uboot/doc/README.distro
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   1/*
   2 * (C) Copyright 2014 Red Hat Inc.
   3 * Copyright (c) 2014-2015, NVIDIA CORPORATION.  All rights reserved.
   4 * Copyright (C) 2015 K. Merker <merker@debian.org>
   5 *
   6 * SPDX-License-Identifier:     GPL-2.0+
   7 */
   8
   9Generic Distro Configuration Concept
  10====================================
  11
  12Linux distributions are faced with supporting a variety of boot mechanisms,
  13environments or bootloaders (PC BIOS, EFI, U-Boot, Barebox, ...). This makes
  14life complicated. Worse, bootloaders such as U-Boot have a configurable set
  15of features, and each board chooses to enable a different set of features.
  16Hence, distros typically need to have board-specific knowledge in order to
  17set up a bootable system.
  18
  19This document defines a common set of U-Boot features that are required for
  20a distro to support the board in a generic fashion. Any board wishing to
  21allow distros to install and boot in an out-of-the-box fashion should enable
  22all these features. Linux distros can then create a single set of boot
  23support/install logic that targets these features. This will allow distros
  24to install on many boards without the need for board-specific logic.
  25
  26In fact, some of these features can be implemented by any bootloader, thus
  27decoupling distro install/boot logic from any knowledge of the bootloader.
  28
  29This model assumes that boards will load boot configuration files from a
  30regular storage mechanism (eMMC, SD card, USB Disk, SATA disk, etc.) with
  31a standard partitioning scheme (MBR, GPT). Boards that cannot support this
  32storage model are outside the scope of this document, and may still need
  33board-specific installer/boot-configuration support in a distro.
  34
  35To some extent, this model assumes that a board has a separate boot flash
  36that contains U-Boot, and that the user has somehow installed U-Boot to this
  37flash before running the distro installer. Even on boards that do not conform
  38to this aspect of the model, the extent of the board-specific support in the
  39distro installer logic would be to install a board-specific U-Boot package to
  40the boot partition during installation. This distro-supplied U-Boot can still
  41implement the same features as on any other board, and hence the distro's boot
  42configuration file generation logic can still be board-agnostic.
  43
  44Locating Bootable Disks
  45-----------------------
  46
  47Typical desktop/server PCs search all (or a user-defined subset of) attached
  48storage devices for a bootable partition, then load the bootloader or boot
  49configuration files from there. A U-Boot board port that enables the features
  50mentioned in this document will search for boot configuration files in the
  51same way.
  52
  53Thus, distros do not need to manipulate any kind of bootloader-specific
  54configuration data to indicate which storage device the system should boot
  55from.
  56
  57Distros simply need to install the boot configuration files (see next
  58section) in an ext2/3/4 or FAT partition, mark the partition bootable (via
  59the MBR bootable flag, or GPT legacy_bios_bootable attribute), and U-Boot (or
  60any other bootloader) will find those boot files and execute them. This is
  61conceptually identical to creating a grub2 configuration file on a desktop
  62PC.
  63
  64Note that in the absence of any partition that is explicitly marked bootable,
  65U-Boot falls back to searching the first valid partition of a disk for boot
  66configuration files. Other bootloaders are recommended to do the same, since
  67I believe that partition table bootable flags aren't so commonly used outside
  68the realm of x86 PCs.
  69
  70U-Boot can also search for boot configuration files from a TFTP server.
  71
  72Boot Configuration Files
  73------------------------
  74
  75The standard format for boot configuration files is that of extlinux.conf, as
  76handled by U-Boot's "syslinux" (disk) or "pxe boot" (network). This is roughly
  77as specified at:
  78
  79http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/BootLoaderSpec/
  80
  81... with the exceptions that the BootLoaderSpec document:
  82
  83* Prescribes a separate configuration per boot menu option, whereas U-Boot
  84  lumps all options into a single extlinux.conf file. Hence, U-Boot searches
  85  for /extlinux/extlinux.conf then /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf on disk, or
  86  pxelinux.cfg/default over the network.
  87
  88* Does not document the fdtdir option, which automatically selects the DTB to
  89  pass to the kernel.
  90
  91One example extlinux.conf generated by the Fedora installer is:
  92
  93------------------------------------------------------------
  94# extlinux.conf generated by anaconda
  95
  96ui menu.c32
  97
  98menu autoboot Welcome to Fedora. Automatic boot in # second{,s}. Press a key for options.
  99menu title Fedora Boot Options.
 100menu hidden
 101
 102timeout 50
 103#totaltimeout 9000
 104
 105default Fedora (3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl+lpae) 22 (Rawhide)
 106
 107label Fedora (3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl) 22 (Rawhide)
 108        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl
 109        append ro root=UUID=8eac677f-8ea8-4270-8479-d5ddbb797450 console=ttyS0,115200n8 LANG=en_US.UTF-8 drm.debug=0xf
 110        fdtdir /boot/dtb-3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl
 111        initrd /boot/initramfs-3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl.img
 112
 113label Fedora (3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl+lpae) 22 (Rawhide)
 114        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl+lpae
 115        append ro root=UUID=8eac677f-8ea8-4270-8479-d5ddbb797450 console=ttyS0,115200n8 LANG=en_US.UTF-8 drm.debug=0xf
 116        fdtdir /boot/dtb-3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl+lpae
 117        initrd /boot/initramfs-3.17.0-0.rc4.git2.1.fc22.armv7hl+lpae.img
 118
 119label Fedora-0-rescue-8f6ba7b039524e0eb957d2c9203f04bc (0-rescue-8f6ba7b039524e0eb957d2c9203f04bc)
 120        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-0-rescue-8f6ba7b039524e0eb957d2c9203f04bc
 121        initrd /boot/initramfs-0-rescue-8f6ba7b039524e0eb957d2c9203f04bc.img
 122        append ro root=UUID=8eac677f-8ea8-4270-8479-d5ddbb797450 console=ttyS0,115200n8
 123        fdtdir /boot/dtb-3.16.0-0.rc6.git1.1.fc22.armv7hl+lpae
 124------------------------------------------------------------
 125
 126Another hand-crafted network boot configuration file is:
 127
 128------------------------------------------------------------
 129TIMEOUT 100
 130
 131MENU TITLE TFTP boot options
 132
 133LABEL jetson-tk1-emmc
 134        MENU LABEL ../zImage root on Jetson TK1 eMMC
 135        LINUX ../zImage
 136        FDTDIR ../
 137        APPEND console=ttyS0,115200n8 console=tty1 loglevel=8 rootwait rw earlyprintk root=PARTUUID=80a5a8e9-c744-491a-93c1-4f4194fd690b
 138
 139LABEL venice2-emmc
 140        MENU LABEL ../zImage root on Venice2 eMMC
 141        LINUX ../zImage
 142        FDTDIR ../
 143        APPEND console=ttyS0,115200n8 console=tty1 loglevel=8 rootwait rw earlyprintk root=PARTUUID=5f71e06f-be08-48ed-b1ef-ee4800cc860f
 144
 145LABEL sdcard
 146        MENU LABEL ../zImage, root on 2GB sdcard
 147        LINUX ../zImage
 148        FDTDIR ../
 149        APPEND console=ttyS0,115200n8 console=tty1 loglevel=8 rootwait rw earlyprintk root=PARTUUID=b2f82cda-2535-4779-b467-094a210fbae7
 150
 151LABEL fedora-installer-fk
 152        MENU LABEL Fedora installer w/ Fedora kernel
 153        LINUX fedora-installer/vmlinuz
 154        INITRD fedora-installer/initrd.img.orig
 155        FDTDIR fedora-installer/dtb
 156        APPEND loglevel=8 ip=dhcp inst.repo=http://10.0.0.2/mirrors/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/armhfp/os/ rd.shell cma=64M
 157------------------------------------------------------------
 158
 159U-Boot Implementation
 160=====================
 161
 162Enabling the distro options
 163---------------------------
 164
 165In your board's defconfig, enable the DISTRO_DEFAULTS option by adding
 166a line with "CONFIG_DISTRO_DEFAULTS=y". If you want to enable this
 167from Kconfig itself, for e.g. all boards using a specific SoC then
 168add a "default y if ARCH_FOO" to the DISTRO_DEFAULTS section of
 169the Kconfig file in the root of the u-boot sources.
 170
 171In your board configuration file, include the following:
 172
 173------------------------------------------------------------
 174#ifndef CONFIG_SPL_BUILD
 175#include <config_distro_defaults.h>
 176#include <config_distro_bootcmd.h>
 177#endif
 178------------------------------------------------------------
 179
 180The first of those headers primarily enables a core set of U-Boot features,
 181such as support for MBR and GPT partitions, ext* and FAT filesystems, booting
 182raw zImage and initrd (rather than FIT- or uImage-wrapped files), etc. Network
 183boot support is also enabled here, which is useful in order to boot distro
 184installers given that distros do not commonly distribute bootable install
 185media for non-PC targets at present.
 186
 187Finally, a few options that are mostly relevant only when using U-Boot-
 188specific boot.scr scripts are enabled. This enables distros to generate a
 189U-Boot-specific boot.scr script rather than extlinux.conf as the boot
 190configuration file. While doing so is fully supported, and
 191<config_distro_defaults.h> exposes enough parameterization to boot.scr to
 192allow for board-agnostic boot.scr content, this document recommends that
 193distros generate extlinux.conf rather than boot.scr. extlinux.conf is intended
 194to work across multiple bootloaders, whereas boot.scr will only work with
 195U-Boot. TODO: document the contract between U-Boot and boot.scr re: which
 196environment variables a generic boot.scr may rely upon.
 197
 198The second of those headers sets up the default environment so that $bootcmd
 199is defined in a way that searches attached disks for boot configuration files,
 200and executes them if found.
 201
 202Required Environment Variables
 203------------------------------
 204
 205The U-Boot "syslinux" and "pxe boot" commands require a number of environment
 206variables be set. Default values for these variables are often hard-coded into
 207CONFIG_EXTRA_ENV_SETTINGS in the board's U-Boot configuration file, so that
 208the user doesn't have to configure them.
 209
 210fdt_addr:
 211
 212  Mandatory for any system that provides the DTB in HW (e.g. ROM) and wishes
 213  to pass that DTB to Linux, rather than loading a DTB from the boot
 214  filesystem. Prohibited for any other system.
 215
 216  If specified a DTB to boot the system must be available at the given
 217  address.
 218
 219fdt_addr_r:
 220
 221  Mandatory. The location in RAM where the DTB will be loaded or copied to when
 222  processing the fdtdir/devicetreedir or fdt/devicetree options in
 223  extlinux.conf.
 224
 225  This is mandatory even when fdt_addr is provided, since extlinux.conf must
 226  always be able to provide a DTB which overrides any copy provided by the HW.
 227
 228  A size of 1MB for the FDT/DTB seems reasonable.
 229
 230ramdisk_addr_r:
 231
 232  Mandatory. The location in RAM where the initial ramdisk will be loaded to
 233  when processing the initrd option in extlinux.conf.
 234
 235  It is recommended that this location be highest in RAM out of fdt_addr_,
 236  kernel_addr_r, and ramdisk_addr_r, so that the RAM disk can vary in size
 237  and use any available RAM.
 238
 239kernel_addr_r:
 240
 241  Mandatory. The location in RAM where the kernel will be loaded to when
 242  processing the kernel option in the extlinux.conf.
 243
 244  The kernel should be located within the first 128M of RAM in order for the
 245  kernel CONFIG_AUTO_ZRELADDR option to work, which is likely enabled on any
 246  distro kernel. Since the kernel will decompress itself to 0x8000 after the
 247  start of RAM, kernel_addr_r should not overlap that area, or the kernel will
 248  have to copy itself somewhere else first before decompression.
 249
 250  A size of 16MB for the kernel is likely adequate.
 251
 252pxefile_addr_r:
 253
 254  Mandatory. The location in RAM where extlinux.conf will be loaded to prior
 255  to processing.
 256
 257  A size of 1MB for extlinux.conf is more than adequate.
 258
 259scriptaddr:
 260
 261  Mandatory, if the boot script is boot.scr rather than extlinux.conf. The
 262  location in RAM where boot.scr will be loaded to prior to execution.
 263
 264  A size of 1MB for extlinux.conf is more than adequate.
 265
 266For suggestions on memory locations for ARM systems, you must follow the
 267guidelines specified in Documentation/arm/Booting in the Linux kernel tree.
 268
 269For a commented example of setting these values, please see the definition of
 270MEM_LAYOUT_ENV_SETTINGS in include/configs/tegra124-common.h.
 271
 272Boot Target Configuration
 273-------------------------
 274
 275<config_distro_bootcmd.h> defines $bootcmd and many helper command variables
 276that automatically search attached disks for boot configuration files and
 277execute them. Boards must provide configure <config_distro_bootcmd.h> so that
 278it supports the correct set of possible boot device types. To provide this
 279configuration, simply define macro BOOT_TARGET_DEVICES prior to including
 280<config_distro_bootcmd.h>. For example:
 281
 282------------------------------------------------------------
 283#ifndef CONFIG_SPL_BUILD
 284#define BOOT_TARGET_DEVICES(func) \
 285        func(MMC, mmc, 1) \
 286        func(MMC, mmc, 0) \
 287        func(USB, usb, 0) \
 288        func(PXE, pxe, na) \
 289        func(DHCP, dhcp, na)
 290#include <config_distro_bootcmd.h>
 291#endif
 292------------------------------------------------------------
 293
 294Each entry in the macro defines a single boot device (e.g. a specific eMMC
 295device or SD card) or type of boot device (e.g. USB disk). The parameters to
 296the func macro (passed in by the internal implementation of the header) are:
 297
 298- Upper-case disk type (MMC, SATA, SCSI, IDE, USB, DHCP, PXE).
 299- Lower-case disk type (same options as above).
 300- ID of the specific disk (MMC only) or ignored for other types.
 301
 302User Configuration
 303==================
 304
 305Once the user has installed U-Boot, it is expected that the environment will
 306be reset to the default values in order to enable $bootcmd and friends, as set
 307up by <config_distro_bootcmd.h>. After this, various environment variables may
 308be altered to influence the boot process:
 309
 310boot_targets:
 311
 312  The list of boot locations searched.
 313
 314  Example: mmc0, mmc1, usb, pxe
 315
 316  Entries may be removed or re-ordered in this list to affect the boot order.
 317
 318boot_prefixes:
 319
 320  For disk-based booting, the list of directories within a partition that are
 321  searched for boot configuration files (extlinux.conf, boot.scr).
 322
 323  Example: / /boot/
 324
 325  Entries may be removed or re-ordered in this list to affect the set of
 326  directories which are searched.
 327
 328boot_scripts:
 329
 330  The name of U-Boot style boot.scr files that $bootcmd searches for.
 331
 332  Example: boot.scr.uimg boot.scr
 333
 334  (Typically we expect extlinux.conf to be used, but execution of boot.scr is
 335  maintained for backwards-compatibility.)
 336
 337  Entries may be removed or re-ordered in this list to affect the set of
 338  filenames which are supported.
 339
 340scan_dev_for_extlinux:
 341
 342  If you want to disable extlinux.conf on all disks, set the value to something
 343  innocuous, e.g. setenv scan_dev_for_extlinux true.
 344
 345scan_dev_for_scripts:
 346
 347  If you want to disable boot.scr on all disks, set the value to something
 348  innocuous, e.g. setenv scan_dev_for_scripts true.
 349
 350boot_net_usb_start:
 351
 352  If you want to prevent USB enumeration by distro boot commands which execute
 353  network operations, set the value to something innocuous, e.g. setenv
 354  boot_net_usb_start true. This would be useful if you know your Ethernet
 355  device is not attached to USB, and you wish to increase boot speed by
 356  avoiding unnecessary actions.
 357
 358boot_net_pci_enum:
 359
 360  If you want to prevent PCI enumeration by distro boot commands which execute
 361  network operations, set the value to something innocuous, e.g. setenv
 362  boot_net_pci_enum true. This would be useful if you know your Ethernet
 363  device is not attached to PCI, and you wish to increase boot speed by
 364  avoiding unnecessary actions.
 365
 366Interactively booting from a specific device at the u-boot prompt
 367=================================================================
 368
 369For interactively booting from a user-selected device at the u-boot command
 370prompt, the environment provides predefined bootcmd_<target> variables for
 371every target defined in boot_targets, which can be run be the user.
 372
 373If the target is a storage device, the format of the target is always
 374<device type><device number>, e.g. mmc0.  Specifying the device number is
 375mandatory for storage devices, even if only support for a single instance
 376of the storage device is actually implemented.
 377
 378For network targets (dhcp, pxe), only the device type gets specified;
 379they do not have a device number.
 380
 381Examples:
 382
 383 - run bootcmd_usb0
 384   boots from the first USB mass storage device
 385
 386 - run bootcmd_mmc1
 387   boots from the second MMC device
 388
 389 - run bootcmd_pxe
 390   boots by tftp using a pxelinux.cfg
 391
 392The list of possible targets consists of:
 393
 394- network targets
 395  * dhcp
 396  * pxe
 397
 398- storage targets (to which a device number must be appended)
 399  * mmc
 400  * sata
 401  * scsi
 402  * ide
 403  * usb
 404
 405Other *boot* variables than the ones defined above are only for internal use
 406of the boot environment and are not guaranteed to exist or work in the same
 407way in future u-boot versions.  In particular the <device type>_boot
 408variables (e.g. mmc_boot, usb_boot) are a strictly internal implementation
 409detail and must not be used as a public interface.
 410