diff --git a/sys/boot/i386/loader/Makefile b/sys/boot/i386/loader/Makefile
index 7e35ea45b52..58441a4c1f3 100644
--- a/sys/boot/i386/loader/Makefile
+++ b/sys/boot/i386/loader/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-# $Id: Makefile,v 1.30 1999/03/10 03:34:14 dcs Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile,v 1.31 1999/03/15 08:52:23 dcs Exp $
 
 BASE=		loader
 PROG=		${BASE}
+MAN5=		loader.conf.5
 MAN8=		loader.8
 #NOMAN=
 STRIP=
@@ -92,6 +93,10 @@ beforeinstall:
 .else
 	${INSTALL} -C -o ${BINOWN} -g ${BINGRP} -m 444 \
 		${.CURDIR}/${BASE}.help ${DESTDIR}/boot
+.endif
+.if !exists(${DESTDIR}/boot/loader.rc)
+	${INSTALL} -C -o ${BINOWN} -g ${BINGRP} -m 444 \
+		${.CURDIR}/../../forth/loader.rc ${DESTDIR}/boot
 .endif
 	${INSTALL} -C -o ${BINOWN} -g ${BINGRP} -m 444 \
 		${.CURDIR}/../../forth/loader.4th ${DESTDIR}/boot
diff --git a/sys/boot/i386/loader/loader.conf.5 b/sys/boot/i386/loader/loader.conf.5
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1dc79c74293
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sys/boot/i386/loader/loader.conf.5
@@ -0,0 +1,196 @@
+.\" Copyright (c) 1999 Daniel C. Sobral
+.\" All rights reserved.
+.\"
+.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
+.\" are met:
+.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
+.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
+.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+.\"
+.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
+.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
+.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
+.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
+.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
+.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
+.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
+.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
+.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
+.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
+.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
+.\"
+.\"	$Id$
+.Dd April 18, 1999
+.Dt LOADER.CONF 5
+.Os
+.Sh NAME
+.Nm loader.conf
+.Nd system bootstrap configuration information
+.Pp
+.Nm loader.conf.local
+.Nd localized system bootstrap configuration information
+.Sh DESCRIPTION
+The file
+.Nm
+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
+.Xr loader 8 .
+.Pp
+The file
+.Pa /boot/loader.rc
+must have the follow two lines for
+.Nm
+to be automatically processed:
+.Pp
+.Dl include /boot/loader.4th
+.Dl start
+.Pp
+If no
+.Pa /boot/loader.rc
+exists at installworld time, one with the above lines will be installed.
+.Sh SYNTAX
+Though
+.Nm loader.conf Ns No 's
+format was defined explicitly to resemble
+.Xr rc.conf 8 ,
+and can be sourced by
+.Xr sh 1 ,
+some settings are treated in a special fashion. Also, the
+behavior of some settings depends only on it's suffix.
+.Pp
+The general parsing rules are:
+.Bl -bullet
+.It
+Spaces and empty lines are ignored.
+.It
+A # sign will mark the remaining of the line as a comment.
+.It
+Only one setting can be present on each line.
+.El
+.Pp
+All settings have the following format:
+.Pp
+.Dl variable="value"
+.Pp
+Unless it belongs to one of the classes of settings that receive special
+treatment, a setting will set the value of a
+.Xr loader 8 's
+environment variable. The settings that receive special
+treatment are listed below. The ones beginning with a
+.Qq *
+define the modules to be loaded and
+may have any prefix. All such settings sharing a common
+prefix refer to the same module.
+.Bl -tag -width Ar
+.It Ar exec
+Immediately executes a
+.Xr loader 8
+command. This type of setting cannot be processed by programs other
+than
+.Xr loader 8 ,
+so it's use should be avoided. Multiple instances of it will be processed
+independently.
+.It Ar loader_conf_files
+Defines additional configuration files to be processed right after the
+present file.
+.It Ar kernel
+Name of the kernel to be loaded. If no kernel name is set, no additional
+modules will be loaded.
+.It Ar kernel_options
+Flags to be passed to the kernel.
+.It Ar verbose_loading
+If set to
+.Dq YES ,
+the modules' names will be displayed as they are loaded.
+.It Ar *_load
+If set to
+.Dq 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.
+.It Ar *_name
+Defines the name of the module.
+.It Ar *_type
+Defines the module's type. If none is given, it defaults to a kld module.
+.It Ar *_flags
+Flags and parameters to be passed to the module.
+.It Ar *_before
+Commands to be executed before the module is loaded. Use of this setting
+should be avoided.
+.It Ar *_after
+Commands to be executed after the module is loaded. Use of this setting
+should be avoided.
+.It Ar *_error
+Commands to be executed if the loading of a module fails. Except for the
+special value
+.Dq abort ,
+which aborts the bootstrap process, use of this setting should be avoided.
+.El
+.Sh DEFAULT SETTINGS
+Most of
+.Nm loader.conf Ns No 's
+default settings can be ignored. The few of them which are important
+or useful are:
+.Bl -tag -width bootfile -offset indent
+.It Va bitmap_load
+.Pq Dq NO
+If set to
+.Dq YES ,
+a bitmap will be loaded to be displayed on screen while booting.
+.It Va bitmap_name
+.Pq Dq /boot/splash.bmp
+Name of the bitmap to be loaded. Any other name can be used.
+.It Va kernel
+.Pq Dq /kernel
+.It Va loader_conf_files
+.Pq Do /boot/loader.conf /boot/loader.conf.local Dc
+.It Va splash_bmp_load
+.Pq Dq NO
+If set to
+.Dq YES ,
+will load the splash screen module, making possible to display a bitmap
+on the screen while booting.
+.It Va userconfig_script_load
+.Pq Dq NO
+If set to
+.Dq YES ,
+will load the userconfig data.
+.It Va vesa_load
+.Pq Dq NO
+If set to
+.Dq YES ,
+the vesa module will be loaded, enabling bitmaps above VGA resolution to
+be displayed.
+.El
+.Sh FILES
+.Bl -tag -width /boot/defaults/loader.conf -compact
+.It Pa /boot/defaults/loader.conf
+default settings -- do not change this file.
+.It Pa /boot/loader.4th
+defines the commands used by loader to read and process
+.Nm loader.conf .
+.It Pa /boot/loader.conf
+user defined settings.
+.It Pa /boot/loader.conf.local
+machine-specific settings for sites with a common loader.conf.
+.It Pa /boot/loader.rc
+contains the instructions to automatically process
+.Nm loader.conf .
+.El
+.Sh SEE ALSO
+.Xr boot 8 ,
+.Xr loader 8 ,
+.Xr loader.4th 8 .
+.Sh HISTORY
+The file
+.Nm
+first appeared in
+.Fx 3.2 .
+.Sh AUTHORS
+This manual page was written by
+.An Daniel C. Sobral Aq dcs@FreeBSD.org .
+