BootLoader > GRUB
GRUB is the GRand Unified Bootloader, a very powerful newish BootLoader that can be used to boot most operating system on the intel platforms.
Debian provides both grub v1 and v2 (more on Debian BootLoader ).
Grub v1 is the main 1 default bootloader on x86 platforms (up-to DebianLenny[?] ).
Grub v2 is provided since DebianLenny. It should be the default bootloader in the forthcomming DebianSqueeze.
Contents
Installing Grub
Up to Debian Lenny
Grub v1 for Debian (package grub) can be installed with:
apt-get install grub
To install grub v2, you need install the appropriate variant of grub v2, depending on your system's firmware (usually grub-pc, see grub2 variants).
See Also
GRUB Configuration: GrubConfiguration
Recover GRUB: GrubRecover
From LILO to GRUB: FromLiloToGrub
GRUB rebooting: GrubReboot
Debian Squeeze and later
Grub "v2" for Debian (package grub) can be installed with:
apt-get install grub
If your system isn't a regular PC (i.e if your system has EFI or OpenFirmware rather than a BIOS), you may have to install another version of grub (see grub 2 variants).
Configuring Grub
Configuring grub v1
The configuration file is /boot/grub/menu.lst
Under Debian, the grub configuration file is updated automatically, when you install a new kernel. This is done automatically by update-grub.
You can edit the settings in /boot/grub/menu.lst. Make sure you read the comments, /usr/share/doc/grub/README.Debian.gz for more information and the update-grub(8) manpage from your distribution)
Configuring grub v2
The configuration file is /boot/grub/grub.cfg, but you shouldn't edit it directly. This file is generated by grub v2's update-grub(8), based on:
The script snippets in /etc/grub.d/
The configuration file /etc/default/grub
To configure grub "v2", you should edit /etc/default/grub, then run update-grub. Advanced configuration are achieved by modifying the snippets in /etc/grub.d/.
Upgrading from v1 to v2
To upgrade to grub v2, you should:
- Install grub v2 (but don't remove the grub 1 yet).
Follow the instruction displayed the package installation (i.e grub v1 now has an entry to cascade to grub v2, so reboot and try it, then you can actually enable grub2 bootloader by running upgrade-from-grub-legacy).
Transition from v1 to v2
Grub Transition page.
FAQ
Dual Boot
Q : Will GRUB allow me to hibernate Linux and activate another ?operating_systems (such as Windows XP) that I hibernated earlier, i.e. a ?DualHibernate rather than a DualBoot?
A : Nothing will prevent you to hibernating (GRUB isn't aware that your host is suspended). Howerever, make sure you don't mount the same partition (RW) under any two suspended OS !
Q : Is there a way to install GRUB in the MasterBootRecord from DOS or Windows XP, i.e. a utility similar to rawrite.exe or fdisk.exe that write a GRUB MBR? What I want here is to install Linux without having a bootable floppy.
A : There is/was a win32 Version of GRUB, i used it to install linux from Windows 2000 , but i am not sure what exactly the source is
(google for grubwin32) Just unzip grubwin32 to c:\ then run c:\boot\grub\w32grub This would patch the necessary files(under XP, not linux). Then add : c:\boot\stage1="GRUB"
to c:\boot.ini And you now have a grub boot loader on your XP system.
See Also
Splash Images : ?/SplashImage
Some Grub manpages were developed on grub's wiki :
http://grub.enbug.org/FranklinPiat/GrubManual
Grub is the main default bootloader on x86... But some other bootloaders are installed by default in some scenario that aren't supported by Grub v1. (1)