mirror of
https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine
synced 2024-11-27 02:49:56 +03:00
229 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
229 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
# Limine
|
|
|
|
### What is Limine?
|
|
|
|
Limine is a modern, advanced x86/x86_64 BIOS/UEFI multiprotocol bootloader, used
|
|
as the reference implementation for the [Limine boot protocol](/PROTOCOL.md).
|
|
|
|
### Limine's boot menu
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[Photo by Martin Damboldt from Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/photo/gray-bridge-and-trees-814499/)
|
|
|
|
### Supported boot protocols
|
|
* Linux
|
|
* [Limine](/PROTOCOL.md)
|
|
* Multiboot 1
|
|
* Multiboot 2
|
|
* Chainloading
|
|
|
|
### Supported filesystems
|
|
* ext2/3/4
|
|
* FAT12/16/32
|
|
* NTFS
|
|
* ISO9660 (CDs/DVDs)
|
|
|
|
### Supported partitioning schemes
|
|
* MBR
|
|
* GPT
|
|
* Unpartitioned media
|
|
|
|
### Minimum system requirements
|
|
While Limine is made with modern, 64-bit, PCs in mind, it supports 32-bit
|
|
ones as well, starting with PCs with Pentium Pro class CPUs.
|
|
|
|
## Binary releases
|
|
|
|
For convenience, for point releases, binaries are distributed. These binaries
|
|
are shipped in the `-binary` branches and tags of this repository
|
|
(see [branches](https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine/branches/all) and
|
|
[tags](https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine/tags)).
|
|
|
|
For example, to clone the latest binary release of the `v3.x` branch one can do
|
|
```bash
|
|
git clone https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine.git --branch=v3.0-branch-binary --depth=1
|
|
```
|
|
or, to clone a specific binary point release (for example `v3.5`)
|
|
```bash
|
|
git clone https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine.git --branch=v3.5-binary --depth=1
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
`limine-deploy` binaries are provided for Windows.
|
|
|
|
In order to rebuild `limine-deploy`, simply run `make` in the binary
|
|
release directory.
|
|
|
|
## Building the bootloader
|
|
|
|
*The following steps are not necessary if cloning a binary release. If so, skip to*
|
|
*"Installing Limine binaries".*
|
|
|
|
### Building the toolchain
|
|
|
|
This step can take a long time, but it will ensure that the toolchain will work
|
|
with Limine. If on an x86_64 host, with GCC or Clang installed, it is possible
|
|
that the host toolchain will suffice. You can skip to the next paragraph in order
|
|
to use the system's toolchain instead. If that fails, you can still come back here
|
|
later (remember to `make clean` and re-run `./configure` after building the toolchain).
|
|
|
|
The toolchain's build process depends on the following packages: `GNU make`,
|
|
`GNU tar`, `texinfo`, `curl`, `gzip`, `bzip2`, `gcc/clang`, `g++/clang++`.
|
|
|
|
Building the toolchain can be accomplished by running:
|
|
```bash
|
|
TARGET=<target architecture> ./make_toolchain.sh
|
|
```
|
|
where `<target architecture>` is something like `i686` or `x86_64`.
|
|
|
|
### Prerequisites
|
|
|
|
In order to build Limine, the following programs have to be installed:
|
|
`GNU make`, `grep`, `sed`, `find`, `awk`, `gzip`, `nasm`, `mtools`
|
|
(optional, necessary to build `limine-cd-efi.bin`).
|
|
Furthermore, either the toolchain must have been built in the previous
|
|
paragraph, or `gcc` or `llvm/clang` must also be installed, alongside
|
|
the respective binutils.
|
|
|
|
### Configure
|
|
|
|
If using a release tarball (recommended, see https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine/releases),
|
|
run `./configure` directly.
|
|
|
|
If checking out from the repository, run `./bootstrap` first in order to download the
|
|
necessary dependencies and generate the configure script (`GNU autoconf` and `GNU automake` required).
|
|
|
|
`./configure` takes arguments and environment variables; for more information on
|
|
these, run `./configure --help`.
|
|
|
|
To build using the LLVM toolchain, pass `TOOLCHAIN=llvm` to `./configure`.
|
|
|
|
Limine supports both in-tree and out-of-tree builds. Simply run the `configure`
|
|
script from the directory you wish to execute the build in. The following `make`
|
|
commands are supposed to be ran inside the build directory.
|
|
|
|
### Building Limine
|
|
|
|
To build Limine, run:
|
|
```bash
|
|
make # (or gmake where applicable)
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
The generated bootloader files are going to be in `bin`.
|
|
|
|
## Installing Limine binaries
|
|
|
|
This step is optional as the bootloader binaries can be used from the `bin` or
|
|
release directory just fine. This step will only install them to a `share` and
|
|
`bin` directories in the specified prefix (default is `/usr/local`, see
|
|
`./configure --help`, or the `PREFIX` variable if installing a binary release).
|
|
|
|
To install Limine, run:
|
|
```bash
|
|
make install # (or gmake where applicable)
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## How to use
|
|
|
|
### UEFI
|
|
The `BOOTX64.EFI` file is a vaild EFI application that can be simply copied to
|
|
the `/EFI/BOOT` directory of a FAT formatted EFI system partition. This file can
|
|
be installed there and coexist with a BIOS installation of Limine (see below) so
|
|
that the disk will be bootable on both BIOS and UEFI systems.
|
|
|
|
The boot device must to contain the `limine.cfg` file in
|
|
either the root or the `boot` directory of one of the partitions, formatted
|
|
with a supported file system (the ESP partition is recommended).
|
|
|
|
### BIOS/MBR
|
|
In order to install Limine on a MBR device (which can just be a raw image file),
|
|
run `limine-deploy` as such:
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
limine-deploy <path to device/image>
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
The boot device must to contain the `limine.sys` and `limine.cfg` files in
|
|
either the root or the `boot` directory of one of the partitions, formatted
|
|
with a supported file system.
|
|
|
|
### BIOS/GPT
|
|
If using a GPT formatted device, there are 2 options one can follow for
|
|
installation:
|
|
* Specifying a dedicated stage 2 partition.
|
|
* Letting `limine-deploy` attempt to embed stage 2 within GPT structures.
|
|
|
|
In case one wants to specify a stage 2 partition, create a partition on the GPT
|
|
device of at least 32KiB in size, and pass the 1-based number of the partition
|
|
to `limine-deploy` as a second argument; such as:
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
limine-deploy <path to device/image> <1-based stage 2 partition number>
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
In case one wants to let `limine-deploy` embed stage 2 within GPT's structures,
|
|
simply omit the partition number, and invoke `limine-deploy` the same as one
|
|
would do for an MBR partitioned device.
|
|
|
|
The boot device must to contain the `limine.sys` and `limine.cfg` files in
|
|
either the root or the `boot` directory of one of the partitions, formatted
|
|
with a supported file system.
|
|
|
|
### BIOS/UEFI hybrid ISO creation
|
|
In order to create a hybrid ISO with Limine, place the
|
|
`limine-cd-efi.bin`, `limine-cd.bin`, `limine.sys`, and `limine.cfg` files
|
|
into a directory which will serve as the root of the created ISO.
|
|
(`limine.sys` and `limine.cfg` must either be in the root or inside a `boot`
|
|
subdirectory; `limine-cd-efi.bin` and `limine-cd.bin` can reside
|
|
anywhere).
|
|
|
|
Place any other file you want to be on the final ISO in said directory, then
|
|
run:
|
|
```
|
|
xorriso -as mkisofs -b <relative path of limine-cd.bin> \
|
|
-no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
|
|
--efi-boot <relative path of limine-cd-efi.bin> \
|
|
-efi-boot-part --efi-boot-image --protective-msdos-label \
|
|
<root directory> -o image.iso
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
*Note: `xorriso` is required.*
|
|
|
|
And do not forget to also run `limine-deploy` on the generated image:
|
|
```
|
|
limine-deploy image.iso
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
`<relative path of limine-cd.bin>` is the relative path of
|
|
`limine-cd.bin` inside the root directory.
|
|
For example, if it was copied in `<root directory>/boot/limine-cd.bin`,
|
|
it would be `boot/limine-cd.bin`.
|
|
|
|
`<relative path of limine-cd-efi.bin>` is the relative path of
|
|
`limine-cd-efi.bin` inside the root directory.
|
|
For example, if it was copied in
|
|
`<root directory>/boot/limine-cd-efi.bin`, it would be
|
|
`boot/limine-cd-efi.bin`.
|
|
|
|
### BIOS/PXE boot
|
|
The `limine-pxe.bin` binary is a valid PXE boot image.
|
|
In order to boot Limine from PXE it is necessary to setup a DHCP server with
|
|
support for PXE booting. This can either be accomplished using a single DHCP
|
|
server or your existing DHCP server and a proxy DHCP server such as dnsmasq.
|
|
|
|
`limine.cfg` and `limine.sys` are expected to be on the server used for boot.
|
|
|
|
### Configuration
|
|
The `limine.cfg` file contains Limine's configuration.
|
|
|
|
An example `limine.cfg` file can be found in [`test/limine.cfg`](https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine/blob/trunk/test/limine.cfg).
|
|
|
|
More info on the format of `limine.cfg` can be found in [`CONFIG.md`](https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine/blob/trunk/CONFIG.md).
|
|
|
|
## Acknowledgments
|
|
Limine uses a stripped-down version of [tinf](https://github.com/jibsen/tinf).
|
|
|
|
## Discord server
|
|
We have a [Discord server](https://discord.gg/QEeZMz4) if you need support,
|
|
info, or you just want to hang out with us.
|