GNU GRUB

Also known as GRUB, GNU GRand Unified Bootloader, Grand Unified Bootloader, GRUB2

boot loader package

Key facts

Original author: Erich Boleyn
Developer: GNU Project
Initial release: 1995 ; 31 years ago ( 1995 )
Stable release: 2.14 / 14 January 2026
Written in: Assembly , C
Operating system: Linux , GNU/Hurd , macOS , BSD , ( Solaris / illumos (x86 port)), and Windows (through chainloading)
Platform: IA-32 , x86-64 , IA-64 , ARM , PowerPC , Power ISA , s390x , MIPS , RISC-V , LoongArch and SPARC
Available in: English and others
Type: Bootloader
License: 2007: GPL-3.0-or-later , 1999: GPL-2.0-or-later
Website: www .gnu .org /software /grub /
Repository

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Article

GNU GRUB (short for GNU GRand Unified Bootloader, commonly referred to as GRUB) is a boot loader package from the GNU Project. GRUB is the reference implementation of the Free Software Foundation's Multiboot Specification, which provides a user the choice to boot one of multiple operating systems installed on a computer set up for multi-booting or select a specific kernel configuration available on a particular operating system's partitions.

GNU GRUB was developed from a package called the Grand Unified Bootloader (a play on Grand Unified Theory). It is predominantly used for Unix-like systems.