Chris Tyler - Fedora Linux

 The RHEL 4 System Administration Guide (see Chapter 1; RHEL uses a version of Anaconda similar to that used by Fedora): http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-4-Manual/sysadmin-guide/

 "Hands-Off Fedora Installs with Kickstart," by Ethan McCallum: http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/08/19/kickstart.html

 The Fedora Wiki page with information on Kickstart: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/AnacondaKickstartIntegration

GRUB is a powerful bootloader that can be used to boot Linux, Windows, DOS, and other operating systems as well as the Xen virtualization system. By mastering its configuration file and command-line options, you can configure GRUB to boot exactly the way you want.

GRUB is configured through the file /boot/grub/grub.conf ; typical contents of this file look like this:

# grub.conf generated by anaconda

#

# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file

# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that

# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.

# root (hd0,0)

# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/main/root

# initrd /initrd-version.img

#boot=/dev/hda

default= 0

timeout= 5

splashimage= (hd0,1)/grub/splash.xpm.gz

hiddenmenu

title Fedora Core (2.6.31-1.3420_fc6)

root (hd0,1)

kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.31-1.3420_fc6 ro root=/dev/main/root rhgb quiet

initrd /initrd-2.6.31-1.3420_fc6.img

title Other

rootnoverify (hd0,0)

chainloader +1

This configuration file specifies two menu options, identified by the title keywords: Fedora Core and Windows (which Anaconda labels Other by default). Lines that start with a pound sign are comments. The first lines after the initial comments set up the appearance of the bootloader at startup time:

default= 0

Configures the first title enTRy as the default entry (they are numbered starting at 0 )in this case, Fedora Core.

timeout= 5

Sets the delay in seconds before the default entry is booted.

splashimage=( hd0,1)/grub/splash.xpm.gz

Loads a graphical background for the boot display.

hiddenmenu

Does not display the boot menu unless the user presses a key during the timeout period, in which case all of the available operating system entries are shown.

The filename given in the splashimage line is in a special, GRUB-specific form: (hd0,1) specifies the first hard disk, second partition ( /dev/hda2 in Linux terminology), and /grub/splash.xpm.gz identifies the pathname on that drive. Because /dev/hda1 is normally mounted on /boot , the full pathname within the Fedora system is /boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz .

GRUB numbers partitions starting at 0, while Linux numbers them starting at 1.

The remainder of this file configures the two menu options. The first one consists of these four lines:

title Fedora Core (2.6.31-1.3420_fc6 )

root (hd0,1)

kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.31-1.3420_fc6 ro root=/dev/main/root rhgb quiet

initrd /initrd-2.6.31-1.3420_fc6.img

Each line provides specific information:

title Fedora Core (2.6.31-1.3420_fc6)

The title displayed on the menu. The number in parentheses is the kernel version number; since it's standard practice to keep the second-most-recent kernel installed when the kernel is updated, just in case the new kernel does not boot properly, this information enables you to identify which kernel is newer.

root (hd0,1)

The root filesystem for the boot process, written using GRUB notation. Note that this may not be the root directory of the Fedora Core installation; it's usually the filesystem mounted at /boot when the system is running.

kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.31-1.3420_fc6 ro root=/dev/main/root rhgb quiet

The kernel location within the root filesystem, plus boot options. These boot options specify that the root filesystem for Linux is /dev/main/root (logical volume root in volume group main ), and the root filesystem will be mounted read-only ( ro ), that the Red Hat Graphical Boot ( rhgb ) display is enabled, and that noncritical kernel boot messages will be suppressed ( quiet ).

initrd /initrd-2.6.31-1.3420_fc6.img

The location of the initrd ramdisk file. This file contains a compressed filesystem image that contains all of the files other than the kernel necessary for the initial phases of the Fedora system startup, including device drivers, programs, and scripts.

The other title entry is simpler:

title Other

rootnoverify (hd0,0)

chainloader +1

The lines in this entry invoke the Windows Stage 2 bootloader, found at the start of the Windows partition:

rootnoverify (hd0,0)

Similar to the root option in the Fedora Core entry, except that this partition will not be mounted, and therefore files cannot be accessed within the partition by GRUB.

chainloader +1

Specifies that the boot process should be turned over to the bootloader found in sector 1 of the partition.

You can directly edit the GRUB configuration file to change the appearance of the boot process.

To eliminate the boot menu entirely and directly boot the default entry, set the timeout value to zero:

timeout=0

This is a useful setting for end-user, single-boot systems with a stable kernel. On the other hand, if you have several operating systems installed, it may be convenient to remove the hiddenmenu line and use a longer timeout:

timeout=20

To turn the timeout off and wait indefinitely for the user to select the operating system, remove the timeout line from the file.

You can also customize or replace the boot image to include your company logo or a personalized message.

Use the GIMP graphics editor to create a 640x480 image. Reduce the number of colors by using the GIMP menu option Image→Mode→Indexed and selecting 14 colors.

When converting an existing image to 14 colors, the result may look better if you select the No Dithering option, especially if the original image contains large areas of solid color. If you are creating a new image, select the indexed mode before you start drawing.

Save the image in the /boot/grub directory, using the file extension .xpm.gz .

Another way to generate a splash image is to convert an existing landscape-oriented digital photo or a desktop wallpaper file using the ImageMagick convert program:

# convert -resize 640x480 -colors 14 photo.jpg /boot/grub/new_splash.xpm.gz

Finally, edit the splashimage line to point to your new creation:

splashimage=(hd0,1)/grub/new_splash.xpm.gz

An example of a modified splash image is shown in Figure 10-22 .