[PLUG] LILO tutorial

Rich Shepard rshepard at appl-ecosys.com
Fri Apr 19 12:33:53 UTC 2013


On Fri, 19 Apr 2013, Richard Owlett wrote:

> My immediate symptom, having installed two configurations of
> Debian I wish to chose between them with a menu.

   Here is a condensed version of /etc/lilo.conf from this host:

-----------------------------------------------------
# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
# Append any additional kernel parameters:
append=" vt.default_utf8=0"
boot = /dev/sda
lba32

# Wait until the timeout to boot (if commented out, boot the
# first entry immediately):
prompt
# Timeout before the first entry boots.
# This is given in tenths of a second, so 600 for every minute:
timeout = 1200
# Override dangerous defaults that rewrite the partition table:
change-rules
   reset
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
vga = 773
image = /boot/vmlinuz
   initrd = /boot/initrd.gz
   root = /dev/sda1
   label = 2.6.33.4gensmp
   read-only
image = /boot/vmlinuz-huge-smp-2.6.33.4-smp
   root = /dev/sda1
   label = 2.6.33.4hugesmp
   read-only
--------------------------------------------------------

   Notice thee are two images at the end. The label of each is displayed on
the lilo menu and I can select either one to boot. You can have more images
there if you want them.

   Be sure to run /sbin/lilo (as root) after any changes to /etc/lilo.conf or
you'll be in deep doo-doo. Generally, typing 'lilo' (without the quotes) is
sufficient but it's such a critical step that I always supply the full path
just to be sure.

> Another question lurking is what should be considered when choosing to
> place LILO in MBR or the partition in which the OS is being installed.

   MBR. Just point lilo (via /etc/lilo.conf) to each bootable partition.

Rich

-- 
Richard B. Shepard, Ph.D.          |   Integrity - Credibility - Innovation
Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc.   |
<http://www.appl-ecosys.com>     Voice: 503-667-4517      Fax: 503-667-8863




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