FreeBSD Man Pages

loader.conf(5)

NAME

     loader.conf -- system bootstrap configuration information

DESCRIPTION

     The file loader.conf contains descriptive information on bootstrapping
     the system.  Through it you can specify the kernel to be booted, parame-
     ters to be passed to it, and additional modules to be loaded; and gener-
     ally set all variables described in loader(8).

     The file /boot/loader.rc must contain the following two lines for
     loader.conf to be automatically processed:

	   include /boot/loader.4th
	   start

     If no /boot/loader.rc exists at installworld time, one with the above
     lines will be installed.

SYNTAX

     Though loader.conf's format was defined explicitly to resemble
     rc.conf(5), and can be sourced by sh(1), some settings are treated in a
     special fashion.  Also, the behavior of some settings is defined by the
     setting's suffix; the prefix identifies which module the setting con-
     trols.

     The general parsing rules are:

     o	 Spaces and empty lines are ignored.

     o	 A # sign will mark the remainder of the line as a comment.

     o	 Only one setting can be present on each line.

     All settings have the following format:

	   variable="value"

     Unless it belongs to one of the classes of settings that receive special
     treatment, a setting will set the value of a loader(8) environment vari-
     able.  The settings that receive special treatment are listed below.
     Settings beginning with "*" below define the modules to be loaded and may
     have any prefix; the prefix identifies a module.  All such settings shar-
     ing a common prefix refer to the same module.

     exec	   Immediately executes a loader(8) command.  This type of
		   setting cannot be processed by programs other than
		   loader(8), so its use should be avoided.  Multiple
		   instances of it will be processed independently.

     loader_conf_files
		   Defines additional configuration files to be processed
		   right after the present file.

     kernel	   Name of the kernel to be loaded.  If no kernel name is set,
		   no additional modules will be loaded.

     kernel_options

     *_load	   If set to ``YES'', that module will be loaded.  If no name
		   is defined (see below), the module's name is taken to be
		   the same as the prefix.

     *_name	   Defines the name of the module.

     *_type	   Defines the module's type.  If none is given, it defaults
		   to a kld module.

     *_flags	   Flags and parameters to be passed to the module.

     *_before	   Commands to be executed before the module is loaded.  Use
		   of this setting should be avoided.

     *_after	   Commands to be executed after the module is loaded.	Use of
		   this setting should be avoided.

     *_error	   Commands to be executed if the loading of a module fails.
		   Except for the special value ``abort'', which aborts the
		   bootstrap process, use of this setting should be avoided.

     WARNING: developers should never use these suffixes for any kernel envi-
     ronment variables (tunables) or conflicts will result.

DEFAULT SETTINGS

     Most of loader.conf's default settings can be ignored.  The few of them
     which are important or useful are:

	   bitmap_load
		     (``NO'') If set to ``YES'', a bitmap will be loaded to be
		     displayed on screen while booting.

	   bitmap_name
		     (``/boot/splash.bmp'') Name of the bitmap to be loaded.
		     Any other name can be used.

	   console   (``vidconsole'') ``comconsole'' selects serial console,
		     ``vidconsole'' selects the video console, and
		     ``nullconsole'' selects a mute console (useful for sys-
		     tems with neither a video console nor a serial port).

	   kernel    (``/boot/kernel/kernel'')

	   loader_conf_files
		     (``/boot/loader.conf /boot/loader.conf.local'')

	   splash_bmp_load
		     (``NO'') If set to ``YES'', will load the splash screen
		     module, making it possible to display a bmp image on the
		     screen while booting.

	   splash_pcx_load
		     (``NO'') If set to ``YES'', will load the splash screen
		     module, making it possible to display a pcx image on the
		     screen while booting.

	   vesa_load
     /boot/loader.conf		 user defined settings.
     /boot/loader.conf.local	 machine-specific settings for sites with a
				 common loader.conf.
     /boot/loader.rc		 contains the instructions to automatically
				 process loader.conf.

SEE ALSO

     boot(8), loader(8), loader.4th(8)

HISTORY

     The file loader.conf first appeared in FreeBSD 3.2.

AUTHORS

     This manual page was written by Daniel C. Sobral <dcs@FreeBSD.org>.

FreeBSD 5.4		      September 30, 2004		   FreeBSD 5.4

SPONSORED LINKS