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

# NAME

`installboot` — install disk bootstrap software

# SYNOPSIS

`installboot` | [`-nv`] boot bootxx rawdiskdevice

# DESCRIPTION

The `installboot` utility prepares a disk for bootstrapping.

The OpenBSD/alpha disk bootstrap software is split into two parts: a small first-stage boot program that is written into the disklabel area of a disk (and hence is limited in size to 7680 bytes), and a second-stage boot program that resides in the filesystem proper (typically with the name /boot). The first-stage boot program is loaded into memory by the SRM console software. After receiving control of the system, it loads the second-stage boot program from a set of filesystem block numbers that have been hard-coded into it by `installboot`. The second-stage boot program locates and loads the kernel.

The second-stage boot program and the prototype code for the first-stage boot program can be found in /usr/mdec/boot and /usr/mdec/bootxx, respectively. /usr/mdec/boot may be installed simply by copying it to the root directory of the partition you wish to boot from, but after it is installed `installboot` must be run.

The options recognized by `installboot` are as follows:

`-n`
  Do not actually write anything on the disk.
`-v`
  Verbose mode.

The arguments are:

boot
  The name of the second-stage boot program in the file system where the first-stage boot program is to be installed.
bootxx
  The name of the prototype file for the first-stage boot program.
rawdiskdevice
  The name of the device corresponding to the raw whole-disk partition (the “raw partition”) of the disk on which the first-stage boot program is to be installed.

# EXAMPLES

boot resides in the FFS file system mounted on / from “sd0a”, you would install the first-stage boot program on the disk (and therefore make the disk bootable) by using the command:

    # cp /usr/mdec/boot /boot
    # /usr/mdec/installboot -n -v /boot /usr/mdec/bootxx /dev/rsd0c

And if the information supplied looks right, run the above without the `-n` flag.

# SEE ALSO

disklabel(8), init(8), sysctl(8)

# HISTORY

The alpha `installboot` command first appeared in NetBSD 1.2.

# BUGS

The OpenBSD/alpha boot blocks can only load kernels from disks' “a” partitions. (However, the second-stage boot program may be located on any FFS file system partition on the disk.)

March 6, 2010 | Debian