Greg Hartman | 76d05dc | 2016-11-23 15:51:27 -0800 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | = syslinux.cfg(5) = |
| 2 | :doctype: manpage |
| 3 | :revdate: 2012-10-28 |
| 4 | :author: H. Peter Anvin |
| 5 | :author-email: hpa@zytor.com |
| 6 | :editor1: Gene Cumm |
| 7 | :editor1-email: gene.cumm@gmail.com |
| 8 | :editor1-revlast: 2012-10-28 |
| 9 | :nbsp8:          |
| 10 | :nbsp32: {nbsp8}{nbsp8}{nbsp8}{nbsp8} |
| 11 | :data-uri: |
| 12 | |
| 13 | == NAME == |
| 14 | syslinux.cfg - *Syslinux* configuration file |
| 15 | |
| 16 | |
| 17 | == DESCRIPTION == |
| 18 | Configuration for the boot behavior and user experience of *Syslinux* |
| 19 | boot loaders, the format of display files and the boot prompt behavior. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Blank lines are ignored. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Note that the configuration file is not completely decoded. Syntax |
| 24 | different from the one described above may still work correctly in this |
| 25 | version of *Syslinux*, but may break in a future one. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | |
| 28 | == LOCATION/NAME == |
| 29 | *SYSLINUX* (before 4.00) used the configuration filename of |
| 30 | syslinux.cfg. *EXTLINUX* (merged into *SYSLINUX* as of 4.00) used the |
| 31 | filename extlinux.conf. Both default to searching for the config file |
| 32 | in the installed directory (containing ldlinux.sys/extlinux.sys). As of |
| 33 | 4.00, *SYSLINUX* will search for extlinux.conf then syslinux.cfg in each |
| 34 | directory before falling back to the next directory. |
| 35 | |
| 36 | As of 3.35, *SYSLINUX* also searches /boot/syslinux, /syslinux and /. |
| 37 | |
| 38 | *ISOLINUX* (before 4.02) used the configuration filename of |
| 39 | isolinux.cfg, searching /boot/isolinux (starting 2.00), then /isolinux |
| 40 | and /. As of 4.02, *ISOLINUX* will search for isolinux.cfg then |
| 41 | syslinux.cfg in /boot/isolinux before searching for the same files in |
| 42 | /isolinux, /boot/syslinux, /syslinux, and /. |
| 43 | |
| 44 | |
| 45 | == GLOBAL DIRECTIVES - MAIN == |
| 46 | *#* comment:: |
| 47 | A line comment. As of version 3.10, the space between the *#* and the |
| 48 | comment is no longer required. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | *MENU* any string:: |
| 51 | (3.00+) A directive for the simple menu system, treated as a comment |
| 52 | outside the menu. See menu.txt. |
| 53 | |
| 54 | *INCLUDE* 'filename':: |
| 55 | Inserts the contents of another file at this point in the configuration |
| 56 | file. Files can currently be nested up to 16 levels deep, but it is not |
| 57 | guaranteed that more than 8 levels will be supported in the future. |
| 58 | |
| 59 | *DEFAULT* 'kernel' 'options...':: |
| 60 | Sets the default command line (which often references a LABEL). If |
| 61 | *Syslinux* boots automatically, it will act just as if the entries after |
| 62 | *DEFAULT* had been typed in at the 'boot:' prompt. Multiple uses will |
| 63 | result in an override. |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | If no configuration file is present, or no *DEFAULT* or *UI* entry is |
| 66 | present in the config file, an error message is displayed and the |
| 67 | 'boot:' prompt is shown (3.85+). |
| 68 | |
| 69 | *UI* 'module' 'options...':: |
| 70 | Selects a specific user interface 'module' (typically menu.c32 or |
| 71 | vesamenu.c32). The command-line interface treats this as a directive |
| 72 | that overrides the *DEFAULT* directive to load this module instead at |
| 73 | startup, for an empty command line and at timeout and *PROMPT* directive |
| 74 | to not prompt (but these directives may have effects on other |
| 75 | configuration parsers). Multiple uses will result in an override. |
| 76 | |
| 77 | *LABEL* 'mylabel':: |
| 78 | Begin a new *LABEL* clause. If 'mylabel' is entered as the kernel to |
| 79 | boot, *Syslinux* should instead boot "image" (specified by a directive |
| 80 | from *KERNEL-LIKE DIRECTIVES*) with any specified *DUAL-PURPOSE |
| 81 | DIRECTIVES* being used instead of the global instance. |
| 82 | + |
| 83 | 'mylabel' must be unique. Currently the first instance is used but may |
| 84 | result in an error or undesired behavior. 'mylabel' ends at the first |
| 85 | character that is not a non-white-space printable character and should |
| 86 | be restricted to non-white-space typeable characters. Prior to version |
| 87 | 3.32, this would transformed to a DOS compatible format of 8.3 with a |
| 88 | restricted character set. A *LABEL* clause must contain exactly 1 of |
| 89 | the *KERNEL-LIKE DIRECTIVES* and may contain 1 each of the *LABEL-ONLY |
| 90 | DIRECTIVES* or *DUAL-PURPOSE DIRECTIVES*. |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | Within a *LABEL*, using multiple *KERNEL-LIKE DIRECTIVES* or reuse of |
| 93 | *LABEL-ONLY DIRECTIVES* or *DUAL-PURPOSE DIRECTIVES* will result in an |
| 94 | override. Otherwise, multiple instances of the same directive will |
| 95 | result in the last being effective. |
| 96 | |
| 97 | |
| 98 | == DUAL-PURPOSE DIRECTIVES == |
| 99 | Use of any of the *DUAL-PURPOSE DIRECTIVES* as *GLOBAL DIRECTIVES* is |
| 100 | discouraged if there will be any non-Linux images loaded as *ALL* images |
| 101 | will get these, including those manually entered at the 'boot:' prompt. |
| 102 | |
| 103 | *APPEND* 'options...':: |
| 104 | Add one or more options to the kernel command line. These are added |
| 105 | both for automatic and manual boots. The options are added at the very |
| 106 | beginning of the kernel command line, usually permitting explicitly |
| 107 | entered kernel options to override them. This is the equivalent of the |
| 108 | LILO "append" option. |
| 109 | + |
| 110 | Use of the parameter 'initrd=' supports multiple filenames separated by |
| 111 | commas (ie 'initrd=initrd_file1,initrd_file2') within a single instance. |
| 112 | This is mostly useful for initramfs, which can be composed of multiple |
| 113 | separate cpio or cpio.gz archives. |
| 114 | + |
| 115 | Note: all initrd files except the last one are zero-padded to a 4K page |
| 116 | boundary. This should not affect initramfs. |
| 117 | + |
| 118 | Note: Only the last effective 'initrd=' parameter is used for loading |
| 119 | initrd files. |
| 120 | |
| 121 | *APPEND* -:: |
| 122 | Append nothing. *APPEND* with a single hyphen as argument in a *LABEL* |
| 123 | section can be used to override a global *APPEND*. |
| 124 | |
| 125 | //[FIXME: Shorten subdefinitions] |
| 126 | *SYSAPPEND* 'bitmask':: |
| 127 | *IPAPPEND* 'bitmask':: |
| 128 | (*SYSAPPEND*: 5.10+; *IPAPPEND*: *PXELINUX* only) |
| 129 | The *SYSAPPEND* option was introduced in *Syslinux* 5.10; it is an |
| 130 | enhancement of a previous option *IPAPPEND* which was only available on |
| 131 | *PXELINUX*. 'bitmask' is interpreted as decimal format unless prefixed |
| 132 | with "0x" for hexadecimal or "0" (zero) for octal. The 'bitmask' is an |
| 133 | OR (sum) of the following integer options: |
| 134 | |
| 135 | ifndef::doctype-manpage[[horizontal]] |
| 136 | *1*::: An option of the following format should be generated, based on |
| 137 | the input from the DHCP/BOOTP or PXE boot server and added to the kernel |
| 138 | command line(see note below; empty for non-PXELINUX variants): |
| 139 | + |
| 140 | ---- |
| 141 | ip=<client-ip>:<boot-server-ip>:<gw-ip>:<netmask> |
| 142 | ---- |
| 143 | + |
| 144 | NOTE: The use of option 1 is no substitute for running a DHCP client in |
| 145 | the booted system and should instead only be used to seed the client for |
| 146 | a request. Without regular renewals, the lease acquired by the PXE BIOS |
| 147 | will expire, making the IP address available for reuse by the DHCP |
| 148 | server. |
| 149 | + |
| 150 | *2*::: An option of the following format should be generated, in |
| 151 | dash-separated hexadecimal with leading hardware type (same as for the |
| 152 | configuration file; see pxelinux.txt.) and added to the kernel command |
| 153 | line, allowing an initrd program to determine from which interface the |
| 154 | system booted(empty for non-PXELINUX variants): |
| 155 | + |
| 156 | ---- |
| 157 | BOOTIF=<hardware-address-of-boot-interface> |
| 158 | ---- |
| 159 | + |
| 160 | *4*::: An option of the following format should be generated, in lower |
| 161 | case hexadecimal in the format normally used for UUIDs (same as for the |
| 162 | configuration file; see pxelinux.txt.) and added to the kernel command |
| 163 | line: |
| 164 | + |
| 165 | ---- |
| 166 | SYSUUID=<system uuid> |
| 167 | ---- |
| 168 | + |
| 169 | *8*::: (5.10+) indicate the CPU family and certain particularly |
| 170 | significant CPU feature bits: |
| 171 | + |
| 172 | ---- |
| 173 | CPU=<family><features> |
| 174 | ---- |
| 175 | + |
| 176 | The <family> is a single digit from 3 (i386) to 6 (i686 or higher.) The |
| 177 | following CPU features are currently reported; additional flags may be |
| 178 | added in the future: |
| 179 | + |
| 180 | .... |
| 181 | P Physical Address Extension (PAE) |
| 182 | V Intel Virtualization Technology (VT/VMX) |
| 183 | T Intel Trusted Exection Technology (TXT/SMX) |
| 184 | X Execution Disable (XD/NX) |
| 185 | L Long Mode (x86-64) |
| 186 | S AMD SMX virtualization |
| 187 | .... |
| 188 | + |
| 189 | *DMI*::: (5.10+) The following strings are derived from DMI/SMBIOS |
| 190 | information if available: |
| 191 | + |
| 192 | Bit String Significance |
| 193 | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 194 | 0x00010 SYSVENDOR= System vendor name |
| 195 | 0x00020 SYSPRODUCT= System product name |
| 196 | 0x00040 SYSVERSION= System version |
| 197 | 0x00080 SYSSERIAL= System serial number |
| 198 | 0x00100 SYSSKU= System SKU |
| 199 | 0x00200 SYSFAMILY= System family |
| 200 | 0x00400 MBVENDOR= Motherboard vendor name |
| 201 | 0x00800 MBVERSION= Motherboard version |
| 202 | 0x01000 MBSERIAL= Motherboard serial number |
| 203 | 0x02000 MBASSET= Motherboard asset tag |
| 204 | 0x04000 BIOSVENDOR= BIOS vendor name |
| 205 | 0x08000 BIOSVERSION= BIOS version |
| 206 | 0x10000 SYSFF= System form factor |
| 207 | + |
| 208 | If these strings contain white-space characters, they are replaced with |
| 209 | underscores (_). |
| 210 | + |
| 211 | The system form factor value is a number defined in the SMBIOS |
| 212 | specification, available at http://www.dmtf.org/. As of version 2.7.1 |
| 213 | of the specification, the following values are defined: |
| 214 | + |
| 215 | 1 Other |
| 216 | 2 Unknown |
| 217 | 3 Desktop |
| 218 | 4 Low profile desktop |
| 219 | 5 Pizza box |
| 220 | 6 Mini tower |
| 221 | 7 Tower |
| 222 | 8 Portble |
| 223 | 9 Laptop |
| 224 | 10 Notebook |
| 225 | 11 Handheld |
| 226 | 12 Docking station |
| 227 | 13 All-in-one |
| 228 | 14 Subnotebook |
| 229 | 15 Space-saving |
| 230 | 16 Lunch box |
| 231 | 17 Main server chassis |
| 232 | 18 Expansion chassis |
| 233 | 19 Subchassis |
| 234 | 20 Bus expansion chassis |
| 235 | 21 Peripheral chassis |
| 236 | 22 RAID chassis |
| 237 | 23 Rack mount chasss |
| 238 | 24 Sealed-case PC |
| 239 | 25 Multi-system chassis |
| 240 | 26 Compact PCI |
| 241 | 27 Advanced TCI |
| 242 | 28 Blade |
| 243 | 29 Blade enclosure |
| 244 | |
| 245 | |
| 246 | |
| 247 | == KERNEL-LIKE DIRECTIVES == |
| 248 | // Alpha sort after KERNEL and LINUX |
| 249 | *KERNEL* 'image':: |
| 250 | Load a kernel-like file 'image' with automatic filetype detection based |
| 251 | on file extension, listed under the non-auto-detecting directives, |
| 252 | defaulting to *LINUX*. |
| 253 | |
| 254 | //[FIXME: Should "'image' as " be removed entirely or added to all? |
| 255 | *LINUX* is used as an example] |
| 256 | *LINUX* 'image':: |
| 257 | Load 'image' as a Linux-like kernel. MEMDISK is an example of a |
| 258 | non-Linux kernel loaded in a Linux-like fashion. |
| 259 | |
| 260 | *BOOT* 'image':: |
| 261 | (*ISOLINUX* only: .bin; *SYSLINUX* only: .bs) Load a boot sector. .bin |
| 262 | is a "CD boot sector" and .bs is a regular disk boot sector. |
| 263 | |
| 264 | *BSS* 'image':: |
| 265 | (*SYSLINUX* only: .bss) Load a BSS image, a .bs image with the DOS |
| 266 | superblock patched in. |
| 267 | |
| 268 | *COMBOOT* 'image':: |
| 269 | (.com, .cbt; Removed as of 5.00) Load a *Syslinux* COMBOOT image. .com |
| 270 | images may also be runnable from DOS while .cbt images are not. See |
| 271 | also *comboot.txt* |
| 272 | |
| 273 | *COM32* 'image':: |
| 274 | (.c32) Load a *Syslinux* COM32 (32-bit *COMBOOT*) image. See also |
| 275 | *comboot.txt* |
| 276 | |
| 277 | *CONFIG* 'image':: |
| 278 | Load a new configuration file. The configuration file is read, the |
| 279 | working directory is changed (if specified via an *APPEND*), then the |
| 280 | configuration file is parsed. |
| 281 | |
| 282 | *FDIMAGE* 'image':: |
| 283 | (Removed as of 4.05, added 1.65; *ISOLINUX* only: .img) Load a disk |
| 284 | image. |
| 285 | |
| 286 | *LOCALBOOT* 'type':: |
| 287 | (*PXELINUX* 1.53+; *ISOLINUX* ??3.10+; *SYSLINUX* 3.70+)Attempt a |
| 288 | different local boot method. The special value -1 causes the boot |
| 289 | loader to report failure to the BIOS, which, on recent BIOSes, should |
| 290 | mean that the next boot device in the boot sequence should be activated. |
| 291 | Values other than those documented may produce undesired results. |
| 292 | + |
| 293 | On *PXELINUX*, 'type' 0 means perform a normal boot. 'type' 4 will |
| 294 | perform a local boot with the Universal Network Driver Interface (UNDI) |
| 295 | driver still resident in memory. Finally, 'type' 5 will perform a local |
| 296 | boot with the entire PXE stack, including the UNDI driver, still |
| 297 | resident in memory. All other values are undefined. If you don't know |
| 298 | what the UNDI or PXE stacks are, don't worry -- you don't want them, |
| 299 | just specify 0. |
| 300 | + |
| 301 | On *ISOLINUX*/*SYSLINUX*, the 'type' specifies the local drive number to |
| 302 | boot from; 0x00 is the primary floppy drive and 0x80 is the primary hard |
| 303 | drive. |
| 304 | |
| 305 | *PXE* 'image':: |
| 306 | (*PXELINUX* only: .0) Load a PXE NBP (Network Boot Program) image. The |
| 307 | PXE protocol does not provide any means for specifiying or using a |
| 308 | command line or initrd. |
| 309 | |
| 310 | |
| 311 | == LABEL-ONLY DIRECTIVES == |
| 312 | *INITRD* 'initrd_file':: |
| 313 | (3.71+) An initrd can be specified in a separate statement (INITRD) |
| 314 | instead of as part of the *APPEND* statement; this functionally appends |
| 315 | "initrd=initrd_file" to the kernel command line. Like 'initrd=', this |
| 316 | also supports multiple comma separated file names (see *APPEND*). |
| 317 | |
| 318 | |
| 319 | == GLOBAL DIRECTIVES - SECONDARY == |
| 320 | These are global directives that are of lesser importance, often |
| 321 | affecting the user experience and not the boot process. |
| 322 | |
| 323 | *ALLOWOPTIONS* 'flag_val':: |
| 324 | If 'flag_val' is 0, the user is not allowed to specify any arguments on |
| 325 | the kernel command line. The only options recognized are those |
| 326 | specified in an *APPEND*) statement. The default is 1. |
| 327 | |
| 328 | *IMPLICIT* 'flag_val':: |
| 329 | If 'flag_val' is 0, do not load a kernel image unless it has been |
| 330 | explicitly named in a *LABEL* statement. The default is 1. |
| 331 | |
| 332 | *TIMEOUT* 'timeout':: |
| 333 | Indicates how long to wait at the 'boot:' prompt until booting |
| 334 | automatically, in units of 1/10 s. The timeout is cancelled as soon as |
| 335 | the user types anything on the keyboard, the assumption being that the |
| 336 | user will complete the command line already begun. The timer is reset |
| 337 | to 0 upon return from an unsuccessful attempt to boot or from a module. |
| 338 | A timeout of zero (the default) will disable the timeout completely. |
| 339 | |
| 340 | *TOTALTIMEOUT* 'timeout':: |
| 341 | Indicates how long to wait until booting automatically, in units of |
| 342 | 1/10 s. This timeout is *not* cancelled by user input, and can thus be |
| 343 | used to deal with serial port glitches or "the user walked away" type |
| 344 | situations. A timeout of zero (the default) will disable the timeout |
| 345 | completely. |
| 346 | + |
| 347 | Both *TIMEOUT* and *TOTALTIMEOUT* can be used together, for example: |
| 348 | + |
| 349 | ---- |
| 350 | # Wait 5 seconds unless the user types something, but |
| 351 | # always boot after 15 minutes. |
| 352 | TIMEOUT 50 |
| 353 | TOTALTIMEOUT 9000 |
| 354 | ---- |
| 355 | |
| 356 | // FIXME: be consistent |
| 357 | *ONTIMEOUT* 'kernel options...':: |
| 358 | Sets the command line invoked on a timeout (which often references a |
| 359 | LABEL). If not specified, 'UI' (if used) or 'DEFAULT is used. |
| 360 | |
| 361 | *ONERROR* 'kernel options...':: |
| 362 | If a kernel image is not found (either due to it not existing, or |
| 363 | because *IMPLICIT* is set), run the specified command. The faulty |
| 364 | command line is appended to the specified options, so if the *ONERROR* |
| 365 | directive reads as: |
| 366 | + |
| 367 | ---- |
| 368 | ONERROR xyzzy plugh |
| 369 | ---- |
| 370 | + |
| 371 | and the command line as entered by the user is: |
| 372 | + |
| 373 | ---- |
| 374 | foo bar baz |
| 375 | ---- |
| 376 | + |
| 377 | *Syslinux* will execute the following as if entered by the user: |
| 378 | + |
| 379 | ---- |
| 380 | xyzzy plugh foo bar baz |
| 381 | ---- |
| 382 | |
| 383 | *SERIAL* 'port [baudrate [flowcontrol]]':: |
| 384 | Enables a serial port to act as the console. 'port' is a number (0 = |
| 385 | /dev/ttyS0 = COM1, etc.) or an I/O port address (e.g. 0x3F8); if |
| 386 | 'baudrate' is omitted, the baud rate defaults to 9600 bps. The serial |
| 387 | parameters are hardcoded to be 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit. |
| 388 | + |
| 389 | 'flowcontrol' is a combination of the following bits: |
| 390 | + |
| 391 | .... |
| 392 | 0x001 - Assert DTR |
| 393 | 0x002 - Assert RTS |
| 394 | 0x008 - Enable interrupts |
| 395 | 0x010 - Wait for CTS assertion |
| 396 | 0x020 - Wait for DSR assertion |
| 397 | 0x040 - Wait for RI assertion |
| 398 | 0x080 - Wait for DCD assertion |
| 399 | 0x100 - Ignore input unless CTS asserted |
| 400 | 0x200 - Ignore input unless DSR asserted |
| 401 | 0x400 - Ignore input unless RI asserted |
| 402 | 0x800 - Ignore input unless DCD asserted |
| 403 | .... |
| 404 | + |
| 405 | All other bits are reserved. |
| 406 | + |
| 407 | Typical values are: |
| 408 | + |
| 409 | .... |
| 410 | 0 - No flow control (default) |
| 411 | 0x303 - Null modem cable detect |
| 412 | 0x013 - RTS/CTS flow control |
| 413 | 0x813 - RTS/CTS flow control, modem input |
| 414 | 0x023 - DTR/DSR flow control |
| 415 | 0x083 - DTR/DCD flow control |
| 416 | .... |
| 417 | + |
| 418 | For the *SERIAL* directive to be guaranteed to work properly, it should |
| 419 | be the first directive in the configuration file. |
| 420 | + |
| 421 | NOTE: 'port' values from 0 to 3 means the first four serial ports |
| 422 | detected by the BIOS. They may or may not correspond to the legacy port |
| 423 | values 0x3F8, 0x2F8, 0x3E8, 0x2E8. |
| 424 | + |
| 425 | Enabling interrupts (setting the 0x008 bit) may give better |
| 426 | responsiveness without setting the *NOHALT* option, but could |
| 427 | potentially cause problems with buggy BIOSes. |
| 428 | + |
| 429 | This option is "sticky" and is not automatically reset when loading a |
| 430 | new configuration file with the CONFIG command. |
| 431 | |
| 432 | *NOHALT* 'flag_val':: |
| 433 | If 'flag_val' is 1, don't halt the processor while idle. Halting the |
| 434 | processor while idle significantly reduces the power consumption, but |
| 435 | can cause poor responsiveness to the serial console, especially when |
| 436 | using scripts to drive the serial console, as opposed to human |
| 437 | interaction. |
| 438 | |
| 439 | *CONSOLE* 'flag_val':: |
| 440 | If 'flag_val' is 0, disable output to the normal video console. If |
| 441 | 'flag_val' is 1, enable output to the video console (this is the |
| 442 | default.) |
| 443 | + |
| 444 | Some BIOSes try to forward this to the serial console and sometimes make |
| 445 | a total mess thereof, so this option lets you disable the video console |
| 446 | on these systems. |
| 447 | |
| 448 | *FONT* 'filename':: |
| 449 | Load a font in .psf format before displaying any output (except the |
| 450 | copyright line, which is output as ldlinux.sys itself is loaded.) |
| 451 | *Syslinux* only loads the font onto the video card; if the .psf file |
| 452 | contains a Unicode table it is ignored. This only works on EGA and VGA |
| 453 | cards; hopefully it should do nothing on others. |
| 454 | |
| 455 | *KBDMAP* 'keymap':: |
| 456 | Install a simple keyboard map. The keyboard remapper used is *very* |
| 457 | simplistic (it simply remaps the keycodes received from the BIOS, which |
| 458 | means that only the key combinations relevant in the default layout -- |
| 459 | usually U.S. English -- can be mapped) but should at least help people |
| 460 | with AZERTY keyboard layout and the locations of = and , (two special |
| 461 | characters used heavily on the Linux kernel command line.) |
| 462 | + |
| 463 | The included program keytab-lilo.pl from the LILO distribution can be |
| 464 | used to create such keymaps. The file keytab-lilo.txt contains the |
| 465 | documentation for this program. |
| 466 | |
| 467 | *DISPLAY* 'filename':: |
| 468 | Displays the indicated file on the screen at boot time (before the boot: |
| 469 | prompt, if displayed). Please see the section below on *DISPLAY* files. |
| 470 | + |
| 471 | NOTE: If the file is missing, this option is simply ignored. |
| 472 | |
| 473 | *SAY* 'message':: |
| 474 | Prints the message on the screen. |
| 475 | |
| 476 | *PROMPT* 'flag_val':: |
| 477 | If 'flag_val' is 0, display the boot: prompt only if the Shift or Alt |
| 478 | key is pressed, or Caps Lock or Scroll lock is set (this is the |
| 479 | default). If 'flag_val' is 1, always display the boot: prompt. |
| 480 | |
| 481 | *NOESCAPE* 'flag_val':: |
| 482 | If 'flag_val' is set to 1, ignore the Shift/Alt/Caps Lock/Scroll Lock |
| 483 | escapes. Use this (together with PROMPT 0) to force the default boot |
| 484 | alternative. |
| 485 | |
| 486 | *NOCOMPLETE* 'flag_val':: |
| 487 | If 'flag_val' is set to 1, the Tab key does not display labels at the |
| 488 | boot: prompt. |
| 489 | |
| 490 | // ...etc... |
| 491 | *F1* 'filename':: |
| 492 | *F2* 'filename':: |
| 493 | *F3* 'filename':: |
| 494 | *F4* 'filename':: |
| 495 | *F5* 'filename':: |
| 496 | *F6* 'filename':: |
| 497 | *F7* 'filename':: |
| 498 | *F8* 'filename':: |
| 499 | *F9* 'filename':: |
| 500 | *F10* 'filename':: |
| 501 | *F11* 'filename':: |
| 502 | *F12* 'filename':: |
| 503 | Displays the indicated file on the screen when a function key is pressed |
| 504 | at the boot: prompt. This can be used to implement pre-boot online help |
| 505 | (presumably for the kernel command line options.) Please see the |
| 506 | section below on DISPLAY files. |
| 507 | + |
| 508 | When using the serial console, press <Ctrl-F><digit> to get to the help |
| 509 | screens, e.g. <Ctrl-F><2> to get to the F2 screen. For F10-F12, hit |
| 510 | <Ctrl-F><A>, <Ctrl-F>B, <Ctrl-F>C. For compatibility with earlier |
| 511 | versions, F10 can also be entered as <Ctrl-F>0. |
| 512 | |
| 513 | *PATH* 'path':: |
| 514 | (5.00+) Specify a space-separated (' '; 5.00-5.10 was a colon ':') list |
| 515 | of directories to search when attempting to load modules. This directive |
| 516 | is useful for specifying the directories containing the lib*.c32 library |
| 517 | files as other modules may be dependent on these files, but may not |
| 518 | reside in the same directory. Multiple instances will append additional |
| 519 | paths. |
| 520 | |
| 521 | *SENDCOOKIES* 'bitmask':: |
| 522 | (*PXELINUX* 5.10+) When downloading files over http, the SYSAPPEND |
| 523 | strings are prepended with _Syslinux_ and sent to the server as cookies. |
| 524 | The cookies are URL-encoded; whitespace is *not* replaced with |
| 525 | underscores. |
| 526 | + |
| 527 | This command limits the cookies send; 0 means no cookies. The default |
| 528 | is -1, meaning send all cookies. |
| 529 | + |
| 530 | This option is "sticky" and is not automatically reset when loading a |
| 531 | new configuration file with the CONFIG command. |
| 532 | |
| 533 | |
| 534 | == DISPLAY FILE FORMAT == |
| 535 | DISPLAY and function-key help files are text files in either DOS or UNIX |
| 536 | format (with or without <CR>). In addition, the following special codes |
| 537 | are interpreted: |
| 538 | |
| 539 | //[FIXME]: #1 doesn't break; #2 as-is; #3 broken but not on right; #4 |
| 540 | identical to #3 |
| 541 | // horizontal extends the line's label, reducing the definition |
| 542 | // tab or space to shift explanation ? align beginning or end? |
| 543 | |
| 544 | // ifndef::doctype-manpage[[horizontal]] |
| 545 | *<FF>*:: {nbsp32} = <Ctrl-L> = ASCII 12 + |
| 546 | Clear the screen, home the cursor. Note that the screen is filled with |
| 547 | the current display color. |
| 548 | |
| 549 | *<FF>*:: |
| 550 | = <Ctrl-L> = ASCII 12; Clear the screen, home the cursor. Note that the |
| 551 | screen is filled with the current display color. |
| 552 | |
| 553 | *<FF>*:: <FF> = <Ctrl-L> = ASCII 12 |
| 554 | + |
| 555 | Clear the screen, home the cursor. Note that the screen is filled with |
| 556 | the current display color. |
| 557 | |
| 558 | *<FF>*:: |
| 559 | <FF> = <Ctrl-L> = ASCII 12 + |
| 560 | Clear the screen, home the cursor. Note that the screen is filled with |
| 561 | the current display color. |
| 562 | |
| 563 | *<SI>*'<bg><fg>':: <SI> = <Ctrl-O> = ASCII 15 |
| 564 | + |
| 565 | Set the display colors to the specified background and foreground |
| 566 | colors, where <bg> and <fg> are the 2 hex digits representing 1 byte, |
| 567 | corresponding to the standard PC display attributes: |
| 568 | + |
| 569 | 0 = black 8 = dark grey |
| 570 | 1 = dark blue 9 = bright blue |
| 571 | 2 = dark green a = bright green |
| 572 | 3 = dark cyan b = bright cyan |
| 573 | 4 = dark red c = bright red |
| 574 | 5 = dark purple d = bright purple |
| 575 | 6 = brown e = yellow |
| 576 | 7 = light grey f = white |
| 577 | + |
| 578 | Picking a bright color (8-f) for the background results in the |
| 579 | corresponding dark color (0-7), with the foreground flashing. |
| 580 | + |
| 581 | Colors are not visible over the serial console. |
| 582 | |
| 583 | *<CAN>*'filename<newline>':: <CAN> = <Ctrl-X> = ASCII 24 |
| 584 | + |
| 585 | If a VGA display is present, enter graphics mode and display the graphic |
| 586 | included in the specified file. The file format is an ad hoc format |
| 587 | called LSS16; the included Perl program "ppmtolss16" can be used to |
| 588 | produce these images. This Perl program also includes the file format |
| 589 | specification. |
| 590 | + |
| 591 | The image is displayed in 640x480 16-color mode. Once in graphics mode, |
| 592 | the display attributes (set by <SI> code sequences) work slightly |
| 593 | differently: the background color is ignored, and the foreground colors |
| 594 | are the 16 colors specified in the image file. For that reason, |
| 595 | ppmtolss16 allows you to specify that certain colors should be assigned |
| 596 | to specific color indicies. |
| 597 | + |
| 598 | Color indicies 0 and 7, in particular, should be chosen with care: 0 is |
| 599 | the background color, and 7 is the color used for the text printed by |
| 600 | *Syslinux* itself. |
| 601 | |
| 602 | *<EM>*:: <EM> = <Ctrl-Y> = ASCII 25 + |
| 603 | If we are currently in graphics mode, return to text mode. |
| 604 | |
| 605 | *<DLE>*..*<ETB>*:: <Ctrl-P>..<Ctrl-W> = ASCII 16-23 |
| 606 | + |
| 607 | These codes can be used to select which modes to print a certain part of |
| 608 | the message file in. Each of these control characters select a specific |
| 609 | set of modes (text screen, graphics screen, serial port) for which the |
| 610 | output is actually displayed: |
| 611 | + |
| 612 | Character Text Graph Serial |
| 613 | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| 614 | <DLE> = <Ctrl-P> = ASCII 16 No No No |
| 615 | <DC1> = <Ctrl-Q> = ASCII 17 Yes No No |
| 616 | <DC2> = <Ctrl-R> = ASCII 18 No Yes No |
| 617 | <DC3> = <Ctrl-S> = ASCII 19 Yes Yes No |
| 618 | <DC4> = <Ctrl-T> = ASCII 20 No No Yes |
| 619 | <NAK> = <Ctrl-U> = ASCII 21 Yes No Yes |
| 620 | <SYN> = <Ctrl-V> = ASCII 22 No Yes Yes |
| 621 | <ETB> = <Ctrl-W> = ASCII 23 Yes Yes Yes |
| 622 | + |
| 623 | For example, the following will actually print out which mode the |
| 624 | console is in: |
| 625 | + |
| 626 | <DC1>Text mode<DC2>Graphics mode<DC4>Serial port<ETB> |
| 627 | |
| 628 | *<SUB>*:: <SUB> = <Ctrl-Z> = ASCII 26 |
| 629 | + |
| 630 | End of file (DOS convention). |
| 631 | |
| 632 | *<BEL>*:: <BEL> = <Ctrl-G> = ASCII 7 + |
| 633 | Beep the speaker. |
| 634 | |
| 635 | |
| 636 | == BOOT LOADER IDS USED == |
| 637 | The Linux boot protocol supports a "boot loader ID", a single byte where |
| 638 | the upper nybble specifies a boot loader family (3 = *Syslinux*) and the |
| 639 | lower nybble is version or, in the case of *Syslinux*, media: |
| 640 | |
| 641 | 0x31 (49) = SYSLINUX |
| 642 | 0x32 (50) = PXELINUX |
| 643 | 0x33 (51) = ISOLINUX |
| 644 | 0x34 (52) = EXTLINUX |
| 645 | |
| 646 | In recent versions of Linux, this ID is available as |
| 647 | /proc/sys/kernel/bootloader_type. |
| 648 | |
| 649 | |
| 650 | == NOVICE PROTECTION == |
| 651 | *Syslinux* will attempt to detect booting on a machine with too little |
| 652 | memory, which means the Linux boot sequence cannot complete. If so, a |
| 653 | message is displayed and the boot sequence aborted. Holding down the |
| 654 | Ctrl key while booting disables this feature. |
| 655 | |
| 656 | Any file that *Syslinux* uses can be marked hidden, system or readonly |
| 657 | if so is convenient; *Syslinux* ignores all file attributes. The |
| 658 | *SYSLINUX* installer automatically sets the readonly/hidden/system |
| 659 | attributes on LDLINUX.SYS. |
| 660 | |
| 661 | == EXAMPLE == |
| 662 | Here are some sample config files: |
| 663 | ---- |
| 664 | # SERIAL 0 115200 |
| 665 | DEFAULT linux |
| 666 | PROMPT 1 |
| 667 | TIMEOUT 600 |
| 668 | |
| 669 | LABEL linux |
| 670 | LINUX vmlinuz |
| 671 | APPEND initrd=initrd1.gz,initrd2.gz |
| 672 | |
| 673 | LABEL m |
| 674 | COM32 menu.c32 |
| 675 | ---- |
| 676 | In this example, serial port use is disabled but can be enabled by |
| 677 | uncommenting the first line and utilize serial port 0 at 115200 bps. If |
| 678 | 'linux' is typed on the command line, the kernel-like file 'vmlinuz' is |
| 679 | executed as a Linux kernel, initrd files initrd1.gz and initrd2.gz are |
| 680 | loaded as initial ramdisk files (like cpio.gz files for initramfs). If |
| 681 | 'm' is typed on the command line, the COM32 module 'menu.c32' is |
| 682 | executed to launch a menu system. |
| 683 | |
| 684 | |
| 685 | |
| 686 | == KNOWN BUGS == |
| 687 | include::com-bug.txt[] |
| 688 | |
| 689 | |
| 690 | == BUG REPORTS == |
| 691 | include::com-rpt.txt[] |
| 692 | |
| 693 | |
| 694 | == AUTHOR == |
| 695 | This AsciiDoc derived document is a modified version of the original |
| 696 | *SYSLINUX* documentation by {author} <{author-email}>. The conversion |
| 697 | to an AsciiDoc was made by {editor1} <{editor1-email}> |