Appendix A: i386 Kernel Configuration Choices

Overview

Each hardware platform has certain options and configuration statements that must be in a kernel for that platform. In this appendix, we're going to focus on i386-specific kernel configuration and discuss almost every common device driver, option, pseudo-device, and configuration instruction.

Because OpenBSD continues to evolve and new versions are released often, it's impossible to write a book that contains extensive and complete documentation on every feature of every device driver for the version of OpenBSD that will inevitably come out six months after the publication of this book. The device names rarely change, however, and much of the related information about using hardware and various options doesn't change either. This appendix provides enough information so that you can find your way around, and includes a manual page reference for each option.

If you're using something other than i386 hardware, you will want to check the GENERIC kernel configuration for that platform.