LOADER.CONF(5)

NAME
loader.conf - system bootstrap configuration information

loader.conf.local - localized 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, parameters to be passed to it, 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 depends only on it's suffix.

The general parsing rules are:

•   Spaces and empty lines are ignored.

•   A # sign will mark the remaining 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 special treatment, a setting will set the value of a loader(8) 's environment variable. The settings that receive special treatment are listed below. The ones beginning with a "*" define the modules to be loaded and may have any prefix. All such settings 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 it's use should be avoided. Multiple instances 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.

kernel_options
    Flags to be passed to the kernel.

password
    Provides a password to be asked by check-password before execution is allowed to continue.

verbose_loading
    If set to “YES”, the modules' 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.

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.

kernel
    (“/kernel”)

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 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 possible to display a pcx image on the screen while booting.

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/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
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>.