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31 .Nd "system bootstrap configuration information"
35 contains descriptive information on bootstrapping the system.
37 it you can specify the kernel to be booted, parameters to be passed to
38 it, and additional modules to be loaded; and generally set all variables
45 format was defined explicitly to resemble
49 some settings are treated in a special fashion.
51 behavior of some settings is defined by the setting's suffix;
52 the prefix identifies which module the setting controls.
54 The general parsing rules are:
57 Spaces and empty lines are ignored.
59 A # sign will mark the remainder of the line as a comment.
61 Only one setting can be present on each line.
64 All settings have the following format:
68 Unless it belongs to one of the classes of settings that receive special
69 treatment, a setting will set the value of a
72 The settings that receive special
73 treatment are listed below.
74 Settings beginning with
76 below define the modules to be loaded and
77 may have any prefix; the prefix identifies a module.
78 All such settings sharing a common
79 prefix refer to the same module.
82 Delay in seconds before automatically booting.
83 A user with console access will be able to interrupt the
85 process and escape into the interactive mode by pressing a key on
86 the console during this delay.
92 is automatically attempted after processing
96 are processed normally, using a 10 second delay.
100 no delay is inserted, but any keys pressed while the kernel and modules are
101 loaded will enter interactive mode.
105 no delay will be inserted and
107 starts interactive mode only if
110 In combination with the
112 option, this option prevents users with console access from being able
115 process and escape to the loader prompt.
118 option in this manner,
123 Immediately executes a
126 This type of setting cannot be processed by programs other
129 so its use should be avoided.
130 Multiple instances of it will be processed
132 .It Ar loader_conf_dirs
133 Space separated list of directories to process for configuration files.
134 The lua-based loader will process files with a
136 suffix that are placed in these directories.
137 .It Ar loader_conf_files
138 Defines additional configuration files to be processed right after the
140 .Ar loader_conf_files
141 should be treated as write-only.
142 One cannot depend on any value remaining in the loader environment or carried
143 over into the kernel environment.
145 Name of the kernel to be loaded.
146 If no kernel name is set, no additional
147 modules will be loaded.
148 The name must be a subdirectory of
150 that contains a kernel.
151 .It Ar kernel_options
152 Flags to be passed to the kernel.
153 .It Ar vfs.root.mountfrom
154 Specify the root partition to mount.
157 .Dl vfs.root.mountfrom="ufs:/dev/da0s1a"
160 automatically calculates the value of this tunable from
162 from the partition the kernel was loaded from.
163 The calculated value might be calculated incorrectly when
165 is not available during
167 startup (as during diskless booting from NFS), or if a different
168 device is desired by the user.
169 The preferred value can be set in
172 The value can also be overridden from the
175 This is useful for system recovery when
177 is damaged, lost, or read from the wrong partition.
179 Protect boot menu with a password without interrupting
182 The password should be in clear text format.
183 If a password is set, boot menu will not appear until any key is pressed during
184 countdown period specified by
189 In both cases user should provide specified password to be able to access boot
191 .It Ar bootlock_password
192 Provides a password to be required by check-password before execution is
194 The password should be in clear text format.
195 If a password is set, the user must provide specified password to boot.
196 .It Ar verbose_loading
199 module names will be displayed as they are loaded.
200 .It Ar module_blacklist
201 Blacklist of modules.
202 Modules specified in the blacklist may not be loaded automatically with a
204 directive, but they may be loaded directly at the
207 Blacklisted modules may still be loaded indirectly as dependencies of other
212 that module will be loaded.
213 If no name is defined (see below), the
214 module's name is taken to be the same as the prefix.
216 Defines the name of the module.
218 Defines the module's type.
219 If none is given, it defaults to a kld module.
221 Flags and parameters to be passed to the module.
223 Commands to be executed before the module is loaded.
227 Commands to be executed after the module is loaded.
231 Commands to be executed if the loading of a module fails.
235 which aborts the bootstrap process, use of this setting should be avoided.
239 developers should never use these suffixes for any kernel environment
240 variables (tunables) or conflicts will result.
244 default settings can be ignored.
245 The few of them which are important
247 .Bl -tag -width bootfile -offset indent
252 a bitmap will be loaded to be displayed on screen while booting.
254 .Pq Dq Pa /boot/splash.bmp
255 Name of the bitmap to be loaded.
256 Any other name can be used.
257 .It Va comconsole_speed
260 .Va BOOT_COMCONSOLE_SPEED
264 Sets the speed of the serial console.
265 If the previous boot loader stage specified that a serial console
266 is in use then the default speed is determined from the current
267 serial port speed setting.
271 selects serial console,
273 selects the video console,
275 selects the EFI console,
277 selects a mute console
278 (useful for systems with neither a video console nor a serial port), and
280 selects the video console which prevents any input and hides all output
283 character (useful for embedded products and such).
284 .It Va efi_max_resolution
285 Specify the maximum desired resolution for the EFI console.
286 The following values are accepted:
287 .Bl -column "WidthxHeight"
288 .It Sy Value Ta Sy Resolution
291 .It 1080p Ta 1920x1080
292 .It 2160p Ta 3840x2160
295 .It Va Width Ns x Ns Va Height Ta Va Width Ns x Ns Va Height
300 .Pq Dq kernel kernel.old
301 Space or comma separated list of kernels to present in the boot menu.
302 .It Va loader_conf_files
303 .Pq Dq Pa /boot/loader.conf /boot/loader.conf.local
304 .It Va loader_conf_dirs
305 .Pq Dq Pa /boot/loader.conf.d
306 .It Va splash_bmp_load
310 will load the splash screen module, making it possible to display a bmp image
311 on the screen while booting.
312 .It Va splash_pcx_load
316 will load the splash screen module, making it possible to display a pcx image
317 on the screen while booting.
322 the vesa module will be loaded, enabling bitmaps above VGA resolution to
324 .It Va beastie_disable
327 the beastie boot menu will be skipped.
328 .It Va loader_logo Pq Dq Li orbbw
329 Selects a desired logo in the beastie boot menu.
341 the beastie boot menu will be displayed without ANSI coloring.
342 .It Va entropy_cache_load
347 boot-time entropy file
349 See the entropy entries in
351 .It Va entropy_cache_name
353 The name of the very early
354 boot-time entropy cache file.
355 .It Va cpu_microcode_load
359 the microcode update file specified by
360 .Va cpu_microcode_name
361 will be loaded and applied very early during boot.
362 This provides functionality similar to
364 but ensures that CPU features enabled by microcode updates can be
366 The update will be re-applied automatically when resuming from an
368 If the update file contains updates for multiple processor models,
369 the kernel will search for and extract a matching update.
370 Currently this setting is supported only on Intel
375 It has no effect on other processor types.
376 .It Va cpu_microcode_name
377 A path to a microcode update file.
380 Other settings that may be used in
382 that have no default value:
383 .Bl -tag -width bootfile -offset indent
385 Specifies a comma-delimited list of FDT overlays to apply.
386 .Pa /boot/dtb/overlays
387 is created by default for overlays to be placed in.
388 .It Va kernels_autodetect
391 attempt to auto-detect kernels installed in
393 This is an option specific to the Lua-based loader.
394 It is not available in the default Forth-based loader.
397 .Bl -tag -width /boot/defaults/loader.conf -compact
398 .It Pa /boot/defaults/loader.conf
399 default settings -- do not change this file.
400 .It Pa /boot/loader.conf
401 user defined settings.
402 .It Pa /boot/loader.conf.local
403 machine-specific settings for sites with a common loader.conf.
417 This manual page was written by
418 .An Daniel C. Sobral Aq dcs@FreeBSD.org .
424 when it encounters a syntax error, so any options which are vital for
425 booting a particular system (i.e.\&
426 .Dq Va hw.ata.ata_dma Ns "=0" )
427 should precede any experimental additions to