mkboot(1M) MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES mkboot(1M)
NAME
mkboot - convert an object file to a bootable object file
SYNOPSIS
/usr/sbin/mkboot [ -m master ] [ -d directory ] -k
kernel_obj [-f kernel_master ]
/usr/sbin/mkboot [ -m master ] [ -d directory ] obj_file
DESCRIPTION
The mkboot command is used to create a new object file from
a previous object file and its associated master file; the
new object file can be used by the cunix program to config-
ure a new bootable operating system. Typically, a user
makes changes to one or more files in the directory
/etc/master.d [files in this directory are called master
files, and are in the format specified in the master(4)
manual page]. Then, the user executes a mkboot command
(with appropriate options) from the /boot directory; the
/boot directory is used to hold all device driver object
files that must be configured into the bootable operating
system so that the operating system correctly reflects the
current configuration of the machine. One mkboot command
must be executed for each master file changed. The mkboot
command updates the existing object file in /boot with the
changes made to its associated master file. After executing
all necessary mkboot commands, the user then either config-
ures a new bootable operating system from firmware mode and
reboots the system, or uses the cunix command to configure a
new bootable operating system at the user level. The user
must specify either the -k option with the kernel object
file name (usually KERNEL), or the name of another object
file to be changed (usually a file in /boot). The object
file name used can be a relative or full pathname, and can
have an optional .o suffix. If the -k option is used, the
master file name kernel is assumed; -f can be used to
specify a master file other than kernel to build the
kernel_obj object. If obj_file is specified instead of -k,
the named obj_file must have an associated file in
/etc/master.d; the name of the associated master file is
the name of the obj_file in lowercase letters, without any
path prefix or .o suffix. If you are making a new object
file for the kernel, you must use the -k option to specify
the kernel object file; if you process a kernel object file
without the -k option, the resulting object file will be
unusable by cunix (an error is returned by cunix that says
that no object was flagged as the kernel; this flag is
added to the object file only when -k is specified). The -m
and -d options are used to specify alternate locations for
master files and object files output by mkboot:
-m master This option specifies the directory contain-
ing the master files to be used for the
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object file. The default master directory is
/etc/master.d.
-d directory This option specifies the directory to be
used for storing the new object file. The
default output directory is /boot. To create
a new object file, the applicable master file
is read and the configuration information is
extracted. Then, the old object file is read
from the current directory, and changed to
reflect the new configuration information.
The resulting new object file is written to
the output directory specified by the -d
option or to /boot. It is given the same
name as specified by obj_file or kernel_obj,
in uppercase letters and without any .o suf-
fix. Note that if the output directory is
the same as the current working directory
when mkboot is executed, then the output
object file overwrites the previous object
file residing in the directory.
EXAMPLE
mkboot -m newmaster gentty.o
This will read the file named gentty from the directory
newmaster for the gentty device configuration data, take the
file gentty.o from the current directory, and create the
object file /boot/GENTTY for use in configuring a new
operating system. cd /boot; mkboot -k KERNEL
This will read the file named kernel from the directory
/etc/master.d for the new kernel configuration data, take
the file KERNEL from the current directory, and create the
/boot/KERNEL object file. cd /boot; mkboot sem
This will read the file named sem from the /etc/master.d
directory, take the file SEM from the current directory
(/boot), and place the output file in /boot/SEM.
DIAGNOSTICS
mkboot FILE (FILE does not exist)
mkboot: FILE: cannot open: No such file or directory
mkboot -d dir SEM (dir does not exist)
mkboot: dir: cannot open: No such file or directory
mkboot: SEM; not processed
SEE ALSO
cunix(1M), master(4) System Administrator's Guide
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