While a lot of the changes are issues of presentation, there are also issues of grammar and punctuation. Signed-off-by: Michael Witten <mfwitten@xxxxxxxxx> --- man7/boot.7 | 241 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------------- 1 file changed, 127 insertions(+), 114 deletions(-) diff --git a/man7/boot.7 b/man7/boot.7 index 584c771..0b209d8 100644 --- a/man7/boot.7 +++ b/man7/boot.7 @@ -12,188 +12,201 @@ .\" .\" Modified 2004-11-03 patch from Martin Schulze <joey@xxxxxxxxxxxx> .\" -.TH BOOT 7 2010-09-19 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual" +.TH BOOT 7 2015-03-11 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual" .SH NAME -boot-scripts \- general description of boot sequence +boot \- System bootup process based on UNIX System V Release 4 .SH DESCRIPTION .LP -The boot sequence varies in details among systems -but can be roughly divided to the following steps: -(i) hardware boot, (ii) operating system (OS) loader, -(iii) kernel startup, (iv) init and inittab, -(v) boot scripts. -We will describe each of these in more detail below. -.SS Hardware-boot +The \fBbootup process\fR (or "\fBboot sequence\fR") varies in details +among systems, but can be roughly divided into phases controlled by +the following components: +.IP 1. 4 +hardware +.IP 2. 4 +operating system (OS) loader +.IP 3. 4 +kernel +.IP 4. 4 +root user-space process (\fIinit\fR and \fIinittab\fR) +.IP 5. 4 +boot scripts +.PP +Each of these is described below in more detail. +.SS Hardware After power-on or hard reset, control is given -to a program stored on read-only memory (normally -PROM). -In PC we usually call this program the \fBBIOS\fR. +to a program stored in read-only memory (normally +PROM); for historical reasons involving the personal +computer, this program is often called "the \fBBIOS\fR". -This program normally makes a basic self-test of the +This program normally performs a basic self-test of the machine and accesses nonvolatile memory to read further parameters. This memory in the PC is battery-backed CMOS memory, so most people -refer to it as the \fBCMOS\fR, although outside -of the PC world, it is usually called \fBnvram\fR -(nonvolatile ram). +refer to it as "the \fBCMOS\fR"; outside +of the PC world, it is usually called "the \fBNVRAM\fR" +(nonvolatile RAM). -The parameters stored in the nvram vary between -systems, but as a minimum, the hardware boot program -should know what is the boot device, or which devices -to probe as possible boot devices. - -Then the hardware boot stage accesses the boot device, -loads the OS loader, which is located on a fixed position -on the boot device, and transfers control to it. +The parameters stored in the NVRAM vary among +systems, but as a minimum, they should specify +which device can supply an OS loader, or at least which +devices may be probed for one; such a device is known as "the +\fBboot device\fR". +The hardware boot stage loads the OS loader from a fixed position on +the boot device, and then transfers control to it. .TP Note: -We do not cover here booting from network. -Those who want -to investigate this subject may want to research: -DHCP, TFTP, PXE, Etherboot. +The device from which the OS loader is read may be attached via a network, in which +case the details of booting are further specified by protocols such as +DHCP, TFTP, PXE, Etherboot, etc. .SS OS loader -In PC, the OS loader is located in the first sector -of the boot device \- this is the \fBMBR\fR +The main job of the OS loader is to locate the kernel +on some device, load it, and run it. +Most OS loaders allow +interactive use, in order to enable specification of an alternative +kernel (maybe a backup in case the one last compiled +isn't functioning) and to pass optional parameters +to the kernel. + +In a traditional PC, the OS loader is located in the initial 512-byte block +of the boot device; this block is known as "the \fBMBR\fR" (Master Boot Record). -In most systems, this primary loader is very +In most systems, the OS loader is very limited due to various constraints. -Even on non-PC systems -there are some limitations to the size and complexity +Even on non-PC systems, +there are some limitations on the size and complexity of this loader, but the size limitation of the PC MBR -(512 bytes including the partition table) makes it -almost impossible to squeeze a full OS loader into it. +(512 bytes, including the partition table) makes it +almost impossible to squeeze much functionality into it. -Therefore, most operating systems make the primary loader -call a secondary OS loader which may be located on -a specified disk partition. +Therefore, most systems split the role of loading the OS between +a primary OS loader and a secondary OS loader; this secondary +OS loader may be located within a larger portion of persistent +storage, such as a disk partition. -In Linux the OS loader is normally +In Linux, the OS loader is often either .BR lilo (8) or .BR grub (8). -Both of them may install either as secondary loaders -(where the DOS installed MBR points to them), or -as a two part loader where they provide special MBR -containing the bootstrap code to load the second part -of the loader from the root partition. - -The main job of the OS loader is to locate the kernel -on the disk, load it and run it. -Most OS loaders allow -interactive use, to enable specification of alternative -kernel (maybe a backup in case the last compiled one -isn't functioning) and to pass optional parameters -to the kernel. -.SS Kernel startup -When the kernel is loaded, it initializes the devices (via -their drivers), starts the swapper (it is a "kernel process", -called kswapd in modern Linux kernels), and mounts the root -filesystem (/). +.SS Kernel +When the kernel is loaded, it initializes various components of +the computer and operating system; each portion of software +responsible for such a task is usually consider "a \fBdriver\fR" for +the applicable component. The kernel starts the virtual memory +swapper (it is a kernel process, called "kswapd" in a modern Linux +kernel), and mounts some filesystem at the root path, +.IR / . Some of the parameters that may be passed to the kernel -relate to these activities (e.g: You can override the -default root filesystem). -For further information -on Linux kernel parameters read +relate to these activities (for example, the default root filesystem +can be overriden); for further information +on Linux kernel parameters, read .BR bootparam (7). -Only then the kernel creates the first (user land) -process which is numbered 1. -This process executes the +Only then does the kernel create the initial userland +process, which is given the number 1 as its +.B PID +(process ID). +Traditionally, this process executes the program .IR /sbin/init , -passing any parameters that weren't handled by the kernel already. -.SS init and inittab -When init starts it reads +to which are passed the parameters that haven't already been +handled by the kernel. +.SS Root user-space process +When +.I /sbin/init +starts, it reads .I /etc/inittab for further instructions. -This file defines what should be run in different \fIrun-levels\fR. +This file defines what should be run when the +.I /sbin/init +program is instructed to enter a particular \fIrun-level\fR, giving +the administrator an easy way to establish an environment +for some usage; each run-level is associated with a set of services +(for example, run-level \fBS\fR is \fIsingle-user\fR mode, +and run-level \fB2\fR entails running most network services). -This gives the system administrator an easy management scheme, where -each run-level is associated with a set of services (e.g, -\fBS\fR is \fIsingle-user\fR, on \fB2\fR most network -services start). The administrator may change the current run-level via -.BR init (1) +.BR init (1), and query the current run-level via .BR runlevel (8). However, since it is not convenient to manage individual services -by editing this file, inittab only bootstraps a set of scripts +by editing this file, +.I /etc/inittab +only bootstraps a set of scripts that actually start/stop the individual services. .SS Boot scripts .TP Note: -The following description applies to System V release 4-based systems, which -currently covers most commercial UNIX systems (Solaris, HP-UX, Irix, Tru64) -as well as the major Linux distributions (Red Hat, Debian, Mandriva, +The following description applies to an OS based on UNIX System V Release 4, +which currently covers most commercial UNIX systems (Solaris, HP-UX, Irix, +Tru64) as well as the major Linux distributions (Red Hat, Debian, Mandriva, SUSE, Ubuntu). Some systems (Slackware Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD) -have a somewhat different scheme of boot scripts. +have a somewhat different scheme for boot scripts. .LP -For each managed service (mail, nfs server, cron, etc.) there is +For each managed service (mail, nfs server, cron, etc.), there is a single startup script located in a specific directory .RI ( /etc/init.d in most versions of Linux). Each of these scripts accepts as a single argument -the word "start" \-\- causing it to start the service, or the word -\&"stop" \-\- causing it to stop the service. +the word "start" (causing it to start the service) or the word +\&"stop" (causing it to stop the service). The script may optionally -accept other "convenience" parameters (e.g: "restart", to stop and then -start, "status" to display the service status). +accept other "convenience" parameters (e.g,. "restart" to stop and then +start, "status" to display the service status, etc.). Running the script without parameters displays the possible arguments. .SS Sequencing directories -To make specific scripts start/stop at specific run-levels and in -specific order, there are \fIsequencing directories\fR. -These -are normally in \fI/etc/rc[0\-6S].d\fR. -In each of these directories +To make specific scripts start/stop at specific run-levels and in a +specific order, there are \fIsequencing directories\fR, normally +of the form \fI/etc/rc[0\-6S].d\fR. +In each of these directories, there are links (usually symbolic) to the scripts in the \fI/etc/init.d\fR directory. A primary script (usually \fI/etc/rc\fR) is called from -.BR inittab (5) -and calls the services scripts via the links in the sequencing directories. -All links with names that begin with \(aqS\(aq are being called with +.BR inittab (5); +this primary script calls each service's script via a link in the +relevant sequencing directory. +Each link whose name begins with \(aqS\(aq is called with the argument "start" (thereby starting the service). -All links with -names that begin with \(aqK\(aq are being called with the argument "stop" -(thereby stopping the service). +Each link whose name begins with \(aqK\(aq is called with +the argument "stop" (thereby stopping the service). To define the starting or stopping order within the same run-level, -the names of the links contain order-numbers. -Also, to make the names clearer, they usually -end with the name of the service they refer to. -Example: +the name of a link contains an \fBorder-number\fR. +Also, for clarity, the name of a link usually +ends with the name of the service to which it refers. +For example, the link \fI/etc/rc2.d/S80sendmail\fR starts the sendmail service on runlevel 2. This happens after \fI/etc/rc2.d/S12syslog\fR is run but before \fI/etc/rc2.d/S90xfs\fR is run. -To manage the boot order and run-levels, we have to manage these links. -However, on many versions of Linux, there are tools to help with this task -(e.g: +To manage these links is to manage the boot order and run-levels; +under many systems, there are tools to help with this task +(e.g., .BR chkconfig (8)). .SS Boot configuration -Usually the daemons started may optionally receive command-line options +A program that provides a service is often called a "\fBdaemon\fR". +Usually, a daemon may receive various command-line options and parameters. -To allow system administrators to change these -parameters without editing the boot scripts themselves, -configuration files are used. -These are located in a specific -directory (\fI/etc/sysconfig\fR on Red Hat systems) and are -used by the boot scripts. +To allow a system administrator to change these +inputs without editing an entire boot script, +some separate configuration file is used, and is located in a specific +directory where an associated boot script may find it +(\fI/etc/sysconfig\fR on Red Hat systems). -In older UNIX systems, these files contained the actual command line -options for the daemons, but in modern Linux systems (and also -in HP-UX), these files just contain shell variables. -The boot scripts in \fI/etc/init.d\fR -\fBsource\fR the configuration -files, and then use the variable values. +In older UNIX systems, such a file contained the actual command line +options for a daemon, but in modern Linux systems (and also +in HP-UX), it just contains shell variables. +A boot script in \fI/etc/init.d\fR reads and includes its configuration +file (that is, it "\fBsources\fR" its configuration file) and then uses +the variable values. .SH FILES .LP .IR /etc/init.d/ , -- 1.7.11.2.252.gc4a64c8 -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-man" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
