disk `wd0':
installboot /dev/rwd0c /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)
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 (al-
pha), Paul Kranenburg (sparc), Luke Mewburn (macppc), Matt Thomas (vax),
and Izumi Tsutsui (news68k, newsmips).
BUGS
There are not currently primary bootstraps to support all file systems
types which are capable of being the root file system.
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 ker-
nels 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/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.
NetBSD 1.6 June 30, 2002 4
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