GNU GRUB -- the GRand Unified Bootloader

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(Last updated: Nov. 01, 2000)

Introduction

GNU GRUB is a Multiboot boot loader. It was derived from GRUB, GRand Unified Bootloader, which was originally designed and implemented by Erich Stefan Boleyn.

Briefly, bootloader is the first software program that runs when a computer starts. It is responsible for loading and transferring control to the operating system kernel software (such as the Hurd or the Linux). The kernel, in turn, initializes the rest of the operating system (e.g. GNU).

GNU GRUB follows these requirements below:
Compliant with the Multiboot Specification.
Basic functions are easy for an end-user to use.
Rich functionality for OS experts/designers.
Compatibility for booting FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and GNU/Linux.
Proprietary OS's such as Windows 98, Windows NT, and OS/2 are supported via a chain-loading function.

In addition to the requirements above, GNU GRUB has the following features:

Support multiple executable formats.
Support non-Multiboot OS's.
Load multiple modules.
Support a human-readable configuration file.
Menu interface.
Flexible command-line interface.
Support multiple filesystem types.
Support automatic decompression.
Access data on any installed device.
Geometry translation independent.
Detect all installed RAM.
Support Logical Block Address (LBA) mode.
Download OS images from a network.
Support diskless systems.
Support remote terminals.

Requirements

GNU GRUB requires GCC and GNU binutils 2.9.1.0.23 or later, which is available from ftp.varesearch.com:/pub/support/hjl/binutils/ .

Download

For now, GNU GRUB is not released publicly yet, but you can still get the test releases from ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/grub/, and the latest version from the CVS. See GNU Development Resources, for more information.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a question or a trouble, see GNU GRUB FAQ first.

Contact us

GNU GRUB has one mailing list bug-grub@gnu.org, to which you should send a mail whenever you find bugs, and have suggestions, ideas or questions related to GNU GRUB. The archive of the mailing-list is available for viewing.

When you encounter a problem or a bug, first of all, read the chapter Reporting bugs in the document. Very often, people ask us their questions with little (or no) information about their systems. That's quite useless, because we have to guess what you did, what was displayed and what really happened. Please notice that we may not see your computer directly. So, whenever you report a bug, you must include enough information so that we can understand what happened and even reproduce your problem in our machines.

Once you have realized how to write a bug report, please submit it to bug-grub@gnu.org with information about your computer and what you did as much as possible. Excessive information is always better than no information.

When you enhance and/or fix GNU GRUB, please send the patch to bug-grub@gnu.org. Do not forget to write your changes to ChangeLog; That helps us to understand your changes correctly. And it is preferable that your patch is in the unified format. Just append -u option to the command diff.

If you'd like to subscribe/unsubscribe to this mailing list, please see Bug-grub Info Page.

Links

Here are some useful resources:

Etherboot is a free software package for booting x86 PCs over a network. We are using its device drivers for our own netboot support.
The original GRUB site.
GRUB I18N is an implementation of internationalized GRUB.
GRUB/98 is a port to NEC PC9800 series.

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