Linux Boot Process

from Red Hat Linux Reference Guide http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/

Below are the basic stages of the boot process for an x86 system:

1. The system BIOS checks the system and launches the first stage boot loader on the MBR of the primary hard disk.
2. The first stage boot loader loads itself into memory and launches the second stage boot loader from the /boot/ partition.
3. The second stage boot loader loads the kernel into memory, which in turn loads any necessary modules and mounts the root partition read-only.
4. The kernel transfers control of the boot process to the /sbin/init program.
5. The /sbin/init program loads all services and user-space tools, and mounts all partitions listed in /etc/fstab.
6. The user is presented with a login prompt for the freshly booted Linux system.