Chapter 4. Kernel Boot Parameters

The Linux kernel accepts boot parameters when the kernel is started. Very often it is used to provide information to the kernel about hardware parameters where the kernel would have problems or to overwrite default values. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 uses 2.4 based kernels, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and 5 use 2.6 based kernels.

For a list of kernel parameters in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and 5, see /usr/share/doc/kernel-doc-2.6.9/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt. This file does not exist if the kernel-doc RPM is not installed. And for a list of kernel parameters in Red Hat Enterprise Linux3 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1, see /usr/src/linux-2.4/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt which comes with the kernel-doc RPM.