BOOTPARAMD(8)

📦 version 0.17, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

okay so bestie, welcome to the manual page for BOOTPARAMD(8) — straight out of the System Manager's Manual, section 8, and yes it's iconic 💅

💫 NAME 💫

bootparamd — boot parameter server 🌸

🌟 SYNOPSIS 🌟

rpc.bootparamd [-d] [-s] [-r router] [-f file]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Okay so, bootparamd is a server process — a lil guy that just sits there and hands out information to diskless clients, the stuff they need to actually boot. That's the whole job. 👑

And where does it get that info? It consults the /etc/bootparams file. that's the source of truth, periodt.

Now here's the part that's genuinely kinda slay: this version lets you use aliases on the hostname inside /etc/bootparams. So when the booting client does its whoami request, the hostname it gets back is the name that shows up in /etc/bootparams — not the canonical name. Which is lowkey genius, because it means you can keep the answer short enough that machines which can't handle long hostnames won't just faceplant during boot. 😭💖

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -d — display debugging information. all the tea, right there on your screen 🫖
  • -s — log the debugging information to syslog instead.
  • -r router — the default router, and it can be a machine or an IP-address. If you don't say anything, it defaults to the machine running the server. no cap 🏠
  • -f file — the file to use as the boot parameter file instead of /etc/bootparams. choose your own adventure, bestie 📂

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • /etc/bootparams

💀 BUGS 💀

ngl, you may find the syslog loggings too verbose. it's giving chatterbox, fr fr 🙈

🌈 AUTHOR 🌈

Written by Klas Heggemann <klas@nada.kth.se> — king behavior, honestly 👑

and that's a wrap, bestie! this whole page is from Linux NetKit (0.17) and it's dated November 8, 1989 — yeah she's an elder but she ATE. go boot something diskless, ily 🫶✨💖

📦 where this page comes from