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INSTALLBOOT(8) System Manager's Manual INSTALLBOOT(8)

installboot — install disk bootstrap software

installboot [-fnv] [-B s2bno] [-b s1bno] [-m machine] [-o options] [-t fstype] filesystem primary [secondary]

installboot -c [-fnv] [-m machine] [-o options] [-t fstype] filesystem

installboot -e [-fnv] [-m machine] [-o options] bootstrap

The installboot utility installs and removes NetBSD disk bootstrap software into a file system. installboot can install primary into filesystem, or disable an existing bootstrap in filesystem.

On some architectures the options of an existing installed bootstrap, or those of a bootstrap file can be changed. Installing a new primary bootstrap will reset those options to default values.

Generally, NetBSD disk bootstrap software consists of two parts: a “primary” bootstrap program usually written into the disklabel area of the file system by installboot, and a “secondary” bootstrap program that usually resides as an ordinary file in the file system.

When booting, the primary bootstrap program is loaded and invoked by the machine's PROM or BIOS. After receiving control of the system it loads and runs the secondary bootstrap program, which in turn loads and runs the kernel. The secondary bootstrap may allow control over various boot parameters passed to the kernel.

Perform the following steps to make a file system bootable:

  1. Copy the secondary bootstrap (usually /usr/mdec/boot.MACHINE or /usr/mdec/boot) to the root directory of the target file system.
  2. Use installboot to install the primary bootstrap program (usually /usr/mdec/bootxx_FSTYPE) into filesystem.

    The following platforms do not require this step if the primary bootstrap already exists and the secondary bootstrap file is just being updated: alpha, amd64, amiga, i386, pmax, sparc64, and vax.

    The following platform does not require the first step since a single bootstrap file is used. The single bootstrap is installed like the primary bootstrap on other platforms: next68k.

Some platforms, typically embedded system platforms, are umbrella platforms that support many different individual board types, each with their own boot loader binary and installation procedure requirements. On these platforms, it may be necessary to provide specific board type information to installboot. Information about known boards and their requirements is loaded from a database at run-time. Sometimes these platforms also require the use of 3rd-party boot loader software, such as U-boot. To support these platforms, installboot scans known locations for these 3rd-party boot loader packages for database overlays that contain additional board-specific boot loader installation information in a file called ‘installboot.plist’.

The following platforms have this requirement and utilize this database overlay feature: evbarm.

The options and arguments recognized by installboot are as follows:

s2bno
When hard-coding the blocks of secondary into primary, start from block s2bno instead of trying to determine the block numbers occupied by secondary by examining filesystem. If this option is supplied, secondary should refer to an actual secondary bootstrap (rather than the file name of the one present in filesystem) so that its size can be determined.
s1bno
Install primary at block number s1bno instead of the default location for the machine and file system type. [alpha, , pmax, vax]
Clear (remove) any existing bootstrap instead of installing one.
Edit the options of an existing bootstrap. This can be used to change the options in bootxx_xxxfs files, raw disk partitions, and the pxeboot_ia32.bin file. With -v and without -o, show the current options. [amd64, i386]
Forces installboot to ignore some errors.
machine
Use machine as the target machine type. The default machine is determined from uname(3) and then MACHINE. The following machines are currently supported by installboot:
alpha, amd64, amiga, evbarm, , , , i386, , , , , next68k, pmax, , sparc64, , , vax,
Do not write to filesystem.
options
Machine specific installboot options, comma separated.

Supported options are (with the machines for they are valid in brackets):

[alpha] Recalculate and restore the Alpha checksum. This is the default for NetBSD/alpha.
[alpha, pmax, vax] Append primary to the end of filesystem, which must be a regular file in this case.
[evbarm] Specify the board type used to determine the correct boot loader image and installation procedure. If omitted, installboot will attempt to guess the board type based on system information if run natively.
[amd64, i386] (Don't) read a “boot.cfg” file.
[amiga] Modify the default boot command line.
[amd64, i386] Set the console device, <console name> must be one of: pc, com0, com1, com2, com3, com0kbd, com1kbd, com2kbd, com3kbd or auto.
[evbarm] Attempt to determine the board type from information in the device tree blob file at /path/to/dtb/file. If both board and options are specified, board takes precendence.
[amd64, i386] Set the IO address to be used for the console serial port. Defaults to the IO address used by the system BIOS for the specified port.
[amd64, i386] Set a boot time keyboard translation map. Each character in <keymap> will be replaced by the one following it. For example, an argument of “zyz” would swap the lowercase letters ‘y’ and ‘z’.
[evbarm] Some boards require a different boot loader binary and/or installation procedure depending on what type of media will be used to boot the system. For such boards, this option is required, and omitting it will display a usage message that lists the valid media types for the board. For boards that do not require special media handling, this option is not allowed. Common values: sdmmc, emmc, usb.
[amd64, i386] (Don't) load kernel modules.
[amd64, i386] Set the password which must be entered before the boot menu can be accessed.
[amd64, i386] Reset the video before booting.
[amd64, i386] Set the baud rate for the serial console. If a value of zero is specified, then the current baud rate (set by the BIOS) will be used.
[alpha, pmax, vax] Recalculate and restore the Sun and NetBSD/sparc compatible checksum. Note: The existing NetBSD/sparc disklabel should use no more than 4 partitions.
[amd64, i386] Set the timeout before the automatic boot begins to the given number of seconds.
fstype
Use fstype as the type of filesystem. The default operation is to attempt to auto-detect this setting. The following file system types are currently supported by installboot:
BSD Fast File System.
Mirrored RAIDframe File System.
‘Raw’ image. Note: if a platform needs to hard-code the block offset of the secondary bootstrap, it cannot be searched for on this file system type, and must be provided with -B s2bno.
Verbose operation.
filesystem
The path name of the device or file system image that installboot is to operate on. It is not necessary for filesystem to be a currently mounted file system.
primary
The path name of the “primary” boot block to install. The path name must refer to a file in a file system that is currently mounted.
secondary
The path name of the “secondary” boot block, relative to the root of the file system in the device or image specified by the filesystem argument. Note that this may refer to a file in a file system that is not mounted. Most systems require secondary to be in the “root” directory of the file system, so the leading “/” is not necessary on secondary.

Only certain combinations of platform (-m machine) and file system type (-t fstype) require that the name of the secondary bootstrap is supplied as secondary, so that information such as the disk block numbers occupied by the secondary bootstrap can be stored in the primary bootstrap. These are:

macppc ffs, raw
news68k ffs, raw
newsmips ffs, raw
sparc ffs, raid, raw
sun2 ffs, raw
sun3 ffs, raw

installboot exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

installboot uses the following environment variables:

A colon-separated list of search paths to scan for U-boot packages with installboot installation overlays. If multiple overlays are found, overlays from paths closer to the front of the list take precedence. If not specified, the default path is /usr/pkg/share/u-boot. This environment variable is only used on platforms that support using U-boot: evbarm.
Default value for machine, overriding the result from uname(3).

Most NetBSD ports will contain variations of the following files:

/usr/mdec/bootxx_FSTYPE
Primary bootstrap for file system type FSTYPE. Installed into the bootstrap area of the file system by installboot.
/usr/mdec/bootxx_fat16
Primary bootstrap for MS-DOS file systems. This differs from bootxx_msdos in that it doesn't require the filesystem to have been initialised with any ‘reserved sectors’. It also uses the information in the ‘Boot Parameter Block’ to get the media and filesytem properties. The ‘hidden sectors’ field of the BPB must be the offset of the partition in the disk. This can be set using the -b s1bno option.
/usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv1
Primary bootstrap for FFSv1 file systems (the ‘traditional’ file system prior to NetBSD 6.0). Use dumpfs(8) to confirm the file system format is FFSv1.
/usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv2
Primary bootstrap for FFSv2 file systems (the default file system for some platforms as of NetBSD 6.0). Use dumpfs(8) to confirm the file system format is FFSv2.
/usr/mdec/bootxx_lfsv1
Primary bootstrap for LFSv1 file systems.
/usr/mdec/bootxx_lfsv2
Primary bootstrap for LFSv2 file systems (the default LFS version).
/usr/mdec/bootxx_msdos
Primary bootstrap for MS-DOS file systems.
/usr/mdec/bootxx_ustarfs
Primary bootstrap for boot images. This is used by various install media.
/usr/mdec/boot.MACHINE
Secondary bootstrap for machine type MACHINE. This should be installed into the file system before installboot is run.
/usr/mdec/boot
Synonym for /usr/mdec/boot.MACHINE
/boot.MACHINE
Installed copy of secondary bootstrap for machine type MACHINE.
/boot
Installed copy of secondary bootstrap. Searched for by the primary bootstrap if /boot.MACHINE is not found.

The NetBSD/evbarm platform covers a wide variety of board types, many of which use U-boot. Running installboot with no options will display a list of known boards. Using the verbose option will also display information about which U-boot package needs to be installed to support that board, and if the required U-boot package is installed, the path at which it is located.

/usr/pkg/share/u-boot
The default location scanned for U-boot packages with installation overlays.
/usr/share/installboot/evbarm/boards.plist
Base board database, used to provide information about which U-boot package is required for a given board.

The NetBSD/evbmips bootstrap files currently only apply to the SBMIPS kernels for the SiByte/Broadcom BCM1250 and BCM1480 CPUs.

/usr/mdec/sbmips/boot
NetBSD/evbmips secondary bootstrap for FFSv1, FFSv2, LFSv1, and LFSv2.
/usr/mdec/sbmips/bootxx_cd9660
SBMIPS primary bootstrap for ISO 9660 file system.
/usr/mdec/sbmips/bootxx_ffs
SBMIPS primary bootstrap for FFSv1 and FFSv2 file system.
/usr/mdec/sbmips/bootxx_lfs
SBMIPS primary bootstrap for LFSv1 and LFSv2 file system.
/usr/mdec/sbmips/netboot
SBMIPS primary bootstrap for network root.

Note that installboot does not currently support evbmips directly.

/usr/mdec/xxboot
NetBSD/hppa primary bootstrap for FFSv1, FFSv2, LFSv1, and LFSv2.
/usr/mdec/cdboot
NetBSD/hppa primary bootstrap for ISO 9660 file system.
/usr/mdec/sdboot
Synonym for /usr/mdec/xxboot

/usr/mdec/bootxx
NetBSD/macppc primary bootstrap.
/usr/mdec/ofwboot
NetBSD/macppc secondary bootstrap.
/ofwboot
Installed copy of NetBSD/macppc secondary bootstrap.

/usr/mdec/boot
NetBSD/next68k bootstrap.

/usr/mdec/bootblk
NetBSD/sparc64 primary bootstrap.
/usr/mdec/ofwboot
NetBSD/sparc64 secondary bootstrap.
/ofwboot
Installed copy of NetBSD/sparc64 secondary bootstrap.

Verbosely install the Berkeley Fast File System primary bootstrap on to disk ‘sd0’:

installboot -v /dev/rsd0c /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffs
Note: the “whole disk” partition (c on some ports, d on others) is used here, since the a partition probably is already opened (mounted as /), so installboot would not be able to access it.

Remove the primary bootstrap from disk ‘sd1’:

installboot -c /dev/rsd1c

Modify the command line to change the default from "netbsd -ASn2" to "netbsd -S":

installboot -m amiga -o command="netbsd -S" /dev/rsd0a /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffs

Install the U-boot boot loader for a Pinebook into an image that will be written to an SDMMC card:

installboot -m evbarm -o board=pine64,pinebook arm64.img

Install / update the U-boot boot loader for the current running system on the eMMC device ‘ld0’ and display verbose information about the procedure:

installboot -v /dev/rld0c

Install a specific U-boot package for a BeagleBone Black into an image that will be written to an SDMMC card:

installboot -m evbarm -o board=ti,am335x-bone-black armv7.img /path/to/experimental/u-boot/package

Install the System V Boot File System primary bootstrap on to disk ‘sd0’, with the secondary bootstrap ‘/boot’ already present in the SysVBFS partition on the disk:

installboot /dev/rsd0p /usr/mdec/bootxx_bfs
Note: On NetBSD/ews4800mips the p partition is the “whole disk” (i.e., raw) partition.

NetBSD/i386 and NetBSD/amd64

Install new boot blocks on an existing FFSv2 mounted root file system on ‘wd0’, setting the timeout to five seconds, after copying a new secondary bootstrap:

cp /usr/mdec/boot /boot
installboot -v -o timeout=5 /dev/rwd0a /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv2
Note: Pre NetBSD 6.0 systems used FFSv1 file systems on these platforms; double check with dumpfs(8) to be sure to use the correct secondary bootstrap.

Create a bootable CD-ROM with an ISO 9660 file system for an i386 system with a serial console:

mkdir cdrom
cp sys/arch/i386/compile/mykernel/netbsd cdrom/netbsd
cp /usr/mdec/boot cdrom/boot
cp /usr/mdec/bootxx_cd9660 bootxx
installboot -o console=com0,speed=19200 -m i386 -e bootxx
makefs -t cd9660 -o 'bootimage=i386;bootxx,no-emul-boot' boot.iso cdrom

Create a bootable floppy disk with an FFSv1 file system for a small custom kernel (note: bigger kernels needing multiple disks are handled with the ustarfs file system):

newfs -s 1440k /dev/rfd0a
Note: Ignore the warnings that newfs(8) displays; it can not write a disklabel, which is not a problem for a floppy disk.
mount /dev/fd0a /mnt
cp /usr/mdec/boot /mnt/boot
gzip -9 < sys/arch/i386/compile/mykernel/netbsd > /mnt/netbsd.gz
umount /mnt
installboot -v /dev/rfd0a /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv1

Create a bootable FAT file system on ‘wd1a’, which should have the same offset and size as a FAT primary partition in the Master Boot Record (MBR):

newfs_msdos -r 16 /dev/rwd1a
: The -r 16 is to reserve space for the primary bootstrap. newfs_msdos(8) will display an “MBR type” such as ‘1’, ‘4’, or ‘6’; the MBR partition type of the appropriate primary partition should be changed to this value.
mount -t msdos /dev/wd1a /mnt
cp /usr/mdec/boot /mnt/boot
cp path/to/kernel /mnt/netbsd
umount /mnt
installboot -t raw /dev/rwd1a /usr/mdec/bootxx_msdos

Make the existing FAT16 filesystem on ‘sd0e’ bootable. This can be used to make USB memory bootable provided it has 512 byte sectors and that the manufacturer correctly initialised the file system.

mount -t msdos /dev/sd0e /mnt
cp /usr/mdec/boot /mnt/boot
cp path/to/kernel /mnt/netbsd
umount /mnt
installboot /dev/rsd0e /usr/mdec/bootxx_fat16
It may also be necessary to use fdisk to make the device itself bootable.

Switch the existing installed bootstrap to use a serial console without reinstalling or altering other options such as timeout.

installboot -e -o console=com0 /dev/rwd0a

NetBSD/macppc

Note the installboot utility is only required for macppc machines with OpenFirmware version 2 to boot. OpenFirmware 3 cannot load bootblocks specified in the Apple partition map.

Install the Berkeley Fast File System primary bootstrap on to disk ‘wd0’:

installboot /dev/rwd0c /usr/mdec/bootxx /ofwboot

The secondary NetBSD/macppc bootstrap is located in /usr/mdec/ofwboot.

The primary bootstrap requires the raw ofwboot for the secondary bootstrap, not ofwboot.xcf, which is used for the OpenFirmware to load kernels.

NetBSD/next68k

Install the bootstrap on to disk ‘sd0’:

installboot /dev/rsd0c /usr/mdec/boot

NetBSD/pmax

Install the Berkeley Fast File System primary bootstrap on to disk ‘sd0’:

installboot /dev/rsd0c /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffs

NetBSD/pmax requires that this file system starts at block 0 of the disk.

Install the ISO 9660 primary bootstrap in the file /tmp/cd-image:

installboot -m pmax /tmp/cd-image /usr/mdec/bootxx_cd9660

Make an ISO 9660 filesystem in the file /tmp/cd-image and install the ISO 9660 primary bootstrap in the filesystem, where the source directory for the ISO 9660 filesystem contains a kernel, the primary bootstrap bootxx_cd9660 and the secondary bootstrap boot.pmax:

mkisofs -o /tmp/cd-image -a -l -v iso-source-dir
...
48 51 iso-source-dir/bootxx_cd9660
...
installboot -b `expr 48 \* 4` /tmp/cd-image /usr/mdec/bootxx_cd9660

Install the Berkeley Fast File System primary bootstrap on to disk ‘sd0’, with the secondary bootstrap ‘/boot’ already present:

installboot /dev/rsd0c /usr/mdec/bootxx /boot

Install the primary bootstrap on to disk ‘sd0’:

installboot /dev/rsd0c /usr/mdec/bootblk

The secondary NetBSD/sparc64 bootstrap is located in /usr/mdec/ofwboot.

NetBSD/sun2 and NetBSD/sun3

Install the Berkeley Fast File System primary bootstrap on to disk ‘sd0’, with the secondary bootstrap ‘/boot’ already present:

installboot /dev/rsd0c /usr/mdec/bootxx /boot

uname(3), boot(8), disklabel(8), dumpfs(8), fdisk(8), x86/pxeboot(8)

This implementation of installboot appeared in NetBSD 1.6.

The machine independent portion of this implementation of installboot was written by Luke Mewburn. The following people contributed to the various machine dependent back-ends: Simon Burge (pmax), Chris Demetriou (alpha), Matthew Fredette (sun2, sun3), Matthew Green (sparc64), Ross Harvey (alpha), Michael Hitch (amiga), Paul Kranenburg (sparc), David Laight (i386), Christian Limpach (next68k), Luke Mewburn (macppc), Matt Thomas (vax), Izumi Tsutsui (news68k, newsmips), and UCHIYAMA Yasushi (ews4800mips).

There are not currently primary bootstraps to support all file systems types which are capable of being the root file system.

If a disk has been converted from FFS to RAID without the contents of the disk erased, then the original FFS installation may be auto-detected instead of the RAID installation. In this case, the -t raid option must be provided.

The NetBSD/alpha primary bootstrap program can only load the secondary bootstrap program from file systems starting at the beginning (block 0) of disks. Similarly, the secondary bootstrap program can only load kernels from file systems starting at the beginning of disks.

The size of primary bootstrap programs is restricted to 7.5KB, even though some file systems (e.g., ISO 9660) are able to accommodate larger ones.

The disk must have a boot partition large enough to hold the bootstrap code. Currently the primary bootstrap must be a LIF format file.

NetBSD/i386 and NetBSD/amd64

The bootstrap must be installed in the NetBSD partition that starts at the beginning of the mbr partition. If that is a valid filesystem and contains the /boot program then it will be used as the root filesystem, otherwise the ‘a’ partition will be booted.

The size of primary bootstrap programs is restricted to 8KB, even though some file systems (e.g., ISO 9660) are able to accommodate larger ones.

NetBSD/macppc

Due to restrictions in installboot and the secondary bootstrap implementation, file systems where kernels exist must start at the beginning of disks.

Currently, installboot doesn't recognize an existing Apple partition map on the disk and always writes a faked map to make disks bootable.

The NetBSD/macppc bootstrap program can't load kernels from FFSv2 partitions.

NetBSD/next68k

The size of bootstrap programs is restricted to the free space before the file system at the beginning of the disk minus 8KB.

NetBSD/pmax

The NetBSD/pmax secondary bootstrap program can only load kernels from file systems starting at the beginning of disks.

The size of primary bootstrap programs is restricted to 7.5KB, even though some file systems (e.g., ISO 9660) are able to accommodate larger ones.

NetBSD/sun2 and NetBSD/sun3

The NetBSD/sun2 and NetBSD/sun3 secondary bootstrap program can only load kernels from file systems starting at the beginning of disks.

The NetBSD/vax secondary bootstrap program can only load kernels from file systems starting at the beginning of disks.

The size of primary bootstrap programs is restricted to 7.5KB, even though some file systems (e.g., ISO 9660) are able to accommodate larger ones.

May 5, 2019 NetBSD-9.2