BOOT misc
- vmlinux
This is the Linux kernel in an statically linked executable file format. Generally, you don’t have to worry about this file, it’s just a intermediate step in the boot procedure.
The raw vmlinux file may be useful for debugging purposes.
- vmlinuz
The vmlinux file usually gets compressed with zlib. Since 2.6.30 LZMA and bzip2 are also available. By adding further boot and decompression capabilities to vmlinuz, the image can be used to boot a system with the vmlinux kernel. The compression of vmlinux can occur with zImage or bzImage.
- zImage(
make zImage)
This is the old format for small kernels (compressed, below 512KB). At boot, this image gets loaded low in memory (the first 640KB of the RAM).
- bzImage(
make bzImage)
The big zImage, was created while the kernel grew and handles bigger images (compressed, over 512KB). The image gets loaded high in memory (above 1MB RAM). As today’s kernels are way over 512KB, this is usually the preferred way.
Linux kernel config options for UEFI
EFISTUB
The Linux kernel supports EFISTUB booting which allows EFI firmware to load the kernel as an EFI executable. Refer:archlinux EFISTUB
On the x86 and ARM platforms, a kernel zImage/bzImage can masquerade as a PE/COFF image, thereby convincing EFI firmware loaders to load it as an EFI executable. The code that modifies the bzImage header, along with the EFI-specific entry point that the firmware loader jumps to are collectively known as the “EFI boot stub”.
By using the EFI boot stub it’s possible to boot a Linux kernel without the use of a conventional EFI boot loader, such as grub or elilo. Since the EFI boot stub performs the jobs of a boot loader, in a certain sense it is the boot loader. Refer:The EFI Boot Stub