systemd-boot
also: sd-boot, systemd boot, boot loader
systemd-boot is a lightweight EFI bootloader that manages the boot process on UEFI-based systems, replacing the need for GRUB on many modern Linux installations.
systemd-boot is a simple, minimalist bootloader designed specifically for UEFI systems. It reads boot entries from the EFI System Partition (ESP) and presents a menu to select which OS or kernel to boot. Unlike GRUB, it has no scripting language and requires no complex configuration files.
Boot entries are stored as simple configuration files in /boot/loader/entries/ directory, with each .conf file describing a bootable option. For example:
title Linux
linux /vmlinuz-linux
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
options root=/dev/sda1 rwsystemd-boot is particularly popular in Arch Linux, Fedora, and other distributions targeting modern hardware. It's managed via the bootctl command and automatically updates itself when the systemd package is updated on systems with /boot on the EFI partition.