# Automatic Boot Assessment
systemd provides support for automatically reverting back to the previous
-version of the OS or kernel in case the system consistently fails to boot. This
-support is built into various of its components. When used together these
-components provide a complete solution on UEFI systems, built as add-on to the
-[Boot Loader Specification](BOOT_LOADER_SPECIFICATION.md).
-However, the different components may also be used independently, and in
-combination with other software, to implement similar schemes, for example with
-other boot loaders or for non-UEFI systems. Here's a brief overview of the
-complete set of components:
+version of the OS or kernel in case the system consistently fails to boot. The
+[Boot Loader Specification](BOOT_LOADER_SPECIFICATION.md#boot-counting)
+describes how to annotate boot loader entries with a counter that specifies how
+many attempts should be made to boot it. This document describes how systemd
+implements this scheme.
+
+The many different components involved in the implementation may be used
+independently and in combination with other software to for example support
+other boot loaders or take actions outside of the boot loader.
+
+Here's a brief overview of the complete set of components:
* The
[`systemd-boot(7)`](https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd-boot.html)
## Details
-The boot counting data `systemd-boot` and `systemd-bless-boot.service`
-manage is stored in the name of the boot loader entries. If a boot loader entry
-file name contains `+` followed by one or two numbers (if two numbers, then
-those need to be separated by `-`) right before the `.conf` suffix, then boot
-counting is enabled for it. The first number is the "tries left" counter
-encoding how many attempts to boot this entry shall still be made. The second
-number is the "tries done" counter, encoding how many failed attempts to boot
-it have already been made. Each time a boot loader entry marked this way is
-booted the first counter is decreased by one, and the second one increased by
-one. (If the second counter is missing, then it is assumed to be equivalent to
-zero.) If the "tries left" counter is above zero the entry is still considered
-for booting (the entry's state is considered to be "indeterminate"), as soon as
-it reached zero the entry is not tried anymore (entry state "bad"). If the boot
-attempt completed successfully the entry's counters are removed from the name
-(entry state "good"), thus turning off boot counting for the future.
+As described in [Boot Loader Specification](BOOT_LOADER_SPECIFICATION.md#boot-counting),
+the boot counting data is stored in the file name of the boot loader entries as
+a plus (`+`), followed by a number, optionally followed by `-` and another
+number, right before the file name suffix (`.conf` or `.efi`).
+
+The first number is the "tries left" counter encoding how many attempts to boot
+this entry shall still be made. The second number is the "tries done" counter,
+encoding how many failed attempts to boot it have already been made. Each time
+a boot loader entry marked this way is booted the first counter is decremented,
+and the second one incremented. (If the second counter is missing, then it is
+assumed to be equivalent to zero.) If the boot attempt completed successfully
+the entry's counters are removed from the name (entry state "good"), thus
+turning off boot counting for the future.
## Walkthrough
Here's an example walkthrough of how this all fits together.
-1. The user runs `echo 3 > /etc/kernel/tries` to enable boot counting.
+1. The user runs `echo 3 >/etc/kernel/tries` to enable boot counting.
2. A new kernel is installed. `kernel-install` is used to generate a new boot
loader entry file for it. Let's say the version string for the new kernel is
`4.14.11-300.fc27.x86_64`, a new boot loader entry
`/boot/loader/entries/4.14.11-300.fc27.x86_64+3.conf` is hence created.
-3. The system is booted for the first time after the new kernel is
+3. The system is booted for the first time after the new kernel has been
installed. The boot loader now sees the `+3` counter in the entry file
name. It hence renames the file to `4.14.11-300.fc27.x86_64+2-1.conf`
- indicating that at this point one attempt has started and thus only one less
- is left. After the rename completed the entry is booted as usual.
+ indicating that at this point one attempt has started.
+ After the rename completed, the entry is booted as usual.
4. Let's say this attempt to boot fails. On the following boot the boot loader
will hence see the `+2-1` tag in the name, and hence rename the entry file to
see the `+1-2` tag, and rename the file to
`4.14.11-300.fc27.x86_64+0-3.conf` and boot it.
-6. If this boot also fails, on the next boot the boot loader will see the
- tag `+0-3`, i.e. the counter reached zero. At this point the entry will be
- considered "bad", and ordered to the beginning of the list of entries. The
- next newest boot entry is now tried, i.e. the system automatically reverted
- back to an earlier version.
+6. If this boot also fails, on the next boot the boot loader will see the tag
+ `+0-3`, i.e. the counter reached zero. At this point the entry will be
+ considered "bad", and ordered after all non-bad entries. The next newest
+ boot entry is now tried, i.e. the system automatically reverted to an
+ earlier version.
The above describes the walkthrough when the selected boot entry continuously
fails. Let's have a look at an alternative ending to this walkthrough. In this
renames it dropping the counter tag. Thus
`4.14.11-300.fc27.x86_64+1-2.conf` is renamed to
`4.14.11-300.fc27.x86_64.conf`. From this moment boot counting is turned
- off.
+ off for this entry.
12. On the following boot (and all subsequent boots after that) the entry is
now seen with boot counting turned off, no further renaming takes place.
1. To support alternative boot loaders in place of `systemd-boot` two scenarios
are recommended:
- a. Boot loaders already implementing the Boot Loader Specification can simply
- implement an equivalent file rename based logic, and thus integrate fully
- with the rest of the stack.
+ a. Boot loaders already implementing the Boot Loader Specification can
+ simply implement the same rename logic, and thus integrate fully with
+ the rest of the stack.
b. Boot loaders that want to implement boot counting and store the counters
elsewhere can provide their own replacements for
## FAQ
-1. *Why do you use file renames to store the counter? Why not a regular file?*
- — Mainly two reasons: it's relatively likely that renames can be implemented
- atomically even in simpler file systems, while writing to file contents has
- a much bigger chance to be result in incomplete or corrupt data, as renaming
- generally avoids allocating or releasing data blocks. Moreover it has the
- benefit that the boot count metadata is directly attached to the boot loader
- entry file, and thus the lifecycle of the metadata and the entry itself are
- bound together. This means no additional clean-up needs to take place to
- drop the boot loader counting information for an entry when it is removed.
-
-2. *Why not use EFI variables for storing the boot counter?* — The memory chips
- used to back the persistent EFI variables are generally not of the highest
- quality, hence shouldn't be written to more than necessary. This means we
- can't really use it for changes made regularly during boot, but can use it
- only for seldom made configuration changes.
-
-3. *I have a service which — when it fails — should immediately cause a
- reboot. How does that fit in with the above?* — Well, that's orthogonal to
+1. *I have a service which — when it fails — should immediately cause a
+ reboot. How does that fit in with the above?* — That's orthogonal to
the above, please use `FailureAction=` in the unit file for this.
-4. *Under some condition I want to mark the current boot loader entry as bad
+2. *Under some condition I want to mark the current boot loader entry as bad
right-away, so that it never is tried again, how do I do that?* — You may
invoke `/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-bless-boot bad` at any time to mark the
current boot loader entry as "bad" right-away so that it isn't tried again
directory in it. It then installs an appropriate boot loader that can read
these snippets. Finally, it installs one or more kernel packages.
+## Boot counting
+
+The main idea is that when boot entries are initially installed, they are
+marked as "indeterminate" and assigned a number of boot attempts. Each time the
+boot loader tries to boot an entry, it decreases this count by one. If the
+operating system considers the boot as successful, it removes the counter
+altogether and the entry becomes "good". Otherwise, once the assigned number of
+boots is exhausted, the entry is marked as "bad".
+
+Which boots are "successful" is determined by the operating system. systemd
+provides a generic mechanism that can be extended with arbitrary checks and
+actions, see [Automatic Boot Assesment](AUTOMATIC_BOOT_ASSESSMENT.md), but the
+boot counting mechanism described in this specifaction can also be used with
+other implementations.
+
+The boot counting data is stored in the name of the boot loader entry. A boot
+loader entry file name may contain a plus (`+`) followed by a number. This may
+optionally be followed by a minus (`-`) followed by a second number. The dot
+(`.`) and file name suffix (`conf` of `efi`) must immediately follow. Boot
+counting is enabled for entries which match this pattern.
+
+The first number is the "tries left" counter signifying how many attempts to boot
+this entry shall still be made. The second number is the "tries done" counter,
+showing how many failed attempts to boot it have already been made. Each time
+a boot loader entry marked this way is booted, the first counter is decremented,
+and the second one incremented. (If the second counter is missing,
+then it is assumed to be equivalent to zero.) If the "tries left" counter is
+above zero the entry is still considered "indeterminate". A boot entry with the
+"tries left" counter at zero is considered "bad".
+
+If the boot attempt completed successfully the entry's counters are removed
+from the name (entry state becomes "good"), thus turning off boot counting for
+this entry.
+
## Sorting
The boot loader menu should generally show entries in some order meaningful to
the user. The `title` key is free-form and not suitable to be used as the
primary sorting key. Instead, the boot loader should use the following rules:
-if `sort-key` is set on both entries, use in order of priority,
-the `sort-key` (A-Z, increasing [alphanumerical order](#alphanumerical-order)),
-`machine-id` (A-Z, increasing alphanumerical order),
-and `version` keys (decreasing [version order](#version-order)).
-If `sort-key` is set on one entry, it sorts earlier.
-At the end, if necessary, when `sort-key` is not set or those fields are not
-set or are all equal, the boot loader should sort using the file name of the
-entry (decreasing version sort), with the suffix removed.
+
+1. Entries which are subject to boot counting and are marked as "bad", should
+ be sorted later than all other entries. Entries which are marked as
+ "indeterminate" or "good" (or were not subject to boot counting at all),
+ are thus sorted earlier.
+
+2. If `sort-key` is set on both entries, use in order of priority,
+ the `sort-key` (A-Z, increasing [alphanumerical order](#alphanumerical-order)),
+ `machine-id` (A-Z, increasing alphanumerical order),
+ and `version` keys (decreasing [version order](#version-order)).
+
+3. If `sort-key` is set on one entry, it sorts earlier.
+
+4. At the end, if necessary, when `sort-key` is not set or those fields are not
+ set or are all equal, the boot loader should sort using the file name of the
+ entry (decreasing version sort), with the suffix removed.
**Note:** _This description assumes that the boot loader shows entries in a
traditional menu, with newest and "best" entries at the top, thus entries with
a higher version number are sorter *earlier*. The boot loader is free to
use a different direction (or none at all) during display._
+**Note:** _The boot loader should allow booting "bad" entries, e.g. in case no
+other entries are left or they are unusable for other reasons. It may
+deemphasize or hide such entries by default._
+
+**Note:** _"Bad" boot entries have a suffix of "+0-`n`", where `n` is the
+number of failed boot attempts. Removal of the suffix is not necessary for
+comparisons described by the last point above. In the unlikely scenario that we
+have multiple such boot entries that differ only by the boot counting data, we
+would sort them by `n`._
+
### Alphanumerical order
Free-form strings and machine IDs should be compared using a method equivalent
same installation, we want to display the latest kernel with highest priority,
i.e. earlier in the list.
+### Why do you use file renames to store the counter? Why not a regular file?
+
+Mainly two reasons: it's relatively likely that renames can be implemented
+atomically even in simpler file systems, as renaming generally avoids
+allocating or releasing data blocks. Writing to file contents has a much bigger
+chance to be result in incomplete or corrupt data. Moreover renaming has the
+benefit that the boot count metadata is directly attached to the boot loader
+entry file, and thus the lifecycle of the metadata and the entry itself are
+bound together. This means no additional clean-up needs to take place to drop
+the boot loader counting information for an entry when it is removed.
+
+### Why not use EFI variables for storing the boot counter?
+
+The memory chips used to back the persistent EFI variables are generally not of
+the highest quality, hence shouldn't be written to more than necessary. This
+means we can't really use it for changes made regularly during boot, but should
+use it only for seldom-made configuration changes.
+
### Out of Focus
There are a couple of items that are out of focus for this specification:
projects / thirdparty / systemd.git / commitdiff
