LOADER.CONF(5) BSD File Formats Manual LOADER.CONF(5)NAMEloader.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 kernel modules to be loaded; and
generally set all variables described in loader(8).
A file dloader.rc must contain the following lines for loader.conf to be
automatically processed:
include defaults/loader.conf
optinclude loader.conf
optinclude loader.conf.local
If no /boot/dloader.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"
This assigns value to a local variable. If variable is in a list of
known kernel environment variables or is a kernel tunable, it is also
assigned to the kernel environment variable of the given name.
The settings that receive special treatment are listed below. Settings
beginning with ⟨module⟩ below define the kernel modules to be loaded.
All such settings sharing a common prefix refer to the same module.
kernel Name of the kernel to be loaded. If no kernel name is set, no
additional modules will be loaded.
kernel_options
Flags to be passed to the kernel (see boot(8)).
verbose_loading
If set to “YES”, module names will be displayed as they are
loaded.
⟨module⟩_load
If set to “YES”, that kernel module will be loaded. If no
⟨module⟩_name is defined (see below), the module's name is taken
to be ⟨module⟩.
⟨module⟩_name
Defines the name of the module.
⟨module⟩_type
Defines the module's type. If none is given, it defaults to a
kld(4) module.
⟨module⟩_flags
Flags and parameters to be passed to the module.
⟨module⟩_before
Commands to be executed before the module is loaded. Use of this
setting should be avoided.
⟨module⟩_after
Commands to be executed after the module is loaded. Use of this
setting should be avoided.
⟨module⟩_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.
DEFAULT SETTINGS
See /boot/defaults/loader.conf for loader.conf's default settings. 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
(“splash.bmp”) Name of the bitmap to be loaded. Any other name
can be used.
boot_verbose
(“NO”) Set to “YES” to enable verbose booting.
console
(“vidconsole”) “comconsole” selects serial console, “vidconsole”
selects the video console, and “nullconsole” selects a mute con‐
sole (useful for systems with neither a video console nor a
serial port).
fred_disable
(“NO”) Shows a monochrome version of Fred, the official DragonFly
mascot, when the boot menu appears. To make his life a bit more
colorful, consider setting loader_color to “YES”.
fred_on_left
(“NO”) Shows Fred on the left side of the menu rather than the
right side.
kernel (“kernel”).
loader_color
(“NO”) If set to “YES”, you'll meet Fred, the official DragonFly
mascot, in technicolor when the boot menu appears (remember to
set fred_disable to “NO” for this to work.)
splash_bmp_load
(“NO”) If set to “YES”, will load the splash screen module, mak‐
ing it possible to display a bmp image on the screen while boot‐
ing.
splash_pcx_load
(“NO”) If set to “YES”, will load the splash screen module, mak‐
ing it possible to display a pcx image on the screen while boot‐
ing.
userconfig_script_load
(“NO”) If set to “YES”, will load the userconfig data.
vesa_load
(“NO”) If set to “YES”, the vesa module will be loaded, enabling
bitmaps above VGA resolution to be displayed.
FILES
/boot/defaults/dloader.menu default settings for menu setup -- do not
change this file.
/boot/defaults/loader.conf default settings -- do not change this file.
/boot/dloader.menu defines the commands used by loader to setup
menus.
/boot/loader.conf user defined settings.
/boot/loader.conf.local machine-specific settings for sites with a
common loader.conf.
/boot/dloader.rc contains the instructions to automatically
process.
SEE ALSOboot(8), loader(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⟩.
BSD October 6, 2010 BSD
