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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.
115 .It Ar vfs.root.mountfrom
116 Specify the root partition to mount.
119 .Dl vfs.root.mountfrom="ufs:/dev/da0s1a"
122 automatically calculates the value of this tunable from
124 from the partition the kernel was loaded from.
125 The calculated value might be calculated incorrectly when
127 is not available during
129 startup (as during diskless booting from NFS), or if a different
130 device is desired by the user.
131 The preferred value can be set in
134 The value can also be overridden from the
137 This is useful for system recovery when
139 is damaged, lost, or read from the wrong partition.
141 Protect boot menu with a password without interrupting
144 The password should be in clear text format.
145 If a password is set, boot menu will not appear until any key is pressed during
146 countdown period specified by
151 In both cases user should provide specified password to be able to access boot
153 .It Ar bootlock_password
154 Provides a password to be required by check-password before execution is
156 The password should be in clear text format.
157 If a password is set, the user must provide specified password to boot.
158 .It Ar verbose_loading
161 module names will be displayed as they are loaded.
165 that module will be loaded.
166 If no name is defined (see below), the
167 module's name is taken to be the same as the prefix.
169 Defines the name of the module.
171 Defines the module's type.
172 If none is given, it defaults to a kld module.
174 Flags and parameters to be passed to the module.
176 Commands to be executed before the module is loaded.
180 Commands to be executed after the module is loaded.
184 Commands to be executed if the loading of a module fails.
188 which aborts the bootstrap process, use of this setting should be avoided.
192 developers should never use these suffixes for any kernel environment
193 variables (tunables) or conflicts will result.
197 default settings can be ignored.
198 The few of them which are important
200 .Bl -tag -width bootfile -offset indent
205 a bitmap will be loaded to be displayed on screen while booting.
207 .Pq Dq Pa /boot/splash.bmp
208 Name of the bitmap to be loaded.
209 Any other name can be used.
210 .It Va comconsole_speed
213 .Va BOOT_COMCONSOLE_SPEED
217 Sets the speed of the serial console.
218 If the previous boot loader stage specified that a serial console
219 is in use then the default speed is determined from the current
220 serial port speed setting.
224 selects serial console,
226 selects the video console,
228 selects a mute console
229 (useful for systems with neither a video console nor a serial port), and
231 selects the video console which prevents any input and hides all output
234 character (useful for embedded products and such).
238 .Pq Dq kernel kernel.old
239 Space or comma separated list of kernels to present in the boot menu.
240 .It Va loader_conf_files
241 .Pq Dq Pa /boot/loader.conf /boot/loader.conf.local
242 .It Va splash_bmp_load
246 will load the splash screen module, making it possible to display a bmp image
247 on the screen while booting.
248 .It Va splash_pcx_load
252 will load the splash screen module, making it possible to display a pcx image
253 on the screen while booting.
258 the vesa module will be loaded, enabling bitmaps above VGA resolution to
260 .It Va beastie_disable
263 the beastie boot menu will be skipped.
264 The beastie boot menu is always skipped if running non-x86 hardware.
265 .It Va loader_logo Pq Dq Li orbbw
266 Selects a desired logo in the beastie boot menu.
278 the beastie boot menu will be displayed without ANSI coloring.
279 .It Va entropy_cache_load
284 boot-time entropy file
286 See the entropy entries in
288 .It Va entropy_cache_name
290 The name of the very early
291 boot-time entropy cache file.
294 .Bl -tag -width /boot/defaults/loader.conf -compact
295 .It Pa /boot/defaults/loader.conf
296 default settings -- do not change this file.
297 .It Pa /boot/loader.4th
298 defines the commands used by loader to read and process
300 .It Pa /boot/loader.conf
301 user defined settings.
302 .It Pa /boot/loader.conf.local
303 machine-specific settings for sites with a common loader.conf.
304 .It Pa /boot/loader.rc
305 contains the instructions to automatically process
319 This manual page was written by
320 .An Daniel C. Sobral Aq dcs@FreeBSD.org .
326 when it encounters a syntax error, so any options which are vital for
327 booting a particular system (i.e.\&
328 .Dq Va hw.ata.ata_dma Ns "=0" )
329 should precede any experimental additions to