1 <?xml version='1.0'?> <!--*-nxml-*-->
2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd">
4 <!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later -->
6 <refentry id="systemd-stub" conditional='ENABLE_BOOTLOADER'
7 xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
9 <title>systemd-stub</title>
10 <productname>systemd</productname>
14 <refentrytitle>systemd-stub</refentrytitle>
15 <manvolnum>7</manvolnum>
19 <refname>systemd-stub</refname>
20 <refname>sd-stub</refname>
21 <refname>linuxx64.efi.stub</refname>
22 <refname>linuxia32.efi.stub</refname>
23 <refname>linuxaa64.efi.stub</refname>
24 <refpurpose>A simple UEFI kernel boot stub</refpurpose>
29 <member><filename>/usr/lib/systemd/boot/efi/linuxx64.efi.stub</filename></member>
30 <member><filename>/usr/lib/systemd/boot/efi/linuxia32.efi.stub</filename></member>
31 <member><filename>/usr/lib/systemd/boot/efi/linuxaa64.efi.stub</filename></member>
32 <member><filename><replaceable>ESP</replaceable>/.../<replaceable>foo</replaceable>.efi.extra.d/*.addon.efi</filename></member>
33 <member><filename><replaceable>ESP</replaceable>/.../<replaceable>foo</replaceable>.efi.extra.d/*.cred</filename></member>
34 <member><filename><replaceable>ESP</replaceable>/.../<replaceable>foo</replaceable>.efi.extra.d/*.raw</filename></member>
35 <member><filename><replaceable>ESP</replaceable>/.../<replaceable>foo</replaceable>.efi.extra.d/*.sysext.raw</filename></member>
36 <member><filename><replaceable>ESP</replaceable>/.../<replaceable>foo</replaceable>.efi.extra.d/*.confext.raw</filename></member>
37 <member><filename><replaceable>ESP</replaceable>/loader/addons/*.addon.efi</filename></member>
38 <member><filename><replaceable>ESP</replaceable>/loader/credentials/*.cred</filename></member>
43 <title>Description</title>
45 <para><command>systemd-stub</command> (stored in per-architecture files
46 <filename>linuxx64.efi.stub</filename>, <filename>linuxia32.efi.stub</filename>,
47 <filename>linuxaa64.efi.stub</filename> on disk) is a simple UEFI boot stub. An UEFI boot stub is
48 attached to a Linux kernel binary image, and is a piece of code that runs in the UEFI firmware
49 environment before transitioning into the Linux kernel environment. The UEFI boot stub ensures a Linux
50 kernel is executable as regular UEFI binary, and is able to do various preparations before switching the
51 system into the Linux world.</para>
53 <para>The UEFI boot stub looks for various resources for the kernel invocation inside the UEFI PE binary
54 itself. This allows combining various resources inside a single PE binary image (a "Unified Kernel Image"
55 or "UKI" for short), which may then be signed via UEFI SecureBoot as a whole, covering all individual
56 resources at once. Specifically it may include the following PE sections:</para>
59 <!-- Let's keep this in the canonical order we also measure the sections by, i.e. as in
60 src/fundamental/uki.h's UnifiedSection enum -->
62 <listitem><para>A <literal>.linux</literal> section with the ELF Linux kernel image.
63 This section is required.</para></listitem>
65 <listitem><para>An optional <literal>.osrel</literal> section with OS release information, i.e. the
67 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>os-release</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> file of
68 the OS the kernel belongs to.</para></listitem>
70 <listitem><para>An optional <literal>.cmdline</literal> section with the kernel command line to pass to
71 the invoked kernel.</para></listitem>
73 <listitem><para>An optional <literal>.initrd</literal> section with the initrd.</para></listitem>
75 <listitem><para>An optional <literal>.ucode</literal> section with an initrd containing microcode, to
76 be handed to the kernel before any other initrd. This initrd must not be compressed.</para></listitem>
78 <listitem><para>An optional <literal>.splash</literal> section with an image (in the Windows
79 <filename>.BMP</filename> format) to show on screen before invoking the kernel.</para></listitem>
81 <listitem><para>An optional <literal>.dtb</literal> section with a compiled binary DeviceTree.
84 <listitem><para>Zero or more <literal>.dtbauto</literal> sections. <command>systemd-stub</command>
85 will always use the first matching one. The match is performed by taking the first DeviceTree's
86 <literal>compatible</literal> string supplied by the firmware in configuration tables and comparing it
87 with the first <literal>compatible</literal> string from each of the <literal>.dtbauto</literal>
88 sections. If the firmware does not provide a DeviceTree, the match is done using the
89 <literal>.hwids</literal> section instead. After selecting a <literal>.hwids</literal> section (see the
90 description below), the <literal>compatible</literal> string from that section will be used to perform
91 the same matching procedure. If a match is found, that <literal>.dtbauto</literal> section will be
92 loaded and will override <literal>.dtb</literal> if present.</para></listitem>
94 <listitem><para>Zero or more <literal>.efifw</literal> sections for the firmware image. It works
95 in many ways similar to <literal>.dtbauto</literal> sections. <command>systemd-stub</command>
96 will always use the first matching one. The match is performed by first selecting the most appropriate
97 entry in the <literal>.hwids</literal> section based on the hardware IDs supplied by SMBIOS (see below).
98 If a suitable entry is found, the <literal>fwid</literal> string from that entry will be used to
99 perform the matching procedure for firmware blobs in <literal>.efifw</literal> section. The first
100 matching firmware will be loaded.
103 <listitem><para>Zero or more <literal>.hwids</literal> sections with hardware IDs of the machines to
104 match DeviceTrees. <command>systemd-stub</command> will use the SMBIOS data to calculate hardware IDs
105 of the machine (as per <ulink
106 url="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/install/specifying-hardware-ids-for-a-computer">specification</ulink>),
107 and then it will try to find any of them in each of the <literal>.hwids</literal> sections. The first
108 matching section will be used.</para></listitem>
110 <listitem><para>An optional <literal>.uname</literal> section with the kernel version information, i.e.
111 the output of <command>uname -r</command> for the kernel included in the <literal>.linux</literal>
112 section.</para></listitem>
114 <listitem><para>An optional <literal>.sbat</literal> section with
115 <ulink url="https://github.com/rhboot/shim/blob/main/SBAT.md">SBAT</ulink> revocation metadata.
118 <listitem><para>An optional <literal>.pcrsig</literal> section with a set of cryptographic signatures
119 for the expected TPM2 PCR values after the kernel has been booted, in JSON format. This is useful for
120 implementing TPM2 policies that bind disk encryption and similar to kernels that are signed by a
121 specific key.</para></listitem>
123 <listitem><para>An optional <literal>.pcrpkey</literal> section with a public key in the PEM format
124 matching the signature data in the <literal>.pcrsig</literal> section.</para></listitem>
127 <!-- FIXME: how does .dtauto/.hwids matching interact with profiles? -->
129 <para>In a basic UKI, the sections listed above appear at most once, with the exception of
130 <literal>.dtbauto</literal> and <literal>.hwids</literal> sections. In a multi-profile UKI,
131 multiple sets of these sections are present in a single file and form "profiles",
132 one of which can be selected at boot. For this, the PE section <literal>.profile</literal> is
133 defined to be used as the separator between sets of sections. The
134 <literal>.profile</literal> section itself may contain meta-information about the section, and follows a
135 similar structure as the contents of the <literal>.osrel</literal> section. For further details about
136 multi-profile UKIs, see below.</para> <para>If UEFI SecureBoot is enabled and the
137 <literal>.cmdline</literal> section is present in the executed image, any attempts to override the kernel
138 command line by passing one as invocation parameters to the EFI binary are ignored. Thus, in order to
139 allow overriding the kernel command line, either disable UEFI SecureBoot, or do not include a kernel
140 command line PE section in the kernel image file. If a command line is accepted via EFI invocation
141 parameters to the EFI binary it is measured into TPM PCR 12 (if a TPM is present).</para> <para>If a
142 DeviceTree is embedded in the <literal>.dtb</literal> section, it replaces an existing DeviceTree in the
143 corresponding EFI configuration table. systemd-stub will ask the firmware via the
144 <literal>EFI_DT_FIXUP_PROTOCOL</literal> for hardware specific fixups to the DeviceTree.</para> <para>The
145 contents of 11 of these 12 sections are measured into TPM PCR 11. It is otherwise not used and thus the
146 result can be pre-calculated without too much effort. The <literal>.pcrsig</literal> section is not
147 included in this PCR measurement, since it is supposed to contain signatures for the output of the
148 measurement operation, and thus cannot also be input to it. If an UKI contains multiple profiles, only
149 the PE sections of the selected profile (and those of the base profile, except if overridden) are
152 <para>If non-zero, the selected numeric profile is measured into PCR 12.</para>
154 <para>When <literal>.pcrsig</literal> and/or <literal>.pcrpkey</literal> sections are present in a
155 unified kernel image their contents are passed to the booted kernel in an synthetic initrd cpio archive
156 that places them in the <filename>/.extra/tpm2-pcr-signature.json</filename> and
157 <filename>/.extra/tpm2-pcr-public-key.pem</filename> files. Typically, a
158 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>tmpfiles.d</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> line then
159 ensures they are copied into <filename>/run/systemd/tpm2-pcr-signature.json</filename> and
160 <filename>/run/systemd/tpm2-pcr-public-key.pem</filename> where they remain accessible even after the
161 system transitions out of the initrd environment into the host file system. Tools such
162 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-cryptsetup@.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
163 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-cryptenroll</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
164 and <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-creds</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
165 will automatically use files present under these paths to unlock protected resources (encrypted storage
166 or credentials) or bind encryption to booted kernels.</para>
168 <para>For further details about the UKI concept, see the <ulink
169 url="https://uapi-group.org/specifications/specs/unified_kernel_image/">UKI specification</ulink>.</para>
173 <title>Companion Files</title>
175 <para>The <command>systemd-stub</command> UEFI boot stub automatically collects three types of auxiliary
176 companion files optionally placed in drop-in directories on the same partition as the EFI binary,
177 dynamically generates <command>cpio</command> initrd archives from them, and passes them to the kernel.
181 <listitem><para>For a kernel binary called <filename><replaceable>foo</replaceable>.efi</filename>, it
182 will look for files with the <filename>.cred</filename> suffix in a directory named
183 <filename><replaceable>foo</replaceable>.efi.extra.d/</filename> next to it. If the kernel binary
184 uses a counter for the purpose of
185 <ulink url="https://systemd.io/AUTOMATIC_BOOT_ASSESSMENT">Automatic Boot Assessment</ulink>, this
186 counter will be ignored. For example, <filename><replaceable>foo</replaceable>+3-0.efi</filename>
187 will look in directory <filename><replaceable>foo</replaceable>.efi.extra.d/</filename>.
188 A <command>cpio</command>
189 archive is generated from all files found that way, placing them in the
190 <filename>/.extra/credentials/</filename> directory of the initrd file hierarchy. The main initrd may
191 then access them in this directory. This is supposed to be used to store auxiliary, encrypted,
192 authenticated credentials for use with <varname>LoadCredentialEncrypted</varname> in the UEFI System
194 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
196 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-creds</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
198 details on encrypted credentials. The generated <command>cpio</command> archive is measured into TPM
199 PCR 12 (if a TPM is present).</para></listitem>
201 <listitem><para>Similarly, files
202 <filename><replaceable>foo</replaceable>.efi.extra.d/*.sysext.raw</filename> are packed up in a
203 <command>cpio</command> archive and placed in the <filename>/.extra/sysext/</filename> directory in the
204 initrd file hierarchy. This is supposed to be used to pass additional system extension images to the
206 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-sysext</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
207 details on system extension images. The generated <command>cpio</command> archive containing these
208 system extension images is measured into TPM PCR 13 (if a TPM is present).</para></listitem>
210 <!-- Note: the actual suffix we look for for sysexts is just *.raw (not *.sysext.raw), for
211 compatibility reasons with old versions. But we want people to name their system extensions
212 properly, hence we document the *.sysext.raw suffix only. -->
214 <listitem><para>Similarly, files
215 <filename><replaceable>foo</replaceable>.efi.extra.d/*.confext.raw</filename> are packed up in a
216 <command>cpio</command> archive and placed in the <filename>/.extra/confext/</filename> directory in
217 the initrd file hierarchy. This is supposed to be used to pass additional configuration extension
218 images to the initrd. See
219 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-confext</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
220 details on configuration extension images. The generated <command>cpio</command> archive containing
221 these configuration extension images is measured into TPM PCR 12 (if a TPM is present).</para></listitem>
223 <listitem><para>Similarly, files
224 <filename><replaceable>foo</replaceable>.efi.extra.d/*.addon.efi</filename> are loaded and verified as
225 PE binaries and specific sections are loaded from them. Addons are used to pass additional kernel
226 command line parameters (<literal>.cmdline</literal> section), or DeviceTree blobs
227 (<literal>.dtb</literal> section), additional initrds (<literal>.initrd</literal> section),
228 and microcode updates (<literal>.ucode</literal> section). Addons allow those resources to be passed
229 regardless of the kernel version being booted, for example allowing platform vendors to ship
230 platform-specific configuration.</para>
232 <para>In case Secure Boot is enabled, these files will be validated using keys in UEFI DB, Shim's DB or
233 Shim's MOK, and only loaded if the check passes. Additionally, if both the addon and the UKI contain a
234 <literal>.uname</literal> section, the addon will be rejected if they do not match exactly. It is
235 recommended to always add a <literal>.sbat</literal> section to all signed addons, so that they may be
236 revoked with a SBAT policy update, without requiring blocklisting via DBX/MOKX. The
237 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>ukify</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> tool will add
238 a SBAT policy by default if none is passed when building addons. For more information on SBAT see
239 <ulink url="https://github.com/rhboot/shim/blob/main/SBAT.md">Shim documentation</ulink>.</para>
241 <para>Addon files are sorted, loaded, and measured into TPM PCR 12 (if a TPM is present) and appended
242 to the kernel command line. UKI command line options are listed first, then options from addons in
243 <filename>/loader/addons/*.addon.efi</filename>, and finally UKI-specific addons. Device tree blobs are
244 loaded and measured following the same algorithm. Microcode addons are passed to the kernel in inverse
245 order (UKI specific addons, global addons, UKI embedded section). This is because the microcode update
246 driver stops on the first matching filename. Addons are always loaded in the same order based on
247 the filename, so that, given the same set of addons, the same set of measurements can be expected in
248 PCR12. However, note that the filename is not protected by the PE signature, and as such an attacker
249 with write access to the ESP could potentially rename these files to change the order in which they are
250 loaded, in a way that could alter the functionality of the kernel, as some options might be
251 order-dependent. If you sign such addons, you should pay attention to the PCR12 values and make use of
252 an attestation service so that improper use of your signed addons can be detected and dealt with using
253 one of the aforementioned revocation mechanisms.</para></listitem>
255 <listitem><para>Files <filename>/loader/credentials/*.cred</filename> are packed up in a
256 <command>cpio</command> archive and placed in the <filename>/.extra/global_credentials/</filename>
257 directory of the initrd file hierarchy. This is supposed to be used to pass additional credentials to
258 the initrd, regardless of the kernel version being booted. The generated <command>cpio</command>
259 archive is measured into TPM PCR 12 (if a TPM is present).</para></listitem>
261 <listitem><para>Additionally, files <filename>/loader/addons/*.addon.efi</filename> are loaded and
262 verified as PE binaries, and <literal>.cmdline</literal>, <literal>.dtb</literal>,
263 <literal>.initrd</literal>, and <literal>.ucode</literal> sections are parsed from them.
264 This is supposed to be used to pass additional command line parameters, DeviceTree blobs, initrds,
265 and microcode updates to the kernel, regardless of the kernel version being booted.</para></listitem>
268 <para>These mechanisms may be used to parameterize and extend trusted (i.e. signed), immutable initrd
269 images in a reasonably safe way: all data they contain is measured into TPM PCRs. On access they should be
270 further validated: in case of the credentials case by encrypting/authenticating them via TPM, as exposed
271 by <command>systemd-creds encrypt -T</command> (see
272 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-creds</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
273 details); in case of the system extension images by using signed Verity images.</para>
277 <title>Multi-Profile UKIs</title>
279 <para>In many contexts it is useful to allow invocation of a single UKI in multiple different modes (or
280 "profiles") without compromising the cryptographic integrity, measurements and so on of the boot
281 process. For example, a single UKI might provide three distinct profiles: a regular boot one, one that
282 invokes a "factory reset" operation, and one that boots into a storage target mode (as in
283 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-storagetm.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>). Each
284 profile would then use the same <literal>.linux</literal> and <literal>.initrd</literal> sections, but would
285 have a separate <literal>.cmdline</literal> section. For example the latter two profiles would extend the
286 regular kernel command line with <literal>systemd.unit=factory-reset.target</literal> or
287 <literal>rd.systemd.unit=storagetm.target</literal>.</para>
289 <para>A single UKI may support multiple profiles by means of the special <literal>.profile</literal> PE
290 section. This section acts as separator between the PE sections of the individual
291 profiles. <literal>.profile</literal> PE sections hence may appear multiple times in a single UKI, and
292 the other PE sections listed above may appear multiple times too, if <literal>.profile</literal> are
293 used, but only once before the first <literal>.profile</literal> section, once between each subsequent
294 pair, and once after the last appearance of <literal>.profile</literal>. The sections listed before the
295 first <literal>.profile</literal> are considered the "base" profile of the UKI. Each
296 <literal>.profile</literal> section then introduces a new profile, which are numbered starting from
297 zero. The PE sections following each <literal>.profile</literal> are specific to that profile. When
298 booting into a specific profile the base section's profiles are used in combination with the specific
299 profile's sections: if the same section is defined in both, the per-profile section overrides the base
300 profile's version, otherwise the per-profile sections is used together with the base profile
301 sections.</para> <para>A UKI that contains no <literal>.profile</literal> is consider equivalent to one
302 that just contains a single <literal>.profile</literal>, as having only a single profile @0.</para>
304 <para>Here's a simple example for a multi-profile UKI's sections, inspired by the setup suggested above:</para>
307 <title>Multi-Profile UKI Example</title>
309 <tgroup cols='2' align='left' colsep='1' rowsep='1'>
310 <colspec colname="section" />
311 <colspec colname="profile" />
315 <entry>Section</entry>
316 <entry>Profile</entry>
322 <entry><literal>.linux</literal></entry>
323 <entry morerows="3" valign="middle">Base profile</entry>
326 <entry><literal>.osrel</literal></entry>
329 <entry><literal>.cmdline</literal></entry>
332 <entry><literal>.initrd</literal></entry>
335 <entry><literal>.profile</literal></entry>
336 <entry>Profile @0</entry>
339 <entry><literal>.profile</literal></entry>
340 <entry morerows="1" valign="middle">Profile @1</entry>
343 <entry><literal>.cmdline</literal></entry>
346 <entry><literal>.profile</literal></entry>
347 <entry morerows="1" valign="middle">Profile @2</entry>
350 <entry><literal>.cmdline</literal></entry>
356 <para>The section list above would define three profiles. The first four sections make up the base
357 profile. A <literal>.profile</literal> section then introduces profile @0. It does not override any
358 sections (or add any) from the base section, hence it is immediately followed by another
359 <literal>.profile</literal> section that then introduces section @1. This profile overrides the kernel
360 command line. Finally, the last two sections define section @2, again overriding the command line. (Note
361 that in this example the first <literal>.cmdline</literal> could also moved behind the first
362 <literal>.profile</literal> with equivalent effect. To keep things nicely extensible, it is probably a
363 good idea to keep the generic command line in the base section instead of profile 0, in case later added
364 profiles might want to reuse it.)</para>
366 <para>The profile to boot may be controlled via the UKI's own command line: if the first argument starts
367 with <literal>@</literal>, followed by a positive integer number in decimal, it selects the profile to
368 boot into. If the first argument is not specified like that, the UKI will automatically boot into profile
371 <para>A <literal>.profile</literal> section may contain meta-information about the profile. It follows a
372 similar format as <literal>.osrel</literal> (i.e. an environment-variable-assignment-block-like list of
373 newline separated strings). Currently two fields are defined: <literal>ID=</literal> is supposed to carry
374 a short identifying string that identifies the profile
375 (e.g. <literal>ID=factory-reset</literal>). <literal>TITLE=</literal> should contain a human readable
376 string that may appear in the boot menu entry for this profile (e.g. <literal>TITLE='Factory Reset this
377 Device'</literal>).</para>
381 <title>TPM PCR Notes</title>
383 <para>Note that when a unified kernel using <command>systemd-stub</command> is invoked the firmware will
384 measure it as a whole to TPM PCR 4, covering all embedded resources, such as the stub code itself, the
385 core kernel, the embedded initrd and kernel command line (see above for a full list), including all UKI
388 <para>Also note that when <command>systemd-stub</command> measures a PE section, it will measure the
389 amount of bytes that the section takes up in memory (<varname>VirtualSize</varname>) and not the amount
390 of bytes that the section takes up on disk (<varname>SizeOfRawData</varname>). This means that if the
391 size in memory is larger than the size on disk, <command>systemd-stub</command> will end up measuring
392 extra zeroes. To avoid this from happening, it is recommended to make sure that the size in memory of
393 each section that is measured by <command>systemd-stub</command> is always smaller than or equal to the
394 size on disk. <command>ukify</command> automatically makes sure this is the case when building UKIs or
397 <para>Also note that the Linux kernel will measure all initrds it receives into TPM PCR 9. This means
398 every type of initrd (of the selected UKI profile) will possibly be measured two or three times: the
399 initrds embedded in the kernel image will be measured to PCR 4, PCR 9 and PCR 11; the initrd synthesized
400 from credentials (and the one synthesized from configuration extensions) will be measured to both PCR 9
401 and PCR 12; the initrd synthesized from system extensions will be measured to both PCR 4 and PCR 9. Let's
402 summarize the OS resources and the PCRs they are measured to:</para>
405 <title>OS Resource PCR Summary</title>
407 <tgroup cols='2' align='left' colsep='1' rowsep='1'>
408 <colspec colname="pcr" />
409 <colspec colname="definition" />
413 <entry>OS Resource</entry>
414 <entry>Measurement PCR</entry>
420 <entry><command>systemd-stub</command> code (the entry point of the unified PE binary)</entry>
425 <entry>Core kernel code (embedded in unified PE binary)</entry>
426 <entry>4 + 11</entry>
430 <entry>OS release information (embedded in the unified PE binary)</entry>
431 <entry>4 + 11</entry>
435 <entry>Main initrd (embedded in unified PE binary)</entry>
436 <entry>4 + 9 + 11</entry>
440 <entry>Microcode initrd (embedded in unified PE binary)</entry>
441 <entry>4 + 9 + 11</entry>
445 <entry>Default kernel command line (embedded in unified PE binary)</entry>
446 <entry>4 + 11</entry>
450 <entry>Overridden kernel command line</entry>
455 <entry>Boot splash (embedded in the unified PE binary)</entry>
456 <entry>4 + 11</entry>
460 <entry>TPM2 PCR signature JSON (embedded in unified PE binary, synthesized into initrd)</entry>
465 <entry>TPM2 PCR PEM public key (embedded in unified PE binary, synthesized into initrd)</entry>
466 <entry>4 + 9 + 11</entry>
470 <entry>Credentials (synthesized initrd from companion files)</entry>
471 <entry>9 + 12</entry>
475 <entry>System Extensions (synthesized initrd from companion files)</entry>
476 <entry>9 + 13</entry>
480 <entry>Configuration Extensions (synthesized initrd from companion files)</entry>
481 <entry>9 + 12</entry>
485 <entry>Selected profile unless zero</entry>
494 <title>EFI Variables</title>
496 <para>The following EFI variables are defined, set and read by <command>systemd-stub</command>, under the
497 vendor UUID <literal>4a67b082-0a4c-41cf-b6c7-440b29bb8c4f</literal>, for communication between the boot
498 stub and the OS:</para>
500 <variablelist class='efi-variables'>
502 <term><varname>LoaderDevicePartUUID</varname></term>
504 <listitem><para>Contains the partition UUID of the partition the boot loader has been started from on
505 the current boot (usually a EFI System Partition). If already set by the boot loader, this will
506 remain untouched by <command>systemd-stub</command>. If not set yet, this will be set to the
507 partition UUID of the partition the unified kernel is started from, in order to support systems that
508 directly boot into a unified kernel image, bypassing any boot loader.
509 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-gpt-auto-generator</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
510 uses this information to automatically find the disk booted from, in order to discover various other
511 partitions on the same disk automatically.</para>
513 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v224"/></listitem>
517 <term><varname>LoaderFirmwareInfo</varname></term>
518 <term><varname>LoaderFirmwareType</varname></term>
520 <listitem><para>Brief firmware information. Use
521 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>bootctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> to view this
524 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v250"/></listitem>
528 <term><varname>LoaderImageIdentifier</varname></term>
530 <listitem><para>The file system path to the EFI executable of the boot loader for the current boot,
531 relative to the partition's root directory (i.e. relative to the partition indicated by
532 <varname>LoaderDevicePartUUID</varname>, see above). If not set yet, this will be set to the file
533 system path of the EFI executable of the booted unified kernel, in order to support systems that
534 directly boot into a unified kernel image, bypassing any boot loader. Use
535 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>bootctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> to view
538 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v237"/></listitem>
542 <term><varname>StubDevicePartUUID</varname></term>
543 <term><varname>StubImageIdentifier</varname></term>
545 <listitem><para>Similar to <varname>LoaderDevicePartUUID</varname> and
546 <varname>StubImageIdentifier</varname>, but indicates the location of the unified kernel image EFI
547 binary rather than the location of the boot loader binary, regardless of whether booted via a boot loader
550 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v257"/></listitem>
554 <term><varname>StubInfo</varname></term>
556 <listitem><para>Brief stub information. Use
557 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>bootctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> to view
560 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v250"/></listitem>
564 <term><varname>StubPcrKernelImage</varname></term>
566 <listitem><para>The PCR register index the kernel image, initrd image, boot splash, devicetree
567 database, and the embedded command line are measured into, formatted as decimal ASCII string (e.g.
568 <literal>11</literal>). This variable is set if a measurement was successfully completed, and remains
569 unset otherwise.</para>
571 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v252"/></listitem>
575 <term><varname>StubPcrKernelParameters</varname></term>
577 <listitem><para>The PCR register index the kernel command line and credentials are measured into,
578 formatted as decimal ASCII string (e.g. <literal>12</literal>). This variable is set if a measurement
579 was successfully completed, and remains unset otherwise.</para>
581 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v252"/></listitem>
585 <term><varname>StubPcrInitRDSysExts</varname></term>
587 <listitem><para>The PCR register index the system extensions for the initrd, which are picked up from
588 the file system the kernel image is located on. Formatted as decimal ASCII string (e.g.
589 <literal>13</literal>). This variable is set if a measurement was successfully completed, and remains
590 unset otherwise.</para>
592 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v252"/></listitem>
596 <term><varname>StubPcrInitRDConfExts</varname></term>
598 <listitem><para>The PCR register index the configuration extensions for the initrd, which are picked
599 up from the file system the kernel image is located on. Formatted as decimal ASCII string (e.g.
600 <literal>12</literal>). This variable is set if a measurement was successfully completed, and remains
601 unset otherwise.</para>
603 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v255"/></listitem>
607 <term><varname>StubProfile</varname></term>
609 <listitem><para>The numeric index of the selected profile, without the <literal>@</literal>,
610 formatted as decimal string. Set both on single-profile and multi-profile UKIs. (In the former case
611 this variable will be set to <literal>0</literal> unconditionally.)</para>
613 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v257"/></listitem>
617 <para>Note that some of the variables above may also be set by the boot loader. The stub will only set
618 them if they are not set already. Some of these variables are defined by the <ulink
619 url="https://systemd.io/BOOT_LOADER_INTERFACE">Boot Loader Interface</ulink>.</para>
623 <title>initrd Resources</title>
625 <para>The following resources are passed as initrd cpio archives to the booted kernel, and thus make up
626 the initial file system hierarchy in the initrd execution environment:</para>
630 <term><filename>/</filename></term>
632 <listitem><para>The main initrd from the <literal>.initrd</literal> PE section of the unified kernel
635 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v252"/></listitem>
639 <term><filename>/.extra/credentials/*.cred</filename></term>
640 <listitem><para>Credential files (suffix <literal>.cred</literal>) that are placed next to the
641 unified kernel image (as described above) are copied into the
642 <filename>/.extra/credentials/</filename> directory in the initrd execution
645 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v252"/></listitem>
649 <term><filename>/.extra/global_credentials/*.cred</filename></term>
650 <listitem><para>Similarly, credential files in the <filename>/loader/credentials/</filename>
651 directory in the file system the unified kernel image is placed in are copied into the
652 <filename>/.extra/global_credentials/</filename> directory in the initrd execution
655 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v252"/></listitem>
659 <term><filename>/.extra/sysext/*.sysext.raw</filename></term>
660 <listitem><para>System extension image files (suffix <literal>.sysext.raw</literal>) that are placed
661 next to the unified kernel image (as described above) are copied into the
662 <filename>/.extra/sysext/</filename> directory in the initrd execution environment.</para>
664 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v252"/></listitem>
668 <term><filename>/.extra/confext/*.confext.raw</filename></term>
669 <listitem><para>Configuration extension image files (suffix <literal>.confext.raw</literal>) that are
670 placed next to the unified kernel image (as described above) are copied into the
671 <filename>/.extra/confext/</filename> directory in the initrd execution environment.</para>
673 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v255"/></listitem>
677 <term><filename>/.extra/tpm2-pcr-signature.json</filename></term>
678 <listitem><para>The TPM2 PCR signature JSON object included in the <literal>.pcrsig</literal> PE
679 section of the unified kernel image is copied into the
680 <filename>/.extra/tpm2-pcr-signature.json</filename> file in the initrd execution environment.</para>
682 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v252"/></listitem>
686 <term><filename>/.extra/tpm2-pcr-public-key.pem</filename></term>
687 <listitem><para>The PEM public key included in the <literal>.pcrpkey</literal> PE section of the
688 unified kernel image is copied into the <filename>/.extra/tpm2-pcr-public-key.pem</filename> file in
689 the initrd execution environment.</para>
691 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v252"/></listitem>
695 <term><filename>/.extra/profile</filename></term>
696 <term><filename>/.extra/os-release</filename></term>
697 <listitem><para>The contents of the <literal>.profile</literal> and <literal>.osrel</literal>
698 sections of the selected profile, if any.</para>
700 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v257"/></listitem>
704 <para>Note that all these files are located in the <literal>tmpfs</literal> file system the kernel sets
705 up for the initrd file hierarchy and are thus lost when the system transitions from the initrd execution
706 environment into the host file system. If these resources shall be kept around over this transition they
707 need to be copied to a place that survives the transition first, for example via a suitable
708 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>tmpfiles.d</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> line. By
709 default, this is done for the TPM2 PCR signature and public key files.</para>
713 <title>SMBIOS Type 11 Strings</title>
715 <para><command>systemd-stub</command> can be configured using SMBIOS Type 11 strings. Applicable strings
716 consist of a name, followed by <literal>=</literal>, followed by the value. Unless
717 <command>systemd-stub</command> detects it is running inside a confidential computing environment,
718 <command>systemd-stub</command> will search the table for a string with a specific name, and if found,
719 use its value. The following strings are read:</para>
723 <term><varname>io.systemd.stub.kernel-cmdline-extra</varname></term>
724 <listitem><para>If set, the value of this string is added to the list of kernel command line
725 arguments that are measured in PCR12 and passed to the kernel.</para>
727 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v254"/></listitem>
733 <title>Assembling Kernel Images</title>
735 <para>In order to assemble a bootable Unified Kernel Image from various components as described above, use
736 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>ukify</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
740 <title>See Also</title>
741 <para><simplelist type="inline">
742 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-boot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
743 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
744 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-creds</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
745 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-sysext</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
746 <member><ulink url="https://uapi-group.org/specifications/specs/boot_loader_specification">Boot Loader Specification</ulink></member>
747 <member><ulink url="https://systemd.io/BOOT_LOADER_INTERFACE">Boot Loader Interface</ulink></member>
748 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>ukify</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
749 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-measure</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
750 <member><ulink url="https://systemd.io/TPM2_PCR_MEASUREMENTS">TPM2 PCR Measurements Made by systemd</ulink></member>