Appendix A. Upgrading Your Current System

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Note

The Label column lists what you must enter at the boot prompt, in non graphical boot loaders, in

order to boot the desired operating system.

Once you have loaded the GRUB boot screen, use the arrow keys to choose a boot label or type [e]

for edit. You will be presented with a list of items in the configuration file for the boot label you have

selected.

At the graphical LILO screen, press [Ctrl] [x] to exit to the boot: prompt. If you forget the boot labels

defined on your system, you can always press [Tab] at the prompt to display a list of defined boot

labels.

Boot loader passwords provide a security mechanism in an environment where physical access to your

server is available.

If you are installing a boot loader, you should create a password to protect your system. Without

a boot loader password, users with access to your system can pass options to the kernel which can

compromise your system security. With a boot loader password in place, the password must first be

entered in order to select any non standard boot options.

If you choose to use a boot loader password to enhance your system security, be sure to select the

checkbox labeled Use a boot loader password.

Once selected, enter a password and confirm it.

To configure more advance boot loader options, such as changing the drive order or passing options

to the kernel, be sure Configure advanced boot loader options is selected before clicking Next.

A.5.2. Advanced Boot Loader Configuration

Now that you have chosen which boot loader to install, you can also determine where you want the

boot loader to be installed. You may install the boot loader in one of two places:

The master boot record (MBR)

This is the recommended place to install a boot loader, unless the MBR already starts another

operating system loader, such as System Commander. The MBR is a special area on your hard

drive that is automatically loaded by your computer's BIOS, and is the earliest point at which the

boot loader can take control of the boot process. If you install it in the MBR, when your machine

boots, GRUB (or LILO) will present a boot prompt. You can then boot Red Hat Linux or any

other operating system that you have configured the boot loader to boot.

The first sector of your boot partition

This is recommended if you are already using another boot loader on your system. In this case,

your other boot loader will take control first. You can then configure that boot loader to start

GRUB (or LILO), which will then boot Red Hat Linux.