man/mkofboot.8

.\" Hey Emacs! This file is -*- nroff -*- source.
.\"
.\" ybin (YaBoot INstaller) installs/updates the yaboot boot loader.
.\" Copyright (C) 2000, 2001 Ethan Benson
.\"
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.TH MKOFBOOT 8 "21 November 2001" "GNU/Linux PowerPC" "System Manager's Manual"
.SH NAME
.B mkofboot
\- format bootstrap partition and install the yaboot boot loader
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B mkofboot 
.RB [ \ \-b | \-\-boot\ \fIdevice\  ]
.RB [ \ \-o | \-\-ofboot\ \fIof-path\  ]
.RB [ \ \-i | \-\-install\ \fIboot-file\  ]
.RB [ \ \-C | \-\-config\ \fIconfig-file\  ]
.RB [ \ \-m | \-\-magicboot\ \fIchrp-file\  ]
.RB [ \ \-\-filesystem\ \fIhfs | \fImsdos | \fIraw\  ]
.RB [ \ \-\-nobless\  ]
.RB [ \ \-M | \-\-mount\  ]
.RB [ \ \-\-hide\  ]
.RB [ \ \-\-protect\  ]
.RB [ \ \-\-nonvram\  ]
.RB [ \ \-\-force\  ]
.RB [ \ \-v | \-\-verbose\  ]
.RB [ \ \-\-debug\  ]
.RB [ \ \-h | \-\-help\  ]
.RB [ \ \-V | \-\-version\  ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
This manual page explains 
.B mkofboot
the initial installer for the  
.BR yaboot (8) 
boot loader enabling GNU/Linux to be booted by OpenFirmware.

.B mkofboot
does exactly the same thing as 
.BR ybin (8)
except that it erases and creates a new filesystem (specified by
\-\-filesystem) on the \fBbootstrap\fR(8) partition before copying the
boot loader files to it.  See the
.BR ybin (8)
man page for more details on the installation process.

The \fBbootstrap\fR(8) need not and should not be mounted anywhere on
your filesystem, especially not on top of /boot.  \fBYaboot\fR(8) is able
to load the kernels from the ext2fs root partition so that is where
they should be kept. \fBMkofboot\fR will refuse to operate on the
\fBbootstrap\fR(8) partition if it is mounted.
.SH OPTIONS
NOTE:
.B mkofboot
uses the exact same command line options as
.BR ybin (8)
so if you have already read the \fBybin\fR(8) man page you can skip this
section. 
.TP
.BR \-b ,\  \-\-boot\ \fIdevice
Install the boot loader onto the specified device.  This device should
be that of your \fBbootstrap\fR(8) partition. For example, if your
\fBbootstrap\fR partition is located on your first primary IDE drive in the 
second partition, your device would be: \fI/dev/hda2\fR.
.TP
.BR \-o ,\  \-\-ofboot\ \fIof-path
The OpenFirmware device path to the \fBbootstrap\fR(8) partition. This
is needed so the first stage \fIofboot\fR loader can be configured
properly.  It should include the OpenFirmware path including the
partition number (but not any filename).  Example: if your
\fBbootstrap\fR(8) partition is /dev/hda2, the OF path will likely be
hd:2.  As of \fBmkofboot\fR 0.18 you no longer are required to specify
this option.  If left undefined \fBmkofboot\fR will attempt to figure
out the OpenFirmware path automatically using the \fBofpath\fR(8)
utility.  You should only need to define this option if
\fBofpath\fR(8) fails.
.TP
.BR \-i ,\  \-\-install\ \fIboot-file
Use \fIboot-file\fR as the primary boot loader executable, instead of
the default\fI/usr/local/lib/yaboot/yaboot\fR(8).
.TP
.BR \-C ,\  \-\-config\ \fIconfig-file
Use \fIconfig-file\fR as the \fBmkofboot\fR/\fByaboot\fR(8) configuration
file instead of the default \fI/etc/yaboot.conf\fR.
.TP
.BR \-m ,\  \-\-magicboot\ \fIchrp-script
Use \fIchrp-script\fR as the boot loader \*(lqwrapper\*(rq. This
script is needed to either provide a boot menu for dual boot with
MacOS or to load yaboot (due to an OpenFirmware bug).
.TP
.BR \-\-filesystem\ \fIhfs\fR|\fImsdos\fR|\fIraw\fR
Set the filesystem type that \fBmkofboot\fR will create on the
\fBbootstrap\fR(8). The \*(lqraw\*(rq filesystem type causes
\fBmkofboot\fR to copy the bootloader (the value of \fIinstall=\fR
directly to the \fBbootstrap\fR(8) partition without creating a
filesystem.  \*(lqraw\*(rq is required on IBM hardware.  CAUTION: this
will destroy any data or filesystem on the \fBbootstrap\fR(8)
partition (value of \fIboot=\fR) if you specify something like
\fIboot=/dev/sda\fR you will destroy the partition table and lose ALL
data on the disk.  The default is HFS.
.TP
.BR \-M ,\  \-\-mount
Do not use the userspace
.BR hfsutils (1)
to modify the \fBbootstrap\fR(8), instead try and mount the filesystem
directly.  NOTE: Attributes cannot be set on the filesystem or the
boot loader files using this method, your system will NOT be bootable
without modifying OpenFirmware's \*(lqboot-device\*(rq variable to something
like: \*(lqhd:2,ofboot\*(rq (no quotes).
.TP
.BR \-\-nobless
Do not \*(lqbless\*(rq the root directory of the \fBbootstrap\fR(8)
partition's filesystem.  Only use this option if the \fBbootstrap\fR(8)
partition is actually a MacOS boot partition.  This option is ignored
unless the filesystem is HFS, and is ignored when used with \-\-mount.
.TP
.BR \-\-hide
.br
Set the invisible bit on all the boot loader files once copied to the
\fBbootstrap\fR(8) partition.  This setting is useful if you must install
the boot loader onto a MacOS boot partition and do not with to see the
boot loader files cluttering up the MacOS root directory.  This option
is ignored unless the filesystem is HFS, and will not work
with \-\-mount.
.TP
.BR \-\-protect
Set the read-only bit on all boot loader files once copied to the
\fBbootstrap\fR(8) partition.  This setting is useful if you must install
the bootloader onto a MacOS boot partition and want to discourage
alterations/deletion of the boot loader.  This option works for both
HFS and MSDOS filesystems.
.TP
.BR \-\-nonvram
Prevent \fBmkofboot\fR from setting the OpenFirmware boot-device
variable with \fBnvsetenv\fR(8).
.TP
.BR \-v ,\  \-\-verbose
This option causes \fBmkofboot\fR to be more verbose as it proceeds.
.TP
.BR \-f ,\  \-\-force
This option suppresses any confirmation questions.
.TP
.BR \-\-debug
This option causes \fBmkofboot\fR to output some boring details useful
only for debugging \fBmkofboot\fR itself.
.TP
.BR \-h ,\  \-\-help
Print out usage information and exit.
.TP
.BR \-V ,\  \-\-version
Print out the version number and exit.
.SH FILES
.nf
/usr/local/lib/yaboot/yaboot \- boot loader executable
/usr/local/lib/yaboot/ofboot \- OpenFirmware boot script
/etc/yaboot.conf \- boot loader/mkofboot configuration file
.fi
.SH ENVIRONMENT
.TP
.B TMPDIR
.br
The temporary directory \fBmkofboot\fR will use.
.SH SECURITY
Temporary files are created with
.BR mktemp (1)
it is important that your system use a secure 
.BR mktemp (1)
program otherwise \fBmkofboot\fR will be vulnerable to race conditions.
The Debian mktemp is derived from OpenBSD and thus should be secure.

\fI/usr/local/lib/yaboot/ofboot\fR now contains code executed by /bin/sh (by
\fBmkofboot\fR) it is thus critical that it not be writable by anyone
but root.  It is also critical that \fI/etc/yaboot.conf\fR not be
writable by anyone but root since a different \fIofboot\fR script could be
specified there.
.SH BUGS
.B Mkofboot
should be able to take care of OpenFirmware variables as needed on IBM
hardware.
.SH AUTHORS
.BR mkofboot (8)
, and this man page written by Ethan Benson. 
.br
.BR yaboot (8)
was written by Benjamin Herrenschmidt.
.SH REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to <erbenson@alaska.net>
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR bootstrap (8),
.BR hfsutils (1),
.BR mkofboot (8),
.BR mktemp (1),
.BR mount (8),
.BR nvsetenv (8),
.BR ofpath (8),
.BR yaboot (8),
.BR yaboot.conf (5).