/boot/

In Linux, and other Unix-like operating systems, the /boot/ file directory holds files used in booting Linux. The usage is standardized in the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard.

Contents

Contents

The contents are mostly Linux kernel files or boot loader files, depending on the boot loader, most commonly (on Linux) LILO or GRUB.

Linux

LILO

LILO creates and uses the following files:

LILO may also use other files, such as message and also stores a non-boot configuration file in /etc/lilo.conf

GRUB

GRUB stores its files in the subdirectory grub/ (so /boot/grub/). These files are mostly modules (.mod), with configuration stored in grub.cfg.

Location

/boot/ is often simply a directory on the main (or only) hard drive partition. However, it may be a separate partition. Using a separate partition is generally only used when bootloaders are incapable of reading the main filesystem (e.g. SILO does not recognize XFS) or other problems not easily resolvable by users.

References