Fedora 17 does a noob-friendly UEFI installation

dhave · 2012-05-31 19:04:02

In case anybody's interested, Fedora 17, which was just officially released, will do a painless, no-hands UEFI installation.

I burned the standard 64-bit ISO to a CD, then set my machine to boot UEFI-only (i.e., no legacy BIOS boot possible). I directed the installer to use the entire hard drive.

After that I just watched.

Fedora formatted my drive GPT, created a 200Mb EFI partition, a swap partition and a third partition for all the rest. It also correctly created a UEFI boot entry for Fedora. In other words, Fedora is now handling installation to UEFI machines without any intervention.

I know that Arch users aren't looking for a painless, no-hands installation scheme, and I'm not suggesting that Arch follow Fedora in this or be more like Fedora. I'm just pointing out that at least one mass-market distro is accommodating current hardware.

Some Arch users may find it instructive to see how Fedora sets itself up on a UEFI machine, if they have a test drive lying around and a spare 20 minutes. Fedora seems to follow more or less the same instructions that have been discussed in some detail on the Arch forum.

Last edited by dhave (2012-06-01 05:02:13)

Jristz · 2012-05-31 22:24:38

I read that Fedora 18 ship the kernel w keyring to permit boot in Uefis w Secureboot enabled
the fedora 18 become the most noob-friendly UEFI install media, most than this

aport · 2012-06-01 04:58:31

Fedora is wonderful. A few years ago it let you encrypt your hard drive during the installation process, and it was stupid simple. For as much flak as Red Hat gets, they do good work.

dhave · 2012-06-01 05:05:46

aport wrote:

Fedora is wonderful. A few years ago it let you encrypt your hard drive during the installation process, and it was stupid simple. For as much flak as Red Hat gets, they do good work.

I like it pretty well, too. In fact, my first Linux experience was with Fedora right after it came out in 2003 or 2004.

Leonid.I · 2012-06-02 20:27:33

Jristz wrote:

I read that Fedora 18 ship the kernel w keyring to permit boot in Uefis w Secureboot enabled
the fedora 18 become the most noob-friendly UEFI install media, most than this

First, its just plans. Second, the most important part is not kernel signing, but a new bootloader (shim?) signed by Microsoft: http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/ … 88057.html.

That's what permits secureboot.

ZekeSulastin · 2012-06-02 22:12:12

Specifically, it will permit secureboot without user intervention.

mcsilva · 2012-06-02 22:25:53

Unfortunately, Fedora 17 does not install in VirtualBox UEFI mode enabled :-(
On the contrary, Ubuntu-12.04 and ArchLinux (with Archboot install cd) both install straightforward in VirtualBox UEFI mode.
This seems to be some incompatibility?/bug? - I don't know.
But it stays here the information.

scjet · 2013-01-05 15:21:13

dhave wrote:

... I know that Arch users aren't looking for a painless, no-hands installation scheme, and I'm not suggesting that Arch follow Fedora in this or be more like Fedora. I'm just pointing out that at least one mass-market distro is accommodating current hardware..

I realize this thread is a few months old, but I only recently purchased a new (uefi/secure boot) enabled laptop, and I therefore tried fedora 17, and just like above, uefi-noob-seamless.

...also, maybe by Fedora 18, the "VirtualBox UEFI mode enabled" will be fixed. ?

"...For $99, Microsoft offer a signing service and this should ensures compatibility with a wide range of hardware. ..."

Anyway,
$99 ?!, is this too good to be true, so that is basically all that Garrett did ?

I'll seriously, and happily "donate/GIVE" $99 to Arch to implement this shim, ..., if possible? I mean, Arch is kinda redhat-like in certain system aspects anyway.

Last edited by scjet (2013-01-05 15:46:01)

srs5694 · 2013-01-05 15:44:42

scjet wrote:

Anyway,
$99 ?!, I'll seriously, and happily "donate/GIVE" that to Arch to implement this shim, if possible? I mean, Arch is kinda redhat-like in certain system aspects anyway.

It's possible to do it even without paying a cent; you just need users to jump through the one additional hoop of adding a MOK to the Machine Owner Key (MOK) database. Basically, you'd use Matthew Garrett's signed shim, Fedora's signed shim, or any other signed shim with MOK support. Include the MokManager.efi program associated with the shim being distributed. Distribute a version of grubx64.efi (which could be GRUB, ELILO, rEFInd, or some other boot program -- although gummiboot won't work) that's signed with an Arch MOK, and sign the Arch kernels with the same MOK. When the user boots for the first time, MokManager will launch and the user will have to locate and select Arch's public key. Thereafter it will work fine.

Of course, getting a version of shim signed with Microsoft's key and with Arch's MOK built in would be better, since that would eliminate the need for users to use MokManager, at least for launching standard Arch-provided kernels. This is good because MokManager has a cutting-edge 1980 user interface, the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Apple II. I'm sure the average Arch user can deal with it, but still....

Another option is the Linux Foundation's PreBootloader. It's still not available in signed form, but when it becomes available it may become a usable option. Of interest to Arch users is that it may work with gummiboot as a follow-on boot program, which shim can't do -- at least, not unless and until gummiboot incorporates explicit support for shim.

scjet · 2013-01-05 15:52:52

Hey thanks @srs5694,
I've been just now, slowly trying to digest www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/secureboot.html as well.

But, in good faith, I wanted to put my "money where my mouth is" and so I'll still stand by that offer too (Post #8).

Last edited by scjet (2013-01-05 15:54:46)

Arch Linux

#1 2012-05-31 19:04:02

Fedora 17 does a noob-friendly UEFI installation

#2 2012-05-31 22:24:38

Re: Fedora 17 does a noob-friendly UEFI installation

#3 2012-06-01 04:58:31

Re: Fedora 17 does a noob-friendly UEFI installation

#4 2012-06-01 05:05:46

Re: Fedora 17 does a noob-friendly UEFI installation

#5 2012-06-02 20:27:33

Re: Fedora 17 does a noob-friendly UEFI installation

#6 2012-06-02 22:12:12

Re: Fedora 17 does a noob-friendly UEFI installation

#7 2012-06-02 22:25:53

Re: Fedora 17 does a noob-friendly UEFI installation

#8 2013-01-05 15:21:13

Re: Fedora 17 does a noob-friendly UEFI installation

#9 2013-01-05 15:44:42

Re: Fedora 17 does a noob-friendly UEFI installation

#10 2013-01-05 15:52:52

Re: Fedora 17 does a noob-friendly UEFI installation

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