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LOADER.4TH(8)		  BSD System Manager's Manual		 LOADER.4TH(8)

NAME
     loader.4th	-- loader.conf processing tools

DESCRIPTION
     The file that goes	by the name of loader.4th is a set of commands de-
     signed to manipulate loader.conf(5) files.	 The default /boot/loader.rc
     includes loader.4th and uses one of its commands to automatically read
     and process the standard loader.conf(5) files.  Other commands exists to
     help the user specify alternate configurations.

     The commands of loader.4th	by themselves are not enough for most uses.
     Please refer to the examples below	for the	most common situations,	and to
     loader(8) for additional commands.

     Before using any of the commands provided in loader.4th, it must be in-
     cluded through the	command:

	   include loader.4th

     This line is present in the default /boot/loader.rc file, so it is	not
     needed (and should	not be re-issued) in a normal setup.

     The commands provided by it are:
	   boot
	   boot	kernelname [...]
	   boot	directory [...]
	   boot	-flag ...	  Boot as specified by the loader.conf(5)
				  files	read.

				  Depending on the arguments passed, it	can
				  override boot	flags and either the kernel
				  name or the search path for kernel and mod-
				  ules.

	   boot-conf
	   boot-conf kernelname	[...]
	   boot-conf directory [...]
	   boot-conf -flag ...	  Works	like boot described above, but instead
				  of booting immediately, uses autoboot, so it
				  can be stopped.

	   start		  Reads	/boot/defaults/loader.conf, all	other
				  loader.conf(5) files specified in it,	then
				  loads	the desired kernel and modules (if not
				  already loaded).  After which	you can	use
				  the boot or autoboot commmands or simply
				  exit (provided autoboot_delay	is not set to
				  NO) to boot the system.  start is the	com-
				  mand used in the default /boot/loader.rc
				  file (see loader(8)).

	   initialize		  Initialize the support library so commands
				  can be used without executing	start first.
				  Like start, it reads
				  /boot/defaults/loader.conf and all other
				  loader.conf(5) files specified in it (but
				  does not load	kernel or modules).  Returns a
				  flag on the stack to indicate	if any config-
				  uration files	were successfully loaded.

	   read-conf filename	  Reads	and processes a	loader.conf(5) file.
				  Does not proceed to boot.

	   enable-module module	  Enables the loading of module.

	   disable-module module  Disables the loading of module.

	   toggle-module module	  Toggles the loading of module	on and off.

	   show-module module	  Shows	the information	gathered in the
				  loader.conf(5) files about the module
				  module.

	   retry		  Used inside loader.conf(5) files to specify
				  the action after a module loading fails.

	   ignore		  Used inside loader.conf(5) files to specify
				  the action after a module loading fails.
	   try-include file [file ...]
				  Process script files if they exist.  Each
				  file,	in turn, is completely read into mem-
				  ory, and then	each of	its lines is passed to
				  the command line interpreter.	 If any	error
				  is returned by the interpreter, the try-in-
				  clude	command	aborts immediately, without
				  reading any other files, and silently	re-
				  turns	without	error.

FILES
     /boot/loader      The loader(8).
     /boot/loader.4th  loader.4th itself.
     /boot/loader.rc   loader(8) bootstrapping script.
     /boot/defaults/loader.conf
		       File loaded by the start	command.

EXAMPLES
     Standard /boot/loader.rc:

	   include /boot/loader.4th
	   start

     Load a different kernel with the standard configuration:

	   set kernel="kernel.old"
	   unload
	   boot-conf

     Read an additional	configuration file and then proceed to boot:

	   unload
	   read-conf /boot/special.conf
	   boot-conf

     Disable the loading of the	splash screen module and bitmap	and then pro-
     ceed to boot:

	   unload
	   disable-module splash_bmp
	   disable-module bitmap
	   boot-conf

SEE ALSO
     loader.conf(5), loader(8)

HISTORY
     The loader.4th set	of commands first appeared in FreeBSD 3.2.

AUTHORS
     The loader.4th set	of commands was	written	by Daniel C. Sobral
     <dcs@FreeBSD.org>.

BUGS
     A British espionage series.

BSD			       November	13, 2013			   BSD

NAME | DESCRIPTION | FILES | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | HISTORY | AUTHORS | BUGS

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