aboot − The secondary boot loader for Linux/Alpha
aboot is Copyright (C) 1996 Linus Torvalds, David Mosberger-Tang and Michael Schwingen
aboot is the secondary boot loader needed if the Linux/Alpha system is booted via SRM. It is usually installed during system installation by swriteboot(8).
To automate the booting process predefined boot configurations can be stored in etc/aboot.conf(5).
aboot can also be used interactively by issuing
boot dka0 -fl "i"
at the SRM-Prompt where dka0 has to be replaced by the device used.
In the interactive mode you can use the command l to show your current etc/aboot.conf and then the appropriate number (or a complete boot command as in SRM) to boot Linux.
If you do not want to use the etc/aboot.conf as set up by abootconf(8) you can explicitly tell aboot where to look for etc/aboot.conf by prepending the number of the configuration with the proper partition, i.e. if your etc/aboot.conf is on your second partition and you want to boot the entry labeled three you would issue
boot dqa -fl "2:3"
Note that this applies to Linux booting via SRM only as VMS, Tru64, *BSD and Windows NT each have their own secondary boot loader. Furthermore aboot is also not needed if the system is booted via milo.
This man page was written by Helge Kreutzmann <debian AT helgefjell DOT de> for the Debian GNU/Linux project but may be used by others.
etc/aboot.conf
abootconf(8), aboot.conf(5), swriteboot(8), HP SRM Manual ( <URL:http://h18002.www1.hp.com/alphaserver/download/srm_reference.pdf>)