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authorSimon Glass <sjg@chromium.org>2024-07-17 09:30:54 +0100
committerHeinrich Schuchardt <heinrich.schuchardt@canonical.com>2024-07-19 13:53:59 +0200
commitb1bb34fecd84a1754e0e187aa2735ecfd2910ffd (patch)
treea91231dfa00262b4f478e12e50a4b293e4584792 /doc/develop
parent1426f672d254a92202c1e50ad21b7dd4c8e9641a (diff)
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doc: Add a description for bootmeth_extlinux
Add documentation for the extlinux bootmeth. Signed-off-by: Simon Glass <sjg@chromium.org> Reviewed-by: Quentin Schulz <quentin.schulz@cherry.de> Reviewed-by: Mattijs Korpershoek <mkorpershoek@baylibre.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/develop')
-rw-r--r--doc/develop/bootstd/extlinux.rst28
-rw-r--r--doc/develop/bootstd/index.rst1
-rw-r--r--doc/develop/bootstd/overview.rst4
3 files changed, 31 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/doc/develop/bootstd/extlinux.rst b/doc/develop/bootstd/extlinux.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..46e9ad9eea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/develop/bootstd/extlinux.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+:
+
+Extlinux Bootmeth
+=================
+
+`Extlinux <https://uapi-group.org/specifications/specs/boot_loader_specification>`_
+(sometimes called syslinux) allows U-Boot to provide a menu of available
+operating systems from which the user can choose.
+
+U-Boot includes a parser for the `extlinux.conf` file. It consists primarily of
+a list of named operating systems along with the kernel, initial ramdisk and
+other settings. The file is stored in the `extlinux/` subdirectory, possibly
+under the `boot/` subdirectory. This list of prefixes (``{"/", "/boot"}`` by
+default) can be selected with the `filename-prefixes` property in the bootstd
+device.
+
+Note that the PXE bootmeth uses the same file format, but in a network context.
+
+When invoked on a bootdev, this bootmeth searches for the file and creates a
+bootflow if found.
+
+When the bootflow is booted, the bootmeth calls ``pxe_setup_ctx()`` to set up
+the context, then ``pxe_process()`` to process the file. Depending on the
+contents, this may boot an operating system or provide a list of options to
+the user, perhaps with a timeout.
+
+The compatible string "u-boot,extlinux" is used for the driver. It is present
+if `CONFIG_BOOTMETH_EXTLINUX` is enabled.
diff --git a/doc/develop/bootstd/index.rst b/doc/develop/bootstd/index.rst
index f4f87c7787..5bbb3d633a 100644
--- a/doc/develop/bootstd/index.rst
+++ b/doc/develop/bootstd/index.rst
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ Standard Boot
:maxdepth: 2
overview
+ extlinux
diff --git a/doc/develop/bootstd/overview.rst b/doc/develop/bootstd/overview.rst
index e04c683fb1..26b798596c 100644
--- a/doc/develop/bootstd/overview.rst
+++ b/doc/develop/bootstd/overview.rst
@@ -414,9 +414,9 @@ a good selection of boot options is available.
Available bootmeth drivers
--------------------------
-Bootmeth drivers are provided for:
+Bootmeth drivers are provided for booting from various media:
- - extlinux / syslinux boot from a disk
+ - :doc:`extlinux / syslinux <extlinux>` boot from a storage device
- extlinux boot from a network (PXE)
- U-Boot scripts from disk, network or SPI flash
- EFI boot using bootefi from disk