Before you start to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on an Itanium, you must have a basic understanding of the EFI Shell, what it does, and the information it can provide.

The EFI Shell is a console interface used to launch applications (such as the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation program), load EFI protocols and device drivers, and execute simple scripts. It is similar to a DOS console and can only access media that is FAT16 (VFAT) formatted.

The EFI Shell also contains common utilities that can be used on the EFI system partition. These utilities include edit, type, cp, rm, and mkdir. For a list of utilities and other commands, type help at the EFI Shell prompt.

The EFI Shell contains a boot loader called ELILO. Additional information on EFI can be found at the following URL:

http://developer.intel.com/technology/efi/index.htm