Info Catalog grub: History grub: Introduction grub: Features

grub: Changes from GRUB Legacy

 
 1.3 Differences from previous versions
 ======================================
 
 GRUB 2 is a rewrite of GRUB (⇒History), although it shares many
 characteristics with the previous version, now known as GRUB Legacy.
 Users of GRUB Legacy may need some guidance to find their way around
 this new version.
 
    * The configuration file has a new name ('grub.cfg' rather than
      'menu.lst' or 'grub.conf'), new syntax (⇒Configuration) and
      many new commands (⇒Commands).  Configuration cannot be
      copied over directly, although most GRUB Legacy users should not
      find the syntax too surprising.
 
    * 'grub.cfg' is typically automatically generated by 'grub-mkconfig'
      (⇒Simple configuration).  This makes it easier to handle
      versioned kernel upgrades.
 
    * Partition numbers in GRUB device names now start at 1, not 0 (⇒
      Naming convention).
 
    * The configuration file is now written in something closer to a full
      scripting language: variables, conditionals, and loops are
      available.
 
    * A small amount of persistent storage is available across reboots,
      using the 'save_env' and 'load_env' commands in GRUB and the
      'grub-editenv' utility.  This is not available in all
      configurations (⇒Environment block).
 
    * GRUB 2 has more reliable ways to find its own files and those of
      search::) to find devices using file system labels or Universally
      Unique Identifiers (UUIDs).
 
    * GRUB 2 is available for several other types of system in addition
      to the PC BIOS systems supported by GRUB Legacy: PC EFI, PC
      coreboot, PowerPC, SPARC, and MIPS Lemote Yeeloong are all
      supported.
 
    * Many more file systems are supported, including but not limited to
      ext4, HFS+, and NTFS.
 
    * GRUB 2 can read files directly from LVM and RAID devices.
 
    * A graphical terminal and a graphical menu system are available.
 
    * GRUB 2's interface can be translated, including menu entry names.
 
    * The image files (⇒Images) that make up GRUB have been
      reorganised; Stage 1, Stage 1.5, and Stage 2 are no more.
 
    * GRUB 2 puts many facilities in dynamically loaded modules, allowing
      the core image to be smaller, and allowing the core image to be
      built in more flexible ways.
 

Info Catalog grub: History grub: Introduction grub: Features