FreeBSD Installation
From XOMBO Documentation
The following screenshots and instructions will help you perform a minimal installation of FreeBSD for the purpose of subsequently installing Platform.
Contents |
Perform the Base Installation
Download the latest version of FreeBSD's boot-only ISO from freebsd.org for your platform. You can either burn to a CD-ROM or, if you're using virtualization, specify a virtual CD-ROM ISO drive.
Insert the FreeBSD boot-only ISO or CD-ROM. Be sure to enable booting from CD-ROM if your BIOS does not boot from CD-ROM by default when a disc is present.
Select your country from the list. The following instructions are all based on the English language localization profile, which is easiest to choose by selecting United States.
On the subsequent menu, select "Standard" using your arrow keys (it should already be selected by default) and press ENTER to begin a standard installation.
This alert tells you the steps we'll be taking in the following few screens. Press ENTER to dismiss the message.
Your drive should be empty. Press the letter "A" on your keyboard to have FreeBSD automatically create a primary partition that occupies the entire drive.
This listing confirms that the partition has been defined. Press "Q" on your keyboard to write the changes to the drive.
Select "Standard" using the arrow keys to install a standard MBR and press ENTER.
Another message describing the next step will appear. Press ENTER to dismiss it.
Similar to our primary partition setup, above, press "A" to have the installer automatically create the appropriate partitions for your given drive size. These values are usually okay.
The listing confirms that the partition table has been configured. Depending on the size of your partition, the particular Size column values may be different. Press "Q" on your keyboard to confirm the partition table and write the changes.
Scroll all the way down on the distribution selection list and highlight "Minimal" and then press the SPACE bar on your keyboard to check it off. It will then be marked with an "[X]" in the left-hand column. Press the down key to highlight "Custom" and press enter.
In the custom screen, scroll down with your arrow key and highlight the "dict" row. Press space to check the item. Press the TAB key and press ENTER when the "OK" button is highlighted.
This returns you to the main distribution selection screen. Press the TAB key and then press ENTER when the "OK" button is highlighted.
Select "Install from an FTP server" from the list and press ENTER.
Select the "ftp.freebsd.org" server or find a local server for optimal speed. Press ENTER when you are satisfied with your selection.
Select the appropriate network interface adapter from the list and press ENTER to configure it.
Unless you have an IPv6 network, select "No" and press ENTER.
Select "Yes" to perform a DHCP configuration of the interface and press ENTER.
The DHCP configuration could take a couple minutes. This assumes that the machine has an active internet connection and that a DHCP service exists on your network (this service is usually provided by the router).
Make the changes, above, to the detected network configuration. DHCP should have correctly determined the correct DHCP server, gateway, and netmask. Write down the values specified for the gateway, netmask, and DNS server. You will need them later when we configure a static IP.
If the network connection was successful, you will see this progress indicator. You may have to wait a few minutes while the contingent FreeBSD components are downloaded.
Another progress indicator shows the progress of the actual installation of the files you just downloaded.
Good work! The hard part is over. The following screens will perform the final configuration of the system. Press ENTER to dismiss the dialogue.
A few Yes/No questions will appear in succession. Press "No" for everything until you reach Time Zone.
A few Yes/No questions will appear in succession. Press "No" for everything until you reach Time Zone.
Select "Yes" to set the system's timezone and press ENTER.
For most people, the answer to this question will be "No", so press ENTER.
Select your region with the up/down arrows and then press ENTER.
Select your country with the up/down arrows and then press ENTER.
Select the appropriate time zone from the list and then press ENTER.
This is usually correct. Press ENTER if you believe it's the correct choice.
We don't need the mouse daemon for our server. Select "No" and then press ENTER.
We will download the latest ports tree in subsequent steps and then manually select the particular packages we want to install. Select "No" and press ENTER.
You'll want to be able to login to your server after installing. Select "Yes" and press ENTER to continue to the user management menu.
Select "Add User" and press ENTER.
On this screen you will want to setup a user account called "xombo" with the group "wheel". The other values should be fine. Be sure to specify a password. Press TAB until the "Ok" button is selected, then press ENTER.
Press TAB until the "Ok" button is selected, then press ENTER. You will be presented with a prompt at the bottom of the screen that will ask you to configure a super user or "root" password. Since this is the password to the most privileged account on the system, I suggest you choose something that won't be easily guessed.
Your installation is complete! Eject or disconnect the CD-ROM device. Tab over to the "Exit Install" button and then press ENTER. The machine will reboot.
First Boot
This is the FreeBSD boot splash screen. It will count down and automatically boot the operating system after a few seconds.
The system will perform its usual boot sequence and then present you with a "login:" prompt.
Use the account we setup in the previous steps and the password you specified to login for the first time.
You'll get a nice blurb welcoming you to FreeBSD. This is called the MOTD (Message of the Day). The $ symbol at the bottom of the screen is your shell prompt.
Become the "Super-User"
Type "su" and press enter to escalate your piviledges to super-user status. Type the password you specified for the super-user in the previous steps.
Assuming everything went okay you'll get a platform# prompt (if you specified a different hostname, the word platform will be replaced with the sub-domain you chose at install time during the initial network configuration).
Grab the Ports Tree
Type the command following that prompt to download the FreeBSD ports tree, extract them, and check for updates. Once you've typed the command in its entirety, press ENTER.
portsnap fetch && portsnap extract && portsnap update
This process will take a few minutes while it downloads the package definitions.
The ports will be checked.
Then, it will extract. You'll see thousands of FreeBSD packages fly by on the screen. Don't worry, it's not installing them at this time. Ports simply lets you compile binaries from the latest source code patched for the operating system.
Configure SSH
Wow! You made it! Now, let's enable "SSH" logins. Then you'll be able to login to the system remotely.
Still logged in as the super-user type the command and press enter. Then, you can use the cat command to ensure that the configuration was added successfully.
echo 'sshd_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf cat /etc/rc.conf
Configure Static IP Address
Now let's run "sysinstall" again to configure our static IP address.
sysinstall
Arrow down to "Configure" and press ENTER.
Arrow down to "Networking" and press ENTER.
Select "Interfaces" and press ENTER.
Select the network adaptor you specified during installation from the list and press ENTER.
You'll probably want to use IPv4, so select "No" and press ENTER.
Select "No" to the DHCP question. We want to use a static IP so that it's easier to SSH into the server, later.
Here's that network interfaces from the installer. Remember when I had you write down those numbers for the gateway, DNS, and netmask? You'll need to enter those, now. In addition, specify the static IP address you want to have the machine on. Once those values are all input, tab over to the "Ok" button and press ENTER.
Either answer is okay here.
Press the "X" key and then press ENTER to exit that menu.
Again, press "X" and then press ENTER to exit this menu.
Tab over to the "Exit Install" button and press enter. You'll be returned to the command prompt.
Okay, so let's reboot the system. Type the command and press ENTER.
reboot
You'll subsequently see a bunch of text fly by showing that the system is shutting down. You'll see the boot splash screen again and then the login prompt when it comes back online. At that point you should be able to use an SSH client to connect to the machine remotely. We'll be able to do the remaining installation steps via SSH.
