5 novaboot - Boots a locally compiled operating system on a remote
12 B<novaboot> [option]... [--] script...
14 B<./script> [option]...
18 Novaboot makes booting of a locally compiled operating system (OS)
19 (e.g. NOVA or Linux) on remote targets as simple as running a program
20 locally. It automates things like copying OS images to a TFTP server,
21 generation of bootloader configuration files, resetting of target
22 hardware or redirection of target's serial line to stdin/out. Novaboot
23 is highly configurable and makes it easy to boot a single image on
24 different targets or different images on a single target.
26 Novaboot operation is controlled by configuration files, command line
27 options and by a so-called novaboot script, which can be thought as a
28 generalization of bootloader configuration files (see L</"NOVABOOT
29 SCRIPT SYNTAX">). The typical way of using novaboot is to make the
30 novaboot script executable and set its first line to I<#!/usr/bin/env
31 novaboot>. Then, booting a particular OS configuration becomes the
32 same as executing a local program – the novaboot script.
34 Novaboot uses configuration files to, among other things, define
35 command line options needed for different targets. Users typically use
36 only the B<-t>/B<--target> command line option to select the target.
37 Internally, this option expands to the pre-configured options.
38 Novaboot searches configuration files at multiple places, which allows
39 having per-system, per-user or per-project configurations.
40 Configuration file syntax is described in section L</"CONFIGURATION
43 Novaboot newcomers may be confused by a large number of configuration
44 options. Understanding all these options is not always needed,
45 depending on the used setup. The L<figure from the doc directory
46 |https://github.com/wentasah/novaboot/blob/master/doc/typical-setups.svg>
47 shows different setups that vary in how much effort is needed
48 configure novaboot for them. The setups are:
52 =item A: Laptop and target device only
54 This requires to configure everything on the laptop side, including a
55 serial line connection (L</--serial>, L</--remote-cmd>, ...), power
56 on/off/reset commands (L</--reset-cmd>, ...), TFTP server
57 (L</--server>, L</--prefix>...), device IP addresses, etc.
59 =item B: Laptop, target device and external TFTP server
61 Like the previous setup, but the TFTP (and maybe DHCP) configuration
62 is handled by a server. Novaboot users need to understand where to
63 copy their files to the TFTP server (L</--server>) and which IP
64 addresses their target will get, but do not need to configure the
67 =item C: Novaboot server running novaboot-shell
69 With this setup, the configuration is done on the server. Users only
70 need to know the SSH account (L</--ssh>) used to communicate between
71 novaboot and novaboot server. The server is implemented as a
72 restricted shell (L<novaboot-shell(1)>) on the server. No need to give
73 full shell access to novaboot users on the server.
77 =head2 Simple examples of using C<novaboot>:
79 To boot Linux (files F<bzImage> and F<rootfs.cpio> in current
80 directory), create F<mylinux> file with this content:
82 #!/usr/bin/env novaboot
83 load bzImage console=ttyS0,115200
90 Booting an OS in Qemu can be accomplished by giving the B<--qemu> option.
93 novaboot --qemu mylinux
95 (or C<./mylinux --qemu> as described above) will run Qemu and make it
96 boot the configuration specified in the F<mylinux> script. How is qemu
97 started can be configured in various ways (see below).
101 Create a bootloader configuration file (currently supported
102 bootloaders are GRUB, GRUB2, ISOLINUX, Pulsar, and U-Boot) and copy it
103 with all other files needed for booting to a remote TFTP server. Then
104 use a TCP/IP-controlled relay/serial-to-TCP converter to reset the
105 target and receive its serial output.
107 ./mylinux --grub2 --server=192.168.1.1:/tftp --iprelay=192.168.1.2
109 Alternatively, you can put these switches to the configuration file
112 ./mylinux --target mytarget
116 Specifying all the options needed by novaboot to successfully control
117 the target, either on command line or in configuration files, can be
118 difficult for users. Novaboot supports configuring the target
119 centrally via L<novaboot-shell(1)> on a server. With such a
120 configuration, users only need to use the B<--ssh> option to specify
121 where to boot their OS:
123 ./mylinux --ssh myboard@example.com
125 Typically, the server is the computer connected to and controlling the
126 target board and running the TFTP server.
130 Run DHCP and TFTP server on developer's machine to boot the target
133 ./mylinux --dhcp-tftp
135 This usage is useful when no network infrastructure is in place, and
136 the target is connected directly to developer's box.
140 Create bootable ISO image.
142 novaboot --iso -- script1 script2
144 The created ISO image will have ISOLINUX bootloader installed on it,
145 and the boot menu will allow selecting between I<script1> and
146 I<script2> configurations.
150 =head1 PHASES AND OPTIONS
152 Novaboot performs its work in several phases. Command line options
153 described bellow influence the execution of each phase or allow their
154 skipping. The list of phases (in the execution order) is as follows.
158 =item 1. L<Configuration reading|/Configuration reading phase>
160 =item 2. L<Command line processing|/Command line processing phase>
162 =item 3. L<Script preprocessing|/Script preprocessing phase>
164 =item 4. L<File generation|/File generation phase>
166 =item 5. L<Target connection|/Target connection check>
168 =item 6. L<File deployment|/File deployment phase>
170 =item 7. L<Target power-on and reset|/Target power-on and reset phase>
172 =item 8. L<Interaction with the bootloader|/Interaction with the bootloader on the target>
174 =item 9. L<Target interaction|/Target interaction phase>
178 Each phase is described in the following sections together with the
179 command line options that control it.
181 =head2 Configuration reading phase
183 After starting, novaboot reads zero or more configuration files. We
184 describe their content in section L</"CONFIGURATION FILES">. By default, the
185 configuration is read from multiple locations. First from the system
186 configuration directory (F</etc/novaboot.d/>), second from the user
187 configuration file (F<~/.config/novaboot>) and third from F<.novaboot>
188 files along the path to the current directory. Alternatively, a single
189 configuration file specified with the B<-c> switch or with the
190 C<NOVABOOT_CONFIG> environment variable is read. The latter read files
191 override settings from the former ones.
193 The system configuration directory is determined by the content of
194 NOVABOOT_CONFIG_DIR environment variable and defaults to
195 F</etc/novaboot.d>. Files in this directory with names consisting
196 solely of English letters, numbers, dashes '-' and underscores '_'
197 (note that dot '.' is not included) are read in alphabetical order.
199 Then, the user configuration file is read from
200 F<$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/novaboot>. If C<$XDG_CONFIG_HOME> environment
201 variable is not set F<~/.config/novaboot> is read instead.
203 Finally, novaboot searches for files named F<.novaboot> starting from the
204 directory of the novaboot script (or working directory, see bellow)
205 and continuing upwards up to the root directory. The found
206 configuration files are then read in the opposite order (i.e. from the
207 root directory downwards). This ordering allows having, for example, a project
208 specific configuration in F<~/project/.novaboot>.
210 Note the difference between F<~/.config/novaboot> and F<~/.novaboot>.
211 The former one is always read, whereas the latter only when novaboot
212 script or working directory is under the C<$HOME> directory.
214 In certain cases, the location of the novaboot script cannot be
215 determined in this early phase. This situation happens either when the script is
216 read from the standard input or when novaboot is invoked explicitly as
217 in the example L</"4."> above. In this case, the current working
218 directory is used as a starting point for configuration file search
219 instead of the novaboot script directory.
223 =item -c, --config=I<filename>
225 Use the specified configuration file instead of the default one(s).
229 =head2 Command line processing phase
235 Dump the current configuration to stdout end exit. Useful as an
236 initial template for a configuration file.
240 Print short (B<-h>) or long (B<--help>) help.
242 =item -t, --target=I<target>
244 This option serves as a user configurable shortcut for other novaboot
245 options. The effect of this option is the same as specifying the
246 options stored in the C<%targets> configuration variable under key
247 I<target>. See also L</"CONFIGURATION FILES">.
249 When this option is not given, novaboot tries to determine the target
250 to use from either B<NOVABOOT_TARGET> environment variable or
251 B<$default_target> configuration file variable.
253 =item --ssh=I<user@hostname>
255 Configures novaboot to control the target via C<novaboot-shell>
256 running remotely via SSH.
258 Using this option is the same as specifying B<--remote-cmd>,
259 B<--remote-expect>, B<--server> B<--rsync-flags>, B<--prefix> and
260 B<--reset-cmd> manually in a way compatible with C<novaboot-shell>.
261 The server can be configured to provide other, safe bootloader-related
262 options, to the client. When this happens, novaboot prints them to
265 Currently, this in an initial experimental implementation. We plan to
266 change/extend this feature soon!
270 =head2 Script preprocessing phase
272 This phase allows modifying the parsed novaboot script before it is
273 used in the later phases.
277 =item -a, --append=I<parameters>
279 Append a string to the first C<load> line in the novaboot script. This option
280 can be used to append parameters to the kernel's or root task's
281 command line. This option can appear multiple times.
285 Use L<Bender|https://github.com/TUD-OS/morbo/blob/master/standalone/bender.c>
286 chainloader. Bender scans the PCI bus for PCI serial ports and stores
287 the information about them in the BIOS data area for use by the
290 =item --chainloader=I<chainloader>
292 Specifies a chainloader that is loaded before the kernel and other
293 files specified in the novaboot script. E.g. 'bin/boot/bender
298 Print the modules to boot and their parameters, after this phase
299 finishes. Then exit. This is useful for seeing the effect of other
300 options in this section.
302 =item -k, --kernel=F<file>
304 Replace the first word on the first C<load> line in the novaboot
307 =item --scriptmod=I<Perl expression>
309 When novaboot reads the script, I<Perl expression> is executed for every
310 line (in $_ variable). For example, C<novaboot
311 --scriptmod=s/sigma0/omega6/g> replaces every occurrence of I<sigma0>
312 in the script with I<omega6>.
314 When this option is present, it overrides I<$script_modifier> variable
315 from the configuration file, which has the same effect. If this option
316 is given multiple times all expressions are evaluated in the command
321 =head2 File generation phase
323 In this phase, files needed for booting are generated in a so-called
324 I<build directory> (see L</--build-dir>). In most cases configuration
325 for a bootloader is generated automatically by novaboot. It is also
326 possible to generate other files using I<heredoc> or I<"<"> syntax in
327 novaboot scripts. Finally, novaboot can generate binaries in this phases by
328 running C<scons> or C<make>.
332 =item --build-dir=I<directory>
334 Overrides the default build directory location.
336 The default build directory location is determined as follows: If the
337 configuration file defines the C<$builddir> variable, its value is
338 used. Otherwise, it is the directory that contains the first processed
341 See also L</BUILDDIR> variable.
343 =item -g, --grub[=I<filename>]
345 Generates grub bootloader menu file. If the I<filename> is not
346 specified, F<menu.lst> is used. The I<filename> is relative to the
347 build directory (see B<--build-dir>).
349 =item --grub-preamble=I<prefix>
351 Specifies the I<preamble> that is at the beginning of the generated
352 GRUB or GRUB2 config files. This is useful for specifying GRUB's
355 =item --prefix=I<prefix>
357 Specifies I<prefix> (e.g. F</srv/tftp>) that is put in front of every
358 filename in generated bootloader configuration files (or in U-Boot
361 If the I<prefix> contains string $NAME, it will be replaced with the
362 name of the novaboot script (see also B<--name>).
364 If the I<prefix> contains string $BUILDDIR, it will be replaced with
365 the build directory (see also B<--build-dir>).
369 Alias for B<--prefix>.
371 =item --grub2[=I<filename>]
373 Generate GRUB2 menu entry in I<filename>. If I<filename> is not
374 specified F<grub.cfg> is used. The content of the menu entry can be
375 customized with B<--grub-preamble>, B<--grub2-prolog> or
376 B<--grub_prefix> options.
378 To use the generated menu entry on your development
379 machine that uses GRUB2, append the following snippet to
380 F</etc/grub.d/40_custom> file and regenerate your grub configuration,
381 i.e. run update-grub on Debian/Ubuntu.
383 if [ -f /path/to/nul/build/grub.cfg ]; then
384 source /path/to/nul/build/grub.cfg
387 =item --grub2-prolog=I<prolog>
389 Specifies the text that novaboot puts at the beginning of the GRUB2 menu entry.
391 =item -m, --make[=make command]
393 Runs C<make> to build files that are not generated by novaboot itself.
395 =item --name=I<string>
397 Use the name I<string> instead of the name of the novaboot script.
398 This name is used for things like a title of grub menu or for the
399 server directory where the boot files are copied to.
403 Do not run external commands to generate files (i.e. "<" syntax and
404 C<run> keyword). This switch does not influence the generation of files
405 specified with "<<WORD" syntax.
407 =item -p, --pulsar[=mac]
409 Generates pulsar bootloader configuration file named F<config-I<mac>>
410 The I<mac> string is typically a MAC address and defaults to
413 =item --scons[=scons command]
415 Runs C<scons> to build files that are not generated by novaboot
420 Strip I<rom://> prefix from command lines and generated config files.
421 The I<rom://> prefix is used by NUL. For NRE, it has to be stripped.
425 Exit novaboot after file generation phase.
429 =head2 Target connection check
431 In this phase novaboot connects to target's serial port (if it has
432 one). If another novaboot user/instance occupies the target, novaboot
433 exits here with an error message.
437 =item --amt=I<"[user[:password]@]host[:port]>
439 Use Intel AMT technology to control the target machine. WS management
440 is used to powercycle it and Serial-Over-Lan (SOL) for input/output.
441 The hostname or (IP address) is given by the I<host> parameter. If the
442 I<password> is not specified, environment variable AMT_PASSWORD is
443 used. The I<port> specifies a TCP port for SOL. If not specified, the
444 default is 16992. The default I<user> is admin.
446 =item --iprelay=I<addr[:port]>
448 Use TCP/IP relay and serial port to access the target's serial port
449 and powercycle it. The I<addr> parameter specifies the IP address of
450 the relay. If I<port> is not specified, it defaults to 23.
452 Note: This option is supposed to work with HWG-ER02a IP relays.
454 =item --iprelay-cmd=I<command>
456 Similar to B<--iprelay> but uses I<command> to talk to the iprelay
457 rather than direct network connection.
459 =item -s, --serial[=device]
461 Target's serial line is connected to host's serial line (device). The
462 default value for device is F</dev/ttyUSB0>.
464 The value of this option is exported in NB_NOVABOOT environment
465 variable to all subprocesses run by C<novaboot>.
467 =item --stty=I<settings>
469 Specifies settings passed to C<stty> invoked on the serial line
470 specified with B<--serial> option. If this option is not given,
471 C<stty> is called with C<raw -crtscts -onlcr 115200> settings.
473 =item --remote-cmd=I<cmd>
475 Command that mediates connection to the target's serial line. For
476 example C<ssh server 'cu -l /dev/ttyS0'>.
478 =item --remote-expect=I<string>
480 Wait for reception of I<string> after establishing the remote serial
481 line connection. Novaboot assumes that after establishing the serial
482 line connection, the user running novaboot has exclusive access to the
483 target. If establishing of the serial line connection happens
484 asynchronously (e.g. running a command remotely via SSH), we need this
485 option to wait until the exclusive access is confirmed by the remote
488 Depending on target configuration, this option can solve two practical
489 problems: 1) Overwriting of files deployed by another user currently
490 using the target. 2) Resetting the target board before serial line
491 connection is established and thus missing bootloader interaction.
493 Example of usage with the L<sterm
494 tool|https://rtime.felk.cvut.cz/gitweb/sojka/sterm.git>:
496 --remote-cmd='ssh -tt example.com sterm -v /dev/ttyUSB0' --remote-expect='sterm: Connected'
498 =item --remote-expect-silent=I<string>
500 The same as B<--remote-expect> except that the remote output is not
501 echoed to stdout while waiting for the I<string>. Everything after the
502 matched string is printed to stdout, so you may want to include line
503 end characters in the I<string> as well.
505 =item --remote-expect-timeout=I<seconds>
507 Timeout in seconds for B<--remote-expect> or
508 B<--remote-expect-seconds>. When negative, waits forever. The default
513 =head2 File deployment phase
515 In some setups, it is necessary to copy the files needed for booting
516 to a particular location, e.g. to a TFTP boot server or to the
521 =item -d, --dhcp-tftp
523 Turns your workstation into a DHCP and TFTP server so that the OS can
524 be booted via PXE BIOS (or similar mechanism) on the test machine
525 directly connected by a plain Ethernet cable to your workstation.
527 The DHCP and TFTP servers require root privileges and C<novaboot>
528 uses C<sudo> command to obtain those. You can put the following to
529 I</etc/sudoers> to allow running the necessary commands without asking
532 Cmnd_Alias NOVABOOT = /bin/ip a add 10.23.23.1/24 dev eth0, /bin/ip l set dev eth0 up, /usr/sbin/dhcpd -d -cf dhcpd.conf -lf dhcpd.leases -pf dhcpd.pid, /usr/sbin/in.tftpd --listen --secure -v -v -v --pidfile tftpd.pid *, /usr/bin/touch dhcpd.leases, /usr/bin/pkill --pidfile=dhcpd.pid, /usr/bin/pkill --pidfile=tftpd.pid
533 your_login ALL=NOPASSWD: NOVABOOT
537 Starts a TFTP server on your workstation. This is similar to
538 B<--dhcp-tftp> except that DHCP server is not started.
540 The TFTP server requires root privileges and C<novaboot> uses C<sudo>
541 command to obtain those. You can put the following to I</etc/sudoers>
542 to allow running the necessary commands without asking for a password.
544 Cmnd_Alias NOVABOOT = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd --listen --secure -v -v -v --pidfile tftpd.pid *, /usr/bin/pkill --pidfile=tftpd.pid
545 your_login ALL=NOPASSWD: NOVABOOT
547 =item --tftp-port=I<port>
549 Port to run the TFTP server on. Implies B<--tftp>.
551 =item --netif=I<network interface>
553 Network interface used to deploy files to the target. The default value is
554 I<eth0>. This option influences the configuration of the DHCP server started
555 by B<--dhcp-tftp> and the value that B<$NB_MYIP> get replaced with during
558 =item --iso[=filename]
560 Generates the ISO image that boots NOVA system via GRUB. If no filename
561 is given, the image is stored under I<NAME>.iso, where I<NAME> is the name
562 of the novaboot script (see also B<--name>).
564 =item --server[=[[user@]server:]path]
566 Copy all files needed for booting to another location. The files will
567 be copied (by B<rsync> tool) to the directory I<path>. If the I<path>
568 contains string $NAME, it will be replaced with the name of the
569 novaboot script (see also B<--name>).
571 =item --rsync-flags=I<flags>
573 Specifies I<flags> to append to F<rsync> command line when
574 copying files as a result of I<--server> option.
578 If B<--server> is used and its value ends with $NAME, then after
579 copying the files, a new bootloader configuration file (e.g. menu.lst)
580 is created at I<path-wo-name>, i.e. the path specified by B<--server>
581 with $NAME part removed. The content of the file is created by
582 concatenating all files of the same name from all subdirectories of
583 I<path-wo-name> found on the "server".
587 Use Intel AMT technology for IDE redirection. This allows the target
588 machine to boot from novaboot created ISO image. Implies B<--iso>.
590 The experimental C<amtider> utility needed by this option can be
591 obtained from https://github.com/wentasah/amtterm.
595 =head2 Target power-on and reset phase
597 At this point, the target is reset (or switched on/off). There are
598 several ways how this can be accomplished. Resetting a physical target
599 can currently be accomplished by the following options: B<--amt>,
600 B<--iprelay>, B<--reset-cmd> and B<--reset-send>.
606 Switch on/off the target machine and exit. The script (if any) is
607 completely ignored. Currently, it works only with the following
608 options: B<--iprelay>, B<--amt>, B<--ssh>.
610 =item -Q, --qemu[=I<qemu-binary>]
612 Boot the configuration in qemu. Optionally, the name of qemu binary
613 can be specified as a parameter.
615 =item --qemu-append=I<flags>
617 Append I<flags> to the default qemu flags (QEMU_FLAGS variable or
618 C<-cpu coreduo -smp 2>).
620 =item -q, --qemu-flags=I<flags>
622 Replace the default qemu flags (QEMU_FLAGS variable or C<-cpu coreduo
623 -smp 2>) with I<flags> specified here.
625 =item --reset-cmd=I<cmd>
627 Runs command I<cmd> to reset the target.
629 =item --reset-send=I<string>
631 Reset the target by sending the given I<string> to the remote serial
632 line. "\n" sequences are replaced with the newline character.
634 =item --no-reset, --reset
636 Disable/enable resetting of the target.
640 =head2 Interaction with the bootloader on the target
644 =item --uboot[=I<prompt>]
646 Interact with U-Boot bootloader to boot the thing described in the
647 novaboot script. I<prompt> specifies the U-Boot's prompt (default is
648 "=> ", other common prompts are "U-Boot> " or "U-Boot# ").
652 Disable U-Boot interaction previously enabled with B<--uboot>.
654 =item --uboot-stop-key=I<key>
656 Character, which is sent as a response to U-Boot's "Hit any key to
657 stop autoboot" message. The default value is newline, but some devices
658 (e.g. TP-Link TD-W8970) require a specific key to be pressed.
662 Command(s) to send the U-Boot bootloader before loading the images and
663 booting them. This option can be given multiple times. After sending
664 commands from each option novaboot waits for U-Boot I<prompt>.
666 If the command contains string I<$NB_MYIP> then this string is
667 replaced by IPv4 address of eth0 interface (see also B<--netif>).
668 Similarly, I<$NB_PREFIX> is replaced with prefix given by B<--prefix>.
670 See also C<uboot> keyword in L</"NOVABOOT SCRIPT SYNTAX">).
672 =item --uboot-addr I<name>=I<address>
674 Load address of U-Boot's C<tftpboot> command for loading I<name>,
675 where name is one of I<kernel>, I<ramdisk> or I<fdt> (flattened device
678 The default addresses are ${I<name>_addr_r}, i.e. U-Boot environment
679 variables used by convention for this purpose.
681 =item --uboot-cmd=I<command>
683 Specifies U-Boot command used to execute the OS. If the command
684 contains strings C<$kernel_addr>, C<$ramdisk_addr>, C<$fdt_addr>,
685 these are replaced with the addresses configured with B<--uboot-addr>.
689 bootm $kernel_addr $ramdisk_addr $fdt_addr
691 or the C<UBOOT_CMD> variable if defined in the novaboot script.
695 =head2 Target interaction phase
697 In this phase, target's serial output is redirected to stdout and if
698 stdin is a TTY, it is redirected to the target's serial input allowing
699 interactive work with the target.
703 =item --exiton=I<string>
705 When the I<string> is sent by the target, novaboot exits. This option can
706 be specified multiple times, in which case novaboot exits whenever
707 either of the specified strings is sent.
709 If the I<string> is C<-re>, then the next B<--exiton>'s I<string> is
710 treated as a regular expression. For example:
712 --exiton -re --exiton 'error:.*failed'
714 =item --exiton-re=I<regex>
716 The same as --exiton -re --exiton I<regex>.
718 =item --exiton-timeout=I<seconds>
720 By default B<--exiton> waits for the string match forever. When this
721 option is specified, "exiton" timeouts after the specified number of
722 seconds and novaboot returns non-zero exit code.
724 =item -i, --interactive
726 Setup things for the interactive use of the target. Your terminal will
727 be switched to raw mode. In raw mode, your local terminal does not
728 process input in any way (no echoing of entered characters, no
729 interpretation of special characters). This, among others, means that
730 Ctrl-C is passed to the target and does not interrupt novaboot. To
731 exit from novaboot interactive mode type "~~.".
733 =item --no-interaction, --interaction
735 Skip resp. force target interaction phase. When skipped, novaboot exits
736 immediately after the boot is initiated.
738 =item --expect=I<string>
740 When the I<string> is received from the target, send the string specified
741 with the subsequent B<--send*> option to the target.
743 =item --expect-re=I<regex>
745 When target's output matches regular expression I<regex>, send the
746 string specified with the subsequent B<--send*> option to the target.
748 =item --expect-raw=I<perl-code>
750 Provides direct control over Perl's Expect module.
752 =item --send=I<string>
754 Send I<string> to the target after the previously specified
755 B<--expect*> was matched in the target's output. The I<string> may
756 contain escape sequences such as "\n".
758 Note that I<string> is actually interpreted by Perl, so it can contain
759 much more that escape sequences. This behavior may change in the
762 Example: C<--expect='login: ' --send='root\n'>
764 =item --sendcont=I<string>
766 Similar to B<--send> but continue expecting more input.
768 Example: C<--expect='Continue?' --sendcont='yes\n'>
770 =item --final-eol, --no-final-eol
772 By default, B<novaboot> always prints an end-of-line character at the
773 end of its execution in order to ensure that the output of programs
774 started after novaboot appears at the beginning of the line. When this
775 is not desired B<--no-final-eol> option can be used to override this
780 =head1 NOVABOOT SCRIPT SYNTAX
782 The syntax tries to mimic POSIX shell syntax. The syntax is defined
783 by the following rules.
785 Lines starting with "#" and empty lines are ignored.
787 Lines that end with "\" are concatenated with the following line after
788 removal of the final "\" and leading whitespace of the following line.
790 Lines of the form I<VARIABLE=...> (i.e. matching '^[A-Z_]+=' regular
791 expression) assign values to internal variables. See L</VARIABLES>
794 Otherwise, the first word on the line defines the meaning of the line.
795 The following keywords are supported:
801 These lines represent modules to boot. The
802 word after C<load> is a file name (relative to the build directory
803 (see B<--build-dir>) of the module to load and the remaining words are
804 passed to it as the command line parameters.
806 When the C<load> line ends with "<<WORD" then the subsequent lines
807 until the line containing solely WORD are copied literally to the file
808 named on that line. This is similar to shell's heredoc feature.
810 When the C<load> line ends with "< CMD" then command CMD is executed
811 with F</bin/sh> and its standard output is stored in the file named on
812 that line. The SRCDIR variable in CMD's environment is set to the
813 absolute path of the directory containing the interpreted novaboot
818 These lines are similar to C<load> lines. The
819 file mentioned there is copied to the same place as in the case of C<load>
820 (e.g. tftp server), but the file is not used in the bootloader
821 configuration. Such a file can be used by the target for other
822 purposes than booting, e.g. at OS runtime or for firmware update.
826 Chainload another bootloader. Instead of loading multiboot modules
827 identified with C<load> keyword, run another bootloader. This is
828 currently supported only by pulsar and can be used to load e.g. Grub
829 as in the example below:
831 chld boot/grub/i386-pc/core.0
836 Lines starting with C<run> keyword contain shell commands that are run
837 during file generation phase. This is the same as the "< CMD" syntax
838 for C<load> keyboard except that the command's output is not
839 redirected to a file. The ordering of commands is the same as they
840 appear in the novaboot script.
844 These lines represent U-Boot commands that are sent to the target if
845 B<--uboot> option is given. Having a U-Boot line in the novaboot
846 script is the same as giving B<--uboot-init> option to novaboot. The
847 following syntax variants are supported:
850 uboot[:<timeout>] <string> [> <file>]
851 uboot[:<timeout>] < <shell> [> <file>]
853 C<string> is the literal U-Boot command.
855 The C<uboot> keyword can be suffixed with timeout specification. The
856 syntax is C<uboot:Ns>, where C<N> is the whole number of seconds. If
857 the U-Boot command prompt does not appear before the timeout, novaboot
858 fails. The default timeout is 10 seconds.
860 In the second variant with the C<<> character the shell code is
861 executed and its standard output is sent to U-Boot. Example:
863 uboot < printf "mmc write \$loadaddr 1 %x" $(($(/usr/bin/stat -c%s rootfs.ext4) / 512))
865 When C<E<gt> file> part is present, the output of the U-Boot command
866 is written into the given file.
872 #!/usr/bin/env novaboot
873 load bzImage console=ttyS0,115200
874 run make -C buildroot
875 load rootfs.cpio < gen_cpio buildroot/images/rootfs.cpio "myapp->/etc/init.d/S99myapp"
877 Example (NOVA User Land - NUL):
879 #!/usr/bin/env novaboot
880 WVDESC=Example program
881 load bin/apps/sigma0.nul S0_DEFAULT script_start:1,1 \
882 verbose hostkeyb:0,0x60,1,12,2
883 load bin/apps/hello.nul
884 load hello.nulconfig <<EOF
885 sigma0::mem:16 name::/s0/log name::/s0/timer name::/s0/fs/rom ||
886 rom://bin/apps/hello.nul
889 This example will load three modules: F<sigma0.nul>, F<hello.nul> and
890 F<hello.nulconfig>. sigma0 receives some command line parameters and
891 F<hello.nulconfig> file is generated on the fly from the lines between
894 Example (Zynq system update via U-Boot):
896 #!/usr/bin/env novaboot
900 # Write kernel to FAT filesystem on the 1st SD card partition
901 run mkimage -f uboot-image.its image.ub
903 uboot:60s tftpboot ${loadaddr} $NB_PREFIX/image.ub
904 uboot fatwrite mmc 0:1 ${loadaddr} image.ub $filesize
905 uboot set bootargs console=ttyPS0,115200 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2
907 # Write root FS image to the 2nd SD card partition
908 copy rootfs/images/rootfs.ext4
909 uboot:60s tftpboot ${loadaddr} $NB_PREFIX/rootfs/images/rootfs.ext4
910 uboot mmc part > mmc-part.txt
911 uboot < printf "mmc write \$loadaddr %x %x" $(awk '{ if ($1 == "2") { print $2 }}' mmc-part.txt) $(($(/usr/bin/stat -L --printf=%s rootfs/images/rootfs.ext4) / 512))
918 The following variables are interpreted in the novaboot script:
924 Novaboot chdir()s to this directory before file generation phase. The
925 directory name specified here is relative to the build directory
926 specified by other means (see L</--build-dir>).
930 Assigning this variable has the same effect as specifying L</--exiton>
935 Setting this variable to zero is the same as giving
936 L</--no-interaction>, specifying to one corresponds to
939 =item HYPERVISOR_PARAMS
941 Parameters passed to the hypervisor. The default value is "serial", unless
942 overridden in the configuration file.
946 The kernel to use instead of the hypervisor specified in the
947 configuration file with the C<$hypervisor> variable. The value should
948 contain the name of the kernel image as well as its command line
949 parameters. If this variable is defined and non-empty, the variable
950 HYPERVISOR_PARAMS is not used.
954 If this variable is 1, the system is not booted. This is currently
955 only implemented for U-Boot bootloader where it is useful for
956 interacting with the bootloader without booting the system - e.g. for
961 Use a specific qemu binary (can be overridden with B<-Q>) and flags
962 when booting this script under qemu. If QEMU_FLAGS variable is also
963 specified flags specified in QEMU variable are replaced by those in
968 Use specific qemu flags (can be overridden with B<-q>).
976 Description of the WvTest-compliant program.
980 The timeout in seconds for WvTest harness. If no complete line appears
981 in the test output within the time specified here, the test fails. It
982 is necessary to specify this for long running tests that produce no
987 =head1 CONFIGURATION FILES
989 Novaboot can read its configuration from one or more files. By
990 default, novaboot looks for files in F</etc/novaboot.d>, file
991 F<~/.config/novaboot> and files named F<.novaboot> as described in
992 L</Configuration reading phase>. Alternatively, configuration file
993 location can be specified with the B<-c> switch or with the
994 NOVABOOT_CONFIG environment variable. The configuration file has Perl
995 syntax (i.e. it is better to put C<1;> as the last line) and should set
996 values of certain Perl variables. The current configuration can be
997 dumped with the B<--dump-config> switch. Some configuration variables
998 can be overridden by environment variables (see below) or by command
1001 Supported configuration variables include:
1007 Build directory location relative to the location of the configuration
1010 =item $default_target
1012 Default target (see below) to use when no target is explicitly
1013 specified with the B<--target> command line option or
1014 B<NOVABOOT_TARGET> environment variable.
1018 Hash of target definitions to be used with the B<--target> option. The
1019 key is the identifier of the target, the value is the string with
1020 command line options. For instance, if the configuration file contains:
1022 $targets{'mybox'} = '--server=boot:/tftproot --serial=/dev/ttyUSB0 --grub',
1024 then the following two commands are equivalent:
1026 ./myos --server=boot:/tftproot --serial=/dev/ttyUSB0 --grub
1031 =head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1033 Some options can be specified not only via config file or command line
1034 but also through environment variables. Environment variables override
1035 the values from the configuration file and command line parameters
1036 override the environment variables.
1040 =item NOVABOOT_CONFIG
1042 Name of the novaboot configuration file to use instead of the default
1045 =item NOVABOOT_CONFIG_DIR
1047 Name of the novaboot configuration directory. When not specified
1048 F</etc/novaboot.d> is used.
1050 =item NOVABOOT_TARGET
1052 Name of the novaboot target to use. This overrides the value of
1053 B<$default_target> from the configuration file and can be overridden
1054 with the B<--target> command line option.
1056 =item NOVABOOT_BENDER
1058 Defining this variable has the same effect as using B<--bender>
1065 Michal Sojka <sojka@os.inf.tu-dresden.de>
1067 Latest novaboot version can be found at
1068 L<https://github.com/wentasah/novaboot>.