xref: /freebsd/share/man/man5/boot.config.5 (revision 61e21613)
1.\" Copyright (c) 2007 Daniel Gerzo <danger@FreeBSD.org>
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
6.\" are met:
7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
8.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
10.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
11.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
12.\"
13.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
14.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
15.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
16.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
17.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
18.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
19.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
20.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
21.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
22.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
23.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
24.Dd October 12, 2020
25.Dt BOOT.CONFIG 5
26.Os
27.Sh NAME
28.Nm boot.config
29.Nd "Configuration file for the boot blocks"
30.Sh DESCRIPTION
31The
32.Nm
33file contains options for the
34.Fx
35boot block code.
36.Pp
37When the
38.Fx
39boot loader runs, it searches the
40.Dq Li a
41slice of the boot partition for a
42.Nm
43file (as a result, slices which are missing an
44.Dq Li a
45partition require user intervention during the boot process).
46If the
47.Nm
48file is found, its contents are used as the default configuration
49options for the boot block code and are echoed to the system console.
50.Pp
51A valid format of this file is to put BIOS drive number, a controller
52type, a unit number, a partition, a kernel file name, and any other
53valid
54.Xr boot 8
55option on a single line, as it is done at the
56.Dq Li "boot:"
57prompt.
58.Pp
59The options related to the boot image selection described below and all
60the other options available for
61.Nm
62are documented in detail in the
63.Xr boot 8
64manual page.
65.Sh FILES
66.Bl -tag -width /boot.config -compact
67.It Pa /boot.config
68parameters for the boot blocks (optional)
69.It Pa /boot/config
70alternate location for boot config information
71.El
72.Sh EXAMPLES
73The command:
74.Bd -literal -offset indent
75# echo "-P" > /boot.config
76.Ed
77.Pp
78will activate the serial console of
79.Fx
80if no keyboard is present, otherwise video console will be used.
81.Pp
82The command:
83.Bd -literal -offset indent
84# echo "1:ad(1,a)/boot/loader" > /boot.config
85.Ed
86.Pp
87will instruct the second stage of
88.Xr boot 8
89on the first disk to boot with the third
90.Xr boot 8
91stage from the second disk.
92.Pp
93The command:
94.Bd -literal -offset indent
95# echo "1:ad(1,a)/boot/loader -P" > /boot.config
96.Ed
97.Pp
98will do both of the above.
99.Sh SEE ALSO
100.Xr boot 8 ,
101.Xr loader 8
102.Sh AUTHORS
103This manual page was written by
104.An Daniel Gerzo Aq Mt danger@FreeBSD.org .
105