I am having trouble understanding the difference between the EFI System Partition (ESP) and the linux /boot partition.
Reading online tells me that /boot partition is going to contain the boot loader i.e. GRUB2. Then, if that's the case, and if I store GRUB on the ESP, then is it same as the /boot partition ?
Or is it that GRUB2 is suppose to be stored on the ESP (something I have done before, and it worked) and the /boot partition is suppose to contain files for GRUB to find, typically files needed to be loaded before, let's say, an encrypted LVM is loaded.
What are the difference between these two ?
Best Answer
The EFI System Partition is the partition the EFI firmware (in ROM on the motherboard) knows of and from which the firmware can load EFI applications like boot loaders. So the ESP is the place where you put GRUB2 for the firmware to load and run. The
/bootdirectory/partition is the place for GRUB to find files it needs, like you said. However, there is no reason the ESP and/bootcan't be the same partition.