--- /dev/null
+# Xen x86 PV Bootloader Protocol
+
+## Introduction
+
+One method for booting an x86 Xen PV guest is to use a PV bootloader,
+that is, a bootloader which is itself a PV kernel but which behaves as
+a bootloader (examples include the pvgrub-legacy and grub2 targeting
+Xen).
+
+In many cases the user wishes to manage this PV bootloader from within
+the guest, and therefore wishes to chainload something from the guest
+filesystem, most likely via a stage 1 PV bootloader provided by dom0.
+
+The purpose of this document is to define the paths within the guest
+filesystem where a stage 1 bootloader should look for the in-guest PV
+bootloader to load and the protocol/format expected from the
+to-be-chainloaded bootloader.
+
+## Protocol
+
+The bootloader binary should be an ELF file of the appropriate type
+(32- or 64-bit). It should contain the standard Xen ELF notes allowing
+it to be loaded by the Xen toolstack domain builder (TBD: Reference).
+
+## Path
+
+The second stage bootloader should be installed into the guest
+filesystem as:
+
+ * `/boot/xen/pvboot-<ARCH>.elf`
+
+Where `<ARCH>` is the first element of the GNU triplet e.g. one of:
+
+ * i386 (nb only i386, not i686 etc), corresponding to the Xen
+ x86\_32(p) arch;
+ * x86\_64, corresponding to the Xen x86\_64 arch;
+
+It is allowable for `/boot` to be a separate filesystem from `/` and
+therefore stage 1 bootloaders should search
+`/boot/xen/pvboot-<ARCH>.elf` and `/xen/pvboot-<ARCH>.elf` (in that
+order). The `xen` directory should be on the same filesystem as /boot
+and therefore it is not necessary to search for /pvboot-<ARCH>.elf.
+
+It is not in general possible under Xen for a bootloader to boot a
+kernel of a different width from itself, and this extends to
+chainloading from a stage one. Therefore it is permissible to have
+both `/boot/xen/pvboot-i386.elf` and `/boot/xen/pvboot-x86\_64.elf`
+present in a guest to be used by the appropriate stage 1 (e.g. for
+systems with 32-bit userspace and an optional 64-bit kernel).