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documentation.suse.com / SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Documentation / Deployment Guide / Installation procedure / Boot parameters
Applies to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4

7 Boot parameters

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server allows setting several parameters during boot, for example choosing the source of the installation data or setting the network configuration.

Using the appropriate set of boot parameters helps simplify your installation procedure. Many parameters can also be configured later using the linuxrc routines, but using the boot parameters is easier. In some automated setups, the boot parameters can be provided with initrd or an info file.

The way the system is started for the installation depends on the architecture—system start-up is different for PC (AMD64/Intel 64) or mainframe, for example. If you install SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as a VM Guest on a KVM or Xen hypervisor, follow the instructions for the AMD64/Intel 64 architecture.

Note
Note: Boot options and boot parameters

The terms Boot Parameters and Boot Options are often used interchangeably. In this documentation, we mostly use the term Boot Parameters.

7.1 Using the default boot parameters

The boot parameters are described in detail in Chapter 8, Installation steps. Generally, selecting Installation starts the installation boot process.

If problems occur, use Installation—ACPI Disabled or Installation—Safe Settings. For more information about troubleshooting the installation process, refer to Chapter 12, Troubleshooting.

The menu bar at the bottom of the screen offers some advanced functionality needed in some setups. Using the function keys (F1 ... F12), you can specify additional options to pass to the installation routines without having to know the detailed syntax of these parameters (see Chapter 7, Boot parameters). A detailed description of the available function keys is available in Section 7.2.1, “The boot screen on machines equipped with traditional BIOS”.

7.2 PC (AMD64/Intel 64/AArch64)

This section describes changing the boot parameters for AMD64, Intel 64, and AArch64.

7.2.1 The boot screen on machines equipped with traditional BIOS

The boot screen displays several options for the installation procedure. Boot from Hard Disk boots the installed system and is selected by default, because the CD is often left in the drive. Select one of the other options with the arrow keys and press Enter to boot it. The relevant options are:

Installation

The normal installation mode. All modern hardware functions are enabled. In case the installation fails, see F5Kernel for boot parameters that disable potentially problematic functions.

Upgrade

Perform a system upgrade. For more information refer to Chapter 1, Upgrade paths and methods.

More › Rescue System

Starts a minimal Linux system without a graphical user interface. For more information, see

More › Boot Linux System

Boot a Linux system that is already installed. You will be asked from which partition to boot the system.

More › Check Installation Media

This option is only available when you install from media created from downloaded ISOs. In this case it is recommended to check the integrity of the installation medium. This option starts the installation system before automatically checking the media. In case the check was successful, the normal installation routine starts. If a corrupt media is detected, the installation routine aborts. Replace the broken medium and restart the installation process.

More › Memory Test

Tests your system RAM using repeated read and write cycles. Terminate the test by rebooting. For more information, see Section 12.4, “Boot failure”.

The Boot Screen on Machines with a Traditional BIOS
Figure 7.1: The boot screen on machines with a traditional BIOS

Use the function keys shown at the bottom of the screen to change the language, screen resolution, installation source or to add an additional driver from your hardware vendor:

F1Help

Get context-sensitive help for the active element of the boot screen. Use the arrow keys to navigate, Enter to follow a link, and Esc to leave the help screen.

F2Language

Select the display language and a corresponding keyboard layout for the installation. The default language is English (US).

F3Video Mode

Select various graphical display modes for the installation. By Default the video resolution is automatically determined using KMS (Kernel Mode Setting). If this setting does not work on your system, choose No KMS and, optionally, specify vga=ask on the boot command line to get prompted for the video resolution. Choose Text Mode if the graphical installation causes problems.

F4Source

Normally, the installation is performed from the inserted installation medium. Here, select other sources, like FTP or NFS servers, or configure a proxy server. If the installation is deployed on a network with an SLP server, select an installation source available on the server with this option. Find information about setting up an installation server with SLP at Chapter 16, Setting up a network installation source.

F5Kernel

If you encounter problems with the regular installation, this menu offers to disable a few potentially problematic functions. If your hardware does not support ACPI (advanced configuration and power interface) select No ACPI to install without ACPI support. No local APIC disables support for APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controllers) which may cause problems with some hardware. Safe Settings boots the system with the DMA mode (for CD/DVD-ROM drives) and power management functions disabled.

If you are not sure, try the following options first: Installation—ACPI Disabled or Installation—Safe Settings. Experts can also use the command line (Boot Options) to enter or change kernel parameters.

F6Driver

Press this key to notify the system that you have an optional driver update for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. With File or URL, load drivers directly before the installation starts. If you select Yes, you are prompted to insert the update disk at the appropriate point in the installation process.

Tip
Tip: Getting driver update disks

Driver updates for SUSE Linux Enterprise are provided at http://drivers.suse.com/. These drivers have been created via the SUSE SolidDriver Program.

7.2.2 The boot screen on machines equipped with UEFI

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is a new industry standard which replaces and extends the traditional BIOS. The latest UEFI implementations contain the Secure Boot extension, which prevents booting malicious code by only allowing signed boot loaders to be executed. See Chapter 17, UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) for more information.

The boot manager GRUB 2, used to boot machines with a traditional BIOS, does not support UEFI, therefore GRUB 2 is replaced with GRUB 2 for EFI. If Secure Boot is enabled, YaST will automatically select GRUB 2 for EFI for installation. From an administrative and user perspective, both boot manager implementations behave the same and are called GRUB 2 in the following.

Tip
Tip: Using additional drivers with Secure Boot

When installing with Secure Boot enabled, you cannot load drivers that are not shipped with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. This is also true of drivers shipped via SolidDriver, because their signing key is not trusted by default.

To load drivers not shipped with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, do either of the following:

  • Before the installation, add the needed keys to the firmware database via firmware/system management tools.

  • Use a bootable ISO that will enroll the needed keys in the MOK list on the first boot.

For more information, see Section 17.1, “Secure boot”.

The boot screen displays several options for the installation procedure. Change the selected option with the arrow keys and press Enter to boot it. The relevant options are:

Installation

The normal installation mode. All modern hardware functions are enabled. In case the installation fails, see F5Kernel for boot parameters that disable potentially problematic functions.

Upgrade

Perform a system upgrade. For more information refer to Chapter 1, Upgrade paths and methods.

More › Rescue System

Starts a minimal Linux system without a graphical user interface. For more information, see

More › Boot Linux System

Boot a Linux system that is already installed. You will be asked from which partition to boot the system.

More › Check Installation Media

This option is only available when you install from media created from downloaded ISOs. In this case it is recommended to check the integrity of the installation medium. This option starts the installation system before automatically checking the media. In case the check was successful, the normal installation routine starts. If a corrupt media is detected, the installation routine aborts.

The Boot Screen on Machines with UEFI
Figure 7.2: The boot screen on machines with UEFI

GRUB 2 for EFI on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server does not support a boot prompt or function keys for adding boot parameters. By default, the installation will be started with American English and the boot media as the installation source. A DHCP lookup will be performed to configure the network. To change these defaults or to add boot parameters you need to edit the respective boot entry. Highlight it using the arrow keys and press E. See the on-screen help for editing hints (note that only an English keyboard is available now). The Installation entry will look similar to the following:

setparams 'Installation'

   set gfxpayload=keep
   echo 'Loading kernel ...'
   linuxefi /boot/x86_64/loader/linux splash=silent
   echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
   initrdefi /boot/x86_64/loader/initrd

Add space-separated parameters to the end of the line starting with linuxefi. To boot the edited entry, press F10. If you access the machine via serial console, press Esc0. A complete list of parameters is available at https://en.opensuse.org/Linuxrc.

7.3 List of important boot parameters

This section contains a selection of important boot parameters.

7.3.1 General boot parameters

autoyast=URL

The autoyast parameter specifies the location of the autoinst.xml control file for automatic installation.

manual=<0|1>

The manual parameter controls whether the other parameters are only default values that still must be acknowledged by the user. Set this parameter to 0 if all values should be accepted and no questions asked. Setting autoyast implies setting manual to 0.

Info=URL

Specifies a location for a file from which to read additional options.

IBM Z This helps to overcome the limitations of 10 lines (and 80 characters per line under z/VM) for the parmfile. More documentation on the Info file can be found in Section 9.3.3, “Combining the linuxrc info file with the AutoYaST control file”. Since the Info file can typically only be accessed through the network on IBM Z, you cannot use it to specify options required to set up the network (these options are described in Section 7.3.2, “Configuring the network interface”). Also other linuxrc specific options such as for debugging need to be specified in the parmfile to be effective.

upgrade=<0|1>

To upgrade SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, specify Upgrade=1.

IBM Z A custom parmfile is required for upgrading an existing installation of SUSE Linux Enterprise. Without this parameter, the installation provides no upgrade option.

dud=URL

Load driver updates from URL.

Set dud=ftp://ftp.example.com/PATH_TO_DRIVER or dud=http://www.example.com/PATH_TO_DRIVER to load drivers from a URL. When dud=1 you will be asked for the URL during boot.

language=LANGUAGE

Set the installation language. Some supported values are cs_CZ, de_DE, es_ES, fr_FR, ja_JP, pt_BR, pt_PT, ru_RU, zh_CN, and zh_TW.

acpi=off

Disable ACPI support.

noapic

No logical APIC.

nomodeset

Disable KMS.

textmode=1

Start installer in text mode.

console=SERIAL_DEVICE[,MODE]

SERIAL_DEVICE can be an actual serial or parallel device (for example ttyS0) or a virtual terminal (for example tty1). MODE is the baud rate, parity and stop bit (for example 9600n8). The default for this setting is set by the mainboard firmware. If you do not see output on your monitor, try setting console=tty1. It is possible to define multiple devices.

7.3.2 Configuring the network interface

Important
Important: Configuring the network interface

The settings discussed in this section apply only to the network interface used during installation. Configure additional network interfaces in the installed system by following the instructions given in Section 23.5, “Configuring a network connection manually”.

The network will only be configured if it is required during the installation. To force the network to be configured, use the netsetup or ifcfg parameters.

netsetup=VALUE

netsetup=dhcp forces a configuration via DHCP. Set netsetup=-dhcp when configuring the network with the boot parameters hostip, gateway and nameserver. With the option netsetup=hostip,netmask,gateway,nameserver the installer asks for the network settings during boot.

ifcfg=INTERFACE[.VLAN]=[.try,]SETTINGS

INTERFACE can be * to match all interfaces or, for example, eth* to match all interfaces that start with eth. It is also possible to use MAC addresses as values.

Optionally, a VLAN can be set behind the interface name, separated by a period.

If SETTINGS is dhcp, all matching interfaces will be configured with DHCP. If you add the try option, configuration will stop when the installation repository can be reached via one of the configured interfaces.

Alternatively you use static configuration. With static parameters, only the first matching interface will be configured, unless you add the try option. This will configure all interfaces until the repository can be reached.

The syntax for the static configuration is:

ifcfg=*="IPS_NETMASK,GATEWAYS,NAMESERVERS,DOMAINS"

Each comma separated value can in turn contain a list of space character separated values. IPS_NETMASK is in the CIDR notation, for example 10.0.0.1/24. The quotes are only needed when using space character separated lists. Example with two name servers:

ifcfg=*="10.0.0.10/24,10.0.0.1,10.0.0.1 10.0.0.2,example.com"
Tip
Tip: Other networking parameters

The ifcfg boot parameter is very powerful and allows you to set almost all networking parameters. In addition to the parameters mentioned above, you can set values for all configuration options (comma separated) from /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg.template and /etc/sysconfig/network/config. The following example sets a custom MTU size on an interface otherwise configured via DHCP:

ifcfg=eth0=dhcp,MTU=1500
hostname=host.example.com

Enter the fully qualified host name.

domain=example.com

Domain search path for DNS. Allows you to use short host names instead of fully qualified ones.

hostip=192.168.1.2[/24]

Enter the IP address of the interface to configure. The IP can contain the subnet mask, for example hostip=192.168.1.2/24. This setting is only evaluated if the network is required during the installation.

gateway=192.168.1.3

Specify the gateway to use. This setting is only evaluated if the network is required during the installation.

nameserver=192.168.1.4

Specify the DNS server in charge. This setting is only evaluated if the network is required during the installation.

domain=example.com

Domain search path. This setting is only evaluated if the network is required during the installation.

7.3.3 Specifying the installation source

If you are not using DVD or USB flash drive for installation, specify an alternative installation source.

install=SOURCE

Specify the location of the installation source to use. Possible protocols are cd, hd, slp, nfs, smb (Samba/CIFS), ftp, tftp, http, and https. Not all source types are available on all platforms. For example IBM Z does not support cd and hd. The default option is cd.

To install over an encrypted connection, use an https URL. If the certificate cannot be verified, disable certificate checking with the sslcerts=0 boot parameter.

If an http, https, ftp, tftp, or smb URL is given, you can authenticate by specifying the user name and password with the URL. Example:

install=https://USER:PASSWORD@SERVER/DIRECTORY/DVD1/

In case of a Samba or CIFS installation, you can also specify the domain that should be used:

install=smb://WORKDOMAIN;USER:PASSWORD@SERVER/DIRECTORY/DVD1/

To use cd, hd or slp, set them as the following example:

install=cd:/
install=hd:/?device=sda/PATH_TO_ISO
install=slp:/

7.3.4 Specifying remote access

Only one of the different remote control methods should be specified at a time. The different methods are: SSH, VNC, remote X server. For information about how to use the parameters listed in this section, see Chapter 11, Remote installation.

display_ip=IP_ADDRESS

Display_IP causes the installing system to try to connect to an X server at the given address.

Important
Important: X authentication mechanism

The direct installation with the X Window System relies on a primitive authentication mechanism based on host names. This mechanism is disabled on current SUSE Linux Enterprise Server versions. Installation with SSH or VNC is preferred.

vnc=1

Enables a VNC server during the installation.

vncpassword=PASSWORD

Sets the password for the VNC server.

ssh=1

ssh enables SSH installation.

ssh.password=PASSWORD

Specifies an SSH password for the root user during installation.

7.4 Advanced setups

To configure access to a local RMT or supportconfig server for the installation, you can specify boot parameters to set up these services during installation. The same applies if you need IPv6 support during the installation.

7.4.1 Providing data to access an RMT server

By default, updates for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server are delivered by the SUSE Customer Center. If your network provides a so called RMT server to provide a local update source, you need to equip the client with the server's URL. Client and server communicate solely via HTTPS protocol, therefore you also need to enter a path to the server's certificate if the certificate was not issued by a certificate authority.

Note
Note: Non-interactive installation only

Providing parameters for accessing an RMT server is only needed for non-interactive installations. During an interactive installation the data can be provided during the installation (see Section 8.7, “Registration” for details).

regurl

URL of the RMT server. This URL has a fixed format of https://FQN/center/regsvc/. FQN needs to be a fully qualified host name of the RMT server. Example:

regurl=https://smt.example.com/center/regsvc/

Make sure the values you enter are correct. If regurl has not been specified correctly, the registration of the update source will fail.

regcert

Location of the RMT server's certificate. Specify one of the following locations:

URL

Remote location (HTTP, HTTPS or FTP) from which the certificate can be downloaded. In case regcert is not specified, it will default to http://FQN/smt.crt with FQN being the name of the RMT server. Example:

regcert=http://rmt.example.com/smt-ca.crt
local path

Absolute path to the certificate on the local machine. Example:

regcert=/data/inst/smt/smt-ca.cert
Interactive

Use ask to open a pop-up menu during the installation where you can specify the path to the certificate. Do not use this option with AutoYaST. Example

regcert=ask
Deactivate certificate installation

Use done if the certificate will be installed by an add-on product, or if you are using a certificate issued by an official certificate authority. For example:

regcert=done

7.4.2 Configuring an alternative data server for supportconfig

The data that supportconfig (see Chapter 47, Gathering system information for support for more information) gathers is sent to the SUSE Customer Center by default. It is also possible to set up a local server to collect this data. If such a server is available on your network, you need to set the server's URL on the client. This information needs to be entered at the boot prompt.

supporturl URL of the server. The URL has the format http://FQN/Path/, where FQN is the fully qualified host name of the server and Path is the location on the server. For example:

supporturl=http://support.example.com/supportconfig/data/

7.4.3 Using IPv6 for the installation

By default you can only assign IPv4 network addresses to your machine. To enable IPv6 during installation, enter one of the following parameters at the boot prompt:

Accept IPv4 and IPv6
ipv6=1
Accept IPv6 only
ipv6only=1

7.4.4 Using a proxy for the installation

In networks enforcing the usage of a proxy server for accessing remote web sites, registration during installation is only possible when configuring a proxy server.

On systems with traditional BIOS, press F4 on the boot screen and set the required parameters in the HTTP Proxy dialog.

On Systems with UEFI BIOS, provide the boot parameter proxy at the boot prompt:

  1. On the boot screen, press E to edit the boot menu.

  2. Append the proxy parameter to the linux line in the following format:

    proxy=https://proxy.example.com:PORT

    If the proxy server requires authentication, add the credentials as follows:

    proxy=https://USER:PASSWORD@proxy.example.com:PORT

    If the proxy server's SSL certificate cannot be verified, disable certificate checking with the sslcerts=0 boot parameter.

    The outcome will be similar to the following:

    GRUB options editor
    Figure 7.3: GRUB options editor
  3. Press F10 to boot with the new proxy setting.

7.4.5 Enabling SELinux support

Enabling SELinux upon installation start-up enables you to configure it after the installation has been finished without having to reboot. Use the following parameters:

security=selinux selinux=1

7.4.6 Enabling the installer self-update

During installation and upgrade, YaST can update itself as described in Section 8.2, “Installer self-update” to solve potential bugs discovered after release. The self_update parameter can be used to modify the behavior of this feature.

To enable the installer self-update, set the parameter to 1:

self_update=1

To use a user-defined repository, specify a URL:

self_update=https://updates.example.com/

7.4.7 Scale user interface for high DPI

If your screen uses a very high DPI, use the boot parameter QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR. This scales font and user interface elements to the screen DPI.

QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=1

7.4.8 Using CPU mitigations

The boot parameter mitigations lets you control mitigation options for side-channel attacks on affected CPUs. Its possible values are:

auto Enables all mitigations required for your CPU model, but does not protect against cross-CPU thread attacks. This setting may impact performance to some degree, depending on the workload.

nosmt Provides the full set of available security mitigations. Enables all mitigations required for your CPU model. In addition, it disables Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) to avoid side-channel attacks across multiple CPU threads. This setting may further impact performance, depending on the workload.

off Disables all mitigations. Side-channel attacks against your CPU are possible, depending on the CPU model. This setting has no impact on performance.

Each value comes with a set of specific parameters, depending on the CPU architecture, the kernel version, and on the vulnerabilities that need to be mitigated. Refer to the kernel documentation for details.

7.4.9 Unlocking LUKS volumes with TPM 2.0 or FIDO2 key

Unlocking of encrypted devices using TPM 2.0 or FIDO2 in the installer is supported as of SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP4. To enable this feature, add:

YAST_LUKS2_AVAILABLE

Please note that you need a separate, unencrypted boot partition in order to encrypt the root file system.

Important
Important: Technology Preview

Please note that in SLE15 SP4 this feature is a technology preview and therefor not fully supported. For more information, refer to https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP4/html/SLES-all/preface-deployment.html.

For more information on configuring device encryption with LUKS, refer to Chapter 13, Storage encryption for hosted applications with cryptctl.

7.5 IBM Z

For IBM Z platforms, the system is booted (IPL, Initial Program Load) as described in Section 5.3.4, “IPLing the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server installation system”. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server does not show a splash screen on these systems. During the installation, load the kernel, initrd, and parmfile manually. YaST starts with its installation screen when a connection has been established to the installation system via VNC, X, or SSH. Because there is no splash screen, kernel or boot parameters cannot be entered on screen, but must be specified in a parmfile (see Section 5.5, “The parmfile—automating the system configuration”).

InstNetDev=osa

Enter the type of interface to configure. Possible values are osa, hsi, ctc, escon, and iucv (CTC, ESCON, and IUCV are no longer supported).

For the interfaces of type hsi and osa, specify an appropriate netmask and an optional broadcast address:

Netmask=255.255.255.0
Broadcast=192.168.255.255

For the interfaces of type ctc, escon, and iucv (CTC, ESCON, and IUCV are no longer supported), enter the IP address of the peer:

Pointopoint=192.168.55.20
OsaInterface=<lcs|qdio>

For osa network devices, specify the host interface (qdio or lcs).

Layer2=<0|1>

For osa QDIO Ethernet and hsi devices, specify whether to enable (1) or disable (0) OSI Layer 2 support.

OSAHWAddr=02:00:65:00:01:09

For Layer 2-enabled osa QDIO Ethernet devices, either specify a MAC address manually or state OSAHWADDR= (with trailing white space) for the system default.

PortNo=<0|1>

For osa network devices, specify the port number (provided the device supports this feature). The default value is 0.

Each of the interfaces requires certain setup options:

  • Interfaces ctc and escon (CTC and ESCON are no longer supported):

    ReadChannel=0.0.0600
    WriteChannel=0.0.0601

    ReadChannel specifies the READ channel to use. WriteChannel specifies the WRITE channel.

  • For the ctc interface (no longer supported), specify the protocol that should be used for this interface:

    CTCProtocol=<0/1/2>

    Valid entries would be:

    0

    Compatibility mode, also for non-Linux peers other than OS/390 and z/OS (this is the default mode)

    1

    Extended mode

    2

    Compatibility mode with OS/390 and z/OS

  • Network device type osa with interface lcs:

    ReadChannel=0.0.0124

    ReadChannel stands for the channel number used in this setup. A second port number can be derived from this by adding one to ReadChannel. Portnumber is used to specify the relative port.

  • Interface iucv:

    IUCVPeer=PEER

    Enter the name of the peer machine.

  • Network device type osa with interface qdio for OSA-Express Gigabit Ethernet:

    ReadChannel=0.0.0700
    WriteChannel=0.0.0701
    DataChannel=0.0.0702

    For ReadChannel, enter the number of the READ channel. For WriteChannel, enter the number of the WRITE channel. DataChannel specifies the DATA channel. Make sure that the READ channel carries an even device number.

  • Interface hsi for HiperSockets and VM guest LANs:

    ReadChannel=0.0.0800
    WriteChannel=0.0.0801
    DataChannel=0.0.0802

    For ReadChannel, enter the appropriate number for the READ channel. For WriteChannel and DataChannel, enter the WRITE and DATA channel numbers.

7.6 More information

You can find more information about boot parameters in the openSUSE wiki at https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Linuxrc#Parameter_Reference.