Linux efibootmgr Guide - ryzendew/Linux-Tips-and-Tricks GitHub Wiki

Linux efibootmgr Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to efibootmgr on Linux, covering Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions including EFI boot entry management, UEFI boot configuration, and boot order control.

Table of Contents

  1. efibootmgr Installation
  2. efibootmgr Basics
  3. Boot Entry Management
  4. Boot Order
  5. Troubleshooting

efibootmgr Installation

Install efibootmgr

Arch/CachyOS:

# Install efibootmgr
sudo pacman -S efibootmgr

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt install efibootmgr

Fedora:

sudo dnf install efibootmgr

efibootmgr Basics

List Boot Entries

Basic usage:

# List EFI boot entries
efibootmgr

# Shows all boot entries

Verbose Output

Detailed info:

# Verbose output
efibootmgr -v

# -v = verbose (detailed information)

Boot Entry Management

Create Boot Entry

Add entry:

# Create boot entry
sudo efibootmgr -c -d /dev/sda -p 1 -L "Arch Linux" -l '\EFI\arch\vmlinuz-linux' -u 'root=PARTUUID=xxxx rw initrd=\EFI\arch\initramfs-linux.img'

# -c = create
# -d = disk
# -p = partition
# -L = label
# -l = loader
# -u = unicode args

Delete Entry

Remove entry:

# Delete boot entry
sudo efibootmgr -b 0000 -B

# -b = boot number
# -B = delete

Boot Order

Set Boot Order

Change order:

# Set boot order
sudo efibootmgr -o 0000,0001,0002

# -o = order (sets boot order)

Next Boot

Boot once:

# Boot from entry once
sudo efibootmgr -n 0000

# -n = next (boots from entry once)

Troubleshooting

efibootmgr Not Found

Check installation:

# Check efibootmgr
which efibootmgr

# Install if missing
sudo pacman -S efibootmgr

Summary

This guide covered efibootmgr usage, EFI boot entry management, and boot order control for Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions.

Next Steps

This guide covers Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other Linux distributions. For distribution-specific details, refer to your distribution's documentation.