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 Screenshot of SYSLINUX | |
| Developer(s) | H. Peter Anvin |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 6.03 / October 6, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-10-06) |
| Preview release | 6.04-pre3 / February 7, 2019; 6 years ago (2019-02-07) |
| Repository | |
| Operating system | Linux |
| Type | Boot loader |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Website | www |
The Syslinux Project is a suite of five differentbootloaders for starting upLinux distributions on computers. It was primarily developed byH. Peter Anvin.
The Syslinux Project consists of five different bootloaders:
The project also includes two separate menu systems and a development environment for additional modules.
SYSLINUX was originally meant for rescuefloppy disks,live USBs, or other lightweight environments. ISOLINUX is meant forlive CDs and Linux installation CDs.
The SYSLINUX bootloader can be used to boot multiple distributions from a single source such as a USB stick.[2]
A minor complication is involved when booting fromcompact discs. TheEl Torito standard allows booting in two different modes:
To have this choice is sometimes useful, since ISOLINUX is vulnerable toBIOS bugs.[which?] For that reason, it is handy to be able to boot using SYSLINUX. This mostly affects computers built before about 1999, and, in fact, for modern computers the "no emulation" mode is generally the more reliable method. Since version 3.72 ISOLINUX supports the creation of so-called "hybrid ISO" images, that put both theEl Torito boot record of the compact discs and themaster boot record ofhard disks into an ISO image . This hybrid image could then be written to both a compact disc or a USB flash drive.[3]
PXELINUX is used in conjunction with aPXE-compliantROM on anetwork interface controller (NIC), which enables receiving abootstrap program over thelocal area network.[4] This bootstrap program loads and configures anoperating system kernel that puts the user in control of the computer.[5] Typically, PXELINUX is used for performing Linux installations from a central network server or for bootingdiskless workstations.
EXTLINUX is a general-purpose bootloader, similar toLILO orGRUB. Since Syslinux 4, EXTLINUX is capable of handlingBtrfs,FAT,NTFS,UFS/UFS2, andXFS filesystems.
SYSLINUX can be extended by COMBOOT modules written inC orassembly language. 32-bit modules typically use the.c32filename extension. Version 5 and later do not support 16-bit.com modules.[6]
Since the 3.74 release, the Syslinux project hosts the Hardware Detection Tool (HDT) project, licensed under the terms ofGNU GPL. This tool is a 32-bit module that displays low-level information for anyIA-32–compatible system. It provides both a command-line interface and a semi-graphical menu mode for browsing. HDT is also available as a bootable ISO and a 2.88 MB floppy disk image. The last update of HDT was in 2015; it has since been discontinued.[7]
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