2 .\" @(#)lilo.conf.5 1.0 950728 aeb
3 .\" This page is based on the lilo docs, which carry the following
6 .\" LILO program code, documentation and auxiliary programs are
7 .\" Copyright 1992-1998 Werner Almesberger.
8 .\" Extensions to LILO, documentation and auxiliary programs are
9 .\" Copyright 1999-2001 John Coffman.
10 .\" All rights reserved by the respective copyright holders.
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14 .\" original work is properly attributed to the author. The name of the
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17 .\" is provided "as is" and without any express or implied warranties.
19 .TH LILO.CONF 5 "31 Oct 2001"
21 lilo.conf \- configuration file for lilo
26 is read by the boot loader installer 'lilo' (see lilo(8)).
28 It might look as follows:
42 menu-title=" John's Computer "
44 # bootable kernel images:
45 image=/boot/zImage-1.5.99
47 image=/boot/zImage-1.0.9
54 # other operating systems:
63 This configuration file specifies that lilo uses the Master
64 Boot Record on /dev/hda. (For a discussion of the various ways
65 to use lilo, and the interaction with other operating systems,
66 see user.tex from the lilo documentation.)
68 When booting, the boot loader will issue its
70 prompt and wait for you to enter the label of the kernel (and any options)
71 which you wish to boot. At any time you may hit [Tab] to see
72 a list of kernel/other labels.
73 Alternately, if the \fBboot-menu.b\fP boot loader is installed,
74 a menu of boot options will be presented for your selection.
75 The title of this menu is overridden with the menu
76 title specification in this configuration file.
78 then the default kernel image, the first mentioned, (/boot/zImage-1.5.99)
79 will be booted after a timeout of 15 seconds (150 deciseconds).
80 There can be up to 16 images mentioned in lilo.conf.
82 As can be seen above, a configuration file starts with a number
83 of global options (the top 9 lines in the example),
84 followed by descriptions of the options for the various images.
85 An option in an image description will override a global option.
87 Comment lines may appear anywhere, and begin with the "#" character.
90 There are many possible keywords. The description below is
91 almost literally from user.tex (just slightly abbreviated).
93 .BI "backup=" <backup-file>
94 Copy the original boot sector to
96 (which may also be a device, e.g.
101 .BI "bitmap=" <bitmap-file>
102 Specifies use of a 640x480x16 bitmap file as the background on which a boot
103 menu is displayed. May not be used if 'message=' is specified. Requires
104 that 'install=' specify a boot-loader which is capable of displaying the
108 .BI "bmp-colors=" <fg>,<bg>,<sh>,<hfg>,<hbg>,<hsh>
109 Specifies the decimal values of the colors to be used for the menu display
110 on a 'bitmap=' background. The list consists of 6 entries, 3 for normal
111 text followed by 3 for highlighted text. The order of each triple is:
112 foreground color, background color, shadow color. If background color is
113 not specified, "transparent" is assumed. If shadow color is not specified,
114 then "none" is assumed. The list entries are separated by commas, with no
117 .BI "bmp-table=" <x>,<y>,<ncol>,<nrow>,<xsep>
118 Specifies the location and layout of the menu table. <x>,<y> specify the
119 starting x- and y-position of the upper left corner of the table in
120 character coordinates: x in [1..80], y in [1..25]. <ncol> is the number of
121 columns in the menu (1..3); and <nrow> is the number of rows in each column.
122 If more than one column is specified, then <xsep> is the number of character
123 columns between the leftmost characters in each column: (18..40). If pixel
124 addressing is used, instead of character addressing, then any of <x>, <y>,
125 or <xsep> may be specified with a 'p' suffix on the decimal value.
127 .BI "bmp-timer=" <x>,<y>,<fg>,<bg>,<sh>
128 Optional specification of the 'timeout=' countdown timer. <x>,<y>
129 specifies the character (or pixel) coordinate of the location of the timer,
130 as for 'bmp-table=' above;
131 and the color triple specifes the character color attributes, as for
132 'bmp-colors=' above, with the exception that the background
136 .BI "boot=" <boot-device>
137 Sets the name of the device (e.g. a hard disk partition) that contains
138 the boot sector. If this keyword is omitted, the boot sector is read
139 from (and possibly written to) the device that is currently mounted as root.
140 A raid installation is initiated by specifying a RAID1 device as the boot
141 device; e.g., "boot=/dev/md0". Note that LILO version 22.0 and later
142 operate diffenently from earlier versions with respect to the actual
143 location of the boot records.
146 Defines boot-time changes to partition type numbers (`hiding').
162 The above excerpt from a configuration file specifies that all default
164 are removed ("reset"), and the change-rules for three partition types
165 are specified. Without the \fIreset\fP, the three types specified would
166 have been added to the existing default change-rules. Normally, the default
167 rules are sufficient. The strings which define the partition types
170 section (see below), with the suffixes "_normal" or "_hidden" appended.
171 See section "Partition type change rules" of user.tex for more details.
174 Tries to merge read requests for adjacent sectors into a single
175 read request. This drastically reduces load time and keeps the map
176 smaller. Using `compact' is especially recommended when booting from a
179 .BI "default=" <name>
180 Uses the specified image as the default boot image. If `default' is omitted,
181 the image appearing first in the configuration file is used.
184 Specifies the number of tenths of a second the boot loader should
185 wait before automatically booting a locked command line,
186 a command line pre-stored by
187 "lilo -R", or the default `image=' or `other='.
188 When `delay' is non-zero, the boot loader will wait for an interrupt for the
189 specified interval. If an interrupt is received, or
190 is already waiting, the \fBboot:\fP
191 prompt will be be issued, and no automatic boot will take place. The setting
192 of CAPS LOCK or SCROLL LOCK, or any of the
193 keys ALT, CTRL, or SHIFT, when held down, are taken as interrupts.
195 This action is modified by specifying `prompt' (see below).
197 .BI "disk=" <device-name>
198 Defines non-standard parameters for the specified disk.
199 See section "Disk geometry" of user.tex for details.
200 Especially useful is the `bios=' parameter.
201 The BIOS numbers your disks 0x80, 0x81, etc. and it is impossible
202 to decide which Linux disk corresponds to which BIOS disk
203 (since this depends on the BIOS setup, and on the type of BIOS),
204 so if you have an unusual setup you need to state the correspondence
205 between Linux disks and BIOS disks.
215 would say that your SCSI disk is the first BIOS disk,
216 and your (primary master) IDE disk is the second BIOS disk.
218 .BI "disktab=" <disktab-file>
219 Specifies the name of the disk parameter table.
220 The map installer looks for
222 if `disktab' is omitted. The use of disktabs is discouraged.
225 This allows lilo to adjust 3D addresses in partition tables. Each
226 partition entry contains a 3D (sector/head/cylinder) and a linear
227 address of the first and the last sector of the partition. If a
228 partition is not track-aligned and if certain other operating systems
229 (e.g. PC/MS-DOS or OS/2) are using the same disk, they may change the
230 3D address. lilo can store its boot sector only on partitions where
231 both address types correspond. lilo re-adjusts incorrect 3D start
232 addresses if `fix-table' is set.
234 WARNING: This does not guarantee that other operating systems may
235 not attempt to reset the address later. It is also possible that this
236 change has other, unexpected side-effects. The correct fix is to
237 re-partition the drive with a program that does align partitions to
238 tracks. Also, with some disks (e.g. some large EIDE disks with address
239 translation enabled), under some circumstances, it may even be
240 unavoidable to have conflicting partition table entries.
242 .BI "force-backup=" <backup-file>
243 Like `backup', but overwrite an old backup copy if it exists.
246 Force disk addressing which is compatible with older versions of LILO.
247 Geometric addressing uses sector/head/cylinder addresses, and is limited to
248 disk cylinders up to 1023. If inaccessible cylinders are referenced,
249 diagnostics will be issued at boot-install time, rather than boot-time.
250 With a newer BIOS, use of 'lba32' is recommended.
253 tells lilo to ignore corrupt partition tables.
255 .BI "install=" <boot-loader>
256 Install the specified file as the new boot loader. Starting with
257 version 21.5, two boot loaders are available:
259 and \fIboot-menu.b\fP, with
261 a symbolic link to the latter. Both boot loaders allow the entry
262 of kernel command line options in exactly the same fashion. Both also have full
263 serial line support (see \fBserial=\fP below), although no menu
264 capabilities are available
265 on the serial terminal. The former is
266 available for strict compatibility with previous versions of LILO.
267 If `install' is omitted,
269 is used as the default.
272 Generate 32-bit Logical Block Addresses instead of sector/head/cylinder
273 addresses. If the BIOS supports packet addressing, then packet calls will be
274 used to access the disk. This allows booting from any partition on disks
275 with more than 1024 cylinders.
276 If the BIOS does not support packet addressing, then 'lba32' addresses are
277 translated to sector/head/cylinder ('geometric'), just as for 'linear'.
279 references are retained in C:H:S form. Use of 'lba32' is recommended on
280 all post-1998 systems. Beginning with LILO version 22, 'lba32' is the
281 default disk addressing scheme.
284 Generate 24-bit linear sector addresses instead of sector/head/cylinder
285 (geometric) addresses. Linear addresses are translated at run time to
286 geometric addresses, and are limited to cylinders <= 1023. When using
287 `linear' with large disks,
289 may generate references to inaccessible disk cylinders. 'lba32' avoids
290 many of these pitfalls with its use of packet addressing, but requires a
294 Enables automatic recording of boot command lines as the defaults
295 for the following boots. This way, lilo "locks" on a choice until it is
299 The per-image password option `mandatory' (see below) applies to all images.
301 .BI "map=" <map-file>
302 Specifies the location of the map file. If `map' is omitted, the file
306 .BI "menu-title=" <title-string>
307 Specifies the title line (up to 37 characters) for the boot menu. This
308 title replaces the default "LILO Boot Menu" title string. If
310 is not installed as the boot loader (see
312 option), then this line has no effect.
314 .BI "menu-scheme=" <color-scheme>
315 The default color scheme of the boot menu may be overridden on VGA displays
316 using this option. (The color scheme of MDA displays is fixed.)
319 string is of the form:
322 <text>:<highlight>:<border>:<title>
325 where each entry is two characters which specify a
326 foreground color and a background color. Only the first entry is
327 required. The default highlight is the reverse of the text color; and the
328 default border and title colors are the text color.
329 Colors are specified using the characters \fBkbgcrmyw\fP, for blac\fBK\fP,
330 \fBB\fPlue, \fBG\fPreen, \fBC\fPyan, \fBR\fPed,
331 \fBM\fPagenta, \fBY\fPellow, and \fBW\fPhite: upper case for
332 intense (fg only), lower case for dim.
333 Legal color-scheme strings would be
336 menu-scheme=Wm intense white on magenta
337 menu-scheme=wr:bw:wr:Yr the LILO default
338 menu-scheme=Yk:kw bright yellow on black
343 is not installed as the boot loader, then this line has no effect.
345 .BI "message=" <message-file>
346 specifies a file containing a message that is displayed before
347 the boot prompt. No message is displayed while waiting
348 for a shifting key after printing "LILO ". In the message, the FF
349 character ([Ctrl L]) clears the local screen. This is undesirable when
350 the \fIboot-menu.b\fP boot loader is installed.
351 The size of the message
352 file is limited to 65535 bytes. The map file has to be rebuilt if the
353 message file is changed or moved. 'message=' and 'bitmap=' are mutually
357 Disables warnings about possible future dangers.
360 The per-image option `optional' (see below) applies to all images.
362 .BI "password=" <password>
363 The per-image option `password=...' (see below) applies to all images. This
364 option may prevent unattended booting, if the default image is `password='
365 protected at the default level `mandatory', which is a level higher than
369 Automatic booting (see `delay' above) will not take place unless a locked or
370 pre-stored ("lilo -R") command line is present. Instead, the boot
371 loader will issue the
373 prompt and wait for user input before proceeding (see
376 Unattended default image reboots are impossible if `prompt' is set
377 and `timeout' is not, or the default image is password protected at a higher
378 level than `restricted'.
380 .BI "raid-extra-boot=" <option>
381 This option only has meaning for RAID1 installations.
382 The <option> may be specified as \fInone\fP, \fIauto\fP, \fImbr-only\fP,
383 or a comma-separated list of devices; e.g., "/dev/hda,/dev/hdc6". Starting
384 with LILO version 22.0, the boot record is normally written to the first
385 sector of the RAID1 device. On PARALLEL raid sets, no other boot records
387 default action is \fIauto\fP, meaning, automatically generate auxilary boot
388 records as needed on SKEWED raid sets. \fInone\fP means
389 suppress generation of all auxiliary boot records.
390 \fImbr-only\fP suppresses generation of boot records on the raid device,
391 and forces compatibility with versions of LILO earlier than version 22.0
392 by writing boot records to all Master Boot Records (MBRs) of all disks in
394 Use of an explicit list of devices, forces writing of auxiliary boot records
395 only on those devices enumerated, in addition to the boot record on the RAID1
396 device. Since the version 22 RAID1 codes will never automatically write a boot
397 record on the MBR of device 0x80, if such a boot record is desired, this is
398 the way to have it written.
401 The per-image password option `restricted' (see below) applies to all images.
403 .BI "serial=" <parameters>
404 enables control from a serial line. The specified serial port is
405 initialized and the boot loader is accepting input from it and from
406 the PC's keyboard. Sending a break on the serial line corresponds to
407 pressing a shift key on the console in order to get the boot loader's
409 All boot images should be password-protected if the serial access is
410 less secure than access to the console, e.g. if the line is connected
411 to a modem. The parameter string has the following syntax:
414 <port>[,<bps>[<parity>[<bits>]]]
417 <port>: the number of the serial port, zero-based. 0 corresponds to
418 COM1 alias /dev/ttyS0, etc. All four ports can be used (if present).
420 <bps>: the baud rate of the serial port. The following baud rates are
421 supported: 110, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2400(default), 4800, 9600, plus the
422 extended rates 19200, 38400, and 57600(56000). 115200 is allowed, but may
423 not work with all COMx port hardware.
425 <parity>: the parity used on the serial line. The boot loader ignores input
426 parity and strips the 8th bit. The following (upper or lower case)
427 characters are used to describe the parity: "n" for no parity, "e"
428 for even parity and "o" for odd parity.
430 <bits>: the number of bits in a character. Only 7 and 8 bits are
431 supported. Default is 8 if parity is "none", 7 if parity is "even"
434 If `serial' is set, the value of `delay' is automatically raised to 20.
436 Example: "serial=0,2400n8" initializes COM1 with the default parameters.
439 This option specifies that boot images or 'other's are to be selected and
440 launched with a single keystroke. Selection is based upon the first
441 character of each name, which must be unique. This option should not be
442 used with the menu or bitmap user interface ("install=").
444 .BI "timeout=" <tsecs>
445 sets a timeout (in tenths of a second) for keyboard input at the
447 prompt. "timeout" only has meaning if "prompt" is mentioned.
448 If no key is pressed for the specified time, the default image is
449 automatically booted. The default timeout is infinite.
451 .BI "verbose=" <number>
452 Turns on lots of progress reporting. Higher numbers give more verbose
453 output. If \-v is additionally specified on the lilo command line,
454 the level is increased accordingly. The maximum verbosity level is 5.
457 Additionally, the kernel configuration parameters
458 .BR append ", " ramdisk ", " read-only ", " read-write ", " root
461 can be set in the global options section. They are used as defaults
462 if they aren't specified in the configuration sections of the
463 respective kernel images.
465 .SH "PER-IMAGE SECTION"
466 A per-image section starts with either a line
469 \fBimage=\fP\fI<pathname>\fP
472 to indicate a file or device containing the boot image of a Linux
476 \fBother=\fP\fI<device>\fP
479 to indicate an arbitrary system to boot.
482 In the former case, if an \fBimage\fP line specifies booting
483 from a device, then one has to indicate the range of sectors to be mapped
487 \fBrange=\fP\fI<start>-<end>\fP
488 \fBrange=\fP\fI<start>+<nsec>\fP
489 \fBrange=\fP\fI<sector>\fP
492 In the third case, 'nsec=1' is assumed.
494 .SH "KERNEL OPTIONS (image=)"
495 If the booted image is a Linux kernel, then one may pass
496 command line parameters to this kernel.
498 .BI "append=" <string>
499 Appends the options specified to the parameter line passed to the kernel.
500 This is typically used to specify parameters of hardware that can't be
501 entirely auto-detected or for which probing may be dangerous. Example:
504 append="hd=576,64,32"
509 Specifies the initial ramdisk image to be loaded with the kernel. The
510 image will contain modules needed at boot time, such as network and scsi
511 drivers. See man pages for \fImkinitrd(8)\fP.
513 .BI "literal=" <string>
514 Like `append', but removes all other options (e.g. setting of the root
515 device). Because vital options can be removed unintentionally with `literal',
516 this option cannot be set in the global options section.
518 .BI "ramdisk=" <size>
519 This specifies the size (e.g., "4096k") of the optional RAM disk. A value of
520 zero indicates that no RAM disk should be created. If this variable is
521 omitted, the RAM disk size configured into the boot image is used.
524 This specifies that the root file system should be mounted read-only.
525 It may be specified as a global option.
526 Typically, the system startup procedure re-mounts the root
527 file system read-write later (e.g. after fsck'ing it).
530 This specifies that the root file system should be mounted read-write.
531 It may be specified as a global option.
533 .BI "root=" <root-device>
534 This specifies the device that should be mounted as root.
535 It may be specified as a global option.
538 is used, the root device is set to the device on which the root file
539 system is currently mounted. If the root has been changed with -r ,
540 the respective device is used. If the variable `root' is omitted,
541 the root device setting contained in the kernel image is used.
542 (And that is set at compile time using the ROOT_DEV variable in
543 the kernel Makefile, and can later be changed with the rdev(8) program.)
546 This specifies the VGA text mode that should be selected when
548 It may be specified as a global option.
549 The following values are recognized (case is ignored):
552 select normal 80x25 text mode.
554 .BR extended " (or " ext ):
555 select 80x50 text mode.
558 stop and ask for user input (at boot time).
560 <number>: use the corresponding text mode. A list of available modes
561 can be obtained by booting with
563 and pressing [Enter].
565 If this variable is omitted, the VGA mode setting contained in the
566 kernel image is used. (And that is set at compile time using the
567 SVGA_MODE variable in the kernel Makefile, and can later be changed with
568 the rdev(8) program.)
570 .SH "ALTERNATE SYSTEM (other=)"
572 Used to load systems other than Linux. The `other = <device>' specifies
573 the boot sector of an alternate system contained on a device or disk
574 partition; e.g., DOS on, say, `/dev/hda2', or a floppy on `/dev/fd0'.
575 In the case of booting another system there are these options:
577 .BI "loader=" <chain-loader>
578 This specifies the chain loader that should be used. It may also be
579 specified as a global option.
582 is used. This chain loader passes partition and drive information in the
583 boot sector it loads only to DOS on FAT12 or FAT16, Windows on FAT16 or
584 FAT32, or OS/2 on FAT16 or HPFS.
585 The alternate chain loader,
587 passes partition and drive information unconditionally, and uses a format
588 suitalble for OS/2 and DOS (see
592 .BI "table=" <device>
593 This specifies the device that contains the partition table.
594 The boot loader will pass default partition information to the booted
595 operating system if this variable is omitted. (Some operating systems
596 have other means to determine from which partition they have been booted.
597 E.g., MS-DOS usually stores the geometry of the boot disk or partition
599 Note that /sbin/lilo must be re-run if a partition table mapped referenced
600 with `table' is modified.
602 .BI "table=" <drive-letter>
603 This is a special case for the
605 chain loader. It specifies the DOS drive letter for the partition
606 that will be booted. This is
608 when booting OS/2 installed on
609 an extended partition. The drive letter may be specified with or without a
613 This keyword starts a section which describes how primary partition IDs are
614 changed, and how primary partitions are activated and deactivated. If
616 is omitted, change rules are generated as though the
618 keyword were specified. The keyword
620 alone, without any rules following, will suppress automatic change-rules.
637 specifies that when primary partition /dev/hda2 is booted, automatic
638 change-rules will be in effect; plus, partition 1, a DOS12 partition, will
639 be set hidden, and deactivated. In addition, partition 2, will be set
640 normal, and activated. Activation sets the boot-flag in the partition
643 keyword may confict with default change rules, so the
645 lines above may be redundant.
647 .BI "map-drive=" <num>
648 Maps BIOS calls for the specified drive to the device code specified on the
649 next line as \fBto=\fP<num>. This mapping is useful for booting operating
650 systems, such as DOS, from the second hard drive. The following, swaps the
661 Do not access the boot sector at map creation time. This disables
662 some sanity checks, including a partition table check. If the boot
663 sector is on a fixed-format floppy disk device, using UNSAFE avoids the
664 need to put a readable disk into the drive when running the map
665 installer. `unsafe' and `table' are mutually incompatible.
667 .SH "COMMON OPTIONS (image= & other=)"
670 .BR image= " and " other=
671 cases, the following options apply.
674 The boot loader uses the main file name (without its path)
675 of each image specification to identify that image.
676 A different name can be used by setting the variable `label'.
679 A second name for the same entry can be used by specifying an alias.
685 Omit the image if it is not available at map creation time.
686 It may be specified as a global option.
687 This is useful to specify test kernels that are not always present.
689 .BI "password=" <password>
690 Protect the `image=' or `other=' with a password (or passphrase).
691 It may be specified as a global option.
692 The interpretation of the `password=' setting is modified by the words
693 `mandatory', `restricted', and `bypass' (see below).
695 The password may be specified in the config-file (less secure) or entered
696 at the time the boot loader is installed. To request interactive entry of
697 the password, it should be specified: \fBpassword=""\fP.
698 Passwords entered interactively are not required to be entered again if the
699 boot installer is re-run. They are cached, in hashed form, in a companion
700 file to the config-file, default name: \fB/etc/lilo.conf.crc\fP. If the
701 config-file is updated, a warning message
702 will be issued telling you to re-run \fIlilo -p\fP to force re-creation of the
706 A password is required to boot this image. This is the default. May be used
707 on a single `image=' or `other=' to override a different global setting.
710 A password is only required to boot the image if kernel parameters
711 are specified on the command line (e.g. 'single'). May be used
712 on a single `image=' or `other=' to override a different global setting.
715 No password is required to boot this image. Used to indicate that the global
716 password does not apply to this `image=' or `other='.
720 lilo(8), mkinitrd(8), mkrescue(8), rdev(8).
723 The lilo distribution comes with very extensive documentation
724 of which the above is an extract. (lilo 22.1)
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