Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)

FreeBSD Manual Pages

  
 
  

home | help
LOADER.CONF(5)		      File Formats Manual		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,	 para-
       meters  to  be  passed  to it, and additional modules to	be loaded; and
       generally 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:

          Spaces and empty lines are ignored.

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

          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  spe-
       cial treatment, a setting will set the value of a loader(8) environment
       variable.   The	settings that receive special treatment	are listed be-
       low.  Settings beginning	with "*" below define the modules to be	loaded
       and may have any	prefix;	the prefix identifies a	module.	 All such set-
       tings sharing 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  in-
		     stances 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.	 The name must
		     be	a subdirectory of /boot	that contains a	kernel.

       kernel_options
		     Flags to be passed	to the kernel.

       vfs.root.mountfrom
		     Specify the root partition	to mount.  For example:

			   vfs.root.mountfrom="ufs:/dev/da0s1a"

		     loader(8) automatically calculates	the value of this tun-
		     able  from	 /etc/fstab  from the partition	the kernel was
		     loaded from.  The calculated value	 might	be  calculated
		     incorrectly  when	/etc/fstab  is	not  available	during
		     loader(8) startup (as during diskless booting from	 NFS),
		     or	 if  a	different  device is desired by	the user.  The
		     preferred value can be set	in /loader.conf.

		     The value can also	be overridden from the loader(8)  com-
		     mand  line.   This	 is  useful  for  system recovery when
		     /etc/fstab	is damaged, lost, or read from the wrong  par-
		     tition.

       password	     Protect  boot  menu  with a password without interrupting
		     autoboot process.	The password should be in  clear  text
		     format.   If a password is	set, boot menu will not	appear
		     until any key is pressed during countdown	period	speci-
		     fied  by  autoboot_delay  variable	 or  autoboot  process
		     fails.  In	both cases user	should provide specified pass-
		     word to be	able to	access boot menu.

       bootlock_password
		     Provides a	password to be required	by check-password  be-
		     fore  execution  is  allowed  to  continue.  The password
		     should be in clear	text format.  If a  password  is  set,
		     the user must provide specified password to boot.

       verbose_loading
		     If	 set  to "YES",	module names will be displayed as they
		     are loaded.

       *_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  en-
       vironment 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.

	     comconsole_speed
		       ("9600" or the value of the BOOT_COMCONSOLE_SPEED vari-
		       able  when  loader(8) was compiled).  Sets the speed of
		       the serial console.  If the previous boot loader	 stage
		       specified  that a serial	console	is in use then the de-
		       fault speed is determined from the current serial  port
		       speed setting.

	     console   ("vidconsole")  "comconsole"  selects  serial  console,
		       "vidconsole" selects the	video  console,	 "nullconsole"
		       selects a mute console (useful for systems with neither
		       a  video	 console nor a serial port), and "spinconsole"
		       selects the video console which prevents	any input  and
		       hides all output	replacing it with "spinning" character
		       (useful for embedded products and such).

	     kernel    ("kernel")

	     kernels   ("kernel	 kernel.old") Space or comma separated list of
		       kernels to present in the boot menu.

	     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
		       ("NO") If set to	"YES", the vesa	module will be loaded,
		       enabling	bitmaps	above VGA resolution to	be displayed.

	     beastie_disable
		       If set to "YES",	the beastie boot menu will be skipped.
		       The beastie boot	menu is	always skipped if running non-
		       x86 hardware.

	     loader_logo ("orbbw")
		       Selects a desired logo in the beastie boot menu.	  Pos-
		       sible	values	  are:	 "orbbw",   "orb",   "fbsdbw",
		       "beastiebw", "beastie", and "none".

	     loader_color
		       If set to "NO", the beastie boot	menu will be displayed
		       without ANSI coloring.

	     entropy_cache_load
		       ("YES") If set to "NO", the very	 early	boot-time  en-
		       tropy file will not be loaded.  See the entropy entries
		       in rc.conf(5).

	     entropy_cache_name
		       ("/boot/entropy")  The name of the very early boot-time
		       entropy cache file.

FILES
       /boot/defaults/loader.conf  default settings  --	 do  not  change  this
				   file.
       /boot/loader.4th		   defines the commands	used by	loader to read
				   and process loader.conf.
       /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
       rc.conf(5), 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>.

BUGS
       The loader(8) stops reading loader.conf when it encounters a syntax er-
       ror,  so	 any  options  which are vital for booting a particular	system
       (i.e. "hw.ata.ata_dma=0") should	precede	any experimental additions  to
       loader.conf.

GNU				January	6, 2016			LOADER.CONF(5)

NAME | DESCRIPTION | SYNTAX | DEFAULT SETTINGS | FILES | SEE ALSO | HISTORY | AUTHORS | BUGS

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=loader.conf&sektion=5&manpath=FreeBSD+11.0-RELEASE+and+Ports>

home | help