xref: /dragonfly/share/man/man5/loader.conf.5 (revision 81c11cd3)
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25.\" $FreeBSD: src/sys/boot/forth/loader.conf.5,v 1.18 2002/08/27 01:02:56 trhodes Exp $
26.\" $DragonFly: src/sys/boot/forth/loader.conf.5,v 1.13 2008/09/15 21:23:44 thomas Exp $
27.Dd October 6, 2010
28.Dt LOADER.CONF 5
29.Os
30.Sh NAME
31.Nm loader.conf
32.Nd system bootstrap configuration information
33.Sh DESCRIPTION
34The file
35.Nm
36contains descriptive information on bootstrapping the system.
37Through it you can specify the kernel to be booted,
38parameters to be passed to it,
39and additional kernel modules to be loaded;
40and generally set all variables described in
41.Xr loader 8 .
42.Pp
43A file
44.Pa dloader.rc
45must contain the following lines for
46.Nm
47to be automatically processed:
48.Pp
49.Dl include defaults/loader.conf
50.Dl optinclude loader.conf
51.Dl optinclude loader.conf.local
52.Pp
53If no
54.Pa /boot/dloader.rc
55exists at installworld time, one with the above lines will be installed.
56.Sh SYNTAX
57Though
58.Nm Ns 's
59format was defined explicitly to resemble
60.Xr rc.conf 5 ,
61and can be sourced by
62.Xr sh 1 ,
63some settings are treated in a special fashion.
64Also, the behavior of some settings is defined by the setting's suffix;
65the prefix identifies which module the setting controls.
66.Pp
67The general parsing rules are:
68.Bl -bullet
69.It
70Spaces and empty lines are ignored.
71.It
72A
73.Ql #
74sign will mark the remainder of the line as a comment.
75.It
76Only one setting can be present on each line.
77.El
78.Pp
79All settings have the following format:
80.Pp
81.Dl variable="value"
82.Pp
83This assigns value to a local variable.
84If variable is in a list of known kernel environment variables or
85is a kernel tunable,
86it is also assigned to the kernel environment variable of the given name.
87.Pp
88The settings that receive special treatment are listed below.
89Settings beginning with
90.Aq Ar module
91below define the kernel modules to be loaded.
92All such settings sharing a common
93prefix refer to the same module.
94.Bl -tag -width indent
95.It Ar kernel
96Name of the kernel to be loaded.
97If no kernel name is set, no additional
98modules will be loaded.
99.It Ar kernel_options
100Flags to be passed to the kernel (see
101.Xr boot 8 ) .
102.It Ar verbose_loading
103If set to
104.Dq YES ,
105module names will be displayed as they are loaded.
106.It Ao Ar module Ac Ns Ar _load
107If set to
108.Dq YES ,
109that kernel module will be loaded.
110If no
111.Ao Ar module Ac Ns Ar _name
112is defined (see below), the
113module's name is taken to be
114.Aq Ar module .
115.It Ao Ar module Ac Ns Ar _name
116Defines the name of the module.
117.It Ao Ar module Ac Ns Ar _type
118Defines the module's type.
119If none is given, it defaults to a
120.Xr kld 4
121module.
122.It Ao Ar module Ac Ns Ar _flags
123Flags and parameters to be passed to the module.
124.It Ao Ar module Ac Ns Ar _before
125Commands to be executed before the module is loaded.
126Use of this setting
127should be avoided.
128.It Ao Ar module Ac Ns Ar _after
129Commands to be executed after the module is loaded.
130Use of this setting
131should be avoided.
132.It Ao Ar module Ac Ns Ar _error
133Commands to be executed if the loading of a module fails.
134Except for the
135special value
136.Dq abort ,
137which aborts the bootstrap process, use of this setting should be avoided.
138.El
139.Sh DEFAULT SETTINGS
140See
141.Pa /boot/defaults/loader.conf
142for
143.Nm Ns 's
144default settings.
145The few of them which are important
146or useful are:
147.Bl -tag -width indent
148.It Va bitmap_load
149.Pq Dq NO
150If set to
151.Dq YES ,
152a bitmap will be loaded to be displayed on screen while booting.
153.It Va bitmap_name
154.Pq Dq splash.bmp
155Name of the bitmap to be loaded.
156Any other name can be used.
157.It Va console
158.Pq Dq vidconsole
159.Dq comconsole
160selects serial console,
161.Dq vidconsole
162selects the video console, and
163.Dq nullconsole
164selects a mute console
165(useful for systems with neither a video console nor a serial port).
166.It Va fred_disable
167.Pq Dq NO
168Shows a monochrome version of Fred, the official
169.Dx
170mascot, when the
171boot menu appears.
172To make his life a bit more colorful, consider setting
173.Pa loader_color
174to
175.Dq YES .
176.It Va fred_on_left
177.Pq Dq NO
178Shows Fred on the left side of the menu rather than the right side.
179.It Va kernel
180.Pq Dq kernel .
181.It Va loader_color
182.Pq Dq NO
183If set to
184.Dq YES ,
185you'll meet Fred, the official
186.Dx
187mascot, in technicolor when the
188boot menu appears (remember to set
189.Pa fred_disable
190to
191.Dq NO
192for this to work.)
193.It Va splash_bmp_load
194.Pq Dq NO
195If set to
196.Dq YES ,
197will load the splash screen module, making it possible to display a bmp image
198on the screen while booting.
199.It Va splash_pcx_load
200.Pq Dq NO
201If set to
202.Dq YES ,
203will load the splash screen module, making it possible to display a pcx image
204on the screen while booting.
205.It Va userconfig_script_load
206.Pq Dq NO
207If set to
208.Dq YES ,
209will load the userconfig data.
210.It Va vesa_load
211.Pq Dq NO
212If set to
213.Dq YES ,
214the vesa module will be loaded, enabling bitmaps above VGA resolution to
215be displayed.
216.El
217.Sh FILES
218.Bl -tag -width ".Pa /boot/defaults/dloader.menu" -compact
219.It Pa /boot/defaults/dloader.menu
220default settings for menu setup -- do not change this file.
221.It Pa /boot/defaults/loader.conf
222default settings -- do not change this file.
223.It Pa /boot/dloader.menu
224defines the commands used by
225.Nm loader
226to setup menus.
227.It Pa /boot/loader.conf
228user defined settings.
229.It Pa /boot/loader.conf.local
230machine-specific settings for sites with a common loader.conf.
231.It Pa /boot/dloader.rc
232contains the instructions to automatically process.
233.El
234.Sh SEE ALSO
235.Xr boot 8 ,
236.Xr loader 8
237.Sh HISTORY
238The file
239.Nm
240first appeared in
241.Fx 3.2 .
242.Sh AUTHORS
243This manual page was written by
244.An Daniel C. Sobral Aq dcs@FreeBSD.org .
245