U-Boot

.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+

.. index::
   single: bootm (command)

bootm command
=============

Synopsis
--------

::

    bootm [fit_addr]#<conf>[#extra-conf]
    bootm [[fit_addr]:<os_subimg>] [[<fit_addr2>]:<rd_subimg2>] [[<fit_addr3>]:<fdt_subimg>]

    bootm <addr1> [[<addr2> [<addr3>]]    # Legacy boot

Description
-----------

The *bootm* command is used to boot an Operating System. It has a large number
of options depending on what needs to be booted.

Note that the second form supports the first and/or second arguments to be
omitted by using a hyphen '-' instead.

fit_addr / fit_addr2 / fit_addr3
    address of FIT to boot, defaults to CONFIG_SYS_LOAD_ADDR. See notes below.

conf
    configuration unit to boot (must be preceded by hash '#')

extra-conf
    extra configuration to boot. This is supported only for additional
    devicetree overlays to apply on the base device tree supplied by the first
    configuration unit.

os_subimg
    OS sub-image to boot (must be preceded by colon ':')

rd_subimg
    ramdisk sub-image to boot. Use a hyphen '-' if there is no ramdisk but an
    FDT is needed.

fdt_subimg
    FDT sub-image to boot

See below for legacy boot. Booting using :doc:`../fit/index` is recommended.

Note on current image address
-----------------------------

When bootm is called without arguments, the image at current image address is
booted. The current image address is the address set most recently by a load
command, etc, and is by default equal to CONFIG_SYS_LOAD_ADDR. For example,
consider the following commands::

    tftp 200000 /tftpboot/kernel
    bootm
    # Last command is equivalent to:
    # bootm 200000

As shown above, with FIT the address portion of any argument
can be omitted. If <addr3> is omitted, then it is assumed that image at
<addr2> should be used. Similarly, when <addr2> is omitted, it is assumed that
image at <addr1> should be used. If <addr1> is omitted, it is assumed that the
current image address is to be used. For example, consider the following
commands::

    tftp 200000 /tftpboot/uImage
    bootm :kernel-1
    # Last command is equivalent to:
    # bootm 200000:kernel-1

    tftp 200000 /tftpboot/uImage
    bootm 400000:kernel-1 :ramdisk-1
    # Last command is equivalent to:
    # bootm 400000:kernel-1 400000:ramdisk-1

    tftp 200000 /tftpboot/uImage
    bootm :kernel-1 400000:ramdisk-1 :fdt-1
    # Last command is equivalent to:
    # bootm 200000:kernel-1 400000:ramdisk-1 400000:fdt-1


Legacy boot
-----------

U-Boot supports a legacy image format, enabled by `CONFIG_LEGACY_IMAGE_FORMAT`.
This is not recommended as it is quite limited and insecure. Use
:doc:`../fit/index` instead. It is documented here for old boards which still
use it.

Arguments are:

addr1
    address of legacy image to boot. If the image includes a second component
    (ramdisk) it is used as well, unless the second parameter is hyphen '-'.

addr2
    address of legacy image to use as ramdisk

addr3
    address of legacy image to use as FDT


Example syntax
--------------

This section provides various examples of possible usage::

    1.  bootm       /* boot image at the current address, equivalent to 2,3,8 */

This is equivalent to cases 2, 3 or 8, depending on the type of image at
the current image address.

Boot method: see cases 2,3,8

Legacy uImage syntax
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

::

    2.  bootm <addr1>            /* single image at <addr1> */

Boot kernel image located at <addr1>.

Boot method: non-FDT

::

    3.  bootm <addr1>            /* multi-image at <addr1>  */

First and second components of the image at <addr1> are assumed to be a
kernel and a ramdisk, respectively. The kernel is booted with initrd loaded
with the ramdisk from the image.

Boot method: depends on the number of components at <addr1>, and on whether
U-Boot is compiled with OF support, which it should be.

    ==================== ======================== ========================
    Configuration        2 components             3 components
                         (kernel, initrd)         (kernel, initrd, fdt)
    ==================== ======================== ========================
    #ifdef CONFIG_OF_*                   non-FDT                     FDT
    #ifndef CONFIG_OF_*                  non-FDT                 non-FDT
    ==================== ======================== ========================

::

    4.  bootm <addr1> -            /* multi-image at <addr1>  */

Similar to case 3, but the kernel is booted without initrd.  Second
component of the multi-image is irrelevant (it can be a dummy, 1-byte file).

Boot method: see case 3

::

    5.  bootm <addr1> <addr2>        /* single image at <addr1> */

Boot kernel image located at <addr1> with initrd loaded with ramdisk
from the image at <addr2>.

Boot method: non-FDT

::

    6.  bootm <addr1> <addr2> <addr3>   /* single image at <addr1> */

<addr1> is the address of a kernel image, <addr2> is the address of a
ramdisk image, and <addr3> is the address of a FDT binary blob.  Kernel is
booted with initrd loaded with ramdisk from the image at <addr2>.

Boot method: FDT

::

    7.  bootm <addr1> -      <addr3>   /* single image at <addr1> */

<addr1> is the address of a kernel image and <addr3> is the address of
a FDT binary blob. Kernel is booted without initrd.

Boot method: FDT

FIT syntax
~~~~~~~~~~

::

    8.  bootm <addr1>

Image at <addr1> is assumed to contain a default configuration, which
is booted.

Boot method: FDT or non-FDT, depending on whether the default configuration
defines FDT

::

    9.  bootm [<addr1>]:<subimg1>

Similar to case 2: boot kernel stored in <subimg1> from the image at
address <addr1>.

Boot method: non-FDT

::

    10. bootm [<addr1>]#<conf>[#<extra-conf[#...]]

Boot configuration <conf> from the image at <addr1>.

Boot method: FDT or non-FDT, depending on whether the configuration given
defines FDT

::

    11. bootm [<addr1>]:<subimg1> [<addr2>]:<subimg2>

Equivalent to case 5: boot kernel stored in <subimg1> from the image
at <addr1> with initrd loaded with ramdisk <subimg2> from the image at
<addr2>.

Boot method: non-FDT

::

    12. bootm [<addr1>]:<subimg1> [<addr2>]:<subimg2> [<addr3>]:<subimg3>

Equivalent to case 6: boot kernel stored in <subimg1> from the image
at <addr1> with initrd loaded with ramdisk <subimg2> from the image at
<addr2>, and pass FDT blob <subimg3> from the image at <addr3>.

Boot method: FDT

::

    13. bootm [<addr1>]:<subimg1> [<addr2>]:<subimg2> <addr3>

Similar to case 12, the difference being that <addr3> is the address
of FDT binary blob that is to be passed to the kernel.

Boot method: FDT

::

    14. bootm [<addr1>]:<subimg1> -              [<addr3>]:<subimg3>

Equivalent to case 7: boot kernel stored in <subimg1> from the image
at <addr1>, without initrd, and pass FDT blob <subimg3> from the image at
<addr3>.

Boot method: FDT

    15. bootm [<addr1>]:<subimg1> -              <addr3>

Similar to case 14, the difference being that <addr3> is the address
of the FDT binary blob that is to be passed to the kernel.

Boot method: FDT



Example
-------

boot kernel "kernel-1" stored in a new uImage located at 200000::

    bootm 200000:kernel-1

boot configuration "cfg-1" from a new uImage located at 200000::

    bootm 200000#cfg-1

boot configuration "cfg-1" with extra "cfg-2" from a new uImage located
at 200000::

    bootm 200000#cfg-1#cfg-2

boot "kernel-1" from a new uImage at 200000 with initrd "ramdisk-2" found in
some other new uImage stored at address 800000::

    bootm 200000:kernel-1 800000:ramdisk-2

boot "kernel-2" from a new uImage at 200000, with initrd "ramdisk-1" and FDT
"fdt-1", both stored in some other new uImage located at 800000::

    bootm 200000:kernel-1 800000:ramdisk-1 800000:fdt-1

boot kernel "kernel-2" with initrd "ramdisk-2", both stored in a new uImage
at address 200000, with a raw FDT blob stored at address 600000::

    bootm 200000:kernel-2 200000:ramdisk-2 600000

boot kernel "kernel-2" from new uImage at 200000 with FDT "fdt-1" from the
same new uImage::

    bootm 200000:kernel-2 - 200000:fdt-1

.. sectionauthor:: Bartlomiej Sieka <tur@semihalf.com>
.. sectionauthor:: Simon Glass <sjg@chromium.org>