As an introduction for the un-educated reader, here is a simple paste of the boot(8) manpage:
By default, a three-stage bootstrap is employed, and control is automati-
cally passed from the boot blocks (bootstrap stages one and two) to a
separate third-stage bootstrap program, loader(8). This third stage pro-
vides more sophisticated control over the booting process than it is pos-
sible to achieve in the boot blocks, which are constrained by occupying
limited fixed space on a given disk or slice.
In summary: boot0 -> boot2 -> loader -> kernel
The first stage (boot0) cannot be configured, as the code as to fit in 512 bytes. It will simply use the default system console (the screen).
However the following things can be configured more or less independently:
- boot2 (stage 2);
- loader(8) (stage 3);
- the kernel;
- login(8).
Configuring boot2
boot2 is configured through /boot.config. This file contains the flags documented in boot(8), as though they were given on the boot2 prompt. Therefore if you want to see boot2 output on both your screen and the serial console, you have to put "-D" in it.
shell# cat /boot.config
-D
Configuring loader(8)
loader(8) is configured through /boot/loader.conf. The console variable can be set either "vidconsole", "comconsole" or "vidconsole,comconsole" to have both "comconsole,vidconsole" works too, we will see the difference later)
shell# grep ^console /boot/loader.conf
console="vidconsole,comconsole"
Configuring the kernel
/boot/loader.conf also contains variables that will set kenv variables, which will define the kernel behaviour. See this comment in /boot/defaults/loader.conf:
##############################################################
### Kernel settings ########################################
##############################################################
# The following boot_ variables are enabled by setting them to any value.
# Their presence in the kernel environment (see kenv(1)) has the same
# effect as setting the given boot flag (see boot(8)).
#boot_askname="" # -a: Prompt the user for the name of the root device
#boot_cdrom="" # -C: Attempt to mount root file system from CD-ROM
#boot_ddb="" # -d: Instructs the kernel to start in the DDB debugger
#boot_dfltroot="" # -r: Use the statically configured root file system
#boot_gdb="" # -g: Selects gdb-remote mode for the kernel debugger
#boot_multicons="" # -D: Use multiple consoles
#boot_mute="" # -m: Mute the console
#boot_pause="" # -p: Pause after each line during device probing
#boot_serial="" # -h: Use serial console
#boot_single="" # -s: Start system in single-user mode
#boot_verbose="" # -v: Causes extra debugging information to be printed
#init_path="/sbin/init:/sbin/oinit:/sbin/init.bak:/rescue/init:/stand/sysinstall"
# Sets the list of init candidates
#init_shell="/bin/sh" # The shell binary used by init(8).
#init_script="" # Initial script to run by init(8) before chrooting.
#init_chroot="" # Directory for init(8) to chroot into.
So basically, the kernel defaults to use the screen only, but you can override this by setting the boot_multicons variable:
shell# grep ^boot_multicons /boot/loader.conf
boot_multicons="YES"
How the whole stuff works
Actually when you configure one stage, subsequent stages will use the same settings unless configured to do differently. So in the end you just have to configure boot2.
Userland output
Contrary to the other parts, userland boot output can only be sent to one device at time. Even when configured with the above settings, the userland boot output will only appear on screen.
Actually, the kernel will pick the first entry from the console kenv variable to sent userland output to. So if you are not often behind the screen and you prefer to see the userland boot output on the serial console:
shell# grep ^console /boot/loader.conf
console="comconsole,vidconsole"
Configuring login(8)
Not seeing the userland boot output on one console or the other doesn't mean it is unusable. FreeBSD is configured by default to spawn a login: prompt on the screen. You can easily configure it to spawn another one one the serial console, as explained in this chapter on the handbook:
shell# grep ttyu0 /etc/ttys
ttyu0 "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600" dialup on secure
That's all.
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