2 * (C) Copyright 2014 Red Hat Inc.
3 * Copyright (c) 2014-2015, NVIDIA CORPORATION. All rights reserved.
6 * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
9 Generic Distro Configuration Concept
10 ====================================
12 Linux distributions are faced with supporting a variety of boot mechanisms,
13 environments or bootloaders (PC BIOS, EFI, U-Boot, Barebox, ...). This makes
14 life complicated. Worse, bootloaders such as U-Boot have a configurable set
15 of features, and each board chooses to enable a different set of features.
16 Hence, distros typically need to have board-specific knowledge in order to
17 set up a bootable system.
19 This document defines a common set of U-Boot features that are required for
20 a distro to support the board in a generic fashion. Any board wishing to
21 allow distros to install and boot in an out-of-the-box fashion should enable
22 all these features. Linux distros can then create a single set of boot
23 support/install logic that targets these features. This will allow distros
24 to install on many boards without the need for board-specific logic.
26 In fact, some of these features can be implemented by any bootloader, thus
27 decoupling distro install/boot logic from any knowledge of the bootloader.
29 This model assumes that boards will load boot configuration files from a
30 regular storage mechanism (eMMC, SD card, USB Disk, SATA disk, etc.) with
31 a standard partitioning scheme (MBR, GPT). Boards that cannot support this
32 storage model are outside the scope of this document, and may still need
33 board-specific installer/boot-configuration support in a distro.
35 To some extent, this model assumes that a board has a separate boot flash
36 that contains U-Boot, and that the user has somehow installed U-Boot to this
37 flash before running the distro installer. Even on boards that do not conform
38 to this aspect of the model, the extent of the board-specific support in the
39 distro installer logic would be to install a board-specific U-Boot package to
40 the boot partition during installation. This distro-supplied U-Boot can still
41 implement the same features as on any other board, and hence the distro's boot
42 configuration file generation logic can still be board-agnostic.
44 Locating Bootable Disks
45 -----------------------
47 Typical desktop/server PCs search all (or a user-defined subset of) attached
48 storage devices for a bootable partition, then load the bootloader or boot
49 configuration files from there. A U-Boot board port that enables the features
50 mentioned in this document will search for boot configuration files in the
53 Thus, distros do not need to manipulate any kind of bootloader-specific
54 configuration data to indicate which storage device the system should boot
57 Distros simply need to install the boot configuration files (see next
58 section) in an ext2/3/4 or FAT partition, mark the partition bootable (via
59 the MBR bootable flag, or GPT legacy_bios_bootable attribute), and U-Boot (or
60 any other bootloader) will find those boot files and execute them. This is
61 conceptually identical to creating a grub2 configuration file on a desktop
64 Note that in the absence of any partition that is explicitly marked bootable,
65 U-Boot falls back to searching the first valid partition of a disk for boot
66 configuration files. Other bootloaders are recommended to do the same, since
67 I believe that partition table bootable flags aren't so commonly used outside
70 U-Boot can also search for boot configuration files from a TFTP server.
72 Boot Configuration Files
73 ------------------------
75 The standard format for boot configuration files is that of extlinux.conf, as
76 handled by U-Boot's "syslinux" (disk) or "pxe boot" (network). This is roughly
79 http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/BootLoaderSpec/
81 ... with the exceptions that the BootLoaderSpec document:
83 * Prescribes a separate configuration per boot menu option, whereas U-Boot
84 lumps all options into a single extlinux.conf file. Hence, U-Boot searches
85 for /extlinux/extlinux.conf then /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf on disk, or
86 pxelinux.cfg/default over the network.
88 * Does not document the fdtdir option, which automatically selects the DTB to
91 One example extlinux.conf generated by the Fedora installer is:
93 ------------------------------------------------------------
94 # extlinux.conf generated by anaconda
98 menu autoboot Welcome to Fedora. Automatic boot in # second{,s}. Press a key for options.
99 menu title Fedora Boot Options.
105 default Fedora (3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl+lpae) 22 (Rawhide)
107 label Fedora (3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl) 22 (Rawhide)
108 kernel /boot/vmlinuz-3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl
109 append ro root=UUID=8eac677f-8ea8-4270-8479-d5ddbb797450 console=ttyS0,115200n8 LANG=en_US.UTF-8 drm.debug=0xf
110 fdtdir /boot/dtb-3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl
111 initrd /boot/initramfs-3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl.img
113 label Fedora (3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl+lpae) 22 (Rawhide)
114 kernel /boot/vmlinuz-3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl+lpae
115 append ro root=UUID=8eac677f-8ea8-4270-8479-d5ddbb797450 console=ttyS0,115200n8 LANG=en_US.UTF-8 drm.debug=0xf
116 fdtdir /boot/dtb-3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl+lpae
117 initrd /boot/initramfs-3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl+lpae.img
119 label Fedora-0-rescue-8f6ba7b039524e0eb957d2c9203f04bc (0-rescue-8f6ba7b039524e0eb957d2c9203f04bc)
120 kernel /boot/vmlinuz-0-rescue-8f6ba7b039524e0eb957d2c9203f04bc
121 initrd /boot/initramfs-0-rescue-8f6ba7b039524e0eb957d2c9203f04bc.img
122 append ro root=UUID=8eac677f-8ea8-4270-8479-d5ddbb797450 console=ttyS0,115200n8
123 fdtdir /boot/dtb-3.16.0-0.rc6.git1.1.fc22.armv7hl+lpae
124 ------------------------------------------------------------
126 Another hand-crafted network boot configuration file is:
128 ------------------------------------------------------------
131 MENU TITLE TFTP boot options
133 LABEL jetson-tk1-emmc
134 MENU LABEL ../zImage root on Jetson TK1 eMMC
137 APPEND console=ttyS0,115200n8 console=tty1 loglevel=8 rootwait rw earlyprintk root=PARTUUID=80a5a8e9-c744-491a-93c1-4f4194fd690b
140 MENU LABEL ../zImage root on Venice2 eMMC
143 APPEND console=ttyS0,115200n8 console=tty1 loglevel=8 rootwait rw earlyprintk root=PARTUUID=5f71e06f-be08-48ed-b1ef-ee4800cc860f
146 MENU LABEL ../zImage, root on 2GB sdcard
149 APPEND console=ttyS0,115200n8 console=tty1 loglevel=8 rootwait rw earlyprintk root=PARTUUID=b2f82cda-2535-4779-b467-094a210fbae7
151 LABEL fedora-installer-fk
152 MENU LABEL Fedora installer w/ Fedora kernel
153 LINUX fedora-installer/vmlinuz
154 INITRD fedora-installer/initrd.img.orig
155 FDTDIR fedora-installer/dtb
156 APPEND loglevel=8 ip=dhcp inst.repo=http://10.0.0.2/mirrors/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/armhfp/os/ rd.shell cma=64M
157 ------------------------------------------------------------
159 U-Boot Implementation
160 =====================
162 Enabling the distro options
163 ---------------------------
165 In your board's defconfig, enable the DISTRO_DEFAULTS option by adding
166 a line with "CONFIG_DISTRO_DEFAULTS=y". If you want to enable this
167 from Kconfig itself, for e.g. all boards using a specific SoC then
168 add a "default y if ARCH_FOO" to the DISTRO_DEFAULTS section of
169 the Kconfig file in the root of the u-boot sources.
171 In your board configuration file, include the following:
173 ------------------------------------------------------------
174 #ifndef CONFIG_SPL_BUILD
175 #include <config_distro_bootcmd.h>
177 ------------------------------------------------------------
179 The first of those headers primarily enables a core set of U-Boot features,
180 such as support for MBR and GPT partitions, ext* and FAT filesystems, booting
181 raw zImage and initrd (rather than FIT- or uImage-wrapped files), etc. Network
182 boot support is also enabled here, which is useful in order to boot distro
183 installers given that distros do not commonly distribute bootable install
184 media for non-PC targets at present.
186 Finally, a few options that are mostly relevant only when using U-Boot-
187 specific boot.scr scripts are enabled. This enables distros to generate a
188 U-Boot-specific boot.scr script rather than extlinux.conf as the boot
189 configuration file. While doing so is fully supported, and
190 CONFIG_DISTRO_DEFAULTS exposes enough parameterization to boot.scr to
191 allow for board-agnostic boot.scr content, this document recommends that
192 distros generate extlinux.conf rather than boot.scr. extlinux.conf is intended
193 to work across multiple bootloaders, whereas boot.scr will only work with
194 U-Boot. TODO: document the contract between U-Boot and boot.scr re: which
195 environment variables a generic boot.scr may rely upon.
197 The second of those headers sets up the default environment so that $bootcmd
198 is defined in a way that searches attached disks for boot configuration files,
199 and executes them if found.
201 Required Environment Variables
202 ------------------------------
204 The U-Boot "syslinux" and "pxe boot" commands require a number of environment
205 variables be set. Default values for these variables are often hard-coded into
206 CONFIG_EXTRA_ENV_SETTINGS in the board's U-Boot configuration file, so that
207 the user doesn't have to configure them.
211 Mandatory for any system that provides the DTB in HW (e.g. ROM) and wishes
212 to pass that DTB to Linux, rather than loading a DTB from the boot
213 filesystem. Prohibited for any other system.
215 If specified a DTB to boot the system must be available at the given
220 Mandatory. The location in RAM where the DTB will be loaded or copied to when
221 processing the fdtdir/devicetreedir or fdt/devicetree options in
224 This is mandatory even when fdt_addr is provided, since extlinux.conf must
225 always be able to provide a DTB which overrides any copy provided by the HW.
227 A size of 1MB for the FDT/DTB seems reasonable.
231 Mandatory. The location in RAM where the initial ramdisk will be loaded to
232 when processing the initrd option in extlinux.conf.
234 It is recommended that this location be highest in RAM out of fdt_addr_,
235 kernel_addr_r, and ramdisk_addr_r, so that the RAM disk can vary in size
236 and use any available RAM.
240 Mandatory. The location in RAM where the kernel will be loaded to when
241 processing the kernel option in the extlinux.conf.
243 The kernel should be located within the first 128M of RAM in order for the
244 kernel CONFIG_AUTO_ZRELADDR option to work, which is likely enabled on any
245 distro kernel. Since the kernel will decompress itself to 0x8000 after the
246 start of RAM, kernel_addr_r should not overlap that area, or the kernel will
247 have to copy itself somewhere else first before decompression.
249 A size of 16MB for the kernel is likely adequate.
253 Mandatory. The location in RAM where extlinux.conf will be loaded to prior
256 A size of 1MB for extlinux.conf is more than adequate.
260 Mandatory, if the boot script is boot.scr rather than extlinux.conf. The
261 location in RAM where boot.scr will be loaded to prior to execution.
263 A size of 1MB for extlinux.conf is more than adequate.
265 For suggestions on memory locations for ARM systems, you must follow the
266 guidelines specified in Documentation/arm/Booting in the Linux kernel tree.
268 For a commented example of setting these values, please see the definition of
269 MEM_LAYOUT_ENV_SETTINGS in include/configs/tegra124-common.h.
271 Boot Target Configuration
272 -------------------------
274 <config_distro_bootcmd.h> defines $bootcmd and many helper command variables
275 that automatically search attached disks for boot configuration files and
276 execute them. Boards must provide configure <config_distro_bootcmd.h> so that
277 it supports the correct set of possible boot device types. To provide this
278 configuration, simply define macro BOOT_TARGET_DEVICES prior to including
279 <config_distro_bootcmd.h>. For example:
281 ------------------------------------------------------------
282 #ifndef CONFIG_SPL_BUILD
283 #define BOOT_TARGET_DEVICES(func) \
289 #include <config_distro_bootcmd.h>
291 ------------------------------------------------------------
293 Each entry in the macro defines a single boot device (e.g. a specific eMMC
294 device or SD card) or type of boot device (e.g. USB disk). The parameters to
295 the func macro (passed in by the internal implementation of the header) are:
297 - Upper-case disk type (MMC, SATA, SCSI, IDE, USB, DHCP, PXE).
298 - Lower-case disk type (same options as above).
299 - ID of the specific disk (MMC only) or ignored for other types.
304 Once the user has installed U-Boot, it is expected that the environment will
305 be reset to the default values in order to enable $bootcmd and friends, as set
306 up by <config_distro_bootcmd.h>. After this, various environment variables may
307 be altered to influence the boot process:
311 The list of boot locations searched.
313 Example: mmc0, mmc1, usb, pxe
315 Entries may be removed or re-ordered in this list to affect the boot order.
319 For disk-based booting, the list of directories within a partition that are
320 searched for boot configuration files (extlinux.conf, boot.scr).
324 Entries may be removed or re-ordered in this list to affect the set of
325 directories which are searched.
329 The name of U-Boot style boot.scr files that $bootcmd searches for.
331 Example: boot.scr.uimg boot.scr
333 (Typically we expect extlinux.conf to be used, but execution of boot.scr is
334 maintained for backwards-compatibility.)
336 Entries may be removed or re-ordered in this list to affect the set of
337 filenames which are supported.
339 scan_dev_for_extlinux:
341 If you want to disable extlinux.conf on all disks, set the value to something
342 innocuous, e.g. setenv scan_dev_for_extlinux true.
344 scan_dev_for_scripts:
346 If you want to disable boot.scr on all disks, set the value to something
347 innocuous, e.g. setenv scan_dev_for_scripts true.
351 If you want to prevent USB enumeration by distro boot commands which execute
352 network operations, set the value to something innocuous, e.g. setenv
353 boot_net_usb_start true. This would be useful if you know your Ethernet
354 device is not attached to USB, and you wish to increase boot speed by
355 avoiding unnecessary actions.
359 If you want to prevent PCI enumeration by distro boot commands which execute
360 network operations, set the value to something innocuous, e.g. setenv
361 boot_net_pci_enum true. This would be useful if you know your Ethernet
362 device is not attached to PCI, and you wish to increase boot speed by
363 avoiding unnecessary actions.
365 Interactively booting from a specific device at the u-boot prompt
366 =================================================================
368 For interactively booting from a user-selected device at the u-boot command
369 prompt, the environment provides predefined bootcmd_<target> variables for
370 every target defined in boot_targets, which can be run be the user.
372 If the target is a storage device, the format of the target is always
373 <device type><device number>, e.g. mmc0. Specifying the device number is
374 mandatory for storage devices, even if only support for a single instance
375 of the storage device is actually implemented.
377 For network targets (dhcp, pxe), only the device type gets specified;
378 they do not have a device number.
383 boots from the first USB mass storage device
386 boots from the second MMC device
389 boots by tftp using a pxelinux.cfg
391 The list of possible targets consists of:
397 - storage targets (to which a device number must be appended)
404 Other *boot* variables than the ones defined above are only for internal use
405 of the boot environment and are not guaranteed to exist or work in the same
406 way in future u-boot versions. In particular the <device type>_boot
407 variables (e.g. mmc_boot, usb_boot) are a strictly internal implementation
408 detail and must not be used as a public interface.