NAME¶
mkofboot - format bootstrap partition and install the yaboot boot loader
SYNOPSIS¶
mkofboot [
-b|
--boot device ]
[
-o|
--ofboot of-path ]
[
-i|
--install boot-file ]
[
-C|
--config config-file ]
[
-m|
--magicboot chrp-file ]
[
--filesystem
hfs|msdos|raw ]
[
--nobless ] [
-M|
--mount ]
[
--hide ] [
--protect ]
[
--nonvram ] [
--force ]
[
-v|
--verbose ] [
--debug ]
[
-h|
--help ] [
-V|
--version ]
DESCRIPTION¶
This manual page explains
mkofboot the initial installer for the
yaboot(8) boot loader enabling GNU/Linux to be booted by OpenFirmware.
mkofboot does exactly the same thing as
ybin(8) except that it
erases and creates a new filesystem (specified by --filesystem) on the
bootstrap(8) partition before copying the boot loader files to it. See
the
ybin(8) man page for more details on the installation process.
The
bootstrap(8) need not and should not be mounted anywhere on your
filesystem, especially not on top of /boot.
Yaboot(8) is able to load
the kernels from the ext2fs root partition so that is where they should be
kept.
Mkofboot will refuse to operate on the
bootstrap(8)
partition if it is mounted.
OPTIONS¶
NOTE:
mkofboot uses the exact same command line options as
ybin(8)
so if you have already read the
ybin(8) man page you can skip this
section.
- -b, --boot device
- Install the boot loader onto the specified device. This
device should be that of your bootstrap(8) partition. For example,
if your bootstrap partition is located on your first primary IDE
drive in the second partition, your device would be:
/dev/hda2.
- -o, --ofboot of-path
- The OpenFirmware device path to the bootstrap(8)
partition. This is needed so the first stage ofboot loader can be
configured properly. It should include the OpenFirmware path including the
partition number (but not any filename). Example: if your
bootstrap(8) partition is /dev/hda2, the OF path will likely be
hd:2. As of mkofboot 0.18 you no longer are required to specify
this option. If left undefined mkofboot will attempt to figure out
the OpenFirmware path automatically using the ofpath(8) utility.
You should only need to define this option if ofpath(8) fails.
- -i, --install boot-file
- Use boot-file as the primary boot loader executable,
instead of the default /usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot(8).
- -C, --config config-file
- Use config-file as the
mkofboot/yaboot(8) configuration file instead of the default
/etc/yaboot.conf.
- -m, --magicboot chrp-script
- Use chrp-script as the boot loader
“wrapper”. This script is needed to either provide a boot menu
for dual boot with MacOS or to load yaboot (due to an OpenFirmware
bug).
- --filesystem hfs|msdos|raw
- Set the filesystem type that mkofboot will create on
the bootstrap(8). The “raw” filesystem type causes
mkofboot to copy the bootloader (the value of install=
directly to the bootstrap(8) partition without creating a
filesystem. “raw” is required on IBM hardware. CAUTION: this
will destroy any data or filesystem on the bootstrap(8) partition
(value of boot=) if you specify something like boot=/dev/sda
you will destroy the partition table and lose ALL data on the disk. The
default is HFS.
- -M, --mount
- Do not use the userspace hfsutils(1) to modify the
bootstrap(8), instead try and mount the filesystem directly. NOTE:
Attributes cannot be set on the filesystem or the boot loader files using
this method, your system will NOT be bootable without modifying
OpenFirmware's “boot-device” variable to something like:
“hd:2,ofboot” (no quotes).
- --nobless
- Do not “bless” the root directory of the
bootstrap(8) partition's filesystem. Only use this option if the
bootstrap(8) partition is actually a MacOS boot partition. This
option is ignored unless the filesystem is HFS, and is ignored when used
with --mount.
- --hide
-
Set the invisible bit on all the boot loader files once copied to the
bootstrap(8) partition. This setting is useful if you must install
the boot loader onto a MacOS boot partition and do not with to see the
boot loader files cluttering up the MacOS root directory. This option is
ignored unless the filesystem is HFS, and will not work with --mount.
- --protect
- Set the read-only bit on all boot loader files once copied
to the bootstrap(8) partition. This setting is useful if you must
install the bootloader onto a MacOS boot partition and want to discourage
alterations/deletion of the boot loader. This option works for both HFS
and MSDOS filesystems.
- --nonvram
- Prevent mkofboot from setting the OpenFirmware
boot-device variable with nvsetenv(8).
- -v, --verbose
- This option causes mkofboot to be more verbose as it
proceeds.
- -f, --force
- This option suppresses any confirmation questions.
- --debug
- This option causes mkofboot to output some boring
details useful only for debugging mkofboot itself.
- -h, --help
- Print out usage information and exit.
- -V, --version
- Print out the version number and exit.
FILES¶
/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot - boot loader executable
/usr/lib/yaboot/ofboot - OpenFirmware boot script
/etc/yaboot.conf - boot loader/mkofboot configuration file
ENVIRONMENT¶
- TMPDIR
-
The temporary directory mkofboot will use.
SECURITY¶
Temporary files are created with
mktemp(1) it is important that your
system use a secure
mktemp(1) program otherwise
mkofboot will be
vulnerable to race conditions. The Debian mktemp is derived from OpenBSD and
thus should be secure.
/usr/lib/yaboot/ofboot now contains code executed by /bin/sh (by
mkofboot) it is thus critical that it not be writable by anyone but
root. It is also critical that
/etc/yaboot.conf not be writable by
anyone but root since a different
ofboot script could be specified
there.
BUGS¶
Mkofboot should be able to take care of OpenFirmware variables as needed
on IBM hardware.
AUTHORS¶
mkofboot(8) , and this man page written by Ethan Benson.
yaboot(8) was written by Benjamin Herrenschmidt.
REPORTING BUGS¶
Report bugs to <erbenson@alaska.net>
SEE ALSO¶
bootstrap(8),
hfsutils(1),
mkofboot(8),
mktemp(1),
mount(8),
nvsetenv(8),
ofpath(8),
yaboot(8),
yaboot.conf(5).
