boot(8) - NetBSD Manual Pages

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BOOT(8)                 NetBSD System Manager's Manual                 BOOT(8)


NAME

     boot -- system bootstrapping procedures


DESCRIPTION

     This document provides information on using common features in the NetBSD
     boot loader.  Additional information may be found in architecture-spe-
     cific boot(8) manual pages.

     In the native NetBSD boot protocol, options are passed from the boot
     loader to the kernel via flag bits in the boothowto variable, which is
     interpreted by the kernel in much the same way as the howto argument
     passed to the reboot(2) system call.

   Interactive mode
     In interactive mode, the boot loader will present a prompt, allowing
     input of these commands:

         boot [device:][filename] [-1234abcdmqsvxz]
               The default device will be set to the disk that the boot loader
               was loaded from.  To boot from an alternate disk, the full name
               of the device should be given at the prompt.  device is of the
               form xd [N[x]] where xd is the device from which to boot, N is
               the unit number, and x is the partition letter.

               The following list of supported devices may vary from installa-
               tion to installation:

               hd      Hard disks.
               fd      Floppy drives.

               The default filename is netbsd; if the boot loader fails to
               successfully open that image, it then tries netbsd.gz (expected
               to be a kernel image compressed by gzip), followed by
               netbsd.old, netbsd.old.gz, onetbsd, and finally onetbsd.gz.
               Alternate system images can be loaded by just specifying the
               name of the image.

               Options are:

               -1   Sets the machine-dependent flag RB_MD1 in boothowto.

               -2   Sets the machine-dependent flag RB_MD2 in boothowto.

               -3   Sets the machine-dependent flag RB_MD3 in boothowto.

               -4   Sets the machine-dependent flag RB_MD4 in boothowto.

               -a   Sets the RB_ASKNAME flag in boothowto.  This causes the
                    kernel to prompt for the root file system device, the sys-
                    tem crash dump device, and the path to init(8).

               -b   Sets the RB_HALT flag in boothowto.  This causes subse-
                    quent reboot attempts to halt instead of rebooting.

               -c   Sets the RB_USERCONF flag in boothowto.  This causes the
                    kernel to enter the userconf(4) device configuration man-
                    ager as soon as possible during the boot.  userconf(4)
                    allows devices to be enabled or disabled, and allows
                    device locators (such as hardware addresses or bus num-
                    bers) to be modified before the kernel attempts to attach
                    the devices.

               -d   Sets the RB_KDB flag in boothowto.  Requests the kernel to
                    enter debug mode, in which it waits for a connection from
                    a kernel debugger; see ddb(4).

               -m   Sets the RB_MINIROOT flag in boothowto.  Informs the ker-
                    nel that a mini-root file system is present in memory.

               -q   Sets the AB_QUIET flag in boothowto.  Boot the system in
                    quiet mode.

               -s   Sets the RB_SINGLE flag in boothowto.  Boot the system in
                    single-user mode.

               -v   Sets the AB_VERBOSE flag in boothowto.  Boot the system in
                    verbose mode.

               -x   Sets the AB_DEBUG flag in boothowto.  Boot the system with
                    debug messages enabled.

               -z   Sets the AB_SILENT flag in boothowto.  Boot the system in
                    silent mode.

         consdev dev
               Immediately switch the console to the specified device dev and
               reprint the banner.  dev must be one of pc, com0, com1, com2,
               com3, com0kbd, com1kbd, com2kbd, com3kbd, or auto.  See Console
               Selection Policy in boot_console(8).

         dev [device]
               Set the default drive and partition for subsequent filesystem
               operations.  Without an argument, print the current setting.
               device is of the form specified in boot.

         help  Print an overview about commands and arguments.

         ls [path]
               Print a directory listing of path, containing inode number,
               filename, and file type.  path can contain a device specifica-
               tion.

         quit  Reboot the system.

     In an emergency, the bootstrap methods described in the NetBSD installa-
     tion notes for the specific architecture can be used.


FILES

     /boot                    boot program code loaded by the primary boot-
                              strap
     /netbsd                  system code
     /netbsd.gz               gzip-compressed system code
     /usr/mdec/boot           master copy of the boot program (copy to /boot)
     /usr/mdec/bootxx_fstype  primary bootstrap for filesystem type fstype,
                              copied to the start of the NetBSD partition by
                              installboot(8).


SEE ALSO

     Architecture-specific boot(8) manual pages, ddb(4), userconf(4), halt(8),
     installboot(8), reboot(8), rescue(8), shutdown(8)


BUGS

     The kernel file name must be specified before, not after, the boot
     options.  Any filename specified after the boot options, e.g.:

           boot -d netbsd.test

     is ignored, and the default kernel is booted.

NetBSD 5.2                     October 30, 2008                     NetBSD 5.2