On 9/15/26 12:28 PM, David C Rankin wrote:
PS:
...;
I don't know, and was hoping the brain-trust here could help me decide between:1) mount ESP as /boot, 2) mount ESP as /efi, or 3) it doesn't really matter, pick one.Regardless, it's a good learning exercise in an area I have had little experience, but it's an area I'd like to get right, hopefully the first time :)My thought is to proceed with /efi from the EFI system partition suggestion unless there is a good reason to stick with /boot from the Installation guide page. Any thoughts appreciated.
Some comments on where to mount the ESP. Summary ------- ** mount ESP on /efi ** if you have a separate XBOOLDR partition then mount it on /boot.I did quite a lot of work researching these kind of questions and how to best install kernels while building my "sd-boot" tool (it is on AUR), and this suggestion stems from that effort.
In practice either is acceptable and either will work. My personal view is that it is better to keep /boot for XBOOTLDR partitions rather than having it be either ESP or XBOOTLDR.
In practice, for historical reasons, all my machines without an XBOOTLDR use /boot for the ESP mount. For those with an XBOOTLDR paritiotn I use /efi for ESP and /boot for XBOOTLDR. I see no reason to change any of these.
However, going forward, Any new installs I do will always mount the ESP on /efi - without regard to whether there is an XBOOTLDDR partition or not.
On a related note: - I strongly favor bootctl (over grub)- I also prefer UKI images (which contain both the kernel and the initrd).
UKI images (type #2 loader entry) do not need a separate loader entry file. When the initrd is a separate file (type #1) then a loader entry file is required to have it show in the boot menu.
UKI are also superior if using signed images. More Info --------- (a) the spec [1] is clear:- It is recommended to mount $BOOT (either XBOOTLDR or the ESP) to /boot/. If both XBOOTLDR and the ESP are present, the ESP should be mounted to /efi/.
(b) kernel-install (the modern and current way to install linux kernels) suggests:
- it is recommended to mount the ESP to /efi/, if possible.
(see man kernel-install)
(c) Arch RFC 66 boot chain discussion aligns with kernel-install in
recommending the ESP be mounted on /efi.
[1] https://uapi-group.org/specifications/specs/boot_loader_specification/ [2] https://uapi-group.org/specifications/specs/boot_loader_specification/ -- Gene
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