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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 Immediately executes a
85 This type of setting cannot be processed by programs other
88 so its use should be avoided.
89 Multiple instances of it will be processed
91 .It Ar loader_conf_files
92 Defines additional configuration files to be processed right after the
95 Name of the kernel to be loaded.
96 If no kernel name is set, no additional
97 modules will be loaded.
98 The name must be a subdirectory of
100 that contains a kernel.
101 .It Ar kernel_options
102 Flags to be passed to the kernel.
103 .It Ar vfs.root.mountfrom
104 Specify the root partition to mount.
107 .Dl vfs.root.mountfrom="ufs:/dev/da0s1a"
110 automatically calculates the value of this tunable from
112 from the partition the kernel was loaded from.
113 The calculated value might be calculated incorrectly when
115 is not available during
117 startup (as during diskless booting from NFS), or if a different
118 device is desired by the user.
119 The preferred value can be set in
122 The value can also be overridden from the
125 This is useful for system recovery when
127 is damaged, lost, or read from the wrong partition.
129 Protect boot menu with a password without interrupting
132 The password should be in clear text format.
133 If a password is set, boot menu will not appear until any key is pressed during
134 countdown period specified by
139 In both cases user should provide specified password to be able to access boot
141 .It Ar bootlock_password
142 Provides a password to be required by check-password before execution is
144 The password should be in clear text format.
145 If a password is set, the user must provide specified password to boot.
146 .It Ar verbose_loading
149 module names will be displayed as they are loaded.
150 .It Ar module_blacklist
151 Blacklist of modules.
152 Modules specified in the blacklist may not be loaded automatically with a
154 directive, but they may be loaded directly at the
157 Blacklisted modules may still be loaded indirectly as dependencies of other
162 that module will be loaded.
163 If no name is defined (see below), the
164 module's name is taken to be the same as the prefix.
166 Defines the name of the module.
168 Defines the module's type.
169 If none is given, it defaults to a kld module.
171 Flags and parameters to be passed to the module.
173 Commands to be executed before the module is loaded.
177 Commands to be executed after the module is loaded.
181 Commands to be executed if the loading of a module fails.
185 which aborts the bootstrap process, use of this setting should be avoided.
189 developers should never use these suffixes for any kernel environment
190 variables (tunables) or conflicts will result.
194 default settings can be ignored.
195 The few of them which are important
197 .Bl -tag -width bootfile -offset indent
202 a bitmap will be loaded to be displayed on screen while booting.
204 .Pq Dq Pa /boot/splash.bmp
205 Name of the bitmap to be loaded.
206 Any other name can be used.
207 .It Va comconsole_speed
210 .Va BOOT_COMCONSOLE_SPEED
214 Sets the speed of the serial console.
215 If the previous boot loader stage specified that a serial console
216 is in use then the default speed is determined from the current
217 serial port speed setting.
221 selects serial console,
223 selects the video console,
225 selects a mute console
226 (useful for systems with neither a video console nor a serial port), and
228 selects the video console which prevents any input and hides all output
231 character (useful for embedded products and such).
232 .It Va efi_max_resolution
233 Specify the maximum desired resolution for the EFI console.
234 The following values are accepted:
235 .Bl -column "WidthxHeight"
236 .It Sy Value Ta Sy Resolution
239 .It 1080p Ta 1920x1080
240 .It 2160p Ta 3840x2160
243 .It Va Width Ns x Ns Va Height Ta Va Width Ns x Ns Va Height
248 .Pq Dq kernel kernel.old
249 Space or comma separated list of kernels to present in the boot menu.
250 .It Va loader_conf_files
251 .Pq Dq Pa /boot/loader.conf /boot/loader.conf.local
252 .It Va splash_bmp_load
256 will load the splash screen module, making it possible to display a bmp image
257 on the screen while booting.
258 .It Va splash_pcx_load
262 will load the splash screen module, making it possible to display a pcx image
263 on the screen while booting.
268 the vesa module will be loaded, enabling bitmaps above VGA resolution to
270 .It Va beastie_disable
273 the beastie boot menu will be skipped.
274 .It Va loader_logo Pq Dq Li orbbw
275 Selects a desired logo in the beastie boot menu.
287 the beastie boot menu will be displayed without ANSI coloring.
288 .It Va entropy_cache_load
293 boot-time entropy file
295 See the entropy entries in
297 .It Va entropy_cache_name
299 The name of the very early
300 boot-time entropy cache file.
301 .It Va cpu_microcode_load
305 the microcode update file specified by
306 .Va cpu_microcode_name
307 will be loaded and applied very early during boot.
308 This provides functionality similar to
310 but ensures that CPU features enabled by microcode updates can be
312 The update will be re-applied automatically when resuming from an
314 If the update file contains updates for multiple processor models,
315 the kernel will search for and extract a matching update.
316 Currently this setting is supported only on Intel
321 It has no effect on other processor types.
322 .It Va cpu_microcode_name
323 A path to a microcode update file.
326 Other settings that may be used in
328 that have no default value:
329 .Bl -tag -width bootfile -offset indent
331 Specifies a comma-delimited list of FDT overlays to apply.
332 .Pa /boot/dtb/overlays
333 is created by default for overlays to be placed in.
334 .It Va kernels_autodetect
337 attempt to auto-detect kernels installed in
339 This is an option specific to the Lua-based loader.
340 It is not available in the default Forth-based loader.
343 .Bl -tag -width /boot/defaults/loader.conf -compact
344 .It Pa /boot/defaults/loader.conf
345 default settings -- do not change this file.
346 .It Pa /boot/loader.conf
347 user defined settings.
348 .It Pa /boot/loader.conf.local
349 machine-specific settings for sites with a common loader.conf.
363 This manual page was written by
364 .An Daniel C. Sobral Aq dcs@FreeBSD.org .
370 when it encounters a syntax error, so any options which are vital for
371 booting a particular system (i.e.\&
372 .Dq Va hw.ata.ata_dma Ns "=0" )
373 should precede any experimental additions to