Can kernel update keep add'l boot listings in boot menu?

English Install/Boot/Login
1

I tried and failed to get my latest kernel update to automatically add extra listings to the boot menu along with the new kernel listings.

I would like to always have a GUI login, CLI login, and failsafe entry available from the boot menu. The computer boots to GUI by default (set in /etc/sysconfig, IIRC), but I manually added a CLI entry to the GRUB boot menu (/boot/grub/menu.lst), and watched it disappear on a kernel update. So this time when I saw a kernel update available, I thought I’d try to get it to automatically add a CLI entry. There is some information in a file–/boot/boot.readme–that mentioned bootloader settings maintained in another file–/etc/sysconfig/bootloader. So, I opened up /etc/sysconfig/bootloader. It lists Default, Failsafe, and Xen headings, and their special boot options. I don’t use Xen, and probably don’t have it installed, as it never appears in the boot menu. However, the format for automatically adding custom headings to the boot menu seemed to be:

HEADING_APPEND="[boot options]"
HEADING_VGA="[vga mode]"

So, I added:
CLI1024_APPEND=“3”
CLI1024_VGA=“773”

Then, performed updates which included the kernel. Upon reboot, the new kernel was in place and bootable from GRUB’s boot menu, but my extra CLI listing was missing again.

Any suggestions on what more I can do for this?

2

I am not usre if thhis works, but when you add the extra entry using YaST > System > Bootloader, the system may recocnise it as an “official” entry and not remove it on changing to the new kernel.

3

Okay, did that. Made sure that the titles match exactly the “headings” created in the file /etc/sysconfig/bootloader.

Now, I just need another kernel update to test it with :wink:

4

A kernel update is not something that happens daily, except when you go for the bleeding edge, just to test this. But for a stable system: wait and see :slight_smile:

5

Kernel update came up, finally. Custom entries weren’t preserved in /boot/grub/menu.lst

6

silentstone wrote:
> Kernel update came up, finally. Custom entries weren’t preserved in
> /boot/grub/menu.lst

If not, that is a regression/bug. They were/are in 11.1.

7

Mm, the /etc/sysconfig/bootloader file’s value for “DEFAULT_NAME” doesn’t match what’s in GRUB’s boot menu, either. GRUB properly points to and specifies the new kernel version (2.6.27.25-blahblah), but /etc/sysconfig/bootloader shows the old kernel (2.6.27.23-blahblah).