3 plan9.ini \- configuration file for PCs
7 When booting Plan 9 on a PC, the bootloader program
9 first reads configuration information from a file
13 looks like a shell script containing lines of the form
19 each of which defines a kernel or device parameter.
26 comments are ignored, but are only recognised if
28 appears at the start of a line.
30 For devices, the generic format of
35 type=TYPE [port=N] [irq=N] [mem=N] [size=N] [dma=N] [ea=N]
38 specifying the controller type,
39 the base I/O port of the interface, its interrupt
40 level, the physical starting address of any mapped memory,
41 the length in bytes of that memory, the DMA channel,
42 and for Ethernets an override of the physical network address.
43 Not all elements are relevant to all devices; the relevant values
44 and their defaults are defined below in the description of each device.
46 The file is used by the kernel to configure the hardware available.
47 The information it contains is also passed to the boot
48 process, and subsequently other programs,
49 as environment variables
52 However, values whose names begin with an asterisk
54 are used by the kernel and are not converted into environment variables.
56 The following sections describe how variables are used.
58 .SS \fLether\fIX\fL=\fIvalue\fP
59 This defines an Ethernet interface.
61 a unique monotonically increasing number beginning at 0,
62 identifies an Ethernet card to be probed at system boot.
63 Probing stops when a card is found or there is no line for
65 After probing as directed by the
67 lines, any remaining Ethernet cards that can be automatically
69 Almost all cards can be automatically detected.
70 For debugging purposes, automatic probing can
71 be disabled by specifying the line
74 Some cards are software configurable and do not require all options.
75 Unspecified options default to the factory defaults.
85 The Intel 8254X Gigabit Ethernet controllers,
86 as found on the Intel PRO/1000 adapters for copper (not fiber).
87 Completely configurable.
90 The Intel 8256[36], 8257[12], and 82573[ev] Gigabit Ethernet
91 PCI-Express controllers.
92 Completely configurable.
95 The Realtek 8169 Gigabit Ethernet controller.
96 Completely configurable.
99 Netgear GA620 and GA620T Gigabit Ethernet cards,
100 and other cards using the Alteon Acenic chip such as the
101 Alteon Acenic fiber and copper cards,
102 the DEC DEGPA-SA and the SGI Acenic.
103 Completely configurable.
106 National Semiconductor DP83820-based Gigabit Ethernet adapters, notably
108 Completely configurable.
111 The VIA Velocity Gigabit Ethernet controller.
112 Known to drive the VIA8237 (ABIT AV8), but at 100Mb/s full-duplex only.
115 The Myricom 10-Gigabit Ethernet 10G-PCIE-8A controller.
116 Completely configurable.
117 Can't boot through these due to enormous firmware loads.
120 The Intel 8259[89] 10-Gigabit Ethernet PCI-Express controllers.
121 Completely configurable.
124 Cards using the Intel 8255[789] Fast Ethernet PCI Bus LAN Controller such as the
125 Intel EtherExpress PRO/100B.
126 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
127 If you need to force the media, specify
128 one of the options (no value)
139 Completely configurable.
142 Cards using the Digital Equipment (now Intel) 2114x PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter Controller,
143 for example the Netgear FA310.
144 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
145 Media can be specified the same was as for the
151 near-clone chips may also work.
154 National Semiconductor DP83815-based adapters, notably
155 the Netgear FA311, Netgear FA312, and various SiS built-in
156 controllers such as the SiS900.
157 On the SiS controllers, the Ethernet address is not detected properly;
161 Completely configurable.
164 The Realtek 8139 Fast Ethernet controller.
165 Completely configurable.
168 The VIA VT6102 Fast Ethernet Controller (Rhine II).
171 SMC 91cXX chip-based PCMCIA adapters, notably the SMC EtherEZ card.
174 The 3COM Etherlink III series of cards including the 5x9, 59x, and 905 and 905B.
175 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
176 The media may be specified by setting
186 If you need to force full duplex, because for example the Ethernet switch does not negotiate correctly,
187 just name the word (no value)
191 Similarly, to force 100Mbit operation, specify
193 Port 0x110 is used for the little ISA configuration dance.
196 The 3COM 3C589 series PCMCIA cards, including the
198 There is no support for the modem on the 3C562.
199 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
204 The media may be specified as
210 The Linksys Combo PCMCIA EthernetCard (EC2T),
211 EtherFast 10/100 PCMCIA cards (PCMPC100) and integrated controllers (PCM100),
212 the Netgear FA410TX 10/100 PCMCIA card
213 and the Accton EtherPair-PCMCIA (EN2216).
214 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
219 These cards are NE2000 clones.
220 Other NE2000 compatible PCMCIA cards may be tried
227 is a unique identifier string contained in the attribute
228 memory of the card (see
230 unlike most options in
232 this string is case-sensitive.
235 can be used to turn off (0) or on (1) a dummy remote read in the driver
237 depending on how NE2000 compatible they are.
240 Not software configurable iff ISA;
241 PCI clones or supersets are software configurable;
242 includes the Realtek 8029 clone used by Parallels.
246 port=0x300 irq=2 mem=0x04000 size=0x4000
248 The option (no value)
250 is needed on some (near) clones to turn off a dummy remote read in the driver.
253 The AMD PCnet PCI Ethernet Adapter (AM79C970).
254 (This is the Ethernet adapter used by VMware.)
255 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
258 Includes WD8013 and SMC Elite and Elite Ultra cards. There are varying degrees
259 of software configurability. Cards may be in either 8-bit or 16-bit slots.
262 port=0x280 irq=3 mem=0xD0000 size=0x2000
264 BUG: On many machines only the 16 bit card works.
267 Broadcom BCM57xx Gigabit Ethernet controllers.
268 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
271 Marvell 88e8057 Yukon2 Gigabit Ethernet controller.
272 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
275 Virtual Ethernet interface provided by QEMU/KVM and VirtualBox.
276 No options need be given. The MAC address can be changed with the
283 for Ethernet packets \(em the interface discards sent
284 packets and never receives any.
285 This is used to provide a test bed for
286 some experimental Ethernet bridging software.
289 Lucent Wavelan (Orinoco) IEEE 802.11b
290 and compatible PCMCIA cards.
291 Compatible cards include the Dell TrueMobile 1150
292 and the Linksys Instant Wireless Network PC Card.
293 Port and IRQ defaults are 0x180 and 3 respectively.
295 These cards take a number of unique options to aid in
296 identifying the card correctly on the 802.11b network.
301 (i.e. use an access point):
303 mode=[adhoc, managed]
307 The 802.11b network to attach to
317 and defaults to a null string.
318 The card station name is given by
324 The channel to use is given by
330 lies in the range 1 to 16 inclusive;
331 the channel is normally negotiated automatically.
333 If the card is capable of encryption,
334 the following options may be used:
343 sets the encryption key
347 is in the range 1 to 4 inclusive) to
349 this will also set the transmit key to
352 There are two formats for
354 which depend on the length of the string.
355 If it is exactly 5 or 13 characters long it is assumed
356 to be an alphanumeric key; if it is exactly 10 or 26 characters
357 long the key is assumed to be in hex format (without a leading
359 The lengths are checked,
360 as is the format of a hex key.
364 sets the transmit key to use to be
366 in the range 1 to 4 inclusive.
367 If it is desired to exclude or include unencrypted packets
371 configures reception and defaults to inclusion.
373 The defaults are intended to match the common case of
374 a managed network with encryption and a typical entry would
375 only require, for example
377 essid=left-armpit key1=afish key2=calledraawaru
379 if the port and IRQ defaults are used.
380 These options may be set after boot by writing to the device's
382 file using a space as the separator between option and value, e.g.
384 echo 'key2 1d8f65c9a52d83c8e4b43f94af' >/net/ether0/0/ctl
387 Card-specific power management may be enabled/disabled by
393 PCI Ethernet adapters that use the same Wavelan
394 programming interface.
395 Currently the only tested cards are those based on the
396 Intersil Prism 2.5 chipset.
400 Intel Wireless WiFi Link mini PCI-Express adapters require
402 .B http://firmware.openbsd.org/firmware/*/iwn-firmware*.tgz
403 to be present on attach in
407 To limit the selected APs the options
411 may be set at boot or in the ether interface clone file
412 using a space as the separator between option and value, e.g.
414 echo essid left-armpit >/net/ether1/clone
416 Scan results appear in the
418 file and can be read out like:
420 cat /net/ether1/ifstats
422 Ad-hoc mode or WEP encryption is currently not supported.
425 Ralink Technology PCI/PCI-Express wireless adapters require
427 .B http://firmware.openbsd.org/firmware/*/ral-firmware*.tgz
428 to be present on attach in
432 See iwl section above for configuration details.
435 Intel PRO Wireless 3945abg PCI/PCI-Express wireless adapters require
437 .B http://firmware.openbsd.org/firmware/*/wpi-firmware*.tgz
438 to be present on attach in
442 See iwl section above for configuration details.
443 .SS \fLwpapsk\fI=password\fP
445 is detected automatically and a prompt for the
447 will appear when using the WIFI interface for netbooting.
448 To avoid the prompt, the
450 can be specified with the boot parameter above.
452 Disable automatic IPv6 configuration from incoming router advertisements.
454 (S)ATA controllers are autodetected.
456 disables dma on ata devices.
457 .SS \fL*sd\fIXX\fLdma=on\fP
458 explicitly enables dma on a specific ata device.
459 .SS \fLscsi\fIX\fL=value\fP
460 This defines a SCSI interface which cannot be automatically detected
468 Adaptec 154x series of controllers (and clones).
469 Almost completely configurable, only the
473 option need be given.
475 NCR/Symbios/LSI-Logic 53c8xx-based adapters
476 and Mylex MultiMaster (Buslogic BT-*) adapters are
477 automatically detected and need no entries.
479 By default, the NCR 53c8xx driver searches for up to 32 controllers.
480 This can be changed by setting the variable
483 By default the Mylex driver resets SCSI cards by using
484 both the hard reset and SCSI bus reset flags in the driver interface.
487 is defined, the SCSI bus reset flag is omitted.
488 .SS \fLaoeif=\fP\fIlist\fP
489 This specifies a space-separated
491 of Ethernet interfaces to be bound at boot to the ATA-over-Ethernet driver,
494 .LR "aoeif=ether0 ether1" .
495 Only interfaces on this list will initially be accessible via AoE.
496 .SS \fLaoedev=e!#æ/aoe/\fIshelf\fL.\fIslot\fR
497 This specifies an ATA-over-Ethernet device accessible via the interfaces
504 to use as a root device for bootstrapping.
505 .SS \fLramdisk\fIX\fL=\fIsize\fP
506 .SS \fLramdisk\fIX\fL=\fIsize sectorsize\fP
507 .SS \fLramdisk\fIX\fL=\fIaddress size sectorsize\fP
508 This reserves physical memory as a ramdisk that will appear as
510 device \fLsdZ\fIX\fR.
513 argument is omited or zero, then the ramdisk will be allocated
514 from the top of physical memory.
516 .SS \fLaudio\fIX\fL=\fIvalue\fP
517 This defines a sound interface. PCI based audio devices such as
518 Intel HD audio or AC97 are autodetected and do not require any settings.
534 A Sound Blaster clone.
536 The DMA channel may be any of 5, 6, or 7.
540 port=0x220 irq=7 dma=5
543 Plan 9 automatically configures COM1 and COM2, if found,
551 These devices can be disabled by adding a line:
557 This is typically done in order to reuse the IRQ for
561 Additional i8250 (ISA) uarts (uart2 to uart5) can be
565 uart\fIX\fP=type=isa port=\fIport\fP irq=\fIirq
568 Perle PCI-Fast4, PCI-Fast8, and PCI-Fast16 controllers
569 are automatically detected and need no configuration lines.
573 can be used to specify settings for a PCMCIA modem.
574 .SS \fLmouseport=\fIvalue\fP
575 This specifies where the mouse is attached.
580 the PS2 mouse/keyboard port. The BIOS setup procedure
581 should be used to configure the machine appropriately.
584 an Intellimouse on the PS2 port.
591 .SS \fLmodemport=\fIvalue\fP
592 Picks the UART line to call out on.
593 This is used when connecting to a file server over
596 is the number of the port.
597 .SS \fLconsole=\fIvalue params\fP
598 This is used to specify the console device.
612 A serial console is initially configured with the
619 specifying 9600 baud,
620 8 bit bytes, no parity, and one stop bit.
623 is given, it will be used to further
625 Notice that there is no
636 would use COM1 at 19,200 baud
641 specifies ``netconsole'' which sends console messages as UDP packets over the network.
642 It bypasses the IP stack and writes Ethernet packets directly to the NIC.
645 is mandatory and takes the form
647 \fIsrcip\fR [ \fB!\fIsrcport \fR] [ \fB/\fIdevno \fR] \fB, \fIdstip\fR [ \fB!\fIdstport \fR] [ \fB/\fIdstmac \fR]
649 \fISrcip\fR, \fIsrcport\fR (default 6665), \fIdstip\fR and \fIdstport\fR (default 6666) specify the source IP address, source port, destination IP address and destination port, respectively.
650 \fIDevno\fR (default 0) specifies which NIC to use, a value of \fIn\fR corresponds to NIC at \fL#l\fIn\fR (see
652 \fIDstmac\fR specifies the destination MAC address; broadcast packets are sent if it is unspecified.
653 Note that it is possible, but not recommended, to send packets to a host outside the local network by specifying the MAC address of the gateway as \fIdstmac\fR.
657 console=net 192.168.0.4,192.168.0.8
658 console=net 192.168.2.10!1337/1,192.168.2.3!1337/0ea7deadbeef
662 .SS \fLpccard0=disabled\fP
663 Disable probing for and automatic configuration of PC card controllers.
664 .SS \fLpcmcia\fIX\fL=type=XXX irq=\fIvalue\fP
665 If the default IRQ for the
667 is correct, this entry can be omitted. The value of
670 .SS \fLpcmcia0=disabled\fP
671 Disable probing for and automatic configuration of PCMCIA controllers.
673 .SS \fLbootfile=\fIvalue\fP
674 This is used to direct the actions of
676 by naming the file from which to load the kernel in
677 the current BIOS boot device.
678 .SS \fLbootargs=\fIvalue\fP
681 of this variable is passed to
683 by the kernel as the name of the root file system to
684 automatically mount and boot into.
685 It is typically used to specify additional arguments to
690 For example, if the system is to run from a local
692 partition, the definition might read
693 .BR bootargs=local!/dev/sdC0/fscache .
697 .SS \fLnobootprompt=\fIvalue\fP
702 as the answer instead.
703 .SS \fLrootdir=\fB/root/\fIdir\fP
704 .SS \fLrootspec=\fIspec\fP
705 Changes the mount arguments for the root file server
706 that was specified by
713 a different sub-directory on the root file server
714 can be used as the system root. see
717 .SS \fLuser=\fIvalue\fP
722 as the answer instead.
723 .SS \fLservice=\fIvalue\fP
724 Changes the systems default role. Possible
731 .SS \fLdebugfactotum=\fP
738 option, so that it can be debugged.
739 .SS \fLcfs=\fIvalue\fP
740 This gives the name of the file holding the disk partition
741 for the cache file system,
745 example, one would write
746 .BR cfs=#S/sdC0/cache .
747 .SS \fLbootdisk=\fIvalue\fP
748 This deprecated variable was used to specify the disk used by
749 the cache file system and other disk-resident services.
754 .SS \fLfs=\fIaddress\fP
755 .SS \fLauth=\fIaddress\fP
756 .SS \fLsecstore=\fIaddress\fP
757 These specify the network address (IP or domain name)
758 of the file, authentication and secstore server
759 to use when mounting a network-provided root file system.
760 When not specified, then these settings are determined via DHCP.
763 is not specified, then the authentication server is used.
765 .SS \fL*e820=\fItype \fB0x\fIstart \fB0x\fIend ...\fP
766 This variable is automatically generated by the boot loader (see
768 by doing a BIOS E820 memory scan while still in realmode and
769 passed to the kernel. The format is a unordered list of
772 and hexadecimal 64-bit
776 addresses of the area.
777 .SS \fL*maxmem=\fIvalue\fP
778 This defines the maximum physical address that the system will scan when sizing memory.
779 By default the PC operating system will scan up to 3.75 gigabytes
780 (0xF0000000, the base of kernel virtual address space), but setting
784 must be less than 3.75 gigabytes.
785 This variable is not consulted if using the E820 memory map.
786 .SS \fL*kernelpercent=\fIvalue\fP
787 This defines what percentage of available memory is reserved for the kernel allocation pool.
788 The remainder is left for user processes. The default
794 on terminals with less than 16MB of memory,
797 on terminals with memories of 16MB or more.
798 Terminals use more kernel memory because
800 maintains its graphic images in kernel memory.
801 This deprecated option is rarely necessary in newer kernels.
802 .SS \fL*imagemaxmb=\fIvalue\fP
803 This limits the maximum amount of memory (in megabytes) the graphics
804 image memory pool can grow. The default is unlimited for terminals
806 .SS \fL*nomce=\fIvalue\fP
807 If machine check exceptions are supported by the processor,
808 then they are enabled by default.
809 Setting this variable to
811 causes them to be disabled even when available.
813 A multiprocessor machine will enable all processors by default.
816 restricts the kernel to starting only one processor and using the
817 traditional interrupt controller.
818 .SS \fL*ncpu=\fIvalue\fP
821 restricts the kernel to starting at most
824 .SS \fL*apicdebug=\fP
825 Prints a summary of the multiprocessor APIC interrupt configuration.
827 Disables message signaled interrupts.
829 Disables the use of the per processor timestamp counter registers
830 as high resolution clock.
831 .SS \fL*pcimaxbno=value\fP
832 This puts a limit on the maximum bus number probed
833 on a PCI bus (default 7).
836 of 1 should suffice on a 'standard' motherboard with an AGP slot.
839 below are rarely used and only on troublesome or suspect hardware.
840 .SS \fL*pcimaxdno=\fIvalue\fP
841 This puts a limit on the maximum device number probed
842 on a PCI bus (default 31).
843 .SS \fL*nopcirouting=\fP
844 Disable pci routing during boot. May solve interrupt routing
845 problems on certain machines.
847 Prints a summary of the detected PCI busses and devices.
848 .SS \fL*nodumpstack=\fP
849 Disable printing a stack dump on panic.
850 Useful if there is only a limited cga screen available,
851 otherwise the textual information about the panic may scroll off.
852 .\" .SS \fL*nobios=\fP
853 .\" what does this do? something with pci
854 .SS \fLioexclude=\fIvalue\fP
855 Specifies a list of ranges of I/O ports to exclude from use by drivers.
856 Ranges are inclusive on both ends and separated by commas.
859 ioexclude=0x330-0x337,0x430-0x43F
861 .SS \fLumbexclude=\fIvalue\fP
862 Specifies a list of ranges of UMB to exclude from use by drivers.
863 Ranges are inclusive on both ends and separated by commas.
866 umbexclude=0xD1800-0xD3FFF
868 .SS \fL*acpi=\fIvalue\fP
869 The presence of this option enables ACPI and the export of the
873 device. In multiprocessor mode, the kernel will use the ACPI
874 tables to configure APIC interrupts unless a
880 This enables the ``advanced power management'' interface
885 The main feature of the interface is the ability to watch
888 It is not on by default because it causes problems on some laptops.
890 .SS \fL*nousbprobe=\fP
891 Disable USB host controller detection.
892 .SS \fL*nousbohci=\fP
893 .SS \fL*nousbuhci=\fP
894 .SS \fL*nousbehci=\fP
895 .SS \fL*nousbxhci=\fP
896 Disable specific USB host controller types.
900 startup at boot time.
901 .SS \fLnousbhname=\fP
904 will use the dynamically assigned usb device address to name
905 usb devices instead of the device unique name.
907 .SS \fLmonitor=\fIvalue\fP
908 .SS \fLvgasize=\fIvalue\fP
909 These are used not by the kernel but by
919 then the user is prompted for a choice on boot.
920 .SS \fL*bootscreen=\fIvalue\fP
921 This is used by the kernel to attach a pre-initialized
922 linear framebuffer that was setup by the bootloader
926 has four space separated fields: the resolution and bitdepth
927 of the screen, the color channel descriptor, the physical
928 address of the framebuffer and a optional aperture size.
930 *bootscreen=800x600x32 x8r8g8b8 0x80000000 0x001d4c00
932 .SS \fL*dpms=\fIvalue\fP
933 This is used to specify the screen blanking behavior of the MGA4xx
940 The first two specify differing levels of power saving;
941 the third turns the monitor off completely.
943 .SS \fLnvram=\fIfile\fP
944 .SS \fLnvrlen=\fIlength\fP
945 .SS \fLnvroff=\fIoffset\fP
946 This is used to specify an nvram device and optionally the length of the ram
947 and read/write offset to use.
948 These values are consulted by
952 The most common use of the nvram is to hold a
956 .SS \fLnvr=\fIvalue\fP
957 This is used by the WORM file server kernel to locate a file holding information
958 to configure the file system.
959 The file cannot live on a SCSI disk.
965 is set, in which case it is
975 is the numeric unit id.
976 This variant syntax is a vestige of the file server kernel's origins.
983 % cat /n/9fat:/plan9.ini
987 serial0=type=generic port=0x3E8 irq=5
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