110 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
110 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
# Usage
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### UEFI
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The `BOOT*.EFI` files are valid EFI applications that can be simply copied to
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the `/EFI/BOOT` directory of a FAT formatted EFI system partition. These files can
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be installed there and coexist with a BIOS installation of Limine (see below) so
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that the disk will be bootable on both BIOS and UEFI systems.
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The boot device must contain the `limine.cfg` files in
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either the root, `limine`, `boot`, or `boot/limine` directory of one of the
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partitions, formatted with a supported file system (the ESP partition is recommended).
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### Secure Boot
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Limine can be booted with secure boot if the executable is signed and the key used to
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sign it is added to the firmware's keychain. This should be done in combination with enrolling
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the BLAKE2B hash of the Limine config file into the Limine EFI executable image itself for
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verification purposes.
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For more information see the `limine enroll-config` program and [the philosophy](PHILOSOPHY.md).
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### BIOS/MBR
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In order to install Limine on a MBR device (which can just be a raw image file),
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run `limine bios-install` as such:
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```bash
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limine bios-install <path to device/image>
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```
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The boot device must contain the `limine-bios.sys` and `limine.cfg` files in
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either the root, `limine`, `boot`, or `boot/limine` directory of one of the
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partitions, formatted with a supported file system.
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### BIOS/GPT
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If using a GPT formatted device, there are 2 options one can follow for
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installation:
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* Specifying a dedicated stage 2 partition.
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* Letting `limine bios-install` attempt to embed stage 2 within GPT structures.
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In case one wants to specify a stage 2 partition, create a partition on the GPT
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device of at least 32KiB in size, and pass the 1-based number of the partition
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to `limine bios-install` as a second argument; such as:
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```bash
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limine bios-install <path to device/image> <1-based stage 2 partition number>
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```
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In case one wants to let `limine bios-install` embed stage 2 within GPT's structures,
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simply omit the partition number, and invoke `limine bios-install` the same as one
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would do for an MBR partitioned device.
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The boot device must contain the `limine-bios.sys` and `limine.cfg` files in
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either the root, `limine`, `boot`, or `boot/limine` directory of one of the
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partitions, formatted with a supported file system.
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### BIOS/UEFI hybrid ISO creation
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In order to create a hybrid ISO with Limine, place the
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`limine-uefi-cd.bin`, `limine-bios-cd.bin`, `limine-bios.sys`, and `limine.cfg` files
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into a directory which will serve as the root of the created ISO.
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(`limine-bios.sys` and `limine.cfg` must either be in the root, `limine`, `boot`, or
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`boot/limine` directory; `limine-uefi-cd.bin` and `limine-bios-cd.bin` can reside
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anywhere).
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After that, create a `<ISO root directory>/EFI/BOOT` directory and copy the
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relevant Limine EFI executables over (such as `BOOTX64.EFI`).
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Place any other file you want to be on the final ISO in said directory, then
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run:
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```
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xorriso -as mkisofs -b <relative path of limine-bios-cd.bin> \
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-no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
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--efi-boot <relative path of limine-uefi-cd.bin> \
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-efi-boot-part --efi-boot-image --protective-msdos-label \
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<root directory> -o image.iso
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```
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*Note: `xorriso` is required.*
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And do not forget to also run `limine bios-install` on the generated image:
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```
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limine bios-install image.iso
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```
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`<relative path of limine-bios-cd.bin>` is the relative path of
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`limine-bios-cd.bin` inside the root directory.
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For example, if it was copied in `<root directory>/boot/limine-bios-cd.bin`,
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it would be `boot/limine-bios-cd.bin`.
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`<relative path of limine-uefi-cd.bin>` is the relative path of
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`limine-uefi-cd.bin` inside the root directory.
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For example, if it was copied in
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`<root directory>/boot/limine-uefi-cd.bin`, it would be
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`boot/limine-uefi-cd.bin`.
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### BIOS/PXE boot
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The `limine-bios-pxe.bin` binary is a valid PXE boot image.
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In order to boot Limine from PXE it is necessary to setup a DHCP server with
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support for PXE booting. This can either be accomplished using a single DHCP
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server or your existing DHCP server and a proxy DHCP server such as dnsmasq.
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`limine.cfg` and `limine-bios.sys` are expected to be on the server used for boot.
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### UEFI/PXE boot
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The `BOOT*.EFI` files are compatible with UEFI PXE.
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The steps needed to boot Limine are the same as with BIOS PXE,
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except that the `limine-bios.sys` file is not needed on the server.
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### Configuration
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The `limine.cfg` file contains Limine's configuration.
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More info on the format of `limine.cfg` can be found in [`CONFIG.md`](CONFIG.md).
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