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<h1>The rEFInd Boot Manager:<br />Methods of Booting Linux</h1>
href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.com</a></p>
<p>Originally written: 3/19/2012; last Web page update:
-2/3/2013, referencing rEFInd 0.6.7</p>
+9/19/2015, referencing rEFInd 0.9.2</p>
-<p>I'm a technical writer and consultant specializing in Linux technologies. This Web page is provided free of charge and with no annoying outside ads; however, I did take time to prepare it, and Web hosting does cost money. If you find this Web page useful, please consider making a small donation to help keep this site up and running. Thanks!</p>
+<p>This Web page is provided free of charge and with no annoying outside ads; however, I did take time to prepare it, and Web hosting does cost money. If you find this Web page useful, please consider making a small donation to help keep this site up and running. Thanks!</p>
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<hr />
<h2>Using a Traditional Linux Boot Loader</h2>
</a>
-<p>I consider <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/elilo.html">ELILO,</a> <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/grub_legacy.html">GRUB Legacy,</a> and <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/grub2.html">GRUB 2</a> to be traditional Linux boot loaders. These programs all exist independent of the Linux kernel, but they can load a kernel and hand off control to it. All three programs have their own configuration files that reside in the same directory as the boot loader itself (or optionally elsewhere, in the case of GRUB 2).</p>
+<p>I consider <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/elilo.html">ELILO</a>, <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/grub_legacy.html">GRUB Legacy</a>, <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/grub2.html">GRUB 2</a>, and <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/syslinux.html">SYSLINUX</a> to be traditional Linux boot loaders. These programs all exist independent of the Linux kernel, but they can load a kernel and hand off control to it. All four programs have their own configuration files that reside in the same directory as the boot loader itself (or optionally elsewhere, in the case of GRUB 2).</p>
<p>Ordinarily, rEFInd will detect these traditional boot loaders and provide main menu entries for them. If the boot loader exists in a directory with a name that matches a Linux distribution's icon filename, you'll automatically get a distribution-specific icon to refer to the boot loader.</p>
<h2>Using the EFI Stub Loader: Three Configuration Options</h2>
</a>
-<p>The EFI stub loader is basic and reliable, but it requires some setup to use it on some computers. I describe three methods of using it: an <a href="#easiest">easiest method</a> for those with compatible partition and filesystem layouts, a <a href="#testing">quick test configuration</a> for those without such a layout, and <a href="#longterm">a long-term setup</a> for those without the ideal setup.</p>
+<p>The EFI stub loader is basic and reliable, but it requires some setup to use it on some computers. It also requires that you run a kernel with the same bit width as your EFI. In most cases, this means running a 64-bit kernel, since 32-bit EFI-based computers are so rare. I describe three methods of using the EFI stub loader: an <a href="#easiest">easiest method</a> for those with compatible partition and filesystem layouts, a <a href="#testing">quick test configuration</a> for those without such a layout, and <a href="#reconfigure">a long-term setup</a> for those without the ideal setup.</p>
<a name="easiest">
<h3>For Those With Foresight or Luck: The Easiest Method</h3>
</a>
-<p>This method requires that your <tt>/boot</tt> directory, whether it's on a separate partition or is a regular directory in your root (<tt>/</tt>) filesystem, be readable by the EFI. At the moment, all EFI implementations can read FAT and Macs can read HFS+. By using <a href="drivers.html">drivers,</a> you can make any EFI read HFS+, ISO-9660, ReiserFS, ext2fs, ext3fs, or ext4fs. Thus, if you use any of these filesystems on a regular partition (not an LVM or RAID configuration) that holds your kernels in <tt>/boot</tt>, you qualify for this easy method. The default partition layouts used by Ubuntu, Fedora, and many other distributions qualify, because they use one of these filesystems (usually ext4fs) in a normal partition or on a separate <tt>/boot</tt> partition. You must also have a 3.3.0 or later Linux kernel with EFI stub support, of course.</p>
+<p>This method requires that your <tt>/boot</tt> directory, whether it's on a separate partition or is a regular directory in your root (<tt>/</tt>) filesystem, be readable by the EFI. At the moment, all EFI implementations can read FAT and Macs can read HFS+. By using <a href="drivers.html">drivers,</a> you can make any EFI read HFS+, ISO-9660, ReiserFS, ext2fs, ext3fs, ext4fs, or Btrfs. Thus, if you use any of these filesystems on a regular partition (not an LVM or RAID configuration) that holds your kernels in <tt>/boot</tt>, you qualify for this easy method. The default partition layouts used by Ubuntu, Fedora, and many other distributions qualify, because they use one of these filesystems (usually ext4fs) in a normal partition or on a separate <tt>/boot</tt> partition. You must also have a 3.3.0 or later Linux kernel with EFI stub support, of course.</p>
<p>If you installed rEFInd 0.6.0 or later with its <tt>install.sh</tt> script from your regular Linux installation, chances are everything's set up; you should be able to reboot and see your Linux kernels as boot options. If you installed manually, from OS X, or from an emergency system, though, you may need to do a couple of things manually:
-<ol>
+<ul>
<li>Copy the relevant driver file for your filesystem and architecture to
the <tt>drivers</tt> or <tt>drivers_<tt class="variable">arch</tt></tt>
- subdirectory of the rEFInd installation directory on the ESP. You may
- need to create this subdirectory, too.</li>
+ subdirectory of the rEFInd installation directory on the EFI System
+ Partition (ESP). You may need to create this subdirectory, too.</li>
<li>Create a <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> file in your <tt>/boot</tt>
directory. The <tt>mkrlconf.sh</tt> script that comes with rEFInd
should do this job, or you can do it manually as described <a
- href="#efistub">later.</a></li>
+ href="#efistub">later.</a> Starting with version 0.6.12, rEFInd can
+ create minimal boot options from <tt>/etc/fstab</tt>, if <tt>/boot</tt>
+ is <i>not</i> a separate partition, so a <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt>
+ file may not be strictly necessary. Version 0.9.0 also adds the ability
+ to identify the root (<tt>/</tt>) partition via the <a
+ href="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/DiscoverablePartitionsSpec/">Discoverable
+ Partitions Spec,</a> if your disk uses the appropriate type codes. A
+ <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> file remains desirable, though, and is
+ necessary in some situations.</li>
-</ol>
+</ul>
-<p>When you reboot, you should see rEFInd options for your Linux kernels. If they work, your job is done, although you might want to apply some of the tweaks described in the <a href="#
longterm">maintenance-free setup</a> section. If you have problems, you may need to adjust the <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> file, as described in the <a href="#efistub">detailed configuration section.</a></p>
+<p>When you reboot, you should see rEFInd options for your Linux kernels. If they work, your job is done, although you might want to apply some of the tweaks described in the <a href="#
reconfigure">maintenance-free setup</a> section. If you have problems, you may need to adjust the <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> file, as described in the <a href="#efistub">detailed configuration section.</a></p>
<a name="testing">
<h3>Preparing a Test Configuration</h3>
<li>Copy the <tt>/boot/refind_linux.conf</tt> file to the same directory to
which you copied your kernel. If this file doesn't exist, create it by
running (as <tt>root</tt>) the <tt>mkrlconf.sh</tt> script that came
- with rEFInd.</li>
+ with rEFInd. This step may not be strictly necessary if <tt>/boot</tt>
+ is an ordinary directory on your root (<tt>/</tt>) partition.</li>
<li>Reboot. You should now see a new entry for launching the Linux kernel
that you copied. Try the option. If it works, great. If not, you may
<h3>If You Need to Reconfigure Your Partitions....</h3>
</a>
-<p>If your <tt>/boot</tt> directory happens to be on an XFS
, JFS, or Btrfs partition that the EFI can't read, or it's tucked away in an LVM or RAID configuration that the EFI can't read, you won't be able to use the <a href="#easiest">easiest solution.</a> Fortunately, this problem can be overcome with relatively little fuss. Several variant procedures are possible, but I begin by describing one that will almost always work, although it's got some important caveats (described at the end). You should perform the following steps as <tt>root</tt>, or precede each of these commands with <tt>sudo</tt>:</p>
+<p>If your <tt>/boot</tt> directory happens to be on an XFS
or JFS partition that the EFI can't read, or it's tucked away in an LVM or RAID configuration that the EFI can't read, you won't be able to use the <a href="#easiest">easiest solution.</a> Fortunately, this problem can be overcome with relatively little fuss. Several variant procedures are possible, but I begin by describing one that will almost always work, although it's got some important caveats (described at the end). You should perform the following steps as <tt>root</tt>, or precede each of these commands with <tt>sudo</tt>:</p>
<ol>
<p>Once this task is done, updates to your kernel will automatically be stored in the root directory of your ESP, where rEFInd will automatically detect them. Thus, the boot configuration becomes maintenance-free. The procedure as just described has some drawbacks, though. By placing your kernels in the root directory of your ESP, you render them vulnerable to any other OS with which you might be dual-booting. Your ESP must also be large enough to hold all your kernels. If you dual-boot with multiple Linux distributions, they might conceivably overwrite each others' kernels, and distinguishing one from another becomes more difficult.</p>
-<p>For these reasons, a variant of this procedure is desirable on some systems. Most of the steps are similar, but in this variant, you create a separate <tt>/boot</tt> partition that's independent of the ESP. This partition can use FAT, HFS+, ReiserFS, ext2fs, ext3fs, or ext4fs; but if you use any of the last five filesystems (four on Macs), you must install the matching EFI filesystem driver that ships with rEFInd. Creating the filesystem will normally require you to shrink an existing partition by a suitable amount (200–500MiB). Mount your new <tt>/boot</tt> partition at a temporary location, copy or move the current <tt>/boot</tt> files into it, unmount it, and add it to <tt>/etc/fstab</tt> as <tt>/boot</tt>.</p>
+<p>For these reasons, a variant of this procedure is desirable on some systems. Most of the steps are similar, but in this variant, you create a separate <tt>/boot</tt> partition that's independent of the ESP. This partition can use FAT, HFS+, ReiserFS, ext2fs, ext3fs, ext4fs, or Btrfs; but if you use any of the last six filesystems (five on Macs), you must install the matching EFI filesystem driver that ships with rEFInd. Creating the filesystem will normally require you to shrink an existing partition by a suitable amount (200–500MiB). Mount your new <tt>/boot</tt> partition at a temporary location, copy or move the current <tt>/boot</tt> files into it, unmount it, and add it to <tt>/etc/fstab</tt> as <tt>/boot</tt>.</p>
-<p>If your distribution already uses a separate <tt>/boot</tt> partition, but if it uses XFS or some other unsuitable filesystem, you can back it up, create a fresh FAT, HFS+, ReiserFS, ext2, ext3, or ext4 filesystem on it, and restore the original files. You'll probably need to adjust the UUID value in <tt>/etc/fstab</tt> to ensure that the computer mounts the new filesystem when you boot. If you use a separate non-ESP <tt>/boot</tt> partition, you'll probably want to continue mounting the ESP at <tt>/boot/efi</tt>.</p>
+<p>If your distribution already uses a separate <tt>/boot</tt> partition, but if it uses XFS or some other unsuitable filesystem, you can back it up, create a fresh FAT, HFS+, ReiserFS, Btrfs, ext2, ext3, or ext4 filesystem on it, and restore the original files. You'll probably need to adjust the UUID value in <tt>/etc/fstab</tt> to ensure that the computer mounts the new filesystem when you boot. If you use a separate non-ESP <tt>/boot</tt> partition, you'll probably want to continue mounting the ESP at <tt>/boot/efi</tt>.</p>
<a name="efistub">
<h2>EFI Stub Loader Support Technical Details</h2>
loader to another. The same solution is possible under EFI, but rEFInd
offers another possibility.</p>
-<p>rEFInd 0.2.1 and later supports semi-automatic Linux EFI stub loader detection. This feature works as part of the standard boot loader scan operation, but it extends it as follows:</p>
+<p>rEFInd supports semi-automatic Linux EFI stub loader detection. This
+feature works as part of the standard boot loader scan operation, but it
+extends it as follows:</p>
<ol>
rEFInd won't scan for kernels that lack <tt>.efi</tt> filename
extensions.</li>
+<li>If a file's name ends in <tt>.efi.signed</tt>, any other file with an
+ otherwise-identical name that <i>lacks</i> this extension is excluded.
+ This peculiar rule exists because Ubuntu has begun delivering two
+ copies of every kernel, one with and one without this extension. The
+ one with the extension is signed with a Secure Boot key; the one
+ without it is not so signed. Thus, if both files are present, the one
+ without the key won't boot on a computer with Secure Boot active, and
+ either will boot if Secure Boot is inactive. Thus, rEFInd excludes the
+ redundant (unsigned) file in order to help keep the list of boot
+ options manageable.</li>
+
<p class="sidebar">A kernel whose filename lacks a version string matches an initial RAM disk that also lacks a version string in its filename. Note that you can reliably use only <i>one</i> kernel and initial RAM disk per directory that lack version numbers in their filenames.</p>
<li>rEFInd looks for an initial RAM disk in the same directory as the
initial RAM disk is identified, rEFInd passes a suitable
<tt>initrd=</tt> option to the kernel when it boots.</li>
-<p class="sidebar">rEFInd 0.2.1 and 0.2.2 used a filename of <tt>linux.conf</tt> to hold Linux kernel options; however, the Linux kernel developers plan to use this name themselves, so I've switched to <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> as of rEFInd 0.2.3. Through version 0.4.2, rEFInd still supported the <tt>linux.conf</tt> filename as a backup to <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt>, but as of version 0.4.3, <tt>linux.conf</tt> no longer works, so you should rename rEFInd's <tt>linux.conf</tt> file to <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> if you're upgrading.</p>
-
<li>rEFInd looks for a file called <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> in the same
- directory as the kernel file. This file is a practical requirement for
- booting from an auto-detected kernel. It consists of a series of lines,
+ directory as the kernel file. It consists of a series of lines,
each of which consists of a label followed by a series of kernel
options. The first line sets default options, and subsequent lines set
options that are accessible from the main menu tag's submenu screen. If
without changes on many installations, but you may need to tweak it for
some.</li>
+<li>If rEFInd can't find a <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> file in the directory
+ that holds the kernel, the program looks for a file called
+ <tt>/etc/fstab</tt> on the partition that holds the kernel. If this
+ standard Linux file is present, rEFInd uses it to identify the root
+ (<tt>/</tt>) filesystem and creates two sets of Linux kernel boot
+ options: One set launches the kernel normally, but with minimal
+ options, and the other set launches the kernel into single-user mode.
+ This step can get a computer to boot without any rEFInd-specific
+ configuration files, aside from <tt>refind.conf</tt> in rEFInd's own
+ directory, but only if <tt>/boot</tt> is not a separate partition. The
+ intent is to facilitate the use of rEFInd as an emergency boot manager
+ or to help users who must install rEFInd from OS X or Windows. Note
+ that rEFInd uses <tt>/etc/fstab</tt> only if <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt>
+ is <i>not</i> found.</li>
+
</ol>
<p>The intent of this system is that distribution maintainers can place their kernels, initial RAM disks, and a <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> file in their own subdirectories on the ESP, on EFI-accessible <tt>/boot</tt> partitions, or in <tt>/boot</tt> directories on EFI-accessible Linux root (<tt>/</tt>) partitions. rEFInd will detect these kernels and create one main menu entry for each kernel. Each entry will implement as many options as there are lines in the <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> file. In this way, two or more distributions can each maintain their boot loader entries, without being too concerned about who maintains rEFInd as a whole.</p>
</ul>
-<p>Ordinarily, a kernel booted in this way must reside on the ESP, or at least on another FAT partition. On a Macintosh, though, you can use HFS+ to house your kernel files. In fact, that may be necessary; my Mac Mini hangs when I try to boot a Linux kernel via an EFI stub loader from the computer's ESP, but it works fine when booting from an HFS+ partition. If you use <a href="drivers.html">EFI drivers,</a> though, you can place your kernel on any filesystem for which an EFI driver exists. This list is currently rather limited (ext2fs/ext3fs, ReiserFS, ISO-9660, and HFS+), but even just one or two options might help a lot if you've got an undersized ESP or if copying your kernel file to the ESP is a hassle you'd rather avoid.</p>
+<p>Ordinarily, a kernel booted in this way must reside on the ESP, or at least on another FAT partition. On a Macintosh, though, you can use HFS+ to house your kernel files. In fact, that may be necessary; my Mac Mini hangs when I try to boot a Linux kernel via an EFI stub loader from the computer's ESP, but it works fine when booting from an HFS+ partition. If you use <a href="drivers.html">EFI drivers,</a> though, you can place your kernel on any filesystem for which an EFI driver exists. This list is currently good (ext2fs/ext3fs, ext4fs, ReiserFS, Btrfs, ISO-9660, and HFS+), so chances are you'll be able to use this method to boot your kernel from your root (<tt>/</tt>) partition or from a <tt>/boot</tt> partition.</p>
<p>rEFInd sorts boot loader entries <i>within each directory</i> by time stamp, so that the most recent entry comes first. Thus, if you specify a directory name (or a volume label, for loaders stored in a volume's root directory) as the <tt>default_selection</tt>, rEFInd will make the most recent loader in the directory the default. This can obviate the need to adjust this configuration parameter when you add a new kernel; chances are you want the most recently-added kernel to be the default, and rEFInd makes it so when you set the <tt>default_selection</tt> in this way. If you <i>don't</i> want the latest kernel to become the default, you can use <tt>touch</tt> to give the desired kernel (or other boot loader) in the directory a more recent time stamp, or you can set <tt>default_selection</tt> to a value that uniquely identifies your desired default loader. One caveat you should keep in mind is that the EFI and Windows interpret the hardware clock as local time, whereas Mac OS X uses <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinated_Universal_Time">Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)</a>. Linux can work either way. Thus, time stamps for boot loaders can be skewed by several hours depending on the environment in which they were created or last modified.</p>
+<p>Prior to rEFInd 0.9.0, each Linux kernel appeared as a separate entry in the main rEFInd menu. This could make for a very crowded menu if you kept many old kernels and/or if you have several Linux distributions installed. rEFInd 0.9.0 adds a "folding" feature, in which multiple kernel entries in a single directory appear as a single entry in the main menu. Selecting that entry launches the kernel with the most recent time stamp. To launch an older kernel, you must press F2 or Insert; older kernels appear in the submenu shown earlier, but with the kernel filename prepended to the description. If you want to launch an older kernel by default, you can <tt>touch</tt> it in Linux, as in <tt>touch /boot/vmlinuz-3.6.0</tt> to make <tt>/boot/vmlinuz-3.6.0</tt> the default. (You must type this command as <tt>root</tt> or using <tt>sudo</tt>.) If you want to see all your kernels separated on the main menu, as in earlier versions of rEFInd, you should edit <tt>refind.conf</tt>: Uncomment the <tt>fold_linux_kernels</tt> option and set it to <tt>false</tt>, <tt>off</tt>, or <tt>0</tt>.</p>
+
<p class="sidebar"><b>Tip for distribution maintainers:</b> If you maintain an <tt>EFI/<tt class="variable">distname</tt></tt> directory for your kernels, you can place your version of rEFInd in a directory called <tt>EFI/<tt class="variable">distname</tt>/refind</tt>. This will avoid collisions with duplicate rEFInd installations from other distributions.</p>
-<p>On the whole, this method of configuration has a lot going for it. For distribution maintainers, if you place your Linux kernel files (with EFI stub support) on the ESP, with suitable filenames, matching initial RAM disk files, and a <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> file, then any rEFInd 0.2.3 or later installation should detect your files, even if the user installs another distribution with another rEFInd that takes over from yours. (If the user, or this other rEFInd installation, disables auto-detection, this won't work.)</p>
+<p>On the whole, auto-detecting kernels and passing boot options using <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> has a lot going for it. For distribution maintainers, if you place your Linux kernel files (with EFI stub support) on the ESP, with suitable filenames, matching initial RAM disk files, and a <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> file, then any rEFInd 0.2.3 or later installation should detect your files, even if the user installs another distribution with another rEFInd that takes over from yours. (If the user, or this other rEFInd installation, disables auto-detection, this won't work.)</p>
<p>For end users, this method is simpler than maintaining manual configurations in <tt>refind.conf</tt> (or equivalents for ELILO or GRUB). To install a new kernel, you need only copy it and its initial RAM disk, under suitable names, to a scanned directory on the ESP. There's no need to touch any configuration file, provided you've already set up <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> in your kernel's directory. You will, however, have to adjust <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt> if you make certain changes, such as if your root directory identifier changes.</p>
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-<p>copyright © 2012 by Roderick W. Smith</p>
+<p>copyright © 2012–2015 by Roderick W. Smith</p>
<p>This document is licensed under the terms of the <a href="FDL-1.3.txt">GNU Free Documentation License (FDL), version 1.3.</a></p>