The Linux Boot Process

Objectives:
At the end of this episode, I will be able to:
1. Define the Linux boot process and identify the steps in order.
Additional resources used during the episode can be obtained using the download link on the overview
episode.
Boot Process
1. BIOS/UEFI
2. MBR/GPT
3. GRUB 2
4. initrd/Kernel
5. systemd
System Firmware
Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)
Firmware Responsibilities
Initialize hardware
Execute boot loader
Configuration options
Boot order
MBR
Boot data is stored in the first sector
GPT
Multiple copies of the boot data are maintained
GRand Unified Bootloader (GRUB)
GRUB 2
Open source boot loader
Features
Multiple architectures
Graphical menus
Rescue mode
Modules
Menu entries
Point to operating systems on disk
Point to kernels
1. Kernel is loaded
Loaded from /boot/vmlinuz-<version>
Compressed with gzip
Decompressed and loaded into RAM
2. initrd or initramfs is loaded
Initialization RAM disk
Contains a basic root (/) file system
Loaded from:
 /boot/initramfs-<version>
/boot/initrd-<version>

3. Kernel launches SysVinit or systemd