{
    "mode": "man",
    "parameter": "BOOTCTL",
    "section": "1",
    "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/BOOTCTL/1/json",
    "generated": "2026-06-15T18:53:06Z",
    "synopsis": "bootctl [OPTIONS...] {COMMAND}",
    "sections": {
        "NAME": {
            "content": "bootctl - Control EFI firmware boot settings and manage boot loader\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SYNOPSIS": {
            "content": "bootctl [OPTIONS...] {COMMAND}\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "DESCRIPTION": {
            "content": "bootctl can check the EFI firmware and boot loader status, list and manage available boot\nloaders and boot loader entries, and install, update, or remove the systemd-boot(7) boot\nloader on the current system.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "GENERIC EFI FIRMWARE/BOOT LOADER COMMANDS": {
            "content": "These commands are available on any EFI system, regardless of the boot loader used.\n",
            "subsections": [
                {
                    "name": "status",
                    "content": "Shows brief information about the system firmware, the boot loader that was used to boot\nthe system, the boot loaders currently available in the ESP, the boot loaders listed in\nthe firmware's list of boot loaders and the current default boot loader entry. If no\ncommand is specified, this is the implied default.\n\nreboot-to-firmware [BOOL]\nQuery or set the \"Reboot-Into-Firmware-Setup\" flag of the EFI firmware. Takes a boolean\nargument which controls whether to show the firmware setup on next system reboot. If the\nargument is omitted shows the current status of the flag, or whether the flag is\nsupported. This controls the same flag as systemctl reboot --firmware-setup, but is more\nlow-level and allows setting the flag independently from actually requesting a reboot.\n\nsystemd-efi-options [STRING]\nWhen called without the optional argument, prints the current value of the\n\"SystemdOptions\" EFI variable. When called with an argument, sets the variable to that\nvalue. See systemd(1) for the meaning of that variable.\n"
                }
            ]
        },
        "BOOT LOADER SPECIFICATION COMMANDS": {
            "content": "These commands are available for all boot loaders that implement the Boot Loader\nSpecification[1] and/or the Boot Loader Interface[2], such as systemd-boot.\n",
            "subsections": [
                {
                    "name": "list",
                    "content": "Shows all available boot loader entries implementing the Boot Loader Specification[1], as\nwell as any other entries discovered or automatically generated by a boot loader\nimplementing the Boot Loader Interface[2].\n\nset-default ID, set-oneshot ID\nSets the default boot loader entry. Takes a single boot loader entry ID string as\nargument. The set-oneshot command will set the default entry only for the next boot, the\nset-default will set it persistently for all future boots.  Optionally, the boot loader\nentry ID may be specified as one of: @default, @oneshot or @current, which correspond to\nthe current default boot loader entry for all future boots, the current default boot\nloader entry for the next boot, and the currently booted boot loader entry. These special\nIDs are resolved to the current values of the EFI variables LoaderEntryDefault,\nLoaderEntryOneShot and LoaderEntrySelected, see Boot Loader Specification[1] for details.\nThese special IDs are primarily useful as a quick way to persistently make the currently\nbooted boot loader entry the default choice, or to upgrade the default boot loader entry\nfor the next boot to the default boot loader entry for all future boots, but may be used\nfor other operations too. When an empty string (\"\") is specified as an ID, then the\ncorresponding EFI variable will be unset.\n"
                }
            ]
        },
        "SYSTEMD-BOOT COMMANDS": {
            "content": "These commands manage the systemd-boot EFI boot loader, and do not work in conjunction with\nother boot loaders.\n",
            "subsections": [
                {
                    "name": "install",
                    "content": "Installs systemd-boot into the EFI system partition. A copy of systemd-boot will be\nstored as the EFI default/fallback loader at ESP/EFI/BOOT/BOOT*.EFI. The boot loader is\nthen added to the top of the firmware's boot loader list.\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "update",
                    "content": "Updates all installed versions of systemd-boot(7), if the available version is newer than\nthe version installed in the EFI system partition. This also includes the EFI\ndefault/fallback loader at ESP/EFI/BOOT/BOOT*.EFI. The boot loader is then added to end\nof the firmware's boot loader list if missing.\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "remove",
                    "content": "Removes all installed versions of systemd-boot from the EFI system partition and the\nfirmware's boot loader list.\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "is-installed",
                    "content": "Checks whether systemd-boot is installed in the ESP. Note that a single ESP might host\nmultiple boot loaders; this hence checks whether systemd-boot is one (of possibly many)\ninstalled boot loaders — and neither whether it is the default nor whether it is\nregistered in any EFI variables.\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "random-seed",
                    "content": "Generates a random seed and stores it in the EFI System Partition, for use by the\nsystemd-boot boot loader. Also, generates a random 'system token' and stores it\npersistently as an EFI variable, if one has not been set before. If the boot loader finds\nthe random seed in the ESP and the system token in the EFI variable it will derive a\nrandom seed to pass to the OS and a new seed to store in the ESP from the combination of\nboth. The random seed passed to the OS is credited to the kernel's entropy pool by the\nsystem manager during early boot, and permits userspace to boot up with an entropy pool\nfully initialized very early on. Also see systemd-boot-system-token.service(8).\n\nSee Random Seeds[3] for further information.\n"
                }
            ]
        },
        "OPTIONS": {
            "content": "The following options are understood:\n",
            "subsections": [
                {
                    "name": "--esp-path=",
                    "content": "Path to the EFI System Partition (ESP). If not specified, /efi/, /boot/, and /boot/efi/\nare checked in turn. It is recommended to mount the ESP to /efi/, if possible.\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--boot-path=",
                    "content": "Path to the Extended Boot Loader partition, as defined in the Boot Loader\nSpecification[1]. If not specified, /boot/ is checked. It is recommended to mount the\nExtended Boot Loader partition to /boot/, if possible.\n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-p --print-esp-path",
                    "content": "This option modifies the behaviour of status. Only prints the path to the EFI System\nPartition (ESP) to standard output and exits.\n",
                    "flag": "-p",
                    "long": "--print-esp-path"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-x --print-boot-path",
                    "content": "This option modifies the behaviour of status. Only prints the path to the Extended Boot\nLoader partition if it exists, and the path to the ESP otherwise to standard output and\nexit. This command is useful to determine where to place boot loader entries, as they are\npreferably placed in the Extended Boot Loader partition if it exists and in the ESP\notherwise.\n\nBoot Loader Specification Type #1 entries should generally be placed in the directory\n\"$(bootctl -x)/loader/entries/\". Existence of that directory may also be used as\nindication that boot loader entry support is available on the system. Similarly, Boot\nLoader Specification Type #2 entries should be placed in the directory \"$(bootctl\n-x)/EFI/Linux/\".\n\nNote that this option (similar to the --print-booth-path option mentioned above), is\navailable independently from the boot loader used, i.e. also without systemd-boot being\ninstalled.\n",
                    "flag": "-x",
                    "long": "--print-boot-path"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--no-variables",
                    "content": "Do not touch the firmware's boot loader list stored in EFI variables.\n",
                    "long": "--no-variables"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--graceful",
                    "content": "Ignore failure when the EFI System Partition cannot be found, or when EFI variables\ncannot be written. Currently only applies to random seed operations.\n",
                    "long": "--graceful"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--make-machine-id-directory=yes|no|auto",
                    "content": "Control creation and deletion of the top-level machine ID directory on the file system\ncontaining boot loader entries (i.e. beneath the file system returned by the\n--print-boot-path option, see above) during install and remove, respectively.  \"auto\" is\nequivalent to \"yes\" if /etc/machine-id resides on a filesystem other than tmpfs and \"no\"\notherwise (in the latter case the machine ID is likely transient and hence should not be\nused persistently in the ESP). Defaults to \"auto\". See machine-id(5) for details about\nthe machine ID concept and file.\n\nOverriding this may be desirable to hide the machine ID from the (unencrypted) ESP,\nconfigure a kernel-install(8) script, or, conversely, commit a transient machine ID.\n\nThe top-level machine ID directory is useful to allow smooth multi-boot installations:\neach installed OS instance will have a different machine ID and thus a separate directory\nto place its boot-time resources in. If this feature is turned off with this option, care\nneeds to be taken that multiple OS instances do not place conflicting files on the shared\nESP and Extended Boot Loader Partitions, or that multiple OS instances are not possible.\n",
                    "long": "--make-machine-id-directory",
                    "arg": "yes|no|auto"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--no-pager",
                    "content": "Do not pipe output into a pager.\n",
                    "long": "--no-pager"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-h --help",
                    "content": "Print a short help text and exit.\n",
                    "flag": "-h",
                    "long": "--help"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--version",
                    "content": "Print a short version string and exit.\n",
                    "long": "--version"
                }
            ]
        },
        "EXIT STATUS": {
            "content": "On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code otherwise.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "ENVIRONMENT": {
            "content": "If $SYSTEMDRELAXESPCHECKS=1 is set the validation checks for the ESP are relaxed, and the\npath specified with --esp-path= may refer to any kind of file system on any kind of\npartition.\n\nSimilarly, $SYSTEMDRELAXXBOOTLDRCHECKS=1 turns off some validation checks for the Extended\nBoot Loader partition.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SEE ALSO": {
            "content": "systemd-boot(7), Boot Loader Specification[1], Boot Loader Interface[2], systemd-boot-system-\ntoken.service(8)\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "NOTES": {
            "content": "1. Boot Loader Specification\nhttps://systemd.io/BOOTLOADERSPECIFICATION\n\n2. Boot Loader Interface\nhttps://systemd.io/BOOTLOADERINTERFACE\n\n3. Random Seeds\nhttps://systemd.io/RANDOMSEEDS\n\n\n\nsystemd 249                                                                               BOOTCTL(1)",
            "subsections": []
        }
    },
    "summary": "bootctl - Control EFI firmware boot settings and manage boot loader",
    "flags": [
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Path to the EFI System Partition (ESP). If not specified, /efi/, /boot/, and /boot/efi/ are checked in turn. It is recommended to mount the ESP to /efi/, if possible."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Path to the Extended Boot Loader partition, as defined in the Boot Loader Specification[1]. If not specified, /boot/ is checked. It is recommended to mount the Extended Boot Loader partition to /boot/, if possible."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-p",
            "long": "--print-esp-path",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "This option modifies the behaviour of status. Only prints the path to the EFI System Partition (ESP) to standard output and exits."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-x",
            "long": "--print-boot-path",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "This option modifies the behaviour of status. Only prints the path to the Extended Boot Loader partition if it exists, and the path to the ESP otherwise to standard output and exit. This command is useful to determine where to place boot loader entries, as they are preferably placed in the Extended Boot Loader partition if it exists and in the ESP otherwise. Boot Loader Specification Type #1 entries should generally be placed in the directory \"$(bootctl -x)/loader/entries/\". Existence of that directory may also be used as indication that boot loader entry support is available on the system. Similarly, Boot Loader Specification Type #2 entries should be placed in the directory \"$(bootctl -x)/EFI/Linux/\". Note that this option (similar to the --print-booth-path option mentioned above), is available independently from the boot loader used, i.e. also without systemd-boot being installed."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--no-variables",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Do not touch the firmware's boot loader list stored in EFI variables."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--graceful",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Ignore failure when the EFI System Partition cannot be found, or when EFI variables cannot be written. Currently only applies to random seed operations."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--make-machine-id-directory",
            "arg": "yes|no|auto",
            "description": "Control creation and deletion of the top-level machine ID directory on the file system containing boot loader entries (i.e. beneath the file system returned by the --print-boot-path option, see above) during install and remove, respectively. \"auto\" is equivalent to \"yes\" if /etc/machine-id resides on a filesystem other than tmpfs and \"no\" otherwise (in the latter case the machine ID is likely transient and hence should not be used persistently in the ESP). Defaults to \"auto\". See machine-id(5) for details about the machine ID concept and file. Overriding this may be desirable to hide the machine ID from the (unencrypted) ESP, configure a kernel-install(8) script, or, conversely, commit a transient machine ID. The top-level machine ID directory is useful to allow smooth multi-boot installations: each installed OS instance will have a different machine ID and thus a separate directory to place its boot-time resources in. If this feature is turned off with this option, care needs to be taken that multiple OS instances do not place conflicting files on the shared ESP and Extended Boot Loader Partitions, or that multiple OS instances are not possible."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--no-pager",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Do not pipe output into a pager."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-h",
            "long": "--help",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Print a short help text and exit."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--version",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Print a short version string and exit."
        }
    ],
    "examples": [],
    "see_also": [
        {
            "name": "systemd-boot",
            "section": "7",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/systemd-boot/7/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "token.service",
            "section": "8",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/token.service/8/json"
        }
    ],
    "tldr": {
        "source": "official",
        "description": "Control EFI firmware boot settings and manage boot loader.",
        "examples": [
            {
                "description": "Show information about the system firmware and the bootloaders",
                "command": "bootctl"
            },
            {
                "description": "Show all available bootloader entries",
                "command": "bootctl list"
            },
            {
                "description": "Set a boot entry as the default to boot to",
                "command": "sudo bootctl set-default {{entry_id}}"
            },
            {
                "description": "Set a flag to boot into the system firmware on the next boot (similar to `sudo systemctl reboot --firmware-setup`)",
                "command": "sudo bootctl reboot-to-firmware true"
            },
            {
                "description": "Specify the path to the EFI system partition (defaults to `/efi/`, `/boot/`, or `/boot/efi`)",
                "command": "bootctl --esp-path /{{path/to/efi_system_partition}}/"
            },
            {
                "description": "Install `systemd-boot` into the EFI system partition",
                "command": "sudo bootctl install"
            },
            {
                "description": "Remove all installed versions of `systemd-boot` from the EFI system partition",
                "command": "sudo bootctl remove"
            }
        ]
    }
}