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FreeBSD is a work in progress, continually developing and improving. A release is a stable snapshot of the development process. It is given a version number followed by -RELEASE. There are several releases to choose from, each providing unique opportunities for stability and innovation.
Currently there are three different lines of development.
2.1.X-STABLE
The development on this branch has all but stopped. Only security and bug fixes make it in to this branch. The last verstion of this branch was FreeBSD-2.1.7.1-RELEASE. There will be no more versions of this branch.
2.2.X-STABLE
This branch of development contains all of the stable, production ready applications and improvements. This is not the newest technology, however it is rock-solid. The last version of this branch was FreeBSD-2.2.6-RELEASE and it is available on CD-ROM. The next version will come from this branch.
3.0.X-CURRENT
This branch is where all the development takes place. As things are developed, tested and proven to be stable, they are added to 2.2.X-STABLE. There has not be a stable version of 3.0-CURRENT released yet, however daily snapshots are available from current.freebsd.org
The three branches can be found in either ``binary''(pre-compiled, ready to run) distributions, or as ``source'' distributions.
BINARY RELEASES:
-RELEASE
Considered the most stable. This is the Official Release. The 2.2.X-STABLE branch is compiled, given a -RELEASE number and shipped out on CDROM. However this may not be the most current, depending on the release date. Currently, the latest version is FreeBSD-2.2.6-RELEASE.
-SNAP
This is a binary release or "snapshot" of the -CURRENT or -STABLE version. It is not always stable. SNAPs are also available on CD-ROM, and are only for those who wish to easily track the state of FreeBSD's development, and are open to experimentation. -SNAP versions are available on a daily basis for all three branches of development.
SOURCE RELEASES:
-STABLE
This is the most current and stable release. It is the version that will become -RELEASE when it totally solidifies and has all the projected upgrades completed to it. It may however be incomplete in some areas depending on when you access it. -STABLE is also used to supply users who require absolute stability with minor bug fixes to a particular -RELEASE. For example, if you have installed FreeBSD 2.2.5-RELEASE, all of the bug fixes that have happened since the release date will be held in 2.2-STABLE (RELENG_2_2).
-CURRENT
This is the most up to date version out there. It may or may not be stable depending on which day you down load it. The parts of -CURRENT that are deemed stable get moved to -STABLE. This is where the bleeding edge developments takes place, and for that reason may not even be bootable depending on when you download it. Again, only recommended for people with an insatiable curiosity and FreeBSD developers. If you run -CURRENT you should be subcribed to the freebsd-current mailing list.
Note: Source Releases require that you already have FreeBSD installed and running. The Source Releases are provided for upgrade, testing, and experimentation purposes. If this is your first install, you will want to use the -RELEASE distribution. |
When a computer starts up it requires a certain amount of instructions to be able to start the operating system. This is called ``booting'' or ``boot-strapping'' a computer. The ``boot'' code must be stored on a device that the computer considers bootable. In other words, there are set boot devices that the computer checks for the code required to start the operating system.
The two main boot devices are the floppy drive and the hard disk. CD-ROM Drives and certain network cards can also be configured as boot devices on some systems. Once the boot code finishes initializing the computer, it loads the kernel. The kernel is the single most important part of FreeBSD. The kernel establishes the link between the hardware and the software, it contains all the device drivers, executes any programs, and controls all system resources.
FreeBSD has a floppy disk that contains this ``boot'' information, the kernel, and setup/install utility. This is often referred to as a ``boot floppy''. The boot floppy is stored as a disk image, a sector by sector copy of the contents of the floppy disk. The contents of each and every sector of the disk is copied into the contents of a 1.44 Meg file, thus preserving the native FreeBSD formatting and file structure. A conventional file by file copy of the disk would not preserve the FreeBSD file system across platforms. When this disk image is transfered to a floppy disk, using a low-level disk tool called rawrite.exe , or fdimage.exe, it transforms the floppy disk from a DOS-formatted disk, into a FreeBSD formatted, bootable installation floppy disk.
There are two ways to go about this, depending on which operating system you have most readily available. DOS or UNIX.
Obtaining the File:
The easiest method of obtaining the file requires a Web-Browser such as Netscape, or a FTP client such as NCFTP or WS-FTP and a formatted floppy disk. A 1.44M disk drive is required because the disk images are 1.44Meg in size. Start your web browser or FTP client and open to: ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/
Remember!: * (Case is important!) FreeBSD recognizes the difference between Uppercase letters and Lowercase letters and considers them as different from each other. Windows and DOS systems don't. |
Boot Floppies are -RELEASE specific. You need to know which version of FreeBSD you want to install and change to the matching directory. All of the versions available for download will be listed as a directory. If you have trouble selecting a -RELEASE, see the section on Selecting a -RELEASE to install. Once you have changed to appropriate -RELEASE directory, go to the floppies directory. Click on the boot.flp file and down load it to your computer.
Warning: If any text appears on your screen, then it is not being downloaded to the harddisk, but to your screen. You will need to right-click on boot.flp and select save link as in order to save it to your computer. This happens mostly on Netscape. |
Caution: Do NOT Save it to your Floppy Drive at this point! Save it to a temporary directory on your hard disk or filesystem. You will transfer it to the floppy later using a special utitlity. |
Caution: If you are using FTP to download the floppy disk image, be sure to use ``binary mode'' to do the transfer. If you select ``ASCII'' mode, the file will be too big to fit on the floppy, and it will be corrupted. |
The UNIX METHOD:
If you are creating the disk from a FreeBSD, or other UNIX workstation, you need access to the dd program and `` write permissions '' to the floppy disk.
Note: This may require SuperUser access. Insert floppy into the SERVER now. If you are using a telnet connection, Do not put the floppy into your local machine, it still belongs in the server. |
At the prompt, type:
dd if=boot.flp of=/dev/fd0
The floppy drive light should come on and after a few minutes you will get a message telling you how many bytes of information were transferred and how fast. If you have any trouble or questions about dd read the dd man page.
The DOS METHOD:
To use the DOS method, you have to download the program rawrite from the FreeBSD FTP site. You can use Netscape or any other ftp client.
Open to ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/tools/ Then download the
rawrite.exe
file. To use the program, from the DOS prompt, type rawrite When it prompts for the source file type: boot.flp and press ENTER. When it asks for the destination drive type a: and press ENTER.
Now it should go though a bunch of "Writing Sector XX" stuff and the floppy disk light should come on for a while.
Win95 Users: If you are using Win95, you should download and use fdimage.exe instead. It can be found in the same directory as rawrite.exe. However if you use rawrite under Win95, you must Maximize the DOS window by pressing P.S. Be sure Win95 doesn't rename it to something like rawrite(3).exe instead, when you make several attempts to download it. |
When the programs have finished writing to the floppy disk, you will have a FreeBSD Install/Boot floppy disk. Use it to install FreeBSD on all of your Machines.
This section explains how to prepare a custom media to install FreeBSD from. These medias include:
Floppy Disks
MSDOS partitions
NFS servers
Local FTP Sites
Existing FreeBSD Partitions
Note: If you are not using one of these medias, please SKIP this section. (These are not the easiest or the recommended methods of installation. But they work.) |
Each installation media looks for its files in a different directory. Inorder for the install program to find the installation files, you have to copy them into the correct directory.
For example, you want to install the Minimal Distribution Set from floppies. The Minimal Distribution Set requires the /bin distribution, ie. the /bin directory, be copied onto the floppies. The /bin directory can be found on the CD-ROM or from the FreeBSD FTP site, in the directory /pub/FreeBSD/2.2.6-RELEASE/. The bin directory and all its contents need to be copied onto MS-DOS formatted floppy disks. You will be able to fit about 6 files per disk. The files are named bin.aa, bin.ab, etc.
Important: You will need to copy the file bin.inf onto the first disk. |
When you get them on to the floppy disk you should be able to put it in a DOS machine and type dir
When all the files have been copied onto the floppy disks, you will have a set of FreeBSD installation floppy disks. Use them when prompted for during the installation.
To install from a DOS partition, you must first copy all of the required directories to C:\FreeBSD\.
To install from an Custom FTP site, copy all of the files into a publically accessable directory followed by FreeBSD/2.2.6-RELEASE/.
An NFS install utilizes a Network Shared Filesystem. This the method of filesystem shareing used by UNIX over a network. A directory will need to be exported on the distribution site. Copy all the required directories onto FreeBSD/2.2.6-RELEASE/ on that exported filesystem.
Listed below are the standard Distribution Sets that you can install and the directories that you will have to copy on to the media you are installing from.
/bin
/doc
/manpages
/info
/proflibs
/src
/dict
/bin
/doc
/manpages
/info
/proflibs
/src
/dict
/XF8633
/bin
/doc
/manpages
/info
/proflibs
/src/sys
/dict
/bin
/doc
/manpages
/dict
/bin
/doc
/manpages
/dict
/XF8633
/bin
At this point you should have chosen a -RELEASE to install and have decided what medium you are going to use to install it. It can be installed over the network using FTP or NFS, from an existing FreeBSD or MSDOS partition, from a CDROM, or with floppy disks. All installation media types require a boot floppy, except bootable CDROM installs. This part covers how to use the Boot Floppy, regardless of which media you will be installing from.
If you will be installing from floppy disks, MSDOS, existing UNIX partition, NFS, or custom FTP site, you will need prepare your installation media. Read the section on Preparing Distribution Sets, to find out what to download and where to put it.
Before you boot with the Boot Floppy, you should check your CMOS Settings. You need to have the boot sequence set to boot from 'A' drive then 'C' drive. If this is going to be a Server, you probably don't want APM (Power management) enabled. Before you exit CMOS, double check to see that your IDE drives are all properly recognized and installed. SCSI drives should be checked using a SCSI utility.
Note: If you don't know what each piece of hardware in your computer is,
gather all the documentation. You will definitely need it.
The best information comes from the packing list that came with your computer, if you still have it. It should tell you what kinds of devices you have installed. If you already have an operating system installed on the computer, you can use various methods of finding out what is in your system. If you have DOS, try using msd.
If you have Win95, try |
Now put the Boot disk in the A: drive, or the boot drive, and restart the computer.
After a few moments, you should see a screen like:
>> FreeBSD BOOT @ 0x10000: 639/31744 K of Memory
Usage: bios_drive:interface(unit,partition)kernel_name options
bios_drive 0, 1, ...
interface fd, wd or sd
unit 0, 1, ...
partition a, c, ...
kernel_name name of kernel, or ? for list of files in root directory
options -a (ask name) -C (cdrom) -c (userconfig) -D (dual consoles)
-d (debug early) -g (gdb) -h (serial console) -P (probe kbd)
-r (default root) -s (single user) -v (verbose)
Examples:
1:sd(0,a)mykernel boot `mykernel' on the first SCSI drive when one IDE
drive is present
1:wd(2,a) boot from the second (secondary master) IDE drive
1:sd(0,a)? list the files in the root directory on the specified
drive/unit/partition, and set the default bios_drive,
interface, unit and partition
-cv boot with the defaults, then run UserConfig to modify
hardware parameters (c), and print verbose messages (v)
Use ? for file list or press Enter for defaults
Boot:
This is the Boot Prompt. FreeBSD is giving you a chance to enter parameters different from the normal booting procedures. This is most often used to enter into the single user mode, or to boot from a different ``kernel.'' See the section on Compiling Custom Kernels for more detail on kernels.
If you don't press anything, it will assume after a few seconds that you don't want to enter anything extra and go on booting, using the default values. We want to use the default values at this point.
Next comes the kernel configuration menu:
Skip kernel configuration and continue with installation. Start kernel configuration in Visual Mode Start kernel configuration in CLI Mode (experts only)
These options give us a chance to modify our kernel and make it scan for devices in places other than the default settings. If we skip the kernel configuration, we accept all the default values, move on to the next section of the install, and will not have another chance to change them until we reboot. We can start the kernel configuration in either of two modes, CLI (Command Line Interface), or Visual Mode (Menu Driven Interface). The Visual Mode is by far the easiest to use and understand.
Of these three options, we want to go into Start kernel configuration in Visual Mode. But, before we do that, we need to have a basic understanding of IRQ and Ports and devices.
At this point you don't need to know what they are so much, as you need to know that each device (hardware component) has one. You need to know what each device's IRQ and Port number is. This is why you need the documentation on each piece of hardware in your computer. Some of the devices will have IRQ's and Ports that you can set. These should be set before you begin your installation of FreeBSD. This may require jumper settings on the actual hardware itself, or use of a vendor supplied configuration utility to set it. The PCI devices won't need to be set up by you in the kernel configuration; This utility only affects ISA devices.
Once you know what each device in your computer is and what it's IRQ and Port # is, if it has one, then proceed into the visual kernel configuration.
--Active-Drivers-------------------------------------21 Conflicts---------Dev-----IRQ----Port Storage: (Collapsed) Network: (Collapsed) Communication: (Collapsed) Input: (Collapsed) Multimedia: PCI: (Collapsed) Miscellaneous: --Inactive Drivers----------------------------------------------------------Dev-------------- Storage: Network: Communication: (Collapsed) Input: (Collapsed) Multimedia: PCI: Miscellaneous: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This screen lets you modify or remove ISA devices from the boot scan. FreeBSD probes each device that it knows about when it boots up. All the devices in the ``Active Devices'' section will be probed, anything that is deleted from the ``Active Devices'' section will be moved into the ``Inactive Devices'' section and not probed. If you delete a device you need, you can go into the ``Inactive Devices'' section and re-activate it.
At the top of the screen you see ``21 Conflicts'' in Bold Print. This can be somewhat misleading, because there are not actually 21 physical conflicts. These are only potential conflicts. FreeBSD is telling us that if all the devices that it has been set to probe are present that there ``would'' be 21 Conflicts. FreeBSD is set up to probe all the devices it knows about and look for them at the most common IRQs and Ports. Since several pieces of hardware are commonly found at the same IRQ, it reports a potential conflict. For example, FreeBSD is probing for several different network cards at the same address, and since you only have one network card, the IRQ conflict is really non-existent.
Our job now is to look through the different sections of device drivers and de-activate or delete the ones that aren't in our system. For each device that we do find that belongs in our system, we need to make sure that the IRQ and Port values are correct.
It is not absolutely necessary to delete all of the unused devices, because when FreeBSD probes for them and does not find them, it ignores them. However, it would be wise to delete any extra devices that do not belong to the system, because they may have long time out values. In other words, FreeBSD waits for a long time to make sure that they really don't exist. Deleting them will speed up the boot process.
Most likely, all you will have to do is change the settings on a few devices and delete one or two others to speed things up. For example, In my system I have 2 SCSI drives, an NE2000 network card on IRQ 10, and a PS/2 mouse. I have to delete the IDE drivers, change the NE2000 driver (ed1) to IRQ 10, and enable the PS/2 mouse from the disabled list.
It still shows 18 conflicts, however, none of the equipment in conflict exists in my machine, so I can ignore it and continue on. I have resolved the conflicts for the equipment actually in my machine. If, after resolving conflicts for the equipment in your machine, you still have problems, you might try removing ``all'' the extra device drivers from the kernel configuration menu and checking for a conflict you might have overlooked.
If you have correctly erased ``all'' the extra devices and set the remaining devices to the correct IRQ and Port #, it should show no potential conflicts, with the exception of the PS/2 mouse. If it shows any remaining, it could be an actual conflict. Any actual conflict will result in both pieces of hardware not working properly. If you do end up with a potential conflict, after deleting ALL of the extra devices, you must move one of the offending devices to a different IRQ or Port (depending on where the conflict is) to avoid an actual conflict.
With this in mind, lets start with storage:
With the storage section highlighted, press ENTER to expand the tree. Now you should have lots of SCSI controllers and disk controllers listed. These will cover everything from CD-ROMs to Tape Drives to Floppy disks. They are in alphabetical order.
These are only ISA devices, PCI devices are taken care of automatically.
The first four are:
--Active-Drivers----------------------------21 Conflicts---------Dev-----IRQ----Port Adaptec 154x SCSI Controller CONF aha0 0x330 Adaptec 152x SCSI Controller aic0 11 0x340 Buslogic SCSI Controller CONF bt0 0x330 Floppy Disk Controller fdc0 6 0x3f0
The above Buslogic and Adaptec controllers are in conflict trying to use the same Port. Deleting one of them, or changing one of them to an unused Port will eliminate a conflict. Just changing the Port that FreeBSD looks for will not solve your problem unless that is actually the Port that the hardware is set to. If the SCSI controller is set to Port 0x330 and so is the network card, one of them will have to change. Merely pointing FreeBSD to look for the SCSI controller in a different place, will appear to solve the problem, but will only suceed in misleading FreeBSD and hiding the fact that two devices are in conflict. The conflicting IRQ or DMA needs to be changed on the physical device, using a jumper or configuration program supplied by the vendor. Then FreeBSD needs to be pointed to the right place to look for it in this configuration menu.
The ``Dev'' listing is the file name that you will use to reference the hardware device in FreeBSD. It is the name of the actual device driver. All the devices are kept in a directory called /dev. So to access the floppy disk controller you would reference /dev/fdc0. Normally, however, you don't access device controllers, just the devices they control. See the section on Accessing the Floppy.
If you don't have SCSI in the system delete all the SCSI controllers, the same goes for IDE devices. Leave only the devices that actually exist in your system. If you delete an item and decide you need it, just press TAB and get it back from the Inactive
Drivers section.
To change the IRQ or Port value of a device, press ENTER while the device is highlighted. This will open a box at the bottom of the screen allowing you to change the Port address,
IRQ Number, Flags, and Memory Address.
The Port address is a hexadecimal number. If it is shown in your documentation as a Port value of 330, it is probably 0x330. Use the TAB button to move between fields and then press q to quit and save the parameters. You can always go back and change them before you quit the kernel configuration editor.
When you are finally done with all of the kernel configurations, it may still show potential conflicts, but if you have configured everything correctly, there should be no actual conflicts.
PS/2 Mouse Users: If you use a PS\2 Mouse, it will conflict with the Console, showing two conflicts. This is normal. |
Be sure you have everything correct. Once you move past this screen, you won't have another chance to change the devices, unless you reboot. Then press q to save these parameters and continue with the Installation.
Welcome to an install of FreeBSD. From here you can install FreeBSD on a new machine, upgrade an existing machine, configure your machine after an installation, and add extra distributions and packages.
OR,
With a special ``Fixit'' floppy disk or CD-ROM, you can troubleshoot problems in an existing system.
The install process is mostly automated. All the required information is collected before the installation actually starts. The Novice and Express installation options guide you through the information collection procedure. They let you install only after all necessary information has been gathered. The Custom install option gives you the flexibility of installing select sections without performing a complete install.
The install process consists of 4 Steps:
Partitioning disk space
Allocating filesystem space
Selecting distributions to install
Configuring the medium you will use to install.
Note: The next section is an explaination of each option on the main menu. If you want to begin installing immediately, skip ahead to Step 1. |
This screen is a tutorial on what each key does when you press it during the install. The ENTER key, sometimes called the RETURN key, will finish or exit you out of a menu whether or not you have selected anything. This might cause you to skip a menu section, thinking you have selected something.
You must press the SPACE BAR to select most menu items. Usually, an X will appear next to the selected item.
FreeBSD comes with several very good sets of documents that are available during the install process. It is a good idea to read all the install documentation before attempting to install for the first time.
This page lets you tweak with the default settings. For the most part, everything should work fine with the default values. Unless you know what you are doing, you probably shouldn't mess with this section.
The Novice Install will walk you through each required part of the install process. Before each step, a help screen will appear and explain what is about to happen and what you are expected to do.
Express is just like Novice, but without all the help. It walks you through all the important steps and collects the information required to start the installation.
The Custom Install allows you to do a specialized install, or a specific re-install, with out affecting previously installed components. For instance, this would allow you to add an extra hard drive to your system, or add/re-install a distribution. You could also repartition a hard disk or restore the boot-sector/boot-manager to your boot disk.
If anything should happen to your system that would cause it not to boot properly, the Fixit option will give you access to your filesystem. The Fixit option is an advanced feature. Knowledge of how to mount filesystems is required to gain access to your hard disks.
The Upgrade option allows you to convert an existing FreeBSD machine to a new version of FreeBSD, without re-formatting your disk drives, or losing all of your data. An upgrade is a lot like re-installing a distribution set. It copies all the distributions you choose over the top of you existing files, replacing the ones with the same name. It does not delete extra files that it finds.
This menu helps you setup your basic networking services, install extra packages (pre-compiled ``3rd party'' software), add additional distributions and prepare your system for general use.
This screen could be looked at as a ``Custom Install''. Instead of being organized into an install menu structure, all of the install commands have been extracted, alphabetized, and placed on a single menu. This makes it an alphabetized list of every command available during the install process. Pressing ENTER at this point, will execute the highlighted option as though you had selected it from an active menu.
Here we are going to prepare our drives for use with FreeBSD. If you already have an operating system installed on your disks, and don't plan on using the whole disk for FreeBSD, you will need to free up a partition to install FreeBSD on. There are several methods of doing this. You can delete your stuff, re-arrange the partitions, and re-install it. (Cleanest, but takes the most work.) Or you can re-partition it using a program that preserves your information. There are several programs that can repartition your drives with out losing your information. A shareware program FIPS will work, or there are several commercial packages, such as ``Disk Magic''.
fips.exe can be found at ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/tools/fips.exe.
If you use DOS fdisk to make a new partition, you will be required to delete the existing partition. However, with FIPS and other such programs, you can ``shrink'' an existing partition, freeing up room for a new partition. FreeBSD can be installed on any available partition, including extended DOS partitions, logical drives, and Non-DOS partitions.
Note: Once you have a partition available for FreeBSD, it does not matter if it is formatted, the install process will format it for use with FreeBSD. It makes no difference whether DOS or any other OS is installed on it. |
Four possible fdisk scenarios are outlined, based on how many hard drives you have available, and whether FreeBSD is the only OS installed.
This is the simplest install scenario. It is when you only have one disk in the computer and you want to dedicate it to FreeBSD.
In the fdisk editor, delete any partitions that may exist by moving the cursor to the partition and pressing d. Then press a to use the entire disk as shown in the figure below.
This is an example of a 2.1 Gig SCSI disk. It does not matter whether the disk is SCSI or IDE.
Now, press q to quit.
Install the standard MBR (Master Boot Record)
Use the SPACEBAR to select Standard and press ENTER to move on.
Move on to Step Two, ``Allocating filesystem space''.
This is one of the more complex scenarios, you don't have to worry about which drive to boot from like you do with Multi-disk setup-ups, but you need to be careful about which OS you install First. DOS and FreeBSD are friendly to each other; Window95 and WinNT are not friendly to FreeBSD. They both want to try and take over the Boot Sector (MBR). Also, DOS and Win95 usually need to be installed on the first 1026 sectors of the first hard disk to avoid the 530Meg limit imposed by DOS.
Now you should see several partitions. The first one says that is it unused, starts at 0 and goes 63 sectors. This is your boot sector. There is nothing you can, or want to do with this at this time. Then you should see a section starting at 63 and named sd0s1 or wd0s1 depending on whether you have SCSI or IDE disks. sd0 is the name for a SCSI disk and s1 is the first partition we made on the drive.
You should see a big section that is unused. This will be used to create our FreeBSD partition.
If there is no partition marked unused, then the partition that you have reserved already has information on it, and will need to be deleted and recreated as a FreeBSD partition. Press d to delete a highlighted partition.
For example, you have 3 Gb of space on one disk. It is partitioned into a C: drive (2Gb), and a D: drive(1Gb). The plan is to keep your 'C: drive' and just use the 'D: drive' for FreeBSD. This is what your partition table looks like:
offset Size End Name PType Desc Subtype 0 63 62 - 6 unused 0 63 4193217 4193279 wd0s1 2 fat 6 4193280 2080512 6273791 wd0s2 4 extended 5 6273792 8064 6281855 - 6 unused 0
Here you want to delete the 'extended' partition and re-create it as a FreeBSD partition. Just highlight it and press 'd'. Then press 'c' to create a new one. Accept the default size.
The partition labeled fat is a DOS Partition. The partition labeled extended is an Extended DOS Partition. (ie not the primary DOS Partition)
The sizes are shown in 512 byte blocks instead of 1K blocks. So you need to cut the size in half. The size '4123217' partition is the 2G disk. The '2080512' size partiton is the 1G drive. The '8064' sized chunk is unallocatable space due to cylinder boundaries not matching up.
To create our FreeBSD partition, highlight an unused partition and press c for Create. If you want to use the remaining amount of space for FreeBSD, accept the number that is written in the box, otherwise enter a new number. There are two ways to enter the amount that you want.
First you can specify the exact number of sectors that you want the partition to be. Or, you can specify the size in Megabytes by typing in the number followed by an M For example, If you want a partition of 1000 Megabytes, you type: 1000M in the box.
The following graphic shows a 1000M DOS partition, labeled 'fat', as sd0s1.
It also shows a 1100M FreeBSD partition.
Note: By keeping the partition compatible with other partitions, a small portion of the hard drive might become unusable. The last partition shown on the graphic, starting at offset 4192965, is unusable. This is nothing to worry about, because it is a very small part of the available disk space. It is only 1093 Sectors in size. |
When you are done creating your partitions, press q to quit and move on to the next part of the install.
Next it is going to ask how you want to boot the disk. Because we are booting several OSes from one disk, we need to install a boot manager.
This screen lets you select the Boot Manager that comes with FreeBSD. At this screen all you have to do is select BootMgr and it will install the BootEasy Boot Manager on to your disk.
Since BootMgr is the default, just press ENTER to go on.
Note: There are other Boot Managers available, but this is the only one available during the install. If you have a boot manager already installed, such as OSBS or the OS/2 Boot loader, select NONE from the menu. |
Move on to Step Two, ``Allocating filesystem space''.
This is a very common server-type setup. It is fairly easy to setup and very reliable.
Now we need to partition each of our disks. We will select one disk at a time and partition it, repeating the same process for each disk.
Select a disk by moving the cursor to the appropriate disk and pressing the space bar.
Caution: * (Do NOT press |
Since this is a FreeBSD only install, we need to delete any partitions that are there and create new ones for FreeBSD. Move your cursor to each partition and press d until there is only one partition that says unused
Now, just press a to use the entire disk.
It will ask you if you want to keep the disk partition compatible with other OS's by making it a true partition. If you are using SCSI disks and are not going to be using any other OS on this system, it is fine to say no and dedicate them to FreeBSD. If you are using IDE drives, it might be a good idea to answer yes and let them conform to regular partitioning methods.
The following graphic is a 2.1 Gig SCSI disk that has NOT been keep compatible with other OS's, therefore it shows no Boot Sector.
We have just completed the fdisking the first disk; press q to quit and it will return us to the Select Drives menu. The disk we just finished will have a X in the box and the remaining disks still need to be fdisk'd. Repeat this procedure until all disks have been fdisk'd.
When all disks have been fdisk'd, press ENTER at the 'Select Drives' menu.
Move on to Step Two, ``Allocating filesystem space''.
A Multi-disk Multi-OS installation can take on just about any format imaginable. You can have one OS for each disk. Multi-OS's on a on Multiple disks; or any combination of the two. If you are putting more than one OS on a single disk, it will work exactly like the Single disk Multi-OS installation described previously. Of the several options available, one of the easiest, and most sane, is to put one OS per disk. For example, you would put DOS/Win95 on the First disk and FreeBSD on the second disk. I find this to be safer, because sometimes DOS tries to take over the first drive with out telling you and formats it without asking your permission.
One OS per Drive/Two Drive system.
In this example, we have two drives. We are going to put Win95 on the first drive and FreeBSD on the second. Win95 should already be installed and running on the first disk.
We are going to install the Boot Manager on the Win95 disk, because it is the boot disk. To do this, select the first disk, in this case sd0, and install the boot manager.
At the Select Drives screen, move the cursor to the first disk and press the SPACE BAR.
This will bring up the fdisk partitioning editor.
At this screen, you should see one DOS partition. Do NOT delete or change it. just press q to quit out of it. Then the Boot Manager screen should come up.
Here we want to select BootMgr; since it is the default, we just need to press ENTER.
This will bring us back to the Select Drives screen. Now, just move the cursor to the next disk and press the SPACE BAR. From here it is exactly like a single disk FreeBSD install. Just delete any existing partitions by moving the cursor to them and pressing d. When they have been all deleted, press a to use the entire disk for FreeBSD. Then press q to quit.
You will need to install the BootMgr on this disk also.
The FreeBSD Filesystem is one big directory structure. There is no noticable separation of drives, or partitions, just one big filesystem. All additional hard drives must be assimilated into the directory system. This is accomplished by mounting each partition, sometimes called a ``slice'', as a sub-directory in the filesystem. A partition can mount to, or attach to, any existing directory, preferably an empty one.
Next, we will enter the disk label editor. This will allow you to distribute your disk space throughout the filesystem. At a minimum, you will need to allocate disk space for a / directory and for ``Swap Space''.
Space is allocated for a directory by mounting a partition, or ``slice'' of a partition, to it. If you do not allocate disk space for a directory, it will use disk space from it's parent directory. Below is an explanation of the standard directories that FreeBSD installs and whether you should consider allocating space for it. Subsections of this chapter describe extra allocations you should consider based on the anticipated use of your system. These are in addition to the basic allocations mentioned below.
/
/ is your ``root'' directory, not to be confused with the /root directory, which is the home directory of the user ``root''. All other directories are sub-directories to /.
Like an upside down tree, ``root''(/), sits at the top and everything branches outward from it. The root directory doesn't need to be very big, 32-50 Meg. is sufficient. It just needs to have enough room to hold the kernel and various system configuration files.
/etc
The /etc directory contains all of your system configuration files. You should not need to mount a partition here, nor do you want to. In the event that you are unable to boot properly, you would have trouble accessing your configuration files.
/usr
The bulk of the system is contained in the /usr, or UNIX System Resources directory. Depending on your systems intended use and available disk space, you should reserve at least 100M for the /usr directory. Usually you would allocate the most disk space for this partition.
Swap Space
You must create at least one swap partition. You can have several swap partitions, and it is best to spread them out over all your disks. You don't need to specify a mount point, because the swap partitions are not accessible from the filesystem. Your swap partitions should total at least twice the size of the amount of RAM memory you have installed in your machine.
Note: A swap partition must not occupy the first sector of a disk. You must put a filesystem partition on it first. It is good to have one swap partition per disk. |
/var
The /var directory holds various system logs and databases. It also holds a lot of transient files, such as queued e-mail and spooled print jobs. Depending on the role of your system, this directory can require several hundred Meg., or only a few Meg. You should mount a partition there of at least 32Meg. to take the strain off of your root directory. Some directories you might want to consider mounting volumes on are /var/mail and /var/log, depending on your anticipated usage.
/bin and /sbin
These directories contain all the basic binary files that make up the core FreeBSD system. Do NOT mount partitions to these directories. They contain the utilities that allow you to mount filesystems. If you booted improperly, you could not gain access to any of your filesystems.
/root
This is the Home directory of the user root. Unless you mount a partition to a sub-directory, it uses available disk space from its parent directory. Therefore you want to be careful what you put in the /root directory, because it uses up the available disk space from the / directory. If you find your / filesystem happens to be full, you might want to check this directory for excess files.
/dev
This directory contains ``file'' representations of all of the devices that exist in your system. You don't need to mount anything here.
Unless you have special plans, on a system like this, just use the defaults. Press a to use the defaults.
This option will create a 32Meg / partition, a 32 Meg /var partition, calculate a swap partition based on available RAM memory, and allocate the rest as a /usr partition.
The more people you have on the system, the more you want to think about making a /home partition. You should decide on a minimum amount of disk space that you are going to alot for each user. Say 3-4 Megs of disk space for each user, and make /home partition that has enough space to hold all the anticipated user files.
On an e-mail server, you want to add extra space to the directory /var. The directories /var/log and /var/mail receive extra heavy use in Internet servers. If you anticipate a large volume of e-mail, you might want to add a separate /var/mail partition.
If this is a print server, /var/spool might get heavier than normal usage. However, spooled print jobs don't stay very long.
A News server is a very advanced project, but I mention it here so you can plan disk space for it. You will want to use several 2.1 Gig SCSI disks, and look into ccd. ccd can be used to stripe several disks together, and also mirror hard disks.
A distribution is a collection of files that make up part of the operating system, sort of like separate components that can be added individually. A distribution set is a selection of distributions. Six ``typical'' distribution sets have been prepared to make it easy for new users to select distributions based on the intended use of the system. A list of the distributions installed by each distribution set is included at the end of this chapter.
You also have the option of selecting your own distribution set. Every distribution set includes the bin distribution. The bin distribution contains all the files required to make FreeBSD run. Everything else is optional. You'll notice that the minimal distribution set only installs the bin distribution.
One of the strong points of using an operating system that includes the Source Code is the ability to adjust for special hardware. If you have special hardware, such as a multi-port serial card, or Symmetric Multi-Processors, you will need to be able to re-compile and generate a custom kernel. Installing the kernel source code also allows you to streamline your kernel for optimum performance, by removing unused device drivers.
I would recommend installing the source code for creating a custom kernel. The Developer, X-Developer, and Kern-Developer distribution sets all include the kernel source code.
If you have an SVGA video card and SVGA monitor, I would recommend installing the X Window System binaries. XFree86 is the free version of X Window System for FreeBSD. In order to configure X Window System properly, you need to know the Brand of Video Card, the Refresh rates for your monitor, and what kind of mouse you have.
X-Developer and X-User both include the X-Windows system. I would recommend the X-Developer because it includes the kernel sources also.
After you select one of the distribution sets, it ask you if you want to install the DES encryption components.
If you are outside of North America (USA or Canada) don't install it over the Internet from a North American site. The copy of DES on the CD-ROM is fine. DES technology originating from the US is not exportable, so you'll have to pick an overseas server to install from (which is the logical way to do it anyhow...)
Selecting Custom from the distribution menu allows you to specify which components to install.
This screen also lets you add distributions, or re-install corrupted distributions. If you are adding distributions to an existing system, you probably don't want to select BIN. When installing a new system, I would recommend the following as very necessary: BIN, DOC, MAN, XFree86, and Selected SRC sets.
When you select SRC from the Custom Distribution Menu, it asks you which sets of source code you want to install.
At the very least, I would install SYS, the FreeBSD kernel sources. This will allow you to build your own kernel.
To install from a CD-ROM:
Just stick the CD in to the CD-ROM Drive and sysinstall should find it. As long as your CD-ROM drive is recognized at start up, you should not have problems. Most ATAPI IDE and SCSI CD-ROMs are supported.
The newer installation CD-ROM's for FreeBSD are bootable. If your computer supports booting from a CD-ROM, all you need to do is stick it in the CD-ROM drive and REBOOT the machine.
Pre-FreeBSD-2.2.5 Users: The IDE/ATAPI CD-ROMs need to be setup as a slave on the Hard drive controller. It will not be recognized properly as a master on the second Hard drive controller This has been fixed in recent FreeBSD releases. |
Installing from an FTP site is one of the easiest ways to install FreeBSD. It simplifies things greatly, because all you need is a boot disk and an internet connection.
Just Select a site that is close to where you are and press ENTER.
It is possible to install from a local FTP site that you have prepared. The site must include copies of all the distributions you wish to install. This would be helpful if you are planning to install several times from a slow link to the Internet. The distribution could be downloaded ahead of time and installed as many times as needed from local FTP site. See the section on Preparing Distribution Sets for a list of what to download and where to put it.
To install using FTP, your computer must be configured to reach the FTP site. You can do this a variety of ways.
If FreeBSD has detected a device that it could possibly connect, using FTP, protocols to another machine with, it will list them here. This list includes, Network Cards, COM ports, and parallel ports. If you have installed a Network Card, but it is not listed on this list, FreeBSD did not detect it during start up. You may need to check for the device during boot up, and make sure the IRQ and other address settings are correct.
Once you have selected an interface (Network card, modem, etc...), you will need to give your computer an identity on the network.
You have to give your computer a name. In the host field, enter in the name you have given this computer. This field can be anything of your choosing. It should be unique in your domain. In this example, the computer's name is wiggy. You only need to enter the name, the domain name will automatically get added to the host field as soon as you fill in the domain field. The domain name should be given to you by your ISP. A domain name is unique to a particular site or business. Each computer should have an individual hostname, but a common domain name. Kinda like first and last names in a family.
In the Example, the domain name is foo.com If you are configuring this for the Network or Internet, an IP address, gateway address, and nameserver IP address are also necessary. All of these should be provided to you by your ISP (Internet Service Provider).
The Gateway address in an IP address that TCP/IP uses to know how to get out to the internet. It is the address of the router that acts as a gateway between you and the internet.
The Name Server address is the IP address of the computer that will translate internet names into IP addresses so that TCP/IP protocols can connect using easy to read names. For example, freebsd.org is at IP address 204.216.27.18. However, that is very hard to remember. The DNS (Domain Name Server) will translate that IP address into something readable to us, and vice-versa.
The IP address is your personal IP address that belongs to the machine you are setting up FreeBSD on. The hostname you just gave it will correspond to this IP address. An entry will need to be setup later in your DNS to make this happen. Do not pick a random IP address. Each IP address has to be unique on the internet. Please get this information from your ISP.
The Netmask is an indication of the relationship between the IP address on this machine and the Gateway IP address. Each 255 that appears in the Netmask means that that field is the same in both Gateway and local IP address. The standard Netmask is 255.255.255.0. This netmask tells us that the first three sets of numbers on the IP address match with the first three numbers on the Gateway IP address.
IP address: 123.123.123.12 Gateway: 123.123.123.1 Netmask: 255.255.255.0
This would be a correct scenario. If the numbers differ in the fields, either the netmask would need to be opened up a bit, or a router would need to be installed between the two sets of numbers. A router would create a reachable gateway.
IP address: 123.123.111.12 ^^^(These are Different.) Gateway: 123.123.123.1 ^^^(These are Different.) Netmask: 255.255.255.0 ^^^(Therefore this mask blocks them.)
This would not be a reachable Gateway. If the Netmask was opened up to 255.255.0.0, then the Gateway would be visable.
You do not need to give any parameters to Extra options to ifconfig.
From here you are ready to start installing the actual files. Just select OK. If you are in the Novice or Express installs, it will move you ahead and ask you if you are sure you want to do this. If you are in a custom install, you have to select Commit from the install Menu
If you experience any difficulties, copy down any error messages you received during the install process and consult the FAQ and handbook for anything relating to that topic. Then search the mailing list archives. If that reveals nothing, consult the people on the questions@freebsd.org mailing list. Be sure to reference the errors you received.
Caution: Just to be safe, backup all of your data before upgrading a system. |
The first thing an upgrade asks you is where to mount your partitions. It is important to label your partitions the same as they were previously. For example, you have a 100M partition named sd0s1f, and a second 100M partition named sd0s1g. The partition sd0s1f is mounted on /home, and sd0s1g is mounted on /var. If during your upgrade, you switched the disklabels on those two partitions, the upgrade would start copying the files that belong in /var on to your users home directories, because they were kept on sd0s1f. So, if you delete, or mis-label, a disk partition, you may lose, or screw up, all information stored on that partition.
When you upgrade from a 2.2.1 or earlier -RELEASE, you will be upgrading to the new rc.conf files by hand.. You will no longer be using the /etc/sysconfig file to configure your server. You will have to convert the information from /etc/sysconfig into /etc/rc.conf.
Note: Make sure you know where your volumes are currently mounted before you start an upgrade, so you can remount them in the same place |
During the Post install procedure you get a chance to do a lot of configuration to you system. you can:
Add Packages
Set up Users and Groups
Set up Basic Networking Services
Install Additional Distributions.
Configure system wide settings.
Set the Root Password
Packages are pre-compiled software that have been assembled for use with FreeBSD. Packages are really just software packages, like you would purchase from a vendor, except they have been packaged by people who work with the FreeBSD project and are available for free. They are the work of people who have either written a software package especially for FreeBSD, or have taken an already existing piece of software and packaged it for installation on FreeBSD. Packages are designed for a specific -RELEASE, in other words, they are compiled on the current version of the operating system and may have unforeseen results if used on an untested version.
Packages are very easy to install. They can be installed several ways.
From the Sysinstall Packages Menu
Using the command pkg_add
The hard-way; uncompressing and installing each component by hand.
For more information, see the section on Adding Software
During the install process, it will ask you if you want to install the Ports collection. The Ports collection is a source code distribution of the Package collection. Programs from the Ports collection get compiled for each -RELEASE of FreeBSD and placed in the Package collection. Getting a program from the Ports Collection, instead of the Packages Collection, is kind of like getting an uncooked pizza, it takes more work, but you can pick off the onions if you want.