Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 12:26:06 +0200 From: Neil Blakey-Milner <nbm@mithrandr.moria.org> To: FreeBSD Documentation Project <doc@FreeBSD.org> Subject: boot-process description (who wants it?) Message-ID: <19991108122606.A32759@mithrandr.moria.org>
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Hi,
I've run out of time on this, so if someone feels like taking it
and polishing it, I'd appreciate it. I've had to rush the last
half, and it's missing kernel userconfig description, and a more
in-depth discussion of rc.
Have fun,
Neil
--
Neil Blakey-Milner
nbm@rucus.ru.ac.za
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<chapter id="boot-process">
<title>The Bootstrapping Process</title>
<para><firstterm>Bootstrapping</firstterm> is the process whereby a
computer probes and initializes its devices, and works out what
programs it is supposed to run.</para>
<para>This involves the use of special Read Only Memory chips, which
determine what further operations to do, and these usually pass
control to other chips that do consistency and memory tests,
configure devices, and provide a mechanism for programs to
determine what configuration details were determined.</para>
<para>In standard personal computers, this involves the BIOS, which
oversees the bootstrap, and CMOS, which stores configuration; and
these understand disks, and they also understand where on the disk
to find a program that will know how to load up an operating
system.</para>
<para>This chapter will not deal with this first part of the
bootstrap process, and focusses on what happens after control is
passed to the program on the disk.</para>
<sect1 id="boot-overview">
<title>Overview of the boot process</title>
<para>FreeBSD uses a three-stage bootstrap by default, which
basically entails three programs which basically call each other
in order (the two <link linkend="boot-blocks">boot
blocks</link>, and the <link
linkend="boot-loader">loader</link>), and which build on the
previous programs understanding and provide increasing amounts
of sophistication.</para>
<para>The kernel is then started, during which devices are probed
for and initialized for use. Once the kernel boot process is
finished, it passes control to the user process init, which then
makes sure the disks are in a usable state, and then starts the
user-level resource configuration which then mounts filesystems,
sets up network cards to act on the network, and generally
starts all the processes that usually are run on a FreeBSD
system at startup.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="boot-blocks">
<title>The boot blocks: Bootstrap stages 1 and 2</title>
<para>The boot blocks are responsible for finding (usually) the
loader, and running it, and thus need to understand how to find
that program on the filesystem, how to run the program, and also
allow minor configuration of how they work.</para>
<sect2 id="boot-boot0">
<title>boot0</title>
<para>There is actually a preceding bootblock, named boot0,
which lives on the <firstterm>Master Boot Record</firstterm>,
the special part of the disk that the system bootstrap looks
for and runs, and it simply shows a list of possible
slices to boot from.</para>
<para>boot0 is very simple, since the program in the
<abbrev>MBR</abbrev> can only be 512 bytes large.</para>
<para>It displays something like this:</para>
<example id="boot-boot0-example">
<title>boot0 screenshot</title>
<screen>
F1 DOS
F2 FreeBSD
F3 Linux
F4 ??
F5 Drive 1
Default: F2</screen>
</example>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="boot-boot1">
<title>boot1</title>
<para>boot1 is found on the boot sector of the boot slice, which
is where <link linkend="boot-boot0">boot0</link>, or any other
program on the <abbrev>MBR</abbrev> expects to find the
program to run to continue the boot process.</para>
<para>boot1 is very simple, since it too can only be 512 bytes
large, and knows just enough about the FreeBSD
<firstterm>disklabel</firstterm>, which stores information
about the slice, to find and execute <link
linkend="boot-boot2">boot2</link>.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="boot-boot2">
<title>boot2</title>
<para>boot2 is slightly more sophisticated, and understands the
FreeBSD filesystem enough to find files on it, and can provide
a simple interface to choose the kernel or loader to
run.</para>
<para>Since the <link linkend="boot-loader">loader</link> is
much more sophisticated, and provides a nice easy-to-use boot
configuration, boot2 usually runs it, but previously it was
tasked to run the kernel directly.</para>
<example id="boot-boot2-example">
<title>boot2 screenshot</title>
<screen>>> FreeBSD/i386 BOOT
Default: 0:wd(0,a)/kernel
boot:</screen>
</example>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="boot-loader">
<title>loader: Bootstrap stage three</title>
<para>The loader is the final stage of the three-stage bootstrap,
and is located on the filesystem, usually as
<filename>/boot/loader</filename>.</para>
<note>
<para>While <filename>/boot/boot0</filename>,
<filename>/boot/boot1</filename>, and
<filename>/boot/boot2</filename> are files there, they are not
the actual copies in the <abbrev>MBR</abbrev>, the boot
sector, or the disklabel respectively.</para>
</note>
<para>The loader is intended as a user-friendly method for
configuration, using an easy-to-use built-in command set, backed
up by a more powerful interpreter, with a more complex command
set.</para>
<sect2 id="boot-loader-flow">
<title>loader program flow</title>
<para>During initialization, the loader will probe for a console
and for disks, and figure out what disk it is booting
from. It will set variables accordingly, and then the
interpreter is started, and the easy-to-use commands are
explained to it.</para>
<para>loader will then read
<filename>/boot/loader.rc</filename>, which by default reads
in <filename>/boot/defaults/loader.conf</filename> which sets
reasonable defaults for variables and reads
<filename>/boot/loader.conf</filename> for local changes to
those variables. <filename>loader.rc</filename> then acts on
these variables, loading whichever modules and kernel are
selected.</para>
<para>Finally, by default, the loader issues a 10 second wait
for keypresses, and boots the kernel if it is interrupted. If
interrupted, the user is presented with a prompt which
understands the easy-to-use command set, where the user may
adjust variables, unload all modules, load modules, and then
finally boot or reboot.</para>
<para>A more technical discussion of the process is available in
&man.loader.8;</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="boot-loader-commands">
<title>loader built-in commands</title>
<para>The easy-to-use command set comprises of:</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>autoboot <replaceable>seconds</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>Proceeds to boot the kernel if not interrupted
within the time span given, in seconds. It displays a
countdown, and the default timespan is 10
seconds.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>boot
<optional><replaceable>-options</replaceable></optional>
<optional><replaceable>kernelname</replaceable></optional></term>
<listitem>
<para>Immediately proceeds to boot the kernel, with the
given options, if any, and with the kernel name given,
if it is.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>help
<optional><replaceable>topic</replaceable></optional></term>
<listitem>
<para>Shows help messages read from
<filename>/boot/loader.help</filename>. If the topic
given is <literal>index</literal>, then the list of
available topics is given.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>include <replaceable>filename</replaceable>
…</term>
<listitem>
<para>Processes the file with the given filename. The
file is read in, and interpreted line by line. An error
immediately stops the include command.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>load <optional><option>-t</option>
<replaceable>type</replaceable></optional>
<replaceable>filename</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>Loads the kernel, kernel module, or file of the type
given, with the filename given. Any arguments after
filename are passed to the file.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>ls <optional><option>-l</option></optional>
<optional><replaceable>path</replaceable></optional></term>
<listitem>
<para>Displays a listing of files in the given path, or
the root directory, if the path is not specified. If
<option>-l</option> is specified, file sizes will be
shown too.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>lsdev <optional><option>-v</option></optional></term>
<listitem>
<para>Lists all of the devices from which it may be
possible to load modules. If <option>-v</option> is
specified, more details are printed.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>lsmod <optional><option>-v</option></optional></term>
<listitem>
<para>Displays loaded modules. If <option>-v</option> is
specified, more details are shown.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>more <replaceable>filename</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>Display the files specified, with a pause at each
<varname>LINES</varname> displayed.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>reboot</term>
<listitem>
<para>Immediately reboots the system.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>set <replaceable>variable</replaceable></term>
<term>set
<replaceable>variable</replaceable>=<replaceable>value</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>Set loader's environment variables.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="boot-loader-examples">
<title>loader examples</title>
<para>Here are some practical examples of loader usage.</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>To simply boot your usual kernel, but in single-use
mode:</para>
<screen><userinput>boot -s</userinput></screen>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>To unload your usual kernel and modules, and then load
your old (or another) kernel:</para>
<screen><userinput>unload</userinput>
<userinput>load kernel.old</userinput></screen>
<para>You can use <filename>kernel.GENERIC</filename> to
refer to the generic kernel that comes on the install
disk, or <filename>kernel.old</filename> to refer to your
previously installed kernel (when you've upgraded or
configured your own kernel, for example).</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>To load a kernel configuration script (an automated
script which does the things you'd normally do in the
kernel boot-time configurator):</para>
<screen><userinput>load -t userconfig_script
<replaceable>/boot/kernel.conf</replaceable></userinput></screen>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="boot-kernel">
<title>Kernel interaction during boot</title>
<para>Once the kernel is loaded by either <link
linkend="boot-loader">loader</link> (as usual) or <link
linkend="boot-boot2">boot2</link> (bypassing the loader), it
examines its boot flags, if any, and adjusts its behaviour as
necessary.</para>
<sect2 id="boot-kernel-bootflags">
<title>Kernel bootflags</title>
<para>Here are the more common boot flags:</para>
<variablelist id="boot-kernel-bootflags-list">
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-a</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>during kernel initialization, ask for the device to
mount as as the root file system.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-C</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>boot from CDROM.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-c</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>run UserConfig, the boot-time kernel configurator</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-s</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>boot into single-user mode</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-v</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>be more verbose during kernel startup</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<note>
<para>There are other boot flags, read &man.boot.8; for more
information on them.</para>
</note>
</sect2>
<!-- <sect2 id="boot-kernel-userconfig">
<title>UserConfig: The boot-time kernel configurator</title>
<para> </para>
</sect2> -->
</sect1>
<sect1 id="boot-init">
<title>Init: Process control initialization</title>
<para>Once the kernel has finished booting, it passes control to
the user process <command>init</command>, which is located at
<filename>/sbin/init</filename>, or the program path specified
in the <envar>init_path</envar> variable in
<command>loader</command>.</para>
<sect2 id="boot-autoreboot">
<title>Automatic reboot sequence</title>
<para>The automatic reboot sequence makes sure that the
filesystems available on the system are consistent. If they
are not, and <command>fsck</command> can not fix the
inconsistencies, <command>init</command> drops the system into
<link linkend="boot-singleuser">single-user mode</link> for
the system administrator to take care of the problems
directly.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="boot-singleuser">
<title>Single-user mode</title>
<para>This mode can be reached through the <link
linkend="boot-autoreboot">automatic reboot
sequence</link>, or by the user booting with the
<option>-s</option> or setting the
<envar>boot_single</envar> variable in
<command>loader</command>.</para>
<para>It can also be reached by calling
<command>shutdown</command> without the reboot
(<option>-r</option>) or halt (<option>-h</option>)
options, from <link linkend="boot-multiuser">multi-user
mode</link>.</para>
<para>If the system console <literal>console</literal> is set to
<literal>insecure</literal> in <filename>/etc/ttys</filename>,
then the system prompts for the root password before
initiating single-user mode.</para>
<example id="boot-insecure-console">
<title>An insecure console in /etc/ttys</title>
<programlisting># name getty type status comments
#
# This entry needed for asking password when init goes to single-user mode
# If you want to be asked for password, change "secure" to "insecure" here
console none unknown off insecure</programlisting>
</example>
<note>
<para>An <literal>insecure</literal> console means that you
consider your physical security to the console to be
insecure, and want to make sure only someone who knows the
root password may use single-user mode, and it does not mean
that you want to run your console insecurely. Thus, if you
want security, choose <literal>insecure</literal>, not
<literal>secure</literal>.</para>
</note>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="boot-multiuser">
<title>Multi-user mode</title>
<para>If <command>init</command> finds your filesystems to be in
order, or once the user has finished in <link
linkend="boot-singleuser">single-user mode</link>, the
system enters multi-user mode, in which it starts the resource
configuration of the system.</para>
<sect3 id="boot-rc">
<title>Resource configuration (rc)</title>
<para>The resource configuration system reads in configuration
defaults from <filename>/etc/defaults/rc.conf</filename>,
and system-specific details from
<filename>/etc/rc.conf</filename>, and then proceeds to
mount the system filesystems mentioned in
<filename>/etc/fstab</filename>, start up networking
services, starts up miscellaneous system daemons, and
finally runs the startup scripts of locally installed
packages.</para>
<para>&man.rc.8; is a good reference to the resource
configuaration system, as is examining the scripts
themselves.</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="boot-shutdown">
<title>Shutdown sequence</title>
<para>Upon controlled shutdown, via <command>shutdown</command>,
<command>init</command> will attempt to run the script
<filename>/etc/rc.shutdown</filename>, and then proceed to send
all processes the terminate signal, and subsequently the kill
signal to any that don't terminate timely.</para>
</sect1>
</chapter>
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