Add option to efibootmgr-kernel-hook to change bootorder

[jastintime]

It would be nice if there was an option in /etc/default/efibootmgr-kernel-hook to set the New EFI entry as the default boot option.

I've switched from grub to efiboot and this would match the current behavior of grub.

I could implement this and wanted to see if there is any interest in this aswell as any thoughts on the idea.

[classabbyamp]

does "new" mean the highest version, the most recently configured version, something else? it's not a trivial answer the way void packages kernels

[jastintime]

"new" means the most recently configured version. This option would be added to efibootmgr-kernel-hook meaning it gets ran whenever you install a new kernel.

If you have this option on and you install a new kernel, that one will be moved to the beginning of the EFI boot order.

[jastintime]

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/blob/master/srcpkgs/efibootmgr/files/efibootmgr-kernel-hook.confd would be added here.

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/tree/master/srcpkgs/efibootmgr/files README explains the current hooks and configuration options. It also notes that currently the bootorder is not modified.

#53001

found previous PR with similar idea

[classabbyamp]

"new" means the most recently configured version. This option would be added to efibootmgr-kernel-hook meaning it gets ran whenever you install a new kernel.

if linux6.18 installs a new version then linux6.12 installs a new version, you'd end up with 6.12 as default.

does this align with what you want?

[jastintime]

yes that aligns with what I want

[ahesford]

The efibootmgr hook is bad in general. Writing firmware options with every kernel configuration is far more dangerous than adjusting on-disk configurations for other bootloaders. I do not support adding options that make it thrash even more.

What the efibootmgr hook should do is just copy a kernel into a particular fixed location on the EFI system partition, and then users can manually add firmware options to boot that location. If that is done, we can consider additional smarts to move multiple kernel series around.

[jastintime]

@ahesford that makes sense.

I can write up a script that does that. Having a backup kernel is really nice so I think I'll implement it like the following

When you configure a new kernel

1. The old A kernel and initramfs are moved to initramfs-B.img and vmlinuz-B.efi
2. The new kernel and initramfs are copied to initramfs-A and vmlinuz-A.efi

Users can manually add a firmware option to boot Kernel A and Kernel B.

If this sounds good I'll write up the script as well as add a mention of this to the void documentation.

Thank you for the feedback.

[github-actions]

Issues become stale 90 days after last activity and are closed 14 days after that. If this issue is still relevant bump it or assign it.

[jastintime]

this issue can be assigned to me, I plan to get back to it.