Is there a way to force CentOS to do a legacy-style boot install in the UEFI-style installer?

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I've got a strange situation at work, and I have about 700 systems that all are booting to EFI by default.

I have a PXE menu set up, and I can install CentOS - but the units need to swap to Legacy booting mode to continue in our process.

This presents a problem; once CentOS 7.4 is laid down in UEFI installer mode, it will not boot when the BIOS is swapped to Legacy mode.

How can I force CentOS 7.4, in an automated way, to do a Legacy-style bootloader install while running in UEFI mode?

asked Jan 13 at 2:56

Locane

1155

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

favorite

I've got a strange situation at work, and I have about 700 systems that all are booting to EFI by default.

I have a PXE menu set up, and I can install CentOS - but the units need to swap to Legacy booting mode to continue in our process.

This presents a problem; once CentOS 7.4 is laid down in UEFI installer mode, it will not boot when the BIOS is swapped to Legacy mode.

How can I force CentOS 7.4, in an automated way, to do a Legacy-style bootloader install while running in UEFI mode?

asked Jan 13 at 2:56

Locane

1155

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

favorite

I've got a strange situation at work, and I have about 700 systems that all are booting to EFI by default.

I have a PXE menu set up, and I can install CentOS - but the units need to swap to Legacy booting mode to continue in our process.

This presents a problem; once CentOS 7.4 is laid down in UEFI installer mode, it will not boot when the BIOS is swapped to Legacy mode.

How can I force CentOS 7.4, in an automated way, to do a Legacy-style bootloader install while running in UEFI mode?

asked Jan 13 at 2:56

Locane

1155

I've got a strange situation at work, and I have about 700 systems that all are booting to EFI by default.

I have a PXE menu set up, and I can install CentOS - but the units need to swap to Legacy booting mode to continue in our process.

This presents a problem; once CentOS 7.4 is laid down in UEFI installer mode, it will not boot when the BIOS is swapped to Legacy mode.

How can I force CentOS 7.4, in an automated way, to do a Legacy-style bootloader install while running in UEFI mode?

asked Jan 13 at 2:56

Locane

1155

asked Jan 13 at 2:56

Locane

1155

asked Jan 13 at 2:56

Locane

1155

asked Jan 13 at 2:56

Locane

1155

add a commentÂ |Â

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

up vote
2
down vote

accepted

Yes. You can set the platform using --target option with grub2-install as follows

grub2-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sdX

i386-pc option creates a legacy grub installation even in a UFI booted platform.

NOTE You must have a small 1Mb unformatted partition with bios-boot flag while installing legacy style grub with gpt partition table.

You must also have grub create a config file, and then because the installer is in EFI mode, you must replace instances of EFI keywords with Legacy ones. Here is an example using awk:

#EXAMPLE: Normal grub make config command
#grub2-mkconfig > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

#With awk statement to replace EFI keywords with legacy ones:
grub2-mkconfig |awk 'gsub("linuxefi /", "linux /");gsub("initrdefi /", "initrd /");print $0' > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

edited Jan 21 at 11:54

Jeff Schaller

31.8k848109

answered Jan 13 at 3:09

Abhik Bose

1,5341217

1

+1 without the bios-boot partition the grub installation will fail.
â€“Â GAD3R
Jan 13 at 16:38

I'm having a hell of a time getting this to work. The system reboots to a grub rescue prompt - grub2-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda also doesn't place a grub.cfg. When I make it manually, it makes it with EFI linux references.
â€“Â Locane
Jan 14 at 22:25

@Locane Use grub2-mkconfig and redirect the output into grub.cfg. It'll auto detect all installed OSs (including Windows, if any) and will generate grub.cfg for you.. grub2-install is not supposed to generate the configuration.
â€“Â Abhik Bose
Jan 15 at 0:08

Thanks @AbhikBose - I actually got that far (in my comment it says "when I make it manually") - it auto-detects EFI style installation, so the terms "linuxefi" and "initrdefi" replace "linux" and "initrd" respectively. I was able to get it to work by awking the output and just gusb()ing the terms; so linuxefi->linux and initrdefi->initrd.
â€“Â Locane
Jan 15 at 1:53

Can you edit your answer to include those two steps? "grub2-mkconfig > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg" and replace all instances of "linuxefi" with "linux" and "initrdefi" with "initrd"?
â€“Â Locane
Jan 15 at 1:55

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1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

up vote
2
down vote

accepted

Yes. You can set the platform using --target option with grub2-install as follows

grub2-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sdX

i386-pc option creates a legacy grub installation even in a UFI booted platform.

NOTE You must have a small 1Mb unformatted partition with bios-boot flag while installing legacy style grub with gpt partition table.

You must also have grub create a config file, and then because the installer is in EFI mode, you must replace instances of EFI keywords with Legacy ones. Here is an example using awk:

#EXAMPLE: Normal grub make config command
#grub2-mkconfig > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

#With awk statement to replace EFI keywords with legacy ones:
grub2-mkconfig |awk 'gsub("linuxefi /", "linux /");gsub("initrdefi /", "initrd /");print $0' > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

edited Jan 21 at 11:54

Jeff Schaller

31.8k848109

answered Jan 13 at 3:09

Abhik Bose

1,5341217

1

+1 without the bios-boot partition the grub installation will fail.
â€“Â GAD3R
Jan 13 at 16:38

I'm having a hell of a time getting this to work. The system reboots to a grub rescue prompt - grub2-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda also doesn't place a grub.cfg. When I make it manually, it makes it with EFI linux references.
â€“Â Locane
Jan 14 at 22:25

@Locane Use grub2-mkconfig and redirect the output into grub.cfg. It'll auto detect all installed OSs (including Windows, if any) and will generate grub.cfg for you.. grub2-install is not supposed to generate the configuration.
â€“Â Abhik Bose
Jan 15 at 0:08

Thanks @AbhikBose - I actually got that far (in my comment it says "when I make it manually") - it auto-detects EFI style installation, so the terms "linuxefi" and "initrdefi" replace "linux" and "initrd" respectively. I was able to get it to work by awking the output and just gusb()ing the terms; so linuxefi->linux and initrdefi->initrd.
â€“Â Locane
Jan 15 at 1:53

Can you edit your answer to include those two steps? "grub2-mkconfig > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg" and replace all instances of "linuxefi" with "linux" and "initrdefi" with "initrd"?
â€“Â Locane
Jan 15 at 1:55

Â |Â
show 1 more comment

up vote
2
down vote

accepted

Yes. You can set the platform using --target option with grub2-install as follows

grub2-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sdX

i386-pc option creates a legacy grub installation even in a UFI booted platform.

NOTE You must have a small 1Mb unformatted partition with bios-boot flag while installing legacy style grub with gpt partition table.

You must also have grub create a config file, and then because the installer is in EFI mode, you must replace instances of EFI keywords with Legacy ones. Here is an example using awk:

#EXAMPLE: Normal grub make config command
#grub2-mkconfig > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

#With awk statement to replace EFI keywords with legacy ones:
grub2-mkconfig |awk 'gsub("linuxefi /", "linux /");gsub("initrdefi /", "initrd /");print $0' > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

edited Jan 21 at 11:54

Jeff Schaller

31.8k848109

answered Jan 13 at 3:09

Abhik Bose

1,5341217

1

+1 without the bios-boot partition the grub installation will fail.
â€“Â GAD3R
Jan 13 at 16:38

I'm having a hell of a time getting this to work. The system reboots to a grub rescue prompt - grub2-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda also doesn't place a grub.cfg. When I make it manually, it makes it with EFI linux references.
â€“Â Locane
Jan 14 at 22:25

@Locane Use grub2-mkconfig and redirect the output into grub.cfg. It'll auto detect all installed OSs (including Windows, if any) and will generate grub.cfg for you.. grub2-install is not supposed to generate the configuration.
â€“Â Abhik Bose
Jan 15 at 0:08

Thanks @AbhikBose - I actually got that far (in my comment it says "when I make it manually") - it auto-detects EFI style installation, so the terms "linuxefi" and "initrdefi" replace "linux" and "initrd" respectively. I was able to get it to work by awking the output and just gusb()ing the terms; so linuxefi->linux and initrdefi->initrd.
â€“Â Locane
Jan 15 at 1:53

Can you edit your answer to include those two steps? "grub2-mkconfig > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg" and replace all instances of "linuxefi" with "linux" and "initrdefi" with "initrd"?
â€“Â Locane
Jan 15 at 1:55

Â |Â
show 1 more comment

up vote
2
down vote

accepted

Yes. You can set the platform using --target option with grub2-install as follows

grub2-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sdX

i386-pc option creates a legacy grub installation even in a UFI booted platform.

NOTE You must have a small 1Mb unformatted partition with bios-boot flag while installing legacy style grub with gpt partition table.

You must also have grub create a config file, and then because the installer is in EFI mode, you must replace instances of EFI keywords with Legacy ones. Here is an example using awk:

#EXAMPLE: Normal grub make config command
#grub2-mkconfig > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

#With awk statement to replace EFI keywords with legacy ones:
grub2-mkconfig |awk 'gsub("linuxefi /", "linux /");gsub("initrdefi /", "initrd /");print $0' > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

edited Jan 21 at 11:54

Jeff Schaller

31.8k848109

answered Jan 13 at 3:09

Abhik Bose

1,5341217

Yes. You can set the platform using --target option with grub2-install as follows

grub2-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sdX

i386-pc option creates a legacy grub installation even in a UFI booted platform.

NOTE You must have a small 1Mb unformatted partition with bios-boot flag while installing legacy style grub with gpt partition table.

You must also have grub create a config file, and then because the installer is in EFI mode, you must replace instances of EFI keywords with Legacy ones. Here is an example using awk:

#EXAMPLE: Normal grub make config command
#grub2-mkconfig > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

#With awk statement to replace EFI keywords with legacy ones:
grub2-mkconfig |awk 'gsub("linuxefi /", "linux /");gsub("initrdefi /", "initrd /");print $0' > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

edited Jan 21 at 11:54

Jeff Schaller

31.8k848109

answered Jan 13 at 3:09

Abhik Bose

1,5341217

edited Jan 21 at 11:54

Jeff Schaller

31.8k848109

edited Jan 21 at 11:54

Jeff Schaller

31.8k848109

edited Jan 21 at 11:54

Jeff Schaller

31.8k848109

answered Jan 13 at 3:09

Abhik Bose

1,5341217

answered Jan 13 at 3:09

Abhik Bose

1,5341217

answered Jan 13 at 3:09

Abhik Bose

1,5341217

1

+1 without the bios-boot partition the grub installation will fail.
â€“Â GAD3R
Jan 13 at 16:38

I'm having a hell of a time getting this to work. The system reboots to a grub rescue prompt - grub2-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda also doesn't place a grub.cfg. When I make it manually, it makes it with EFI linux references.
â€“Â Locane
Jan 14 at 22:25

@Locane Use grub2-mkconfig and redirect the output into grub.cfg. It'll auto detect all installed OSs (including Windows, if any) and will generate grub.cfg for you.. grub2-install is not supposed to generate the configuration.
â€“Â Abhik Bose
Jan 15 at 0:08

Thanks @AbhikBose - I actually got that far (in my comment it says "when I make it manually") - it auto-detects EFI style installation, so the terms "linuxefi" and "initrdefi" replace "linux" and "initrd" respectively. I was able to get it to work by awking the output and just gusb()ing the terms; so linuxefi->linux and initrdefi->initrd.
â€“Â Locane
Jan 15 at 1:53

Can you edit your answer to include those two steps? "grub2-mkconfig > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg" and replace all instances of "linuxefi" with "linux" and "initrdefi" with "initrd"?
â€“Â Locane
Jan 15 at 1:55

Â |Â
show 1 more comment

1

+1 without the bios-boot partition the grub installation will fail.
â€“Â GAD3R
Jan 13 at 16:38

I'm having a hell of a time getting this to work. The system reboots to a grub rescue prompt - grub2-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda also doesn't place a grub.cfg. When I make it manually, it makes it with EFI linux references.
â€“Â Locane
Jan 14 at 22:25

@Locane Use grub2-mkconfig and redirect the output into grub.cfg. It'll auto detect all installed OSs (including Windows, if any) and will generate grub.cfg for you.. grub2-install is not supposed to generate the configuration.
â€“Â Abhik Bose
Jan 15 at 0:08

Thanks @AbhikBose - I actually got that far (in my comment it says "when I make it manually") - it auto-detects EFI style installation, so the terms "linuxefi" and "initrdefi" replace "linux" and "initrd" respectively. I was able to get it to work by awking the output and just gusb()ing the terms; so linuxefi->linux and initrdefi->initrd.
â€“Â Locane
Jan 15 at 1:53

Can you edit your answer to include those two steps? "grub2-mkconfig > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg" and replace all instances of "linuxefi" with "linux" and "initrdefi" with "initrd"?
â€“Â Locane
Jan 15 at 1:55

+1 without the bios-boot partition the grub installation will fail.
â€“Â GAD3R
Jan 13 at 16:38

I'm having a hell of a time getting this to work. The system reboots to a grub rescue prompt - grub2-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda also doesn't place a grub.cfg. When I make it manually, it makes it with EFI linux references.
â€“Â Locane
Jan 14 at 22:25

@Locane Use grub2-mkconfig and redirect the output into grub.cfg. It'll auto detect all installed OSs (including Windows, if any) and will generate grub.cfg for you.. grub2-install is not supposed to generate the configuration.
â€“Â Abhik Bose
Jan 15 at 0:08

Thanks @AbhikBose - I actually got that far (in my comment it says "when I make it manually") - it auto-detects EFI style installation, so the terms "linuxefi" and "initrdefi" replace "linux" and "initrd" respectively. I was able to get it to work by awking the output and just gusb()ing the terms; so linuxefi->linux and initrdefi->initrd.
â€“Â Locane
Jan 15 at 1:53

Can you edit your answer to include those two steps? "grub2-mkconfig > /boot/grub2/grub.cfg" and replace all instances of "linuxefi" with "linux" and "initrdefi" with "initrd"?
â€“Â Locane
Jan 15 at 1:55

Â |Â
show 1 more comment

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