Systemd-boot

systemd-boot is an alternative to other bootloaders such as GRUB.

Configuration

Customizing entries

The entries in the bootloader are automatically generated using sdboot-manage. The generated entries can be customized by editing /etc/sdboot-manage.conf.

Expand/etc/sdboot-manage.conf

/etc/sdboot-manage.conf

# config file for sdboot-manage

# kernel options to be appended to the "options" line
#LINUX_OPTIONS=""
#LINUX_FALLBACK_OPTIONS=""

# when LINUX_USE_DEVICE_FOR_RESUME is set to "yes", the specified device will be used for hibernation
#LINUX_USE_DEVICE_FOR_RESUME=/dev/sda4
#LINUX_USE_DEVICE_FOR_RESUME=UUID=device_uuid

# when LINUX_USE_SWAP_FOR_RESUME is set to "yes", the first detected available swap device will be used for hibernation
# i.e. the "resume=UUID=swap_device" parameter would be appended to the kernel command line
#LINUX_USE_SWAP_FOR_RESUME="no"

# the DEFAULT_ENTRY option determines if and how the default entry in loader.conf should be managed
#   "latest"    The most recent Manjaro kernel will be used(the one with the highest version number)
#   "oldest"    The oldest Manjaro kernel will be used(the one with the lowest version number)
#   "manual"    Don't modify the default setting
#DEFAULT_ENTRY="latest"

# ENTRY_ROOT is a template that describes the beginning of the name for system-boot entries
# The ENTRY_ROOT will be followed by the kernel version number
# For example, if ENTRY_ROOT="manjaro" and you are using kernel 4.19 your entry will be named "manjaro4.19.conf"
#ENTRY_ROOT="manjarolinux"

# ENTRY_TITLE is a template that describes the beginning of the title of (i.e. the text displayed in the loader screen for) systemd-boot entries
# For example, if ENTRY_TITLE="Manjaro" and you are using kernel 4.19, the title of your entry will be "Manjaro Linux 4.19"
#ENTRY_TITLE="Manjaro Linux"

# when ENTRY_APPEND_KVER is set to "yes", the kernel version number will be appended to both the filename and the title of systemd-boot entries
#ENTRY_APPEND_KVER="yes"

# Use this pattern to match kernels which should be considered native OS kernels
#KERNEL_PATTERN="vmlinuz-[0-9]*-*" \

# setting REMOVE_EXISTING to "yes" will remove all your existing systemd-boot entries before building new entries
#REMOVE_EXISTING="yes"

# unless OVERWRITE_EXISTING is set to "yes" existing entries for currently installed kernels will not be touched
# this setting has no meaning if REMOVE_EXISTING is set to "yes"
#OVERWRITE_EXISTING="no"

# when REMOVE_OBSOLETE is set to "yes" entries for kernels no longer available on the system will be removed
#REMOVE_OBSOLETE="yes"

# if PRESERVE_FOREIGN is set to "yes", do not delete entries starting with $ENTRY_ROOT
#PRESERVE_FOREIGN="no"

# setting NO_AUTOUPDATE to "yes" will stop the updates to systemd-boot when systemd is updated - not recommended unless you are seperately updating systemd-boot
#NO_AUTOUPDATE="no"

# setting NO_AUTOGEN to "yes" will stop the automatic creation of entries when kernels are installed or updated
#NO_AUTOGEN="no"

# add discard option to cryptdevice parameters
#DISCARD="no"

# add discard option to boot parameters for filesystems (rootflags=discard) for continuous TRIM 
# see: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Solid_state_drive#Continuous_TRIM
#CDISCARD="no"

After changing this file, the existing entries need to be regenerated.

user $ sudo sdboot-manage gen COPY TO CLIPBOARD

Setting up Plymouth splash screen

After installing Plymouth the kernel bootline needs to be adjusted. This can be done by editing /etc/sdboot-manage.conf as follows:

Find the line

#LINUX_OPTIONS=""

and replace it with

LINUX_OPTIONS="quiet splash loglevel=3 rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0"

Further configuration

For further configuration such as custom entries, refer to ArchWiki.

See Also

systemd-boot on ArchWiki For a more complete article about systemd-boot.

dalto.8/systemd-boot-manager on GitLab For the automatic generators source code.

man systemd-boot.7 The man-page for systemd-boot.