lilo.conf man page on SuSE

Man page or keyword search:  
man Server   14857 pages
apropos Keyword Search (all sections)
Output format
SuSE logo
[printable version]

LILO.CONF(5)							  LILO.CONF(5)

NAME
       lilo.conf - configuration file for lilo

DESCRIPTION
       This  file,  by	default /etc/lilo.conf, is read by the boot loader in‐
       staller 'lilo' (see lilo(8)).

       It might look as follows:

	      # lilo.conf
	      #
	      #	 global options:
	      boot=/dev/hda
	      prompt
	      timeout=150
	      lba32
	      compact
	      vga=normal
	      root=/dev/hda1
	      read-only
	      menu-title=" John's Computer "
	      #
	      #	 bootable kernel images:
	      image=/boot/zImage-1.5.99
		   label=try
	      image=/boot/zImage-1.0.9
		   label=1.0.9
	      image=/tamu/vmlinuz
		   label=tamu
		   initrd=initramdisk.img
		   root=/dev/hdb2
		   vga=ask
	      #
	      #	 other operating systems:
	      other=/dev/hda3
		   label=dos
		   boot-as=0x80	   # must be C:
	      other=/dev/hdb1
		   label=Win98
		   boot-as=0x80	   # must be C:
	      other=/dev/hdb5
		   label=os2
		   loader=os2_d
		   table=E:   # os2 sees as E:

       This configuration file specifies that lilo uses the Master Boot Record
       on /dev/hda. (For a discussion of the various ways to use lilo, and the
       interaction with other operating systems, see user.tex  from  the  lilo
       documentation.)

       When  booting, the boot loader will issue its boot: prompt and wait for
       you to enter the label of the kernel (and any options) which  you  wish
       to  boot.  At  any time you may hit [Tab] to see a list of kernel/other
       labels.	Alternately, if the menu boot loader is installed, a  menu  of
       boot  options  will be presented for your selection.  The title of this
       menu is overridden with the menu title specification in this configura‐
       tion  file.   If	 you enter nothing, then the default kernel image, the
       first mentioned, (/boot/zImage-1.5.99) will be booted after  a  timeout
       of  15 seconds (150 deciseconds).  There may be at least 16 images men‐
       tioned  in  lilo.conf.  (The  exact  number  depends  upon  compilation
       options.)

       As  can	be  seen  above,  a configuration file starts with a number of
       global options (the top 9 lines in the example), followed  by  descrip‐
       tions  of  the  options	for the various images.	 An option in an image
       description will override a global option.

       Comment lines may appear anywhere, and begin with the "#" character.

GLOBAL OPTIONS
       There are many possible keywords. The description below is almost  lit‐
       erally from user.tex (just slightly abbreviated).

       backup=<backup-file>
	      Specifies	 the location where a copy of any modified boot sector
	      will be saved in a file. 'backup=' may specify this location  in
	      one  of  three  ways:  a directory where the default backup file
	      'boot.NNNN' will be created; a file pathname template  to	 which
	      the  '.NNNN'  suffix  will  be added; or the full file pathname,
	      which must include the correct '.NNNN' suffix.  All RAID instal‐
	      lations  should use only the first two alternatives, as multiple
	      backups may be created.  The '.NNNN' suffix is  the  hexadecimal
	      representation  of  the  major  and  minor device numbers of the
	      device or partition.  If	this  option  is  not  specified,  the
	      default  name  of boot sector backups is '/boot/boot.NNNN'. If a
	      backup already exists, it will be preserved, rather  than	 over‐
	      written.	C.f., force-backup= below.

       bios-passes-dl=<option>
	      The  option  is indicated as yes, no, or unknown.	 If not speci‐
	      fied, a value of "unknown" is assumed, unless additional	infor‐
	      mation  is  available to the boot installer. When "no" is speci‐
	      fied, it indicates that the BIOS is known not to pass  the  cur‐
	      rent  boot  device  code	to the boot loader in the DL register.
	      Its only function at this point is experimental, as certain RAID
	      installations  may  benefit  from	 knowing that the BIOS is 100%
	      reliable.	 Its use should be considered experimental.

	      N.B.:  This option  may  not  be	retained  in  releases	beyond
	      22.5.1,  and  may be specified on the command line with the '-Z'
	      switch:  yes=1, no=0.

       bitmap=<bitmap-file>
	      Specifies	 use  of  a  640x480x16	 (VGA  BIOS)  or   640x480x256
	      (VGA/VESA	 BIOS)	bitmap	file as the background on which a boot
	      menu is displayed.  May not be used if 'message=' is  specified.
	      Use  of  this  option  will select a bitmap-capable boot loader,
	      unless overridden with "install=" (see below).

	      When a bitmap file is specified as a  background	screen	during
	      the  boot	 process,  the	color selection and layout of the text
	      which overlays the graphic image must be specified in one of two
	      ways.   One way, is to use a bitmap image (*.bmp) file which has
	      had a header written by the lilo -E command.  If this command is
	      used, then all of the information specified by the 'bmp-colors',
	      'bmp-table', and 'bmp-timer' options is stored in a special LILO
	      header  within the bitmap file.  Without this header, the 'bmp-'
	      option values should be specified in the configuration file;  if
	      not,  default  values  are  used.	 Any use of the 'bmp-' options
	      within the configuration file overrides the values stored in the
	      bitmap file header.

       bmp-colors=<fg>,<bg>,<sh>,<hfg>,<hbg>,<hsh>
	      Specifies	 the  decimal  values of the colors to be used for the
	      menu display on a 'bitmap=' background.  The list consists of  6
	      entries,	3  for normal text followed by 3 for highlighted text.
	      The order of each triple is: foreground color, background color,
	      shadow  color.  If background color is not specified, "transpar‐
	      ent" is assumed.	If shadow color is not specified, then	"none"
	      is  assumed.   The list entries are separated by commas, with no
	      spaces.

       bmp-retain
	      Option applies to all 'image=' and 'other=' sections.  (See COM‐
	      MON OPTIONS, below.)

       bmp-table=<x>,<y>,<ncol>,<nrow>,<xsep>,<spill>
	      Specifies	 the  location	and layout of the menu table.  <x>,<y>
	      specify the starting x- and y-position of the upper left	corner
	      of  the  table  in  character  coordinates:  x  in [1..80], y in
	      [1..30]. <ncol> is the number of columns in the menu (1..5); and
	      <nrow>  is the number of rows (entries) in each column.  If more
	      than one column is specified, then <xsep> is the number of char‐
	      acter  columns  between  the leftmost characters in each column:
	      (18..40), and <spill> is the number of  entries  in  one	column
	      which  must be filled before entries spill into the next column.
	      <spill> must be  .le.  <nrow>.  If  pixel	 addressing  is	 used,
	      instead of character addressing, then any of <x>, <y>, or <xsep>
	      may be specified with a 'p' suffix on the decimal value.

       bmp-timer=<x>,<y>,<fg>,<bg>,<sh>
	      Optional	specification  of  the	'timeout='  countdown	timer.
	      <x>,<y>  specifies  the  character  (or pixel) coordinate of the
	      location of the timer the same as 'bmp-table='  above;  and  the
	      color triple specifes the character color attributes the same as
	      'bmp-colors=' above, with	 the  exception	 that  the  background
	      color must be specified.	If used to override the timer specifi‐
	      cation in a bitmap file, then the form  'bmp-timer  =  none'  is
	      acceptable.  This will disable the timer display entirely.

       boot=<boot-device>
	      Sets  the	 name  of the device (e.g. a hard disk partition) that
	      contains the boot sector. If this keyword is omitted,  the  boot
	      sector is read from (and possibly written to) the device that is
	      currently mounted as root.  A raid installation is initiated  by
	      specifying   a   RAID1   device	as   the  boot	device;	 e.g.,
	      "boot=/dev/md0".	Note that LILO version 22.0 and later  operate
	      differently  from	 earlier  versions  with respect to the actual
	      location of the boot records.

       change-rules
	      Defines boot-time changes to partition type numbers (`hiding').

	      change-rules
		 reset
		 type=DOS12
		    normal=1
		    hidden=0x11
		 type=DOS16_small
		    normal=4
		    hidden=0x14
		 type=DOS16_big
		    normal=0x06
		    hidden=0x16

	      The above excerpt from a configuration file specifies  that  all
	      default change-rules are removed ("reset"), and the change-rules
	      for three partition types are specified.	Without the reset, the
	      three  types  specified  would  have  been added to the existing
	      default change-rules.  Normally, the default  rules  are	suffi‐
	      cient.  The strings which define the partition types are used in
	      a change section (see below), with  the  suffixes	 "_normal"  or
	      "_hidden"	 appended.   See section "Partition type change rules"
	      of user.tex for more details.

       compact
	      Tries to merge read requests for adjacent sectors into a	single
	      read  request.  This drastically reduces load time and keeps the
	      map file smaller. Using `compact' is especially recommended when
	      booting using a map file on a floppy disk.

       default=<name>
	      Uses the specified image as the default boot image. If `default'
	      is omitted, the image appearing first in the configuration  file
	      is used. See also, vmdefault below.

       delay=<tsecs>
	      Specifies	 the  number  of  tenths  of  a second the boot loader
	      should wait before automatically booting a locked command	 line,
	      a	 command line pre-stored by "lilo -R", or the default `image='
	      or `other='.  When `delay' is non-zero,  the  boot  loader  will
	      wait  for	 an interrupt for the specified interval. If an inter‐
	      rupt is received, or is already waiting, the boot:  prompt  will
	      be be issued, and no automatic boot will take place. The setting
	      of CAPS LOCK or SCROLL LOCK, or any of the keys  ALT,  CTRL,  or
	      SHIFT, when held down, are taken as interrupts.

	      This action is modified by specifying `prompt' (see below).

       disk=<device-name>
	      Defines  non-standard  parameters	 for  the specified disk.  See
	      section "Disk geometry" of user.tex for details.	 For  versions
	      of LILO prior to 22.5, the `bios=' parameter is quite useful for
	      specifying how the BIOS has assigned device codes to your disks.
	      For example,

		     disk=/dev/sda
			  bios=0x80
		     disk=/dev/hda
			  bios=0x81
		     disk=/dev/sdb
			  inaccessible

	      would  say  that	your  SCSI disk is the first BIOS disk (0x80),
	      that your (primary master) IDE disk  is  the  second  BIOS  disk
	      (0x81),  and  that  your second SCSI disk (perhaps a USB device)
	      receives no device code, and is therefore inaccessible  at  boot
	      time.

	      NOTE:  Use  of  the 'bios=' option is largely obsolete beginning
	      with LILO version 22.5, as the boot loader now identifies	 disks
	      by  32-bit  Volume-ID, and defers BIOS device code determination
	      until boot time.

	      Most USB devices which are implemented as	 SCSI  disks  MUST  be
	      marked  inaccessible  unless they are actually assigned a device
	      code by the BIOS.

	      Other options include the specification of disk geometry; e.g.,

		     disk=/dev/fd0
			  sectors=18
			  heads=2
			  cylinders=80

	      probably only useful for	floppy	disks  and  loopback  devices,
	      since  for  hard	disks  the  lba32 disk addressing option (LILO
	      21.2) ignores disk geometry.

	      (22.5.8) Developers who have implemented a disk driver for a new
	      block  storage  device will have to indicate to LILO the maximum
	      number of partitions on the device.  This is in addition to mak‐
	      ing  all	of  the necessary entries for the device in the "/dev"
	      directory (with 'mknod').	 The maximum number of partitions must
	      be  one  of  63 (like an IDE disk), 31 (uncommon), 15 (like SCSI
	      disks -- most common value), or 7 (like one  array  controller).
	      An example specifictaion would be:

		   disk=/dev/userd0
			max-partitions=15

	      In  cases where there is no kernel paritition information avail‐
	      able, such as on loopback devices, the 'disk=' specification may
	      include paritition start information; viz.,

		     disk=/dev/loop0
			  bios=0x80		 # use this BIOS code
			  max-partitions=7	 # declare partitionable
			  paritition=/dev/loop1
			       start=63		 # offset from sector 0
			  paritition=/dev/loop2
			       start=102400	 # offset from sector 0

       disktab=<disktab-file>
	      Specifies	 the  name  of	the disk parameter table.  The map in‐
	      staller looks for /etc/disktab if `disktab' is omitted. The  use
	      of disktabs is discouraged.

       el-torito-bootable-CD
	      Flag  second stage loader to terminate disk emulation when boot‐
	      ing from an El Torito Bootable CD. This option is	 used  by  the
	      mkrescue utility when the "--iso" switch is specified.

       fix-table
	      This  allows  lilo  to  adjust 3D addresses in partition tables.
	      Each partition entry contains a 3D (cylinder/head/sector) and  a
	      linear  address  of  the first and the last sector of the parti‐
	      tion. If a partition is not track-aligned and if	certain	 other
	      operating	 systems  (e.g.	 PC/MS-DOS or OS/2) are using the same
	      disk, they may change the 3D address. lilo can  store  its  boot
	      sector  only  on partitions where both address types correspond.
	      lilo re-adjusts incorrect 3D start addresses if  `fix-table'  is
	      set.

	      WARNING:	This  does  not guarantee that other operating systems
	      may not attempt to reset the address later. It is also  possible
	      that this change has other, unexpected side-effects. The correct
	      fix is to re-partition the drive with a program that does	 align
	      partitions  to  tracks.  Also,  with some disks (e.g. some large
	      EIDE disks with address translation enabled), under some circum‐
	      stances,	it  may even be unavoidable to have conflicting parti‐
	      tion table entries.

       force-backup=<backup-file>
	      Operation is identical to	 backup=  above,  except  an  existing
	      backup file is unconditionally overwritten if it exists.

       geometric
	      Force disk addressing which is compatible with older versions of
	      LILO.  Geometric addressing uses cylinder/head/sector addresses,
	      and  is  limited	to disk cylinders up to 1023.  If inaccessible
	      cylinders are referenced, diagnostics will be  issued  at	 boot-
	      install  time, rather than boot-time.  With a newer BIOS, use of
	      'lba32' is recommended.

       ignore-table
	      tells lilo to ignore corrupt partition tables.

       install=<user-interface>
	      Selects the user interface which will be seen at boot time.  One
	      of the following three options may be specified:	text, menu, or
	      bmp. The traditional LILO interface is `text'; but `menu' is now
	      the default, unless the configurtion file contains the `bitmap='
	      specification.  The text interface is  strictly  a  command-line
	      interface	 as though the console were a dumb terminal.  The menu
	      interface is a text-based screen of the boot choices,  with  the
	      option to enter additional command line parameters.  And the bmp
	      interface is a menu presented against a graphic  screen,	speci‐
	      fied  as	a  640x480  BitMaP file of 16 or 256 colors.  (See the
	      'lilo -E' switch for editing options).

	      (Prior to LILO  version  22.3,  `install='  specified  the  user
	      interface as a file in the `/boot' directory.)

       large-memory
	      Normally	any  initial  ramdisk (initrd) loaded with a kernel is
	      loaded as high in memory as  possible,  but  never  above	 15Mb.
	      This  is	due  to	 a BIOS limitation on older systems.  On newer
	      systems, this option enables using memory above 15Mb  (up	 to  a
	      kernel  imposed  limit,  around 768Mb) for passing the initrd to
	      the kernel.  The presence of this option merely  indicates  that
	      your system does not have the old BIOS limitation.

	      This  switch  (or its abscence) is not passed to the kernel, and
	      does not in any way affect the amount of physical	 memory	 which
	      it  will use.  (See the kernel documentation for the kernel com‐
	      mand line parameter "mem=" for limiting the memory used  by  the
	      kernel.)

       lba32  Generate	32-bit	Logical	 Block	Addresses  instead  of	cylin‐
	      der/head/sector addresses. If the BIOS supports packet  address‐
	      ing,  then  packet  calls	 will be used to access the disk. This
	      allows booting from any partition on disks with more  than  1024
	      cylinders.  If the BIOS does not support packet addressing, then
	      'lba32' addresses are translated to cylinder/head/sector	('geo‐
	      metric'),	 just as for 'linear'.	All floppy disk references are
	      retained in C:H:S form.  Use of 'lba32' is  recommended  on  all
	      post-1998	 systems.   Beginning with LILO version 22, 'lba32' is
	      the default disk addressing scheme.

       linear Generate	24-bit	linear	sector	addresses  instead  of	cylin‐
	      der/head/sector  (geometric)  addresses.	Linear	addresses  are
	      translated at run time to geometric addresses, and  are  limited
	      to  cylinders  <=	 1023.	When  using `linear' with large disks,
	      /sbin/lilo may generate references to inaccessible  disk	cylin‐
	      ders.  'lba32'  avoids  many  of	these pitfalls with its use of
	      packet addressing, but requires a recent BIOS (post-1998).   The
	      'linear'	option is considered obsolete, and its use is strongly
	      discouraged.

       lock   Enables  automatic  recording  of	 boot  command	lines  as  the
	      defaults	for  the  following boots. This way, lilo "locks" on a
	      choice until it is manually overridden.

       mandatory
	      The per-image password option `mandatory' (see below) applies to
	      all images.

       map=<map-file>
	      Specifies the location of the map file. If `map' is omitted, the
	      file /boot/map is used.

	      On machines with a pre-1998 BIOS, the EDD bios extensions	 which
	      are  required  to support "lba32" disk sector addressing may not
	      be present. In this case, the boot-loader will fall  back	 auto‐
	      matically	 to  "geometric" addressing; this fall back situation,
	      or the specific use of "geometric" or "linear" addressing,  will
	      require  the map file to be located within the first 1024 cylin‐
	      ders of the disk drive. This BIOS limitation is not  present  on
	      post-1998 systems, most of which support the newer EDD disk BIOS
	      calls.

       menu-title=<title-string>
	      Specifies the title line (up to  37  characters)	for  the  boot
	      menu.  This  title  replaces  the default "LILO Boot Menu" title
	      string. If menu  is  not	installed  as  the  boot  loader  (see
	      install= option), then this line has no effect.

       menu-scheme=<color-scheme>
	      The  default  color scheme of the boot menu may be overridden on
	      VGA displays using this option. (The color scheme	 of  MDA  dis‐
	      plays  is	 fixed.)   The	general	 color-scheme string is of the
	      form:

		   <text>:<highlight>:<border>:<title>

	      where each entry is two characters which	specify	 a  foreground
	      color  and a background color. Only the first entry is required.
	      The default highlight is the reverse of the text color; and  the
	      default  border and title colors are the text color.  Colors are
	      specified using the characters kbgcrmyw, for blacK, Blue, Green,
	      Cyan,  Red,  Magenta,  Yellow, and White: upper case for intense
	      (fg only), lower case for dim.  Legal color-scheme strings would
	      be

		  menu-scheme=Wm     intense white on magenta
		  menu-scheme=wr:bw:wr:Yr    the LILO default
		  menu-scheme=Yk:kw    bright yellow on black

	      If  menu is not installed as the boot loader, then this line has
	      no effect.

       message=<message-file>
	      specifies a file containing a message that is  displayed	before
	      the  boot	 prompt.  No  message is displayed while waiting for a
	      shifting key after printing "LILO ".  In	the  message,  the  FF
	      character	 ([Ctrl	 L]) clears the local screen. This is undesir‐
	      able when the menu boot loader is installed.  The	 size  of  the
	      message  file  is limited to 65535 bytes. The map file has to be
	      rebuilt if the message file is changed or moved.	'message=' and
	      'bitmap=' are mutually exclusive.

       nodevcache
	      (22.8) Disables pre-loading of the internal device cache. May be
	      needed for Linux distributions  which  use  non-standard	device
	      naming  conventions;  e.g.,  when	 the  first  IDE  disk	is not
	      `/dev/hda'.

       nokbdefault=<name>
	      (22.7.2) The named descriptor is taken to be  the	 default  boot
	      image  if	 no IBM-PC keyboard is present. If no serial interface
	      ("serial=") is in use, then any "prompt" keyword	and  "timeout"
	      value  are  bypassed, and default booting occurs as specified by
	      "delay=".	 The keyboard detection codes cannot detect the	 pres‐
	      ence or absence of a newer USB keyboard.

       noraid Disables	the automatic marking of disk volumes which are compo‐
	      nents of RAID arrays as inaccessible.  This allows the  user  to
	      edit  the	 disk= / inaccessible declarations into the configura‐
	      tion file himself.  Without such declarations, duplicate	Volume
	      IDs  will	 be  overwritten,  leading  to confusing situations at
	      boot-time, and possible failure to boot.	The use of  this  key‐
	      word is generally not necessary.

       nowarn Disables warnings about possible future dangers.

       optional
	      The  per-image  option  `optional'  (see	below)	applies to all
	      images.

       password=<password>
	      The per-image option `password=...' (see below) applies  to  all
	      images.  This  option  may  prevent  unattended  booting, if the
	      default image is `password='  protected  at  the	default	 level
	      `mandatory', which is a level higher than `restricted'.

       prompt Automatic booting (see `delay' above) will not take place unless
	      a locked or pre-stored ("lilo  -R")  command  line  is  present.
	      Instead,	the  boot  loader will issue the boot: prompt and wait
	      for user input before proceeding	(see  timeout  below).	 Unat‐
	      tended  default  image reboots are impossible if `prompt' is set
	      and `timeout' is not, or the default image is password protected
	      at a higher level than `restricted'.

       raid-extra-boot=<option>
	      This  option  only  has  meaning	for  RAID1 installations.  The
	      <option> may be specified as none, auto,	mbr,  mbr-only,	 or  a
	      comma-separated  list  of	 devices;  e.g., "/dev/hda,/dev/hdc6".
	      Starting with LILO version 22.0, the  boot  record  is  normally
	      written to the first sector of the RAID1 partition.  On PARALLEL
	      raid sets, no other boot records are needed.  The default action
	      is  auto,	 meaning, automatically generate auxilary boot records
	      as needed on SKEWED raid sets.  none means  suppress  generation
	      of  all  auxiliary boot records.	mbr-only suppresses generation
	      of a boot record on the raid device,  and	 forces	 compatibility
	      with  versions of LILO earlier than version 22.0 by writing boot
	      records to all Master Boot Records (MBRs)	 of  all  disks	 which
	      have partitions in the raid set. mbr is like mbr-only except the
	      boot record on the RAID parition is not suppressed.  Use	of  an
	      explicit	list  of  devices,  forces  writing  of auxiliary boot
	      records only on those devices enumerated,	 in  addition  to  the
	      boot  record  on	the  RAID1  device. Since the version 22 RAID1
	      codes will never automatically write a boot record on the MBR of
	      device  0x80,  if such a boot record is desired, this is one way
	      to have it written. Use of mbr is the other way to force writing
	      to the MBR of device 0x80.

       restricted
	      The  per-image  password option `restricted' (see below) applies
	      to all images.

       serial=<parameters>
	      enables control from a serial line. The specified serial port is
	      initialized  and	the boot loader is accepting input from it and
	      from the PC's keyboard. Sending a break on the serial line  cor‐
	      responds	to pressing a shift key on the console in order to get
	      the boot loader's attention.  All boot images  should  be	 pass‐
	      word-protected  if  the serial access is less secure than access
	      to the console, e.g. if the line is connected to	a  modem.  The
	      parameter string has the following syntax:

		  <port>[,<bps>[<parity>[<bits>]]]

	      <port>:	the  number  of	 the serial port, zero-based. 0 corre‐
	      sponds to COM1 alias /dev/ttyS0, etc. All four ports can be used
	      (if present).

	      <bps>:   the  baud  rate	of the serial port. The following baud
	      rates are supported: 110, 150, 300,  600,	 1200,	2400(default),
	      4800,   9600,   plus   the  extended  rates  19200,  38400,  and
	      57600(56000).  115200 is allowed, but may not work with all COMx
	      port hardware.

	      <parity>:	  the  parity used on the serial line. The boot loader
	      ignores input parity and	strips	the  8th  bit.	The  following
	      (upper  or  lower case) characters are used to describe the par‐
	      ity:  "n" for no parity, "e" for even parity  and	 "o"  for  odd
	      parity.

	      <bits>:	the  number  of bits in a character. Only 7 and 8 bits
	      are supported. Default is 8 if parity is "none", 7 if parity  is
	      "even" or "odd".

	      If `serial' is set, the value of `delay' is automatically raised
	      to 20.

	      Example: "serial=0,2400n8" initializes  COM1  with  the  default
	      parameters.

       single-key
	      This  option  specifies  that  boot images or 'other's are to be
	      selected and launched with a  single  keystroke.	 Selection  is
	      based  upon  the	first  character  of  each name, which must be
	      unique.  This option should not be used with the menu or	bitmap
	      user interface ("install=").

       static-BIOS-codes
	      Causes  the  operation  of the boot installer and boot loader to
	      bypass the use of Volume-ID information, and to revert to a mode
	      of  operation of versions of LILO from 22.4 backward.  With Vol‐
	      ume-ID booting (22.5 and later), the BIOS	 codes	of  disks  are
	      determined  at  boot  time,  not install time; hence they may be
	      switched around, either by adding or removing disk(s)  from  the
	      hardware	configuration,	or  by using a BIOS menu to select the
	      boot device.

	      With the use of this option, BIOS codes of disks	MUST  be  cor‐
	      rectly  specified	 at  install time; either guessed correctly by
	      LILO (which often fails on mixed IDE/SCSI systems),  or  explic‐
	      itly  specified  with 'disk=/dev/XXX bios=0xYY' statements.  The
	      use of this option  precludes  any  activity  which  may	switch
	      around  the  BIOS	 codes assigned to particular disk devices, as
	      noted above.

	      In general, this option should never be used, except  as	a  bug
	      workaround.

       suppress-boot-time-BIOS-data
	      This global option suppresses the boot-time real mode collection
	      of BIOS data on systems which hang on certain BIOS calls.	 It is
	      equivalent to using the boot-time switch 'nobd'.

	      This  option defeats the disk volume recognition and BIOS device
	      code detection features of LILO on systems with  more  than  one
	      disk. Thus the use of this option will produce a strong caution‐
	      ary message, which cannot be suppressed.

       timeout=<tsecs>
	      sets a timeout (in tenths of a second) for keyboard input at the
	      boot:  prompt.   "timeout"  only has meaning if "prompt" is men‐
	      tioned.  If no key  is  pressed  for  the	 specified  time,  the
	      default  image  is  automatically booted. The default timeout is
	      infinite.

       unattended
	      (22.6) Alters the operation of the "timeout" parameter in a man‐
	      ner  which  is  useful  on  noisy	 serial lines.	Each typed (or
	      noise) character restarts the "timeout" timer and a timeout will
	      always  boot  the	 default  descriptor, even if noise characters
	      have appeared on the input line.

       verbose=<number>
	      Turns on lots of progress reporting. Higher  numbers  give  more
	      verbose  output.	If   -v	 is additionally specified on the lilo
	      command line, the level is increased  accordingly.  The  maximum
	      verbosity level is 5.

       vmdefault=<name>
	      The  named  boot image is used as the default boot if booting in
	      "virtual" mode with a virtual monitor, such as VMware(tm).  Thus
	      a	 real  mode  boot  and a virtual mode boot can be made to have
	      different default boot images.

       Additionally, the  kernel  configuration	 parameters  append,  ramdisk,
       read-only,  read-write,	root  and vga can be set in the global options
       section. They are used as defaults if they aren't specified in the con‐
       figuration sections of the respective kernel images.

PER-IMAGE SECTION
       A per-image section starts with either a line

	   image=<pathname>

       to  indicate a file or device containing the boot image of a Linux ker‐
       nel, or a line

	   other=<device>

       to indicate an arbitrary system to boot.

       In the former case, if an image line specifies booting from  a  device,
       then one has to indicate the range of sectors to be mapped using

	   range=<start>-<end>
	   range=<start>+<nsec>
	   range=<sector>

       In the third case, 'nsec=1' is assumed.

KERNEL OPTIONS (image=)
       If  the	booted image is a Linux kernel, then one may pass command line
       parameters to this kernel.

       addappend=<string>
	      (22.6) The kernel parameters from the specified string, are con‐
	      catenated to the parameter(s) from an append= specification (see
	      below).  The string must be enclosed within double quotes.  Usu‐
	      ally, the previous append= will specify parameters common to all
	      kernels by appearing in the top, or global, section of the  con‐
	      figuratin	 file and addappend= will be used to add local parame‐
	      ter(s) to an individual image.  Addappend= may be used only once
	      per "image=" section.

       append=<string>
	      Appends  the  options  specified to the parameter line passed to
	      the kernel.  This is typically used to specify hardware  parame‐
	      ters  that  can't be entirely auto-detected or for which probing
	      may be dangerous. Multiple kernel parameters are separated by  a
	      blank  space,  and the string must be enclosed in double quotes.
	      A local append= appearing withing an  image=  section  overrides
	      any  global append= appearing in the top section of the configu‐
	      ration file.  Append= may be used only once  per	"image="  sec‐
	      tion.  To concatenate parameter strings, use "addappend=". Exam‐
	      ple:

		   append="mem=96M hd=576,64,32 console=ttyS1,9600"

       initrd=<name>
	      Specifies the initial ramdisk image to be loaded with  the  ker‐
	      nel.   The  image will contain modules needed at boot time, such
	      as network and scsi drivers. See man pages for mkinitrd(8).

       literal=<string>
	      Like `append', but removes all other options  (e.g.  setting  of
	      the  root	 device). 'literal' overrides all 'append' and 'addap‐
	      pend' options.  Because vital options can	 be  removed  uninten‐
	      tionally with `literal', this option cannot be set in the global
	      options section.

       ramdisk=<size>
	      This specifies the size (e.g.,  "4096k")	of  the	 optional  RAM
	      disk.  A value of zero indicates that no RAM disk should be cre‐
	      ated. If this variable is omitted, the RAM disk size  configured
	      into the boot image is used.

       read-only
	      This specifies that the root file system should be mounted read-
	      only.  It may be specified as a global option.   Typically,  the
	      system  startup  procedure  re-mounts the root file system read-
	      write later (e.g. after fsck'ing it).

       read-write
	      This specifies that the root file system should be mounted read-
	      write.  It may be specified as a global option.

       root=<root-device>
	      This  specifies  the  device that should be mounted as root.  It
	      may be specified as a global option.  If the special  name  cur‐
	      rent  is used, the root device is set to the device on which the
	      root file system is currently mounted.  If  the  root  has  been
	      changed  with   -r , the respective device is used. If the vari‐
	      able `root' is omitted, the root device setting contained in the
	      kernel  image  is	 used.	(And that is set at compile time using
	      the ROOT_DEV variable in the kernel Makefile, and can  later  be
	      changed with the rdev(8) program.)

	      (22.6)  The root filesystem may also be specified by a LABEL= or
	      UUID= directive, as in '/etc/fstab'.  In this case, the argument
	      to  root= must be enclosed in quotation marks, to avoid a syntax
	      error on the second equal sign; viz.,

		   root="LABEL=MyDisk"

	      Note:  The command line root= parameter  passed  to  the	kernel
	      will be: 'root=LABEL=MyDisk'; i.e., without the quotation marks.
	      If the root= parameter  is  passed  from	the  boot  time	 boot:
	      prompt,  no  quotes are used.  The quotes are only there to sat‐
	      isfy the requirements of the boot-installer parser, which treats
	      an equal sign as an operator.  The kernel command line parser is
	      very much simpler, and must not see any quotation marks.	Simply
	      stated, only use the quotation marks within /etc/lilo.conf.

       vga=<mode>
	      This  specifies  the  VGA text mode that should be selected when
	      booting.	It may be specified as a global option.	 The following
	      values are recognized (case is ignored):

	      normal: select normal 80x25 text mode.

	      extended (or ext): select 80x50 text mode.

	      ask: stop and ask for user input (at boot time).

	      <number>:	 use  the corresponding text mode. A list of available
	      modes can be obtained  by	 booting  with	vga=ask	 and  pressing
	      [Enter].

	      If  this	variable is omitted, the VGA mode setting contained in
	      the kernel image is used. (And that is set at compile time using
	      the  SVGA_MODE variable in the kernel Makefile, and can later be
	      changed with the rdev(8) program.)

ALTERNATE SYSTEM (other=)
       Used to load systems other than Linux. The `other = <device>' specifies
       the  boot  sector  of an alternate system contained on a device or disk
       partition; e.g., DOS on, say, `/dev/hda2', or a floppy  on  `/dev/fd0'.
       In the case of booting another system there are these options:

       loader=<chain-loader>
	      This  specifies  the  chain  loader that should be used.	It may
	      also be specified as a global option.  By default chain is used.
	      This  chain loader passes partition and drive information in the
	      boot sector it loads only to DOS on FAT12 or FAT16,  Windows  on
	      FAT16  or	 FAT32, or OS/2 on FAT16 or HPFS.  The alternate chain
	      loader, os2_d passes partition and  drive	 information  uncondi‐
	      tionally,	 and uses a format suitalble for OS/2 and DOS (see ta‐
	      ble=<letter> below).

       table=<device>
	      This specifies the device that  contains	the  partition	table.
	      The  boot	 loader will pass default partition information to the
	      booted operating system if this variable is omitted. (Some oper‐
	      ating systems have other means to determine from which partition
	      they have been booted.  E.g., MS-DOS usually stores the geometry
	      of  the  boot  disk or partition in its boot sector.)  Note that
	      /sbin/lilo must be re-run if a partition table mapped referenced
	      with `table' is modified.

       table=<drive-letter>
	      This is a special case for the os2_d chain loader.  It specifies
	      the DOS drive letter for the  partition  that  will  be  booted.
	      This  is	mandatory  when	 booting OS/2 installed on an extended
	      partition.  The drive letter may be specified with or without  a
	      trailing colon.

       change This keyword starts a section which describes how primary parti‐
	      tion IDs are changed, and how primary partitions	are  activated
	      and  deactivated.	 If change is omitted, change rules are gener‐
	      ated as though the automatic keyword were specified.   The  key‐
	      word  change  alone,  without any rules following, will suppress
	      automatic change-rules.  For example,

		 other=/dev/hda2
		    label=dos
		    table=/dev/hda
		    change
		      automatic
		      partition=/dev/hda1
			 set=DOS12_hidden
			 deactivate
		      partition=/dev/hda2
			 set=DOS16_big_normal
			 activate

	      specifies that when primary partition /dev/hda2 is booted, auto‐
	      matic change-rules will be in effect; plus, partition 1, a DOS12
	      partition, will be set hidden, and  deactivated.	 In  addition,
	      partition 2, will be set normal, and activated.  Activation sets
	      the boot-flag in the partition table.  The automatic keyword may
	      confict  with  default change rules, so the set= lines above may
	      be redundant.

       boot-as=<bios>
	      This option (LILO version 22.5.1) indicates the BIOS device code
	      which  must  be assigned to the specified drive in order for the
	      "other=" operating system to boot.  If the chain loader  detects
	      that  another BIOS device code is assigned to this disk, then it
	      will dynamically swap the assigned device code with  the	speci‐
	      fied device code.

	      This option is easier to specify than "map-drive=" and more gen‐
	      eral than "master-boot" in that any device code  may  be	speci‐
	      fied.   Unlike  "map-drive=",  the determination whether to swap
	      device codes is made at boot time, not install  time.   This  is
	      advantageous  on	systems where the BIOS presents a boot menu of
	      devices, and will	 map  disks  to	 devices  in  different	 ways,
	      depending upon the BIOS boot selection.

	      This  option  may by specified as a global option, in which case
	      it applies to all "other=" sections  unless  overridden  with  a
	      specific "master-boot" option.  If one of "boot-as=" or "master-
	      boot" is specified as a global option, it is better  to  specify
	      "master-boot"  as	 the  global  option, as it will not interfere
	      with floppy disk BIOS device codes; "boot-as=" is then used as a
	      local option to override "master-boot" as necessary.

       master-boot
	      This  flag  (LILO	 version  22.5) indicates a DOS/Windows/OS2 or
	      other system which will only boot from  BIOS  device  0x80,  the
	      "C:"  drive,  or	BIOS device 0, the A: drive. When this flag is
	      specified, if this drive is not assigned device code 0x80	 or  0
	      by  the  BIOS,  then  the chain loader will dynamically swap the
	      device code actually assigned with device code 0x80 or 0 to make
	      this  drive appear to be the first hard or floppy drive, "C:" or
	      "A:".

	      This flag is easier to use than "map-drive=" (see below), and is
	      preferred,  if simple forcing of device code 0x80 is all that is
	      required. It is also more general, in that the necessity to swap
	      BIOS device codes is determined dynamically at boot-time, not at
	      boot install-time, as with "map-drive=".	It  is	slightly  more
	      powerful	than  "boot-as=",  in  that  the  device code which is
	      assigned, 0 or 0x80, is determined dynamically.

	      This option may by specified as a global option, in  which  case
	      it  applies  to  all  "other=" sections unless overridden with a
	      specific "boot-as=" option.

       map-drive=<num>
	      Maps BIOS calls for the specified drive to the device code spec‐
	      ified  on the next line as to=<num>.  This mapping is useful for
	      booting operating systems, such as DOS,  from  the  second  hard
	      drive.  The following, swaps the C: and D: drives,

		 map-drive=0x80
		    to=0x81
		 map-drive=0x81
		    to=0x80

	      This  option  is largely rendered obsolete by "boot-as=", intro‐
	      duced with LILO version 22.5.

       unsafe Do not access the boot sector at map creation  time.  This  dis‐
	      ables  some sanity checks, including a partition table check. If
	      the boot sector is on a fixed-format floppy disk	device,	 using
	      UNSAFE  avoids  the  need	 to put a readable disk into the drive
	      when running the map installer. If the boot sector is on a  hard
	      drive,  the BIOS device code of the drive will have to be speci‐
	      fied explicitly with "disk=/dev/XXXX bios=0x8X inaccessible"  in
	      the  configuration  file.	  `unsafe'  and	 `table'  (explicit or
	      implicit) are mutually incompatible.

COMMON DESCRIPTOR OPTIONS (image= & other=)
       In both the image= and other= cases, the following options apply.

       bypass No password is required to boot this  image.  Used  to  indicate
	      that  the	 global	 password  does	 not apply to this `image=' or
	      `other='.	 See 'password=' below.

       label=<name>
	      The boot loader uses the main file name (without	its  path)  of
	      each  image  specification  to identify that image.  A different
	      name can be used by setting the variable `label'.

       alias=<name>
	      A second name for the same entry can be used  by	specifying  an
	      alias.

       bmp-retain
	      The  bitmap  graphic  (install=bmp)  is retained when control is
	      passed to the loaded kernel image, or other=  bootloader;	 i.e.,
	      the  screen  is not blanked to alphanumeric mode before starting
	      the kernel.  This feature is conisdered EXPERIMENTAL, for	 those
	      users working with startup splash screens.

       fallback=<command-line>
	      Specifies a string that is stored as the default command line if
	      the current image is booted. This is useful  when	 experimenting
	      with  kernels  which  may crash before allowing interaction with
	      the system. If using the fallback option, the next reboot	 (e.g.
	      triggered	 by a manual reset or by a watchdog timer) will load a
	      different (supposedly stable) kernel. The command line stored by
	      the  fallback  mechanism	is cleared by removing or changing the
	      default command line with the -R option, which should be a  part
	      of the boot startup scripts.

       lock   (See above.)

       optional
	      Omit  the image if it is not available at map creation time.  It
	      may be specified as a global option.  This is useful to  specify
	      test kernels that are not always present.

       password=<password>
	      Protect	the   `image='	 or   `other='	with  a	 password  (or
	      passphrase).  It may be  specified  as  a	 global	 option.   The
	      interpretation  of  the  `password='  setting is modified by the
	      words `mandatory', `restricted', and `bypass' (see below).
	      The password may be specified in the config-file	(less  secure)
	      or  entered at the time the boot loader is installed. To request
	      interactive entry of the password, it should be specified: pass‐
	      word="".	Passwords entered interactively are not required to be
	      entered again if the boot installer is re-run. They are  cached,
	      in  hashed form, in a companion file to the config-file, default
	      name: /etc/lilo.conf.crc. If the config-file is updated, a warn‐
	      ing  message  will  be  issued  telling you to re-run lilo -p to
	      force re-creation of the password cache file.

       mandatory
	      A password is required to boot this image. This is the  default.
	      May  be used on a single `image=' or `other=' to override a dif‐
	      ferent global setting.

       nokbdisable
	      (22.7.2) The specified descriptor is not bootable if the	IBM-PC
	      keyboard	is  not present.  This option is really only useful if
	      the "serial=" boot terminal is in use.  With no keyboard (and no
	      serial  terminal)	 attached,  selecting  a boot descriptor other
	      than the default is impossible.  See nokbdefault above.

       restricted
	      A password is only required to boot the image if kernel  parame‐
	      ters  are specified on the command line (e.g. 'single').	May be
	      used on a single `image=' or `other=' to	override  a  different
	      global setting.

       vmwarn If booting under a virtual monitor such as VMware(tm), the image
	      with this label will cause a cautionary warning to be issued  at
	      boot time, and user intervention will be required to continue or
	      to abort the boot process.

       vmdisable
	      If booting under a virtual monitor, the image  with  this	 label
	      will  not	 be  displayed	as  a  boot option.  The image is only
	      bootable in real mode.  See vmdefault above.

SEE ALSO
       lilo(8), mkinitrd(8), mknod(1), mkrescue(8), rdev(8).

       The lilo distribution comes with extensive TEX documentation  of	 which
       the above is an extract.

				  19 Feb 2007			  LILO.CONF(5)
[top]

List of man pages available for SuSE

Copyright (c) for man pages and the logo by the respective OS vendor.

For those who want to learn more, the polarhome community provides shell access and support.

[legal] [privacy] [GNU] [policy] [cookies] [netiquette] [sponsors] [FAQ]
Tweet
Polarhome, production since 1999.
Member of Polarhome portal.
Based on Fawad Halim's script.
....................................................................
Vote for polarhome
Free Shell Accounts :: the biggest list on the net