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Is there a cross-distribution way to know the boot parameters supplied to the kernel?

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2 Answers 2

up vote 17 down vote accepted

Assuming you're asking about the options passed to the current-running kernel?

  1. If the /proc filesystem is in use, /proc/cmdline tells you exactly what options were passed to the kernel.

    $ cat /proc/cmdline  
    root=UUID=3630dd43-f9f9-40b1-8a5f-72c13f2b309c ro quiet splash
  2. If there's no /proc filesystem, you can get an idea by finding the current kernel's entry in grub.conf or other bootloader configuration. (Use "uname -r" to see what kernel is currently running.) This won't tell you what WAS used to boot the current kernel, just what is NORMALLY used.

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Note for option 2: grub on Ubuntu uses /boot/grub/menu.lst for its configuration. I think other systems may use /etc/grub.conf. –  quack quixote Oct 1 '09 at 22:17

I'm guessing you're talking about the Linux Kernel, so there is a set of standard parameters which it accepts.

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