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| <TITLE>Using GRUB</TITLE> |
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| <CENTER><H1>Using GRUB</H1></CENTER> |
| <CENTER><H3>by |
| <A HREF=http://www.uruk.org/~erich/>Erich Boleyn</A></H3></CENTER> |
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| <HR> |
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| <H2>Contents</H2> |
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| <UL> |
| <LI> <A HREF="#cmdline">Command-Line Interface</A> |
| <LI> <A HREF="#menu">Menu Interface</A> |
| <LI> <A HREF="#editor">Menu Entry Editor</A> |
| </UL> |
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| GRUB has both a simple menu interface for preset options from a |
| configuration file, and a highly flexible command-line for performing |
| any desired combination of boot commands.<P> |
| |
| The first action GRUB takes after it is loaded is |
| to look for it's configuration file. |
| If one is not found, then |
| it drops into the command-line interface (and stays there). |
| If one is found, the full menu interface is activated containing |
| whatever entries were found in the file (the command-line is still |
| available via a command from the menu interface).<P> |
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| <HR> |
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| <H2><A NAME="cmdline">Command-Line Interface</A></H2> |
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| The command-line interface provides a prompt and after it an editable |
| text area much like a command-line in DOS or UNIX. Each command is |
| immediately executed after it is entered. The |
| <A HREF=commands.txt>list of commands</A> are a subset of those available |
| in the configuration file, used with exactly the same syntax.<P> |
| |
| Cursor movement and editing of the text on the line can be done |
| via a subset of the functions |
| available in the BASH shell (C-f forward, C-b backward, C-a beginning |
| of line, C-e end of line, C-k delete to end, C-u delete to beginning; |
| the PC left and right arrow keys, HOME, DELETE, and END work as well).<P> |
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| When typing commands interactively, if the cursor is before the "=" |
| character in a command being typed, pressing the TAB key will display |
| a listing of the available commands, and if the cursor is after the |
| "=" character, the TAB will provide |
| a completion listing of disks, partitions, and filenames depending on |
| the context.<P> |
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| <HR> |
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| <H2><A NAME="menu">Menu Interface</A></H2> |
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| The menu interface is quite easy to use. It's commands are both |
| reasonably intuitive and described onscreen.<P> |
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| Basically, the menu interface provides a list of "boot configurations" |
| to the user to choose from. Use the arrow keys to select the entry |
| of choice, then press ENTER to run it. An optional timeout is available |
| to boot the default entry (the first one if not set), |
| which is aborted by pressing any key.<P> |
| |
| Commands are available to enter a bare command-line (operating |
| exactly like the non-config-file version of GRUB, but allowing one to |
| return to the menu if desired) or to edit any of the "boot |
| configurations". |
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| <HR> |
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| <H2><A NAME="editor">Menu Entry Editor</A></H2> |
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| This looks much like the main menu interface, but with the lines in the |
| menu being individual commands of the selected configuration instead of |
| configuration names.<P> |
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| If an ESC is pressed in the editor, it aborts all the changes made to |
| the configuration entry and goes back to the main menu interface.<P> |
| |
| When a particular line is selected, then it |
| places the user in a special version of the command-line for editing |
| that line. When the user is finished, GRUB replaces the line in question |
| in the "boot configuration" with the changes (unless it was aborted via |
| ESC, and in that case the changes are thrown away).<P> |
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| <HR> |
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| <A HREF=mailto:erich@uruk.org><I>erich@uruk.org</I></A><P> |
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