installboot(8) on Solnix vs Linux and the BSDs
On Solnix, installboot is the illumos /usr/sbin/installboot. It writes ZFS-oriented boot loaders (SPARC bootblk, or x86 stage1/stage2) to a raw device in the boot pool. The OpenBSD and NetBSD tools take the disk or filesystem first and use different flags, and several single-letter options mean different things.
The manual pages
- Solnix: installboot(8) from
pkgs.solnix.illumos-world-man· illumos.org - OpenBSD: installboot(8) 8.0
- NetBSD: installboot(8) 11.0
What Solnix runs
A default Solnix system runs the illumos installboot at /usr/sbin/installboot. No other variants are shipped. The page's INTERFACE STABILITY is Uncommitted. The bundle contains no Linux counterpart page, so no Linux comparison is made.
Differences
| Compared with | Topic | What differs |
|---|---|---|
| OpenBSD, NetBSD | operand order and target | Solnix puts the loader files first and the raw-device last: [stage1 stage2] raw-device. It must be a readable and writable character device in the boot pool. OpenBSD takes disk first, then stage1 and stage2. NetBSD takes filesystem, then primary and secondary. Source: Solnix installboot(8) SYNOPSIS, Operands (raw-device); OpenBSD installboot(8) SYNOPSIS (disk); NetBSD installboot(8) SYNOPSIS (filesystem primary [secondary]) |
| OpenBSD, NetBSD | -c meaning | Solnix has no -c. On OpenBSD, -c sets the machine to boot from the given disk by default (amd64/arm64 with UEFI and GPT only). On NetBSD, -c clears (removes) an existing bootstrap.Source: Solnix installboot(8) SYNOPSIS; OpenBSD installboot(8) -c; NetBSD installboot(8) -c |
| NetBSD | -e meaning | Solnix -e prints the installed boot loader's version string without description. NetBSD -e edits the options of an existing bootstrap (amd64, i386). With -v and no -o, it shows the current options, not a version.Source: Solnix installboot(8) -e; NetBSD installboot(8) -e |
| OpenBSD, NetBSD | -f meaning | Solnix -f suppresses the prompt when overwriting the master boot sector on x86, and forces an update on SPARC. NetBSD -f makes installboot ignore some errors. OpenBSD has no -f.Source: Solnix installboot(8) -f; NetBSD installboot(8) -f; OpenBSD installboot(8) SYNOPSIS |
| NetBSD | -u meaning | Solnix -u verstr sets a custom version string on the boot loader. NetBSD -u takes U-Boot paths. OpenBSD has no -u.Source: Solnix installboot(8) -u; NetBSD installboot(8) SYNOPSIS (-u U-Boot-paths) |
| NetBSD | -m meaning | Solnix -m installs stage1 on the master boot sector interactively. It is required if the OS is on an extended FDISK or EFI/GPT partition. NetBSD -m machine sets the target machine type. OpenBSD has no -m.Source: Solnix installboot(8) -m; NetBSD installboot(8) -m machine |
| OpenBSD, NetBSD | -v and -V | Solnix has no -v. Its -V prints the installed version string with full description. OpenBSD and NetBSD -v increase verbosity.Source: Solnix installboot(8) -V; OpenBSD installboot(8) -v; NetBSD installboot(8) SYNOPSIS (-v) |
| OpenBSD, NetBSD | -F, filesystem type and -t | Solnix -F gives the file system type on SPARC (zfs, ufs or hsfs). On x86 it inhibits the version check and forces a loader update. NetBSD uses -t fstype for the file system type. OpenBSD has neither.Source: Solnix installboot(8) SYNOPSIS, -F; NetBSD installboot(8) SYNOPSIS (-t fstype) |
| OpenBSD, NetBSD | version query and mirroring | Solnix has -i (print the version from a device or file) and -M (mirror the loader from an installed partition to another raw device). The OpenBSD and NetBSD pages document neither.Source: Solnix installboot(8) SYNOPSIS, -i, -M; OpenBSD installboot(8) SYNOPSIS; NetBSD installboot(8) SYNOPSIS |
| OpenBSD, NetBSD | x86 loader and file system support | On Solnix x86 BIOS, stage2 is always installed to the ZFS pool boot area, so only ZFS boot is supported. A GPT boot partition is needed for UFS or PCFS. NetBSD installs a primary into the filesystem. Its secondary is an ordinary file copied into the root directory. Source: Solnix installboot(8) DESCRIPTION (stage2); NetBSD installboot(8) Traditional NetBSD boot |
| OpenBSD, NetBSD | UEFI | The Solnix page describes UEFI boot from /EFI/Boot on the ESP (bootx64.efi or bootia32.efi, copied from /boot/loader64.efi or /boot/loader32.efi). NetBSD says installboot is not needed for UEFI boot. OpenBSD -c sets the default boot disk on UEFI.Source: Solnix installboot(8) DESCRIPTION (x86 UEFI); NetBSD installboot(8) UEFI boot; OpenBSD installboot(8) -c |
| OpenBSD | -p and -r | OpenBSD -p creates a new filesystem on the partition reserved for the boot loader. -r root selects the root mount point to operate on (default /). Solnix has neither option.Source: OpenBSD installboot(8) -p, -r; Solnix installboot(8) SYNOPSIS |
Standards
- POSIX: installboot is not a POSIX.1-2024 utility.
- Solnix: Interface Stability: Uncommitted.
Writing portable scripts
- Do not share one installboot command line across systems. The operand order and the meaning of
-c,-e,-f,-mand-udiffer. Branch on the OS and keep a separate invocation for each. - Use
-nfirst on every system to do a dry run, since all three pages document it as writing nothing to disk.
Every difference here is taken from the manual pages linked above: Solnix's published page, Linux (man-pages and the GNU and util-linux manuals), FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD. Each row names its source. Where a manual is silent, this page is too. Compiled 2026-10-26. Found a mistake? Mail hackers@lists.solnix.io.