loader.conf defaults

Laxarus

Hi,
I think I might have made a mistake long before and edited the loader.conf instead of loader.conf.local.

How can I check and compare my loader.conf with defaults?

currently:
pfSense Plus 26.03.1

opensolaris_load="YES"
zfs_load="YES"
kern.geom.label.disk_ident.enable="0"
kern.geom.label.gptid.enable="0"
kern.ipc.nmbclusters="1000000"
kern.ipc.nmbjumbo9="524288"
kern.ipc.nmbjumbop="524288"
net.isr.dispatch=deferred
net.isr.maxthreads=4
loader_conf_files="/boot/loader.conf.lua"
boot_serial="NO"
autoboot_delay="3"
debug.ddb.capture.bufsize="524288"
hw.e6000sw.default_disabled=1
vm.pmap.pti="0"
hw.vtnet.altq_disable="1"
net.link.ifqmaxlen="128"
machdep.hwpstate_pkg_ctrl="1"
net.pf.states_hashsize="2097152"

same is also true for "System Tunables", I wish there was an option to get back to defaults.

luckman212

@Laxarus there's a file at /boot/defaults/loader.conf that might be useful. Although, when I looked at mine, it was rather large and definitely nothing resembling the actual /boot/loader.conf on my 6100 - which is below

opensolaris_load="YES"
zfs_load="YES"
kern.geom.label.disk_ident.enable="0"
kern.geom.label.gptid.enable="0"
kern.ipc.nmbclusters="1000000"
kern.ipc.nmbjumbo9="524288"
kern.ipc.nmbjumbop="524288"
loader_conf_files="/boot/loader.conf.lua"
boot_serial="YES"
comconsole_speed="115200"
console="efi"
autoboot_delay="3"
debug.ddb.capture.bufsize="524288"
hw.e6000sw.default_disabled=1
hw.vtnet.altq_disable="1"
net.link.ifqmaxlen="128"
machdep.hwpstate_pkg_ctrl="1"
net.pf.states_hashsize="1048576"

In case that helps...

provels

I may be mistaken (usually am), but doesn't the default loader.conf get restored at every boot, hence the need for loader.conf.local? Or maybe it's just at upgrades.
I suppose it wouldn't take much to spin up a VM with a stock install for comparison.
Hey, what about backing up the config, using SSH Option '4' , copy out the files, then restore config? Sort of depends if you're in your basement or a datacenter, I guess.

luckman212

@provels would it be different between pfSense CE and Plus? Or different hardware eg 2100 vs 8300? My instincts say "probably" but I'm unable to check right now. I have a VM of 2.8.1 CE that I built just a few days ago, here's the loader.conf from it:

kern.cam.boot_delay=10000
kern.geom.label.disk_ident.enable="0"
kern.geom.label.gptid.enable="0"
kern.ipc.nmbclusters="1000000"
kern.ipc.nmbjumbo9="524288"
kern.ipc.nmbjumbop="524288"
opensolaris_load="YES"
zfs_load="YES"
opensolaris_load="YES"
zfs_load="YES"
kern.cam.boot_delay=10000
kern.geom.label.disk_ident.enable="0"
kern.geom.label.gptid.enable="0"
kern.ipc.nmbclusters="1000000"
kern.ipc.nmbjumbo9="524288"
kern.ipc.nmbjumbop="524288"
kern.geom.label.disk_ident.enable="0"
kern.geom.label.gptid.enable="0"
cryptodev_load="YES"
zfs_load="YES"
loader_conf_files="/boot/loader.conf.lua"
autoboot_delay="3"
hw.hn.vf_transparent="0"
hw.hn.use_if_start="1"
net.link.ifqmaxlen="128"
machdep.hwpstate_pkg_ctrl="1"
net.pf.states_hashsize="131072"

Well that answers the question, yes they are different. Interesting that zfs_load="YES" appears twice in the CE version, which I assume is incorrect but probably harmless. Also noticed there are definitely some things in the pfSense+ version on the 6100 that don't exist in CE, eg hw.e6000sw.default_disabled=1 (also just noticed that's the only entry where the value isn't double quoted)

stephenw10

It doesn't get restored completely at boot but most of the values there will be re-written if you change them. Hence you should use loader.conf.local to override a default value.

There are model specific values that are added, yes.

tinfoilmatt

https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/config/advanced-tunables.html#managing-loader-tunables

stephenw10

Yup sometimes duplicate lines have been created by the code at boot which is ugly but harmless. There have been efforts to prevent that but since it's just ugly anything that actively removes lines is more likely to cause problems.

Laxarus

@provels
I don't think it gets restored at every boot. The values are retained even after the upgrade. Though I suspect additional values can be added or removed via upgrades.

SSH Option 4 will also not work to restore them. Maybe only if you have a prior configuration saved as boot environments.

Maybe complete reinstall and restore config will get them back to defaults?