A user may wish to use an image that is not sorted as the "latest"
version as the top-level entry. For example, in Arch Linux, if a user
has the LTS and regular kernels installed, `/boot/vmlinuz-linux-lts`
gets sorted as the "latest" compared to `/boot/vmlinuz-linux`, meaning
the LTS kernel becomes the top-level entry. However, a user may wish to
use the regular kernel as the top-level default with the LTS only
existing as a backup.

This need can be seen in Arch Linux's AUR with two user-submitted
packages[0][1] providing an update hook which patches
/etc/grub.d/10_linux to move the desired kernel to the top-level. This
patch serves to solve this in a more generic way.

Introduce the GRUB_TOP_LEVEL, GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_XEN and
GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_OS_PROBER variables to allow users to specify the
top-level entry.

Create grub_move_to_front() as a helper function which moves entries to
the front of a list. This function does the heavy lifting of moving
the menu entry to the front in each script.

In 10_netbsd, since there isn't an explicit list variable, extract the
items that are being iterated through into a list so that we can
optionally apply grub_move_to_front() to the list before the loop.

[0]: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/grub-linux-default-hook
[1]: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/grub-linux-rt-default-hook

Signed-off-by: Denton Liu <liu.denton@gmail.com>
---

Notes:
    The only file that was tested is 10_linux. I do not have access to any
    of the other images or systems so they remain untested.
    
    Changes since v4:
    
    * Update docs to specify that GRUB_TOP_LEVEL and GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_XEN take
      an absolute path
    
    * Add more justification in the commit message
    
    Changes since v3:
    
    * Fix if formatting nit
    
    * Rebase on top of latest 'master'
    
    Changes since v2:
    
    * Added more detail to GRUB_TOP_LEVEL docs
    
    * Moved GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_OS_PROBER to separate section in docs
    
    * Renamed grub_move_entry_to_front() to grub_move_to_front() and added
      code comment
    
    * Give 10_netbsd an intermediate list of images to interact with

Range-diff against v4:
1:  d3a693804 ! 1:  ee633189b templates: introduce GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_* vars
    @@ Commit message
         A user may wish to use an image that is not sorted as the "latest"
         version as the top-level entry. For example, in Arch Linux, if a user
         has the LTS and regular kernels installed, `/boot/vmlinuz-linux-lts`
    -    gets sorted as the "latest" compared to `/boot/vmlinuz-linux`. However,
    -    a user may wish to use the regular kernel as the default with the LTS
    -    only existing as a backup.
    +    gets sorted as the "latest" compared to `/boot/vmlinuz-linux`, meaning
    +    the LTS kernel becomes the top-level entry. However, a user may wish to
    +    use the regular kernel as the top-level default with the LTS only
    +    existing as a backup.
    +
    +    This need can be seen in Arch Linux's AUR with two user-submitted
    +    packages[0][1] providing an update hook which patches
    +    /etc/grub.d/10_linux to move the desired kernel to the top-level. This
    +    patch serves to solve this in a more generic way.
     
         Introduce the GRUB_TOP_LEVEL, GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_XEN and
         GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_OS_PROBER variables to allow users to specify the
    @@ Commit message
         items that are being iterated through into a list so that we can
         optionally apply grub_move_to_front() to the list before the loop.
     
    +    [0]: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/grub-linux-default-hook
    +    [1]: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/grub-linux-rt-default-hook
    +
         Signed-off-by: Denton Liu <liu.denton@gmail.com>
     
     
    @@ Notes
         The only file that was tested is 10_linux. I do not have access to any
         of the other images or systems so they remain untested.
     
    +    Changes since v4:
    +
    +    * Update docs to specify that GRUB_TOP_LEVEL and GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_XEN take
    +      an absolute path
    +
    +    * Add more justification in the commit message
    +
         Changes since v3:
     
         * Fix if formatting nit
    @@ docs/grub.texi: for all respectively normal entries.
      
     +@item GRUB_TOP_LEVEL
     +@item GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_XEN
    -+This option should be a path to a kernel image. If provided, the image
    -+specified will be made the top-level entry if it is found in the scan.
    ++This option should be an absolute path to a kernel image. If provided, the
    ++image specified will be made the top-level entry if it is found in the scan.
     +
     +@item GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_OS_PROBER
     +This option should be a line of output from @command{os-prober}. As

 docs/grub.texi              | 10 ++++++++++
 util/grub-mkconfig.in       |  3 +++
 util/grub-mkconfig_lib.in   | 26 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 util/grub.d/10_hurd.in      |  4 ++++
 util/grub.d/10_kfreebsd.in  |  4 ++++
 util/grub.d/10_linux.in     |  4 ++++
 util/grub.d/10_netbsd.in    |  8 +++++++-
 util/grub.d/20_linux_xen.in |  7 +++++++
 util/grub.d/30_os-prober.in |  4 ++++
 9 files changed, 69 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/docs/grub.texi b/docs/grub.texi
index 0dbbdc374..641fb4ad3 100644
--- a/docs/grub.texi
+++ b/docs/grub.texi
@@ -1444,6 +1444,16 @@ for all respectively normal entries.
 The values of these options replace the values of @samp{GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX}
 and @samp{GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT} for Linux and Xen menu entries.
 
+@item GRUB_TOP_LEVEL
+@item GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_XEN
+This option should be an absolute path to a kernel image. If provided, the
+image specified will be made the top-level entry if it is found in the scan.
+
+@item GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_OS_PROBER
+This option should be a line of output from @command{os-prober}. As
+@samp{GRUB_TOP_LEVEL}, if provided, the image specified will be made the
+top-level entry if it is found in the scan.
+
 @item GRUB_EARLY_INITRD_LINUX_CUSTOM
 @itemx GRUB_EARLY_INITRD_LINUX_STOCK
 List of space-separated early initrd images to be loaded from @samp{/boot}.
diff --git a/util/grub-mkconfig.in b/util/grub-mkconfig.in
index 62335d027..32c480dae 100644
--- a/util/grub-mkconfig.in
+++ b/util/grub-mkconfig.in
@@ -233,6 +233,9 @@ export GRUB_DEFAULT \
   GRUB_CMDLINE_NETBSD \
   GRUB_CMDLINE_NETBSD_DEFAULT \
   GRUB_CMDLINE_GNUMACH \
+  GRUB_TOP_LEVEL \
+  GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_XEN \
+  GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_OS_PROBER \
   GRUB_EARLY_INITRD_LINUX_CUSTOM \
   GRUB_EARLY_INITRD_LINUX_STOCK \
   GRUB_TERMINAL_INPUT \
diff --git a/util/grub-mkconfig_lib.in b/util/grub-mkconfig_lib.in
index 634bc8a50..08953287c 100644
--- a/util/grub-mkconfig_lib.in
+++ b/util/grub-mkconfig_lib.in
@@ -218,6 +218,32 @@ version_sort ()
    esac
 }
 
+# Given an item as the first argument and a list as the subsequent arguments,
+# returns the list with the first argument moved to the front if it exists in
+# the list.
+grub_move_to_front ()
+{
+  item="$1"
+  shift
+
+  item_found=false
+  for i in "$@"; do
+    if [ "x$i" = "x$item" ]; then
+      item_found=true
+    fi
+  done
+
+  if [ "x$item_found" = xtrue ]; then
+    echo "$item"
+  fi
+  for i in "$@"; do
+    if [ "x$i" = "x$item" ]; then
+      continue
+    fi
+    echo "$i"
+  done
+}
+
 # One layer of quotation is eaten by "" and the second by sed; so this turns
 # ' into \'.
 grub_quote () {
diff --git a/util/grub.d/10_hurd.in b/util/grub.d/10_hurd.in
index a021d02c2..b317a4b14 100644
--- a/util/grub.d/10_hurd.in
+++ b/util/grub.d/10_hurd.in
@@ -229,6 +229,10 @@ submenu_indentation=""
 
 reverse_sorted_kernels=$(echo ${kernels} | tr ' ' '\n' | sed -e 's/\.old$/ 1/; / 1$/! s/$/ 2/' | version_sort -r | sed -e 's/ 1$/.old/; s/ 2$//')
 
+if [ "x$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL" != x ]; then
+  reverse_sorted_kernels=$(grub_move_to_front "$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL" ${reverse_sorted_kernels})
+fi
+
 is_top_level=true
 
 for kernel in ${reverse_sorted_kernels}; do
diff --git a/util/grub.d/10_kfreebsd.in b/util/grub.d/10_kfreebsd.in
index 0a67decaa..83e9636e8 100644
--- a/util/grub.d/10_kfreebsd.in
+++ b/util/grub.d/10_kfreebsd.in
@@ -164,6 +164,10 @@ submenu_indentation=""
 
 reverse_sorted_list=$(echo ${list} | tr ' ' '\n' | sed -e 's/\.old$/ 1/; / 1$/! s/$/ 2/' | version_sort -r | sed -e 's/ 1$/.old/; s/ 2$//')
 
+if [ "x$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL" != x ]; then
+  reverse_sorted_list=$(grub_move_to_front "$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL" ${reverse_sorted_list})
+fi
+
 is_top_level=true
 
 for kfreebsd in ${reverse_sorted_list}; do
diff --git a/util/grub.d/10_linux.in b/util/grub.d/10_linux.in
index c6a1ec935..7263f2983 100644
--- a/util/grub.d/10_linux.in
+++ b/util/grub.d/10_linux.in
@@ -202,6 +202,10 @@ submenu_indentation=""
 
 reverse_sorted_list=$(echo $list | tr ' ' '\n' | sed -e 's/\.old$/ 1/; / 1$/! s/$/ 2/' | version_sort -r | sed -e 's/ 1$/.old/; s/ 2$//')
 
+if [ "x$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL" != x ]; then
+  reverse_sorted_list=$(grub_move_to_front "$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL" ${reverse_sorted_list})
+fi
+
 is_top_level=true
 for linux in ${reverse_sorted_list}; do
   gettext_printf "Found linux image: %s\n" "$linux" >&2
diff --git a/util/grub.d/10_netbsd.in b/util/grub.d/10_netbsd.in
index dc0cd1b17..3154e9e15 100644
--- a/util/grub.d/10_netbsd.in
+++ b/util/grub.d/10_netbsd.in
@@ -146,8 +146,14 @@ pattern="^ELF[^,]*executable.*statically linked"
 # yet, so it's empty. In a submenu it will be equal to '\t' (one tab).
 submenu_indentation=""
 
+list="/netbsd $(ls -t /netbsd?* 2>/dev/null)"
+
+if [ "x$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL" != x ]; then
+  list=$(grub_move_to_front "$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL" ${list})
+fi
+
 is_top_level=true
-for k in /netbsd $(ls -t /netbsd?* 2>/dev/null) ; do
+for k in ${list}; do
   if ! grub_file_is_not_garbage "$k" ; then
     continue
   fi
diff --git a/util/grub.d/20_linux_xen.in b/util/grub.d/20_linux_xen.in
index 626aed40c..386bfb9be 100644
--- a/util/grub.d/20_linux_xen.in
+++ b/util/grub.d/20_linux_xen.in
@@ -245,6 +245,13 @@ submenu_indentation=""
 reverse_sorted_xen_list=$(echo ${xen_list} | tr ' ' '\n' | sed -e 's/\.old$/ 1/; / 1$/! s/$/ 2/' | version_sort -r | sed -e 's/ 1$/.old/; s/ 2$//')
 reverse_sorted_linux_list=$(echo ${linux_list} | tr ' ' '\n' | sed -e 's/\.old$/ 1/; / 1$/! s/$/ 2/' | version_sort -r | sed -e 's/ 1$/.old/; s/ 2$//')
 
+if [ "x$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_XEN" != x ]; then
+  reverse_sorted_xen_list=$(grub_move_to_front "$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_XEN" ${reverse_sorted_xen_list})
+fi
+if [ "x$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL" != x ]; then
+  reverse_sorted_linux_list=$(grub_move_to_front "$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL" ${reverse_sorted_linux_list})
+fi
+
 is_top_level=true
 
 for current_xen in ${reverse_sorted_xen_list}; do
diff --git a/util/grub.d/30_os-prober.in b/util/grub.d/30_os-prober.in
index daa603778..656301eaf 100644
--- a/util/grub.d/30_os-prober.in
+++ b/util/grub.d/30_os-prober.in
@@ -113,6 +113,10 @@ EOF
 
 used_osprober_linux_ids=
 
+if [ "x$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_OS_PROBER" != x ]; then
+  OSPROBED=$(grub_move_to_front "$GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_OS_PROBER" ${OSPROBED})
+fi
+
 for OS in ${OSPROBED} ; do
   DEVICE="`echo ${OS} | cut -d ':' -f 1`"
   LONGNAME="`echo ${OS} | cut -d ':' -f 2 | tr '^' ' '`"
-- 
2.38.1

On Mon, Oct 24, 2022 at 03:46:42 -0700, Denton Liu wrote:
> A user may wish to use an image that is not sorted as the "latest"
> version as the top-level entry. For example, in Arch Linux, if a user
> has the LTS and regular kernels installed, `/boot/vmlinuz-linux-lts`
> gets sorted as the "latest" compared to `/boot/vmlinuz-linux`, meaning
> the LTS kernel becomes the top-level entry. However, a user may wish to
> use the regular kernel as the top-level default with the LTS only
> existing as a backup.
> 
> This need can be seen in Arch Linux's AUR with two user-submitted
> packages[0][1] providing an update hook which patches
> /etc/grub.d/10_linux to move the desired kernel to the top-level. This
> patch serves to solve this in a more generic way.
> 
> Introduce the GRUB_TOP_LEVEL, GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_XEN and
> GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_OS_PROBER variables to allow users to specify the
> top-level entry.
> 
> Create grub_move_to_front() as a helper function which moves entries to
> the front of a list. This function does the heavy lifting of moving
> the menu entry to the front in each script.
> 
> In 10_netbsd, since there isn't an explicit list variable, extract the
> items that are being iterated through into a list so that we can
> optionally apply grub_move_to_front() to the list before the loop.
> 
> [0]: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/grub-linux-default-hook
> [1]: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/grub-linux-rt-default-hook
> 
> Signed-off-by: Denton Liu <liu.denton@gmail.com>

Reviewed-by: Oskari Pirhonen <xxc3ncoredxx@gmail.com>

I've tested it on Linux, but the other platforms and os-prober are still
untested.

- Oskari

On Mon, Oct 24, 2022 at 10:21:25PM -0500, Oskari Pirhonen wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 24, 2022 at 03:46:42 -0700, Denton Liu wrote:
> > A user may wish to use an image that is not sorted as the "latest"
> > version as the top-level entry. For example, in Arch Linux, if a user
> > has the LTS and regular kernels installed, `/boot/vmlinuz-linux-lts`
> > gets sorted as the "latest" compared to `/boot/vmlinuz-linux`, meaning
> > the LTS kernel becomes the top-level entry. However, a user may wish to
> > use the regular kernel as the top-level default with the LTS only
> > existing as a backup.
> >
> > This need can be seen in Arch Linux's AUR with two user-submitted
> > packages[0][1] providing an update hook which patches
> > /etc/grub.d/10_linux to move the desired kernel to the top-level. This
> > patch serves to solve this in a more generic way.
> >
> > Introduce the GRUB_TOP_LEVEL, GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_XEN and
> > GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_OS_PROBER variables to allow users to specify the
> > top-level entry.
> >
> > Create grub_move_to_front() as a helper function which moves entries to
> > the front of a list. This function does the heavy lifting of moving
> > the menu entry to the front in each script.
> >
> > In 10_netbsd, since there isn't an explicit list variable, extract the
> > items that are being iterated through into a list so that we can
> > optionally apply grub_move_to_front() to the list before the loop.
> >
> > [0]: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/grub-linux-default-hook
> > [1]: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/grub-linux-rt-default-hook
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Denton Liu <liu.denton@gmail.com>
>
> Reviewed-by: Oskari Pirhonen <xxc3ncoredxx@gmail.com>

Reviewed-by: Daniel Kiper <daniel.kiper@oracle.com>

If I do not hear any objections in a week or so I will merge this patch.

Daniel