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155 lines
8.5 KiB
Markdown
155 lines
8.5 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Boot Loader Interface
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category: Booting
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layout: default
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SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later
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---
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# The Boot Loader Interface
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systemd can interface with the boot loader to receive performance data and
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other information, and pass control information. This is only supported on EFI
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systems. Data is transferred between the boot loader and systemd in EFI
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variables. All EFI variables use the vendor UUID
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`4a67b082-0a4c-41cf-b6c7-440b29bb8c4f`.
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* The EFI Variable `LoaderTimeInitUSec` contains the timestamp in microseconds
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when the loader was initialized. This value is the time spent in the firmware
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for initialization, it is formatted as numeric, NUL-terminated, decimal
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string, in UTF-16.
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* The EFI Variable `LoaderTimeExecUSec` contains the timestamp in microseconds
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when the loader finished its work and is about to execute the kernel. The
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time spent in the loader is the difference between `LoaderTimeExecUSec` and
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`LoaderTimeInitUSec`. This value is formatted the same way as
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`LoaderTimeInitUSec`.
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* The EFI variable `LoaderDevicePartUUID` contains the partition GUID of the
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ESP the boot loader was run from formatted as NUL-terminated UTF16 string, in
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normal GUID syntax.
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* The EFI variable `LoaderConfigTimeout` contains the boot menu timeout
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currently in use. It may be modified both by the boot loader and by the
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host. The value should be formatted as numeric, NUL-terminated, decimal
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string, in UTF-16. The time is specified in seconds. In addition some
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non-numeric string values are also accepted. A value of `menu-force`
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will disable the timeout and show the menu indefinitely. If set to `0` or
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`menu-hidden` the default entry is booted immediately without showing a menu.
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Unless a value of `menu-disabled` is set, the boot loader should provide a
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way to interrupt this by for example listening for key presses for a brief
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moment before booting.
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* Similarly, the EFI variable `LoaderConfigTimeoutOneShot` contains a boot menu
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timeout for a single following boot. It is set by the OS in order to request
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display of the boot menu on the following boot. When set overrides
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`LoaderConfigTimeout`. It is removed automatically after being read by the
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boot loader, to ensure it only takes effect a single time. This value is
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formatted the same way as `LoaderConfigTimeout`. If set to `0` the boot menu
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timeout is turned off, and the menu is shown indefinitely.
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* The EFI variable `LoaderEntries` may contain a series of boot loader entry
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identifiers, one after the other, each individually NUL terminated. This may
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be used to let the OS know which boot menu entries were discovered by the
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boot loader. A boot loader entry identifier should be a short, non-empty
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alphanumeric string (possibly containing `-`, too). The list should be in the
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order the entries are shown on screen during boot. See below regarding a
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recommended vocabulary for boot loader entry identifiers.
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* The EFI variable `LoaderEntryDefault` contains the default boot loader entry
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to use. It contains a NUL-terminated boot loader entry identifier.
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* Similarly, the EFI variable `LoaderEntryOneShot` contains the default boot
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loader entry to use for a single following boot. It is set by the OS in order
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to request booting into a specific menu entry on the following boot. When set
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overrides `LoaderEntryDefault`. It is removed automatically after being read
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by the boot loader, to ensure it only takes effect a single time. This value
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is formatted the same way as `LoaderEntryDefault`.
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* The EFI variable `LoaderEntrySelected` contains the boot loader entry
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identifier that was booted. It is set by the boot loader and read by
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the OS in order to identify which entry has been used for the current boot.
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* The EFI variable `LoaderFeatures` contains a 64-bit unsigned integer with a
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number of flags bits that are set by the boot loader and passed to the OS and
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indicate the features the boot loader supports. Specifically, the following
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bits are defined:
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* `1 << 0` → The boot loader honours `LoaderConfigTimeout` when set.
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* `1 << 1` → The boot loader honours `LoaderConfigTimeoutOneShot` when set.
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* `1 << 2` → The boot loader honours `LoaderEntryDefault` when set.
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* `1 << 3` → The boot loader honours `LoaderEntryOneShot` when set.
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* `1 << 4` → The boot loader supports boot counting as described in [Automatic Boot Assessment](/AUTOMATIC_BOOT_ASSESSMENT).
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* `1 << 5` → The boot loader supports looking for boot menu entries in the Extended Boot Loader Partition.
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* `1 << 6` → The boot loader supports passing a random seed to the OS.
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* `1 << 13` → The boot loader honours `menu-disabled` option when set.
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* The EFI variable `LoaderSystemToken` contains binary random data,
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persistently set by the OS installer. Boot loaders that support passing
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random seeds to the OS should use this data and combine it with the random
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seed file read from the ESP. By combining this random data with the random
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seed read off the disk before generating a seed to pass to the OS and a new
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seed to store in the ESP the boot loader can protect itself from situations
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where "golden" OS images that include a random seed are replicated and used
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on multiple systems. Since the EFI variable storage is usually independent
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(i.e. in physical NVRAM) of the ESP file system storage, and only the latter
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is part of "golden" OS images, this ensures that different systems still come
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up with different random seeds. Note that the `LoaderSystemToken` is
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generally only written once, by the OS installer, and is usually not touched
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after that.
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If `LoaderTimeInitUSec` and `LoaderTimeExecUSec` are set, `systemd-analyze`
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will include them in its boot-time analysis. If `LoaderDevicePartUUID` is set,
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systemd will mount the ESP that was used for the boot to `/boot`, but only if
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that directory is empty, and only if no other file systems are mounted
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there. The `systemctl reboot --boot-loader-entry=…` and `systemctl reboot
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--boot-loader-menu=…` commands rely on the `LoaderFeatures` ,
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`LoaderConfigTimeoutOneShot`, `LoaderEntries`, `LoaderEntryOneShot`
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variables.
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## Boot Loader Entry Identifiers
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While boot loader entries may be named relatively freely, it's highly
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recommended to follow the following rules when picking identifiers for the
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entries, so that programs (and users) can derive basic context and meaning from
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the identifiers as passed in `LoaderEntries`, `LoaderEntryDefault`,
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`LoaderEntryOneShot`, `LoaderEntrySelected`, and possibly show nicely localized
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names for them in UIs.
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1. When boot loader entries are defined through the
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[Boot Loader Specification](https://uapi-group.org/specifications/specs/boot_loader_specification/)
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files, the identifier should be derived directly from the file name,
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but with the `.conf` (Type #1 snippets) or `.efi` (Type #2 images)
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suffix removed.
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2. Entries automatically discovered by the boot loader (as opposed to being
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configured in configuration files) should generally have an identifier
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prefixed with `auto-`.
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3. Boot menu entries referring to Microsoft Windows installations should either
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use the identifier `windows` or use the `windows-` prefix for the
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identifier. If a menu entry is automatically discovered, it should be
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prefixed with `auto-`, see above (Example: this means an automatically
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discovered Windows installation might have the identifier `auto-windows` or
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`auto-windows-10` or so.).
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4. Similarly, boot menu entries referring to Apple macOS installations should
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use the identifier `osx` or one that is prefixed with `osx-`. If such an
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entry is automatically discovered by the boot loader use `auto-osx` as
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identifier, or `auto-osx-` as prefix for the identifier, see above.
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5. If a boot menu entry encapsulates the EFI shell program, it should use the
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identifier `efi-shell` (or when automatically discovered: `auto-efi-shell`,
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see above).
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6. If a boot menu entry encapsulates a reboot into EFI firmware setup feature,
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it should use the identifier `reboot-to-firmware-setup` (or
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`auto-reboot-to-firmware-setup` in case it is automatically discovered).
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## Links
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[Boot Loader Specification](https://uapi-group.org/specifications/specs/boot_loader_specification)<br>
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[Discoverable Partitions Specification](https://uapi-group.org/specifications/specs/discoverable_partitions_specification)<br>
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[`systemd-boot(7)`](https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd-boot.html)<br>
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[`bootctl(1)`](https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/bootctl.html)<br>
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[`systemd-gpt-auto-generator(8)`](https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd-gpt-auto-generator.html)
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