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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
44 must contain the following two lines for
46 to be automatically processed:
48 .Dl include /boot/loader.4th
53 exists at installworld time, one with the above lines will be installed.
57 format was defined explicitly to resemble
61 some settings are treated in a special fashion.
63 behavior of some settings is defined by the setting's suffix;
64 the prefix identifies which module the setting controls.
66 The general parsing rules are:
69 Spaces and empty lines are ignored.
71 A # sign will mark the remainder of the line as a comment.
73 Only one setting can be present on each line.
76 All settings have the following format:
80 Unless it belongs to one of the classes of settings that receive special
81 treatment, a setting will set the value of a
84 The settings that receive special
85 treatment are listed below.
86 Settings beginning with
88 below define the modules to be loaded and
89 may have any prefix; the prefix identifies a module.
90 All such settings sharing a common
91 prefix refer to the same module.
94 Immediately executes a
97 This type of setting cannot be processed by programs other
100 so its use should be avoided.
101 Multiple instances of it will be processed
103 .It Ar loader_conf_files
104 Defines additional configuration files to be processed right after the
107 Name of the kernel to be loaded.
108 If no kernel name is set, no additional
109 modules will be loaded.
110 The name must be a subdirectory of
112 that contains a kernel.
113 .It Ar kernel_options
114 Flags to be passed to the kernel.
116 Protect boot menu with a password without interrupting
119 The password should be in clear text format.
120 If a password is set, boot menu will not appear until any key is pressed during
121 countdown period specified by
126 In both cases user should provide specified password to be able to access boot
128 .It Ar bootlock_password
129 Provides a password to be required by check-password before execution is
131 The password should be in clear text format.
132 If a password is set, the user must provide specified password to boot.
133 .It Ar verbose_loading
136 module names will be displayed as they are loaded.
140 that module will be loaded.
141 If no name is defined (see below), the
142 module's name is taken to be the same as the prefix.
144 Defines the name of the module.
146 Defines the module's type.
147 If none is given, it defaults to a kld module.
149 Flags and parameters to be passed to the module.
151 Commands to be executed before the module is loaded.
155 Commands to be executed after the module is loaded.
159 Commands to be executed if the loading of a module fails.
163 which aborts the bootstrap process, use of this setting should be avoided.
167 developers should never use these suffixes for any kernel environment
168 variables (tunables) or conflicts will result.
172 default settings can be ignored.
173 The few of them which are important
175 .Bl -tag -width bootfile -offset indent
180 a bitmap will be loaded to be displayed on screen while booting.
182 .Pq Dq Pa /boot/splash.bmp
183 Name of the bitmap to be loaded.
184 Any other name can be used.
185 .It Va comconsole_speed
188 .Va BOOT_COMCONSOLE_SPEED
192 Sets the speed of the serial console.
193 If the previous boot loader stage specified that a serial console
194 is in use then the default speed is determined from the current
195 serial port speed setting.
199 selects serial console,
201 selects the video console,
203 selects a mute console
204 (useful for systems with neither a video console nor a serial port), and
206 selects the video console which prevents any input and hides all output
209 character (useful for embedded products and such).
213 .Pq Dq kernel kernel.old
214 Space or comma separated list of kernels to present in the boot menu.
215 .It Va loader_conf_files
216 .Pq Dq Pa /boot/loader.conf /boot/loader.conf.local
217 .It Va splash_bmp_load
221 will load the splash screen module, making it possible to display a bmp image
222 on the screen while booting.
223 .It Va splash_pcx_load
227 will load the splash screen module, making it possible to display a pcx image
228 on the screen while booting.
233 the vesa module will be loaded, enabling bitmaps above VGA resolution to
235 .It Va beastie_disable
238 the beastie boot menu will be skipped.
239 The beastie boot menu is always skipped if running non-x86 hardware.
240 .It Va loader_logo Pq Dq Li orbbw
241 Selects a desired logo in the beastie boot menu.
253 the beastie boot menu will be displayed without ANSI coloring.
254 .It Va entropy_cache_load
259 boot-time entropy file
261 See the entropy entries in
263 .It Va entropy_cache_name
265 The name of the very early
266 boot-time entropy cache file.
269 .Bl -tag -width /boot/defaults/loader.conf -compact
270 .It Pa /boot/defaults/loader.conf
271 default settings -- do not change this file.
272 .It Pa /boot/loader.4th
273 defines the commands used by loader to read and process
275 .It Pa /boot/loader.conf
276 user defined settings.
277 .It Pa /boot/loader.conf.local
278 machine-specific settings for sites with a common loader.conf.
279 .It Pa /boot/loader.rc
280 contains the instructions to automatically process
294 This manual page was written by
295 .An Daniel C. Sobral Aq dcs@FreeBSD.org .
301 when it encounters a syntax error, so any options which are vital for
302 booting a particular system (i.e.\&
303 .Dq Va hw.ata.ata_dma Ns "=0" )
304 should precede any experimental additions to