<!DOCTYPE RefEntry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.1//EN"><refentry id="aboot"><refmeta><refentrytitle>aboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum><refmiscinfo>aboot</refmiscinfo></refmeta><refnamediv><refname>aboot</refname><refpurpose>The secondary boot loader for Linux/Alpha</refpurpose></refnamediv><refsect1><title>COPYRIGHT</title><para><application>aboot</application> is Copyright (C) 1996 Linus Torvalds, David Mosberger and Michael Schwingen (??)</para></refsect1><refsect1><title>DESCRIPTION</title><para><indexterm><primary>aboot</primary></indexterm><application>aboot</application> is the secondary boot loader needed ifthe Linux/Alpha system is booted via SRM. It is usually installed duringsystem installation by <application>swriteboot</application>(8). </para><para>To automate the booting process predefined boot configurations can be storedin <filename>etc/aboot.conf</filename>(5). </para><para><application>aboot</application> can also be used interactively by issuing</para><para><command>boot <parameter>dka0 -fl "i"</parameter></command></para><para>at the SRM-Prompt where dka0 has to be replaced by the device used. </para><para>In the interactive mode you can use the command h to show your current<filename>etc/aboot.conf</filename> and then the appropriate number(or a complete boot command as in SRM) to boot Linux.</para><para>If you do not want to use the <filename>etc/aboot.conf</filename> as setup by <application>abootconf</application> you can explicitly tell <application>aboot</application> where to look for <filename>etc/aboot.conf</filename> by prepending the number of the configuration with the properpartition, i.e. if your <filename>etc/aboot.conf</filename> is on yoursecond partition and you want to boot the entry labled three you wouldissue</para><para><command>boot <parameter>dqa -fl "2:3"</parameter></command></para><para>Note that this applies to Linux booting via SRM only as<ProductName>VMS</ProductName>, <ProductName>Tru64</ProductName>, *BSD and<ProductName>Windows NT</ProductName> each have their own secondary boot loader.Furthermore <application>aboot</application> is also not needed if the system is booted via<application>milo</application>.</para></refsect1><refsect1><title>AUTHOR</title><para>This man page was written by Helge Kreutzmann<email>kreutzm@itp.uni-hannover.de</email> for the Debian GNU/Linux project.</para></refsect1><refsect1><title>FILES</title><para><filename>etc/aboot.conf</filename></para></refsect1><refsect1><title>SEE ALSO</title><para><application>abootconf</application>(8), <filename>aboot.conf</filename>(5),<application>swriteboot</application>(8), Compaq SRM Manual</para></refsect1></refentry>