1= syslinux-cli(1) =
2:doctype: manpage
3:revdate: 2012-11-10
4:author: H. Peter Anvin
5:author-email: hpa@zytor.com
6:editor1: Gene Cumm
7:editor1-email: gene.cumm@gmail.com
8:editor1-revlast: 2012-11-10
9:data-uri:
10
11== NAME ==
12syslinux-cli - *Syslinux* boot prompt/command line interface
13
14
15== DESCRIPTION ==
16*Syslinux*'s boot prompt provides a very simplistic command line
17interface for loading modules and booting kernels.
18
19
20== BOOT PROMPT ==
21=== COMMAND LINE KEYSTROKES ===
22The command line prompt supports the following keystrokes:
23
24  <Enter>		boot specified command line
25  <BackSpace>		erase one character
26  <Ctrl-U>		erase the whole line
27  <Ctrl-V>		display the current Syslinux version
28  <Ctrl-W>		erase one word
29  <Ctrl-X>		force text mode
30  <Tab>			list matching labels
31  <F1>..<F12>		help screens (if configured)
32  <Ctrl-F><digit>	equivalent to F1..F10
33  <Ctrl-C>		interrupt boot in progress
34  <Esc>			interrupt boot in progress
35  <Ctrl-N>		display network information (PXELINUX only; 3.50-4.06)
36
37
38=== WORKING DIRECTORY ===
39At start, the initial working directory for *SYSLINUX*/*ISOLINUX* will
40be the directory containing the initial configuration file.  If no
41configuration file is found, *SYSLINUX* should default to the
42install-time working directory, however this is a known issue with some
43versions including 4.06.
44
45At start, the initial working directory for *PXELINUX* will be the
46parent directory of pxelinux.0 unless overridden with DHCP option 210.
47If no configuration file is found, *PXELINUX* will start a timer to
48reboot the system in an attempt to restart the boot process and resolve
49a possible transient issue.
50
51
52=== ALTERNATE FILENAMES ===
53For kernel-like file names given on the command line, *Syslinux* will
54attempt to append file name extensions to the specified file name when
55the file is not found in the following order: .0[*PXELINUX* only],
56.bin[*ISOLINUX* only], .bs[*SYSLINUX* only], .bss[*SYSLINUX* only],
57.c32, .cbt[Up to 4.06], .com[Up to 4.06] and .img[*ISOLINUX* 1.65-4.04 only].
58
59// Is this true of file names specified in a config?  As of when?
60
61
62=== PATH RULES ===
63
64The current working directory is *always* searched first, before PATH,
65when attempting to open a filename. The current working directory is
66not affected when specifying a file with an absolute path. For
67example, given the following file system layout,
68
69....
70/boot/
71	/bin/
72		ls.c32
73		libls.c32
74	/foo/
75		libls.c32
76....
77
78assuming that the current working directory is /boot/foo, and assuming
79that libls.c32 is a dependency of ls.c32, executing /boot/bin/ls.c32
80will cause /boot/foo/libls.c32 to be loaded, not /boot/bin/libls.c32,
81even if /boot/bin is specified in the PATH directive of a config file.
82
83The reason that things work this way is that typically a user will
84install all library files in the Syslinux installation directory, as
85specified with the --directory installer option. This method allows
86the user to omit the PATH directive from their config file and still
87have things work correctly.
88
89
90== AUTHOR ==
91This AsciiDoc derived document is a modified version of the original
92*SYSLINUX* documentation by {author} <{author-email}>.  The conversion
93to an AsciiDoc was made by {editor1} <{editor1-email}>
94