[PATCH v2 3/3] docs: bootconfig: Add how to embed the bootconfig into kernel

Masami Hiramatsu
2022-03-14T09:09:10Z

Add a description how to embed the bootconfig file into kernel.

Signed-off-by: Masami Hiramatsu <mhiramat@kernel.org>
---
Changes in v3:
- Fix typos.
Changes in v2:
- Corrected the text accoding to Randy's suggestion.
- Do not reccomend to use relative path for CONFIG_EMBED_BOOT_CONFIG_FILE.
---
Documentation/admin-guide/bootconfig.rst | 30 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
1 file changed, 27 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/bootconfig.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/bootconfig.rst
index a1860fc0ca88..9028e0f1307b 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/bootconfig.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/bootconfig.rst
@@ -158,9 +158,15 @@ Each key-value pair is shown in each line with following style::
Boot Kernel With a Boot Config
==============================

-Since the boot configuration file is loaded with initrd, it will be added
-to the end of the initrd (initramfs) image file with padding, size,
-checksum and 12-byte magic word as below.
+There are two options to boot the kernel with bootconfig: attaching the
+bootconfig to the initrd image or embedding it in the kernel itself.
+
+Attaching a Boot Config to Initrd
+---------------------------------
+
+Since the boot configuration file is loaded with initrd by default,
+it will be added to the end of the initrd (initramfs) image file with
+padding, size, checksum and 12-byte magic word as below.

[initrd][bootconfig][padding][size(le32)][checksum(le32)][#BOOTCONFIG\n]

@@ -196,6 +202,24 @@ To remove the config from the image, you can use -d option as below::
Then add "bootconfig" on the normal kernel command line to tell the
kernel to look for the bootconfig at the end of the initrd file.

+Embedding a Boot Config into Kernel
+-----------------------------------
+
+If you can not use initrd, you can also embed the bootconfig file in the
+kernel by Kconfig options. In this case, you need to recompile the kernel
+with the following configs::
+
+ CONFIG_EMBED_BOOT_CONFIG=y
+ CONFIG_EMBED_BOOT_CONFIG_FILE="/PATH/TO/BOOTCONFIG/FILE"
+
+``CONFIG_EMBED_BOOT_CONFIG_FILE`` requires a correct absolute path to
+the bootconfig file. The kernel will embed it as the default bootconfig.
+
+Just as when attaching the bootconfig to the initrd, you need ``bootconfig``
+option on the kernel command line to enable the embedded bootconfig.
+
+Note that even if you set this option, you can override the embedded
+bootconfig by another bootconfig which attached to the initrd.

Kernel parameters via Boot Config
=================================