Re: GSoC 2025: UEFI Boot Options Project

[Martin Husemann <martin%NetBSD.org@localhost>]

Romeo Sarkar wrote:

> I am interested in working on the “Add UEFI Boot Options” project for 
> GSoC 2025. I have been reviewing the UEFI specifications, particularly 
> how the default bootloader is placed in |/EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi|, and 
> have tested booting NetBSD’s |bootx64.efi| directly from UEFI. However, 
> we really need a tool—similar to Linux’s |efibootmgr| or FreeBSD’s 
> version—to manage NVRAM |Boot####| variables more flexibly.

Indeed, that is the main missing point. I have heard rumors someone 
created such a tool for NetBSD but did not publish it yet. I will try to 
ping them...

The other think we need to solve is how to map the EFI path names to a 
NetBSD device/partition/wedge. Once that is solved (and I would consider 
a good enough "howto" type documentation as solution) the remainder is 
quite easy.

> I would love to start contributing soon. Could you please let me know 
> the best way to connect with the NetBSD community and collaborate (for 
> example, which mailing lists or IRC channels to use)? Any guidance on 
> how to proceed with this project would be greatly appreciated.

This list here is a good place. You could also ask on e.g. the 
current-users list if someone has some usable efibootmgr. I think there 
is something in pkgsrc, but we need something that is BSD licensed and 
in base to make it available in the install images.

Martin