On Monday, 28 October 2019 12:52:35 GMT Peter Humphrey wrote: > On Saturday, 26 October 2019 17:31:28 GMT Mick wrote: > > If your intention is to use systemd- boot as the Boot Manager of choice, I > > would try moving all kernels and associated files to your /boot/<machine- > > id>/ subdirectory. > > > > Then create corresponding /boot/loader/entries/*.conf files, which > > according to the systemd boot loader specification should be named like > > so: > > > > /boot/loader/entries/4eec63dc92f83de25e1e2e485d7f6536-4.19.72-gentoo.conf > > > > /boot/loader/entries/<machine-id>-<kernel_version>.<os-release-ID>.conf > > > > For <kernel_version> use the output of 'uname -r'. > > > > For <os-release-ID> use the ID field of /etc/os-release. You may 'find > > uname -r' and os-release-ID are the same on your Gentoo installation. > > > > The contents of the file should look like so: > > > > title 08-gentoo-4.19.72-rescue (My rescue kernel) > > version 4.19.72-gentoo > > machine-id 4eec63dc92f83de25e1e2e485d7f6536 > > options root=/dev/nvme0n1p4 net.ifnames=0 > > architecture x64 > > linux /4eec63dc92f83de25e1e2e485d7f6536/4.19.72-gentoo/linux > > initrd /4eec63dc92f83de25e1e2e485d7f6536/4.19.72-gentoo/initrd > > > > For 'title' you can use the PRETTY_NAME in /etc/os-release, or whatever > > you > > want displayed in the boot menu to differentiate visibly this menu entry > > from all others. > > > > For 'version' you can use the kernel version you want to boot with, but it > > is an optional field. > > > > Machine-id is also optional, but it helps to differentiate between various > > installations. > > > > 'linux' and 'initrd' fields show the relative path(s) where your vmlinuz > > and initrd.img files are stored. > > > > I hope the above works for you with systemd-boot and helps customise its > > boot menu to your liking. > > Thanks for the advice. I've also read the Boot Loader Specification [1] :) > > The scheme you and it outline seem not to allow me to create menu entries > that use the same kernel but with different options, such as run level. > That's one reason why I didn't use that approach.
As I understood when I read the same standard, you can add any options you need next to the "options" field in the respective entries/*.conf files. Everything else, other than "title" can remain the same, booting the same kernel/initrd. You should be able to boot: The installation (machine-id: 4eec63dc92f83de25e1e2e485d7f6536) with the kernel specified in: linux /4eec63dc92f83de25e1e2e485d7f6536/4.19.72-gentoo/linux or, some different fs installation (different machine-id) still with the same kernel line as above; and/or, using the same "options" line or a different one. You should be able to combine any fs installation, kernel and options you want to boot and have it listed in the systemd-boot menu using a title of your choice. Of course it would make sense to use a different title for each boot menu. However, I think you could even use the same title for different kernel versions on the same installation, and the most recent version will be listed at the top. > The other was its reader- > unfriendliness - why use a simple, descriptive name when you could use a > 32- digit hex string instead? I suspect because systemd devs did not have at the forefront of their minds Peter's use case, but the kernel post-install scripts of binary distros. I understand the intention of the systemd-boot creators was to allow any kernels to be dropped in /boot/<machine-id/, then parsed and added to the systemd-boot menu. -- Regards, Mick
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