---
title: "FreeBSD/alpha 6.1-RELEASE Installation Instructions"
sidenav: download
---

++++


<h3 class="CORPAUTHOR">The FreeBSD Project</h3>

<p class="COPYRIGHT">Copyright &copy; 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 The FreeBSD
Documentation Project</p>

<hr />
</div>

<blockquote class="ABSTRACT">
<div class="ABSTRACT"><a id="AEN13" name="AEN13"></a>
<p>This article gives some brief instructions on installing FreeBSD/alpha 6.1-RELEASE,
with particular emphasis given to obtaining a FreeBSD distribution. Some notes on
troubleshooting and frequently-asked questions are also given.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>

<div class="SECT1">
<hr />
<h2 class="SECT1"><a id="INSTALL" name="INSTALL">1 Installing FreeBSD</a></h2>

<p>This section documents the process of installing a new distribution of FreeBSD. These
instructions pay particular emphasis to the process of obtaining the FreeBSD 6.1-RELEASE
distribution and to beginning the installation procedure. The <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/install.html"
target="_top">&#8220;Installing FreeBSD&#8221;</a> chapter of the <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/" target="_top">FreeBSD
Handbook</a> provides more in-depth information about the installation program itself,
including a guided walkthrough with screenshots.</p>

<p>If you are upgrading from a previous release of FreeBSD, please see <a
href="#UPGRADING">Section 3</a> for instructions on upgrading.</p>

<div class="SECT2">
<hr />
<h3 class="SECT2"><a id="GETTING-STARTED" name="GETTING-STARTED">1.1 Getting
Started</a></h3>

<p>Probably the most important pre-installation step that can be taken is that of reading
the various instruction documents provided with FreeBSD. A roadmap of documents
pertaining to this release of FreeBSD can be found in <tt
class="FILENAME">README.TXT</tt>, which can usually be found in the same location as this
file; most of these documents, such as the release notes and the hardware compatibility
list, are also accessible in the Documentation menu of the installer.</p>

<p>Note that on-line versions of the FreeBSD <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/" target="_top">FAQ</a> and <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/"
target="_top">Handbook</a> are also available from the <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/"
target="_top">FreeBSD Project Web site</a>, if you have an Internet connection.</p>

<p>This collection of documents may seem daunting, but the time spent reading them will
likely be saved many times over. Being familiar with what resources are available can
also be helpful in the event of problems during installation.</p>

<p>The best laid plans sometimes go awry, so if you run into trouble take a look at <a
href="#TROUBLE">Section 4</a>, which contains valuable troubleshooting information. You
should also read an updated copy of <tt class="FILENAME">ERRATA.TXT</tt> before
installing, since this will alert you to any problems which have reported in the interim
for your particular release.</p>

<div class="IMPORTANT">
<blockquote class="IMPORTANT">
<p><b>Important:</b> While FreeBSD does its best to safeguard against accidental loss of
data, it's still more than possible to <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">wipe
out your entire disk</i></span> with this installation if you make a mistake. Please do
not proceed to the final FreeBSD installation menu unless you've adequately backed up any
important data first.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>

<div class="SECT2">
<hr />
<h3 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN38" name="AEN38">1.2 Hardware Requirements</a></h3>

<p>FreeBSD for the Alpha/AXP supports the platforms described in <tt
class="FILENAME">HARDWARE.TXT</tt>.</p>

<p>You will need a dedicated disk for FreeBSD/alpha. It is not possible to share a disk
with another operating system at this time. This disk will need to be attached to a SCSI
controller which is supported by the SRM firmware or an IDE disk assuming the SRM in your
machine supports booting from IDE disks.</p>

<p>Your root filesystem MUST be the first partition (partition <tt
class="LITERAL">a</tt>) on the disk to be bootable.</p>

<p>You will need the SRM console firmware for your platform. In some cases, it is
possible to switch between AlphaBIOS (or ARC) firmware and SRM. In others it will be
necessary to download new firmware from the vendor's Web site.</p>

<p>If you are not familiar with configuring hardware for FreeBSD, you should be sure to
read the <tt class="FILENAME">HARDWARE.TXT</tt> file; it contains important information
on what hardware is supported by FreeBSD.</p>
</div>

<div class="SECT2">
<hr />
<h3 class="SECT2"><a id="FLOPPIES" name="FLOPPIES">1.3 Floppy Disk Image
Instructions</a></h3>

<p>Depending on how you choose to install FreeBSD, you may need to create a set of floppy
disks (usually three) to begin the installation process. This section briefly describes
how to create these disks, either from a CDROM installation or from the Internet. Note
that in the common case of installing FreeBSD from CDROM, on a machine that supports
bootable CDROMs, the steps outlined in this section will not be needed and can be
skipped.</p>

<p>For most CDROM or network installations, all you need to copy onto actual floppies
from the <tt class="FILENAME">floppies/</tt> directory are the <tt
class="FILENAME">boot.flp</tt> and <tt class="FILENAME">kern<tt
class="REPLACEABLE"><i>X</i></tt>.flp</tt> images (for 1.44MB floppies).</p>

<p>Getting these images over the network is easy. Simply fetch the <tt
class="REPLACEABLE"><i>release</i></tt><tt class="FILENAME">/floppies/boot.flp</tt>, and
all of the <tt class="REPLACEABLE"><i>release</i></tt><tt
class="FILENAME">/floppies/kern<tt class="REPLACEABLE"><i>X</i></tt>.flp</tt> files from
<a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/snapshots/"
target="_top">http://www.FreeBSD.org/snapshots/</a> or one of the many mirrors listed at
<a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/mirrors-ftp.html"
target="_top">FTP Sites</a> section of the Handbook, or on the <a
href="http://mirrorlist.FreeBSD.org/" target="_top">http://mirrorlist.FreeBSD.org/</a>
Web pages.</p>

<p>Get several blank, freshly formatted floppies and image copy <tt
class="FILENAME">boot.flp</tt> onto one and the <tt class="FILENAME">kern<tt
class="REPLACEABLE"><i>X</i></tt>.flp</tt> files onto the others. These images are <span
class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">not</i></span> DOS files. You cannot simply copy
them to a DOS or UFS floppy as regular files, you need to &#8220;image&#8221; copy them
to the floppy with <tt class="FILENAME">fdimage.exe</tt> under DOS (see the <tt
class="FILENAME">tools</tt> directory on your CDROM or FreeBSD FTP mirror) or the <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=dd&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE"><span
 class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">dd</span>(1)</span></a> command in
UNIX.</p>

<p>For example, to create the kernel floppy image from DOS, you'd do something like
this:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<samp class="PROMPT">C&#62;</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">fdimage boot.flp a:</kbd>
</pre>

<p>Assuming that you'd copied <tt class="FILENAME">fdimage.exe</tt> and <tt
class="FILENAME">boot.flp</tt> into a directory somewhere. You would do the same for the
<tt class="FILENAME">kern<tt class="REPLACEABLE"><i>X</i></tt>.flp</tt> files, of
course.</p>

<p>If you're creating the boot floppy from a UNIX machine, you may find that:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd
class="USERINPUT">dd if=floppies/boot.flp of=/dev/rfd0</kbd>
</pre>

<p>or</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd
class="USERINPUT">dd if=floppies/boot.flp of=/dev/fd0</kbd>
</pre>

<p>or</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd
class="USERINPUT">dd if=floppies/boot.flp of=/dev/floppy</kbd>
</pre>

<p>work well, depending on your hardware and operating system environment (different
versions of UNIX have different names for the floppy drive).</p>
</div>

<div class="SECT2">
<hr />
<h3 class="SECT2"><a id="START-INSTALLATION" name="START-INSTALLATION">1.4 Installing
FreeBSD from CDROM or the Internet</a></h3>

<p>The easiest type of installation is from CDROM. If you have a supported CDROM drive
and a FreeBSD installation CDROM, you can boot FreeBSD directly from the CDROM. Insert
the CDROM into the drive and type the following command to start the installation
(substituting the name of the appropriate CDROM drive if necessary):</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
&gt;&gt;&gt;<kbd class="USERINPUT">boot dka0</kbd>
</pre>

<p>Alternatively you can boot the installation from floppy disk. You should start the
installation by building a set of FreeBSD boot floppies from the <tt
class="FILENAME">floppies/boot.flp</tt> and <tt class="FILENAME">floppies/kern<tt
class="REPLACEABLE"><i>X</i></tt>.flp</tt> files using the instructions found in <a
href="#FLOPPIES">Section 1.3</a>. From the SRM console prompt (<tt
class="LITERAL">&gt;&gt;&gt;</tt>), just insert the <tt class="FILENAME">boot.flp</tt>
floppy and type the following command to start the installation:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
&gt;&gt;&gt;<kbd class="USERINPUT">boot dva0</kbd>
</pre>

<p>Insert the other floppies when prompted and you will end up at the first screen of the
install program.</p>
</div>

<div class="SECT2">
<hr />
<h3 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN213" name="AEN213">1.5 Detail on various installation
types</a></h3>

<p>Once you've gotten yourself to the initial installation screen somehow, you should be
able to follow the various menu prompts and go from there. If you've never used the
FreeBSD installation before, you are also encouraged to read some of the documentation in
the Documentation submenu as well as the general &#8220;Usage&#8221; instructions on the
first menu.</p>

<div class="NOTE">
<blockquote class="NOTE">
<p><b>Note:</b> If you get stuck at a screen, press the <b class="KEYCAP">F1</b> key for
online documentation relevant to that specific section.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>

<p>If you've never installed FreeBSD before, or even if you have, the
&#8220;Standard&#8221; installation mode is the most recommended since it makes sure that
you'll visit all the various important checklist items along the way. If you're much more
comfortable with the FreeBSD installation process and know <span class="emphasis"><i
class="EMPHASIS">exactly</i></span> what you want to do, use the &#8220;Express&#8221; or
&#8220;Custom&#8221; installation options. If you're upgrading an existing system, use
the &#8220;Upgrade&#8221; option.</p>

<p>The FreeBSD installer supports the direct use of floppy, DOS, tape, CDROM, FTP, NFS
and UFS partitions as installation media; further tips on installing from each type of
media are listed below.</p>

<p>Once the install procedure has finished, you will be able to start FreeBSD/alpha by
typing something like this to the SRM prompt:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
&gt;&gt;&gt;<kbd class="USERINPUT">boot dkc0</kbd>
</pre>

<p>This instructs the firmware to boot the specified disk. To find the SRM names of disks
in your machine, use the <tt class="LITERAL">show device</tt> command:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
&gt;&gt;&gt;<kbd class="USERINPUT">show device</kbd>
dka0.0.0.4.0               DKA0           TOSHIBA CD-ROM XM-57  3476
dkc0.0.0.1009.0            DKC0                       RZ1BB-BS  0658
dkc100.1.0.1009.0          DKC100             SEAGATE ST34501W  0015
dva0.0.0.0.1               DVA0
ewa0.0.0.3.0               EWA0              00-00-F8-75-6D-01
pkc0.7.0.1009.0            PKC0                  SCSI Bus ID 7  5.27
pqa0.0.0.4.0               PQA0                       PCI EIDE
pqb0.0.1.4.0               PQB0                       PCI EIDE
</pre>

<p>This example is from a Digital Personal Workstation 433au and shows three disks
attached to the machine. The first is a CDROM called <tt class="DEVICENAME">dka0</tt> and
the other two are disks and are called <tt class="DEVICENAME">dkc0</tt> and <tt
class="DEVICENAME">dkc100</tt> respectively.</p>

<p>You can specify which kernel file to load and what boot options to use with the <code
class="OPTION">-file</code> and <code class="OPTION">-flags</code> options, for
example:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<samp class="PROMPT">&gt;&gt;&gt;</samp> <kbd
class="USERINPUT">boot -file kernel.old -flags s</kbd>
</pre>

<p>To make FreeBSD/alpha boot automatically, use these commands:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<samp class="PROMPT">&gt;&gt;&gt;</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">set boot_osflags a</kbd>
<samp class="PROMPT">&gt;&gt;&gt;</samp> <kbd
class="USERINPUT">set bootdef_dev dkc0</kbd>
<samp class="PROMPT">&gt;&gt;&gt;</samp> <kbd
class="USERINPUT">set auto_action BOOT</kbd>
</pre>

<div class="SECT3">
<hr />
<h4 class="SECT3"><a id="AEN252" name="AEN252">1.5.1 Installing from a Network
CDROM</a></h4>

<p>If you simply wish to install from a local CDROM drive then see <a
href="#START-INSTALLATION">Section 1.4</a>. If you don't have a CDROM drive on your
system and wish to use a FreeBSD distribution CD in the CDROM drive of another system to
which you have network connectivity, there are also several ways of going about it:</p>

<ul>
<li>
<p>If you would be able to FTP install FreeBSD directly from the CDROM drive in some
FreeBSD machine, it's quite easy: You ensure an FTP server is running and then simply add
the following line to the password file (using the <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=vipw&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">vipw</span>(8)</span></a>
command):</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
ftp:*:99:99::0:0:FTP:/cdrom:/sbin/nologin
</pre>

<p>On the machine on which you are running the install, go to the Options menu and set
Release Name to <tt class="LITERAL">any</tt>. You may then choose a Media type of <tt
class="LITERAL">FTP</tt> and type in <tt class="FILENAME">ftp://<tt
class="REPLACEABLE"><i>machine</i></tt></tt> after picking &#8220;URL&#8221; in the ftp
sites menu.</p>

<div class="WARNING">
<blockquote class="WARNING">
<p><b>Warning:</b> This may allow anyone on the local network (or Internet) to make
&#8220;anonymous FTP&#8221; connections to this machine, which may not be desirable.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</li>

<li>
<p>If you would rather use NFS to export the CDROM directly to the machine(s) you'll be
installing from, you need to first add an entry to the <tt
class="FILENAME">/etc/exports</tt> file (on the machine with the CDROM drive). The
example below allows the machine <tt class="HOSTID">ziggy.foo.com</tt> to mount the CDROM
directly via NFS during installation:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
/cdrom          -ro             ziggy.foo.com
</pre>

<p>The machine with the CDROM must also be configured as an NFS server, of course, and if
you're not sure how to do that then an NFS installation is probably not the best choice
for you unless you're willing to read up on <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=rc.conf&sektion=5&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">rc.conf</span>(5)</span></a> and
configure things appropriately. Assuming that this part goes smoothly, you should be able
to enter: <tt class="FILENAME"><tt class="REPLACEABLE"><i>cdrom-host</i></tt>:/cdrom</tt>
as the path for an NFS installation when the target machine is installed, e.g. <tt
class="FILENAME">wiggy:/cdrom</tt>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>

<div class="SECT3">
<hr />
<h4 class="SECT3"><a id="AEN284" name="AEN284">1.5.2 Installing from Floppies</a></h4>

<p>If you must install from floppy disks, either due to unsupported hardware or just
because you enjoy doing things the hard way, you must first prepare some floppies for the
install.</p>

<p>First, make your boot floppies as described in <a href="#FLOPPIES">Section
1.3</a>.</p>

<p>Second, peruse <a href="#LAYOUT">Section 2</a> and pay special attention to the
&#8220;Distribution Format&#8221; section since it describes which files you're going to
need to put onto floppy and which you can safely skip.</p>

<p>Next you will need, at minimum, as many 1.44MB floppies as it takes to hold all files
in the <tt class="FILENAME">bin</tt> (binary distribution) directory. If you're preparing
these floppies under DOS, then these floppies <span class="emphasis"><i
class="EMPHASIS">must</i></span> be formatted using the MS-DOS <tt
class="FILENAME">FORMAT</tt> command. If you're using Windows, use the Windows File
Manager format command.</p>

<div class="IMPORTANT">
<blockquote class="IMPORTANT">
<p><b>Important:</b> Frequently, floppy disks come &#8220;factory preformatted&#8221;.
While convenient, many problems reported by users in the past have resulted from the use
of improperly formatted media. Re-format them yourself, just to make sure.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>

<p>If you're creating the floppies from another FreeBSD machine, a format is still not a
bad idea though you don't need to put a DOS filesystem on each floppy. You can use the <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=disklabel&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">disklabel</span>(8)</span></a> and
<a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=newfs&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">newfs</span>(8)</span></a>
commands to put a UFS filesystem on a floppy, as the following sequence of commands
illustrates:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">fdformat -f 1440 fd0</kbd>
<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">disklabel -w fd0 floppy3</kbd>
<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">newfs -i 65536 /dev/fd0</kbd>
</pre>

<p>After you've formatted the floppies for DOS or UFS, you'll need to copy the files onto
them. The distribution files are sized so that a floppy disk will hold a single file.
Each distribution should go into its own subdirectory on the floppy, e.g.: <tt
class="FILENAME">a:\bin\bin.inf</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">a:\bin\bin.aa</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">a:\bin\bin.ab</tt>, ...</p>

<div class="IMPORTANT">
<blockquote class="IMPORTANT">
<p><b>Important:</b> The <tt class="FILENAME">bin.inf</tt> file also needs to go on the
first floppy of the <tt class="FILENAME">bin</tt> set since it is read by the
installation program in order to figure out how many additional pieces to look for when
fetching and concatenating the distribution. When putting distributions onto floppies,
the <tt class="FILENAME">distname.inf</tt> file <span class="emphasis"><i
class="EMPHASIS">must</i></span> occupy the first floppy of each distribution set.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>

<p>Once you come to the Media screen of the install, select &#8220;Floppy&#8221; and
you'll be prompted for the rest.</p>
</div>

<div class="SECT3">
<hr />
<h4 class="SECT3"><a id="AEN353" name="AEN353">1.5.4 Installing from QIC/SCSI
Tape</a></h4>

<p>When installing from tape, the installation program expects the files to be simply
tar'ed onto it, so after fetching all of the files for the distributions you're
interested in, simply use <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=tar&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">tar</span>(1)</span></a> to get
them onto the tape with a command something like this:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">cd <tt
class="REPLACEABLE"><i>/where/you/have/your/dists</i></tt></kbd>
<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">tar cvf /dev/sa0 <tt
class="REPLACEABLE"><i>dist1</i></tt> .. <tt class="REPLACEABLE"><i>dist2</i></tt></kbd>
</pre>

<p>When you go to do the installation, you should also make sure that you leave enough
room in some temporary directory (which you'll be allowed to choose) to accommodate the
<span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">full</i></span> contents of the tape you've
created. Due to the non-random access nature of tapes, this method of installation
requires quite a bit of temporary storage. You should expect to require as much temporary
storage as you have stuff written on tape.</p>

<div class="NOTE">
<blockquote class="NOTE">
<p><b>Note:</b> When going to do the installation, the tape must be in the drive <span
class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">before</i></span> booting from the boot floppies.
The installation &#8220;probe&#8221; may otherwise fail to find it.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>

<p>Now create a boot floppy as described in <a href="#FLOPPIES">Section 1.3</a> and
proceed with the installation.</p>
</div>

<div class="SECT3">
<hr />
<h4 class="SECT3"><a id="FTPNFS" name="FTPNFS">1.5.5 Installing over a Network using FTP
or NFS</a></h4>

<p>After making the boot floppies as described in the first section, you can load the
rest of the installation over a network using one of 3 types of connections: serial port,
parallel port, or Ethernet.</p>

<div class="SECT4">
<hr />
<h5 class="SECT4"><a id="AEN378" name="AEN378">1.5.5.1 Serial Port</a></h5>

<p>SLIP support is rather primitive, and is limited primarily to hard-wired links, such
as a serial cable running between two computers. The link must be hard-wired because the
SLIP installation doesn't currently offer a dialing capability. If you need to dial out
with a modem or otherwise dialog with the link before connecting to it, then the PPP
utility should be used instead.</p>

<p>If you're using PPP, make sure that you have your Internet Service Provider's IP
address and DNS information handy as you'll need to know it fairly early in the
installation process. You may also need to know your own IP address, though PPP supports
dynamic address negotiation and may be able to pick up this information directly from
your ISP if they support it.</p>

<p>You will also need to know how to use the various &#8220;AT commands&#8221; for
dialing out with your particular brand of modem as the PPP dialer provides only a very
simple terminal emulator.</p>
</div>

<div class="SECT4">
<hr />
<h5 class="SECT4"><a id="AEN384" name="AEN384">1.5.5.2 Parallel Port</a></h5>

<p>If a hard-wired connection to another FreeBSD or Linux machine is available, you might
also consider installing over a &#8220;laplink&#8221; style parallel port cable. The data
rate over the parallel port is much higher than what is typically possible over a serial
line (up to 50k/sec), thus resulting in a quicker installation. It's not typically
necessary to use &#8220;real&#8221; IP addresses when using a point-to-point parallel
cable in this way and you can generally just use RFC 1918 style addresses for the ends of
the link (e.g. <tt class="HOSTID">10.0.0.1</tt>, <tt class="HOSTID">10.0.0.2</tt>,
etc).</p>

<div class="IMPORTANT">
<blockquote class="IMPORTANT">
<p><b>Important:</b> If you use a Linux machine rather than a FreeBSD machine as your
PLIP peer, you will also have to specify <code class="OPTION">link0</code> in the TCP/IP
setup screen's &#8220;extra options for ifconfig&#8221; field in order to be compatible
with Linux's slightly different PLIP protocol.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>

<div class="SECT4">
<hr />
<h5 class="SECT4"><a id="AEN395" name="AEN395">1.5.5.3 Ethernet</a></h5>

<p>FreeBSD supports most common Ethernet cards; a table of supported cards is provided as
part of the FreeBSD Hardware Notes (see <tt class="FILENAME">HARDWARE.TXT</tt> in the
Documentation menu on the boot floppy or the top level directory of the CDROM). If you
are using one of the supported PCMCIA Ethernet cards, also be sure that it's plugged in
<span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">before</i></span> the laptop is powered on.
FreeBSD does not, unfortunately, currently support &#8220;hot insertion&#8221; of PCMCIA
cards during installation.</p>

<p>You will also need to know your IP address on the network, the <code
class="OPTION">netmask</code> value for your subnet and the name of your machine. Your
system administrator can tell you which values are appropriate to your particular network
setup. If you will be referring to other hosts by name rather than IP address, you'll
also need a name server and possibly the address of a gateway (if you're using PPP, it's
your provider's IP address) to use in talking to it. If you want to install by FTP via an
HTTP proxy (see below), you will also need the proxy's address.</p>

<p>If you do not know the answers to these questions then you should really probably talk
to your system administrator <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">first</i></span>
before trying this type of installation. Using a randomly chosen IP address or netmask on
a live network is almost guaranteed not to work, and will probably result in a lecture
from said system administrator.</p>

<p>Once you have a network connection of some sort working, the installation can continue
over NFS or FTP.</p>
</div>

<div class="SECT4">
<hr />
<h5 class="SECT4"><a id="AEN406" name="AEN406">1.5.5.4 NFS installation tips</a></h5>

<p>NFS installation is fairly straight-forward: Simply copy the FreeBSD distribution
files you want onto a server somewhere and then point the NFS media selection at it.</p>

<p>If this server supports only &#8220;privileged port&#8221; access (this is generally
the default for Sun and Linux workstations), you may need to set this option in the
Options menu before installation can proceed.</p>

<p>If you have a poor quality Ethernet card which suffers from very slow transfer rates,
you may also wish to toggle the appropriate Options flag.</p>

<p>In order for NFS installation to work, the server must also support &#8220;subdir
mounts&#8221;, e.g. if your FreeBSD distribution directory lives on <tt
class="FILENAME">wiggy:/usr/archive/stuff/FreeBSD</tt>, then <tt
class="HOSTID">wiggy</tt> will have to allow the direct mounting of <tt
class="FILENAME">/usr/archive/stuff/FreeBSD</tt>, not just <tt class="FILENAME">/usr</tt>
or <tt class="FILENAME">/usr/archive/stuff</tt>.</p>

<p>In FreeBSD's <tt class="FILENAME">/etc/exports</tt> file this is controlled by the
<code class="OPTION">-alldirs</code> option. Other NFS servers may have different
conventions. If you are getting <tt class="LITERAL">Permission Denied</tt> messages from
the server then it's likely that you don't have this properly enabled.</p>
</div>

<div class="SECT4">
<hr />
<h5 class="SECT4"><a id="AEN423" name="AEN423">1.5.5.5 FTP Installation tips</a></h5>

<p>FTP installation may be done from any mirror site containing a reasonably up-to-date
version of FreeBSD. A full menu of reasonable choices for almost any location in the
world is provided in the FTP site menu during installation.</p>

<p>If you are installing from some other FTP site not listed in this menu, or you are
having troubles getting your name server configured properly, you can also specify your
own URL by selecting the &#8220;URL&#8221; choice in that menu. A URL can contain a
hostname or an IP address, so something like the following would work in the absence of a
name server:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
ftp://216.66.64.162/pub/FreeBSD/releases/alpha/4.2-RELEASE
</pre>

<p>There are three FTP installation modes you can use:</p>

<ul>
<li>
<p>FTP: This method uses the standard &#8220;Active&#8221; mode for transfers, in which
the server initiates a connection to the client. This will not work through most
firewalls but will often work best with older FTP servers that do not support passive
mode. If your connection hangs with passive mode, try this one.</p>
</li>

<li>
<p>FTP Passive: This sets the FTP "Passive" mode which prevents the server from opening
connections to the client. This option is best for users to pass through firewalls that
do not allow incoming connections on random port addresses.</p>
</li>

<li>
<p>FTP via an HTTP proxy: This option instructs FreeBSD to use HTTP to connect to a proxy
for all FTP operations. The proxy will translate the requests and send them to the FTP
server. This allows the user to pass through firewalls that do not allow FTP at all, but
offer an HTTP proxy. You must specify the hostname of the proxy in addition to the FTP
server.</p>

<p>In the rare case that you have an FTP proxy that does not go through HTTP, you can
specify the URL as something like:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<kbd class="USERINPUT">ftp://foo.bar.com:<tt
class="REPLACEABLE"><i>port</i></tt>/pub/FreeBSD</kbd>
</pre>

<p>In the URL above, <tt class="REPLACEABLE"><i>port</i></tt> is the port number of the
proxy FTP server.</p>
</li>
</ul>

<br />
<br />
</div>
</div>

<div class="SECT3">
<hr />
<h4 class="SECT3"><a id="AEN444" name="AEN444">1.5.6 Tips for Serial Console
Users</a></h4>

<p>If you'd like to install FreeBSD on a machine using just a serial port (e.g. you don't
have or wish to use a VGA card), please follow these steps:</p>

<div class="PROCEDURE">
<ol type="1">
<li class="STEP">
<p>Connect some sort of ANSI (vt100) compatible terminal or terminal emulation program to
the <tt class="DEVICENAME">COM1</tt> port of the PC you are installing FreeBSD onto.</p>
</li>

<li class="STEP">
<p>Unplug the keyboard (yes, that's correct!) and then try to boot from floppy or the
installation CDROM, depending on the type of installation media you have, with the
keyboard unplugged.</p>
</li>

<li class="STEP">
<p>If you don't get any output on your serial console, plug the keyboard in again. If you
are booting from the CDROM, proceed to <a href="#HITSPACE">step 5</a> as soon as you hear
the beep.</p>
</li>

<li class="STEP">
<p>If booting from floppies, when access to the disk stops, insert the first of the <tt
class="FILENAME">kern<tt class="REPLACEABLE"><i>X</i></tt>.flp</tt> disks and press <b
class="KEYCAP">Enter</b>. When access to this disk finishes, insert the next <tt
class="FILENAME">kern<tt class="REPLACEABLE"><i>X</i></tt>.flp</tt> disk and press <b
class="KEYCAP">Enter</b>, and repeat until all <tt class="FILENAME">kern<tt
class="REPLACEABLE"><i>X</i></tt>.flp</tt> disks have been inserted. When disk activity
finishes, reinsert the <tt class="FILENAME">boot.flp</tt> floppy disk and press <b
class="KEYCAP">Enter</b>.</p>
</li>

<li class="STEP"><a id="HITSPACE" name="HITSPACE"></a>
<p>Once a beep is heard, hit the number <b class="KEYCAP">6</b>, then enter</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<kbd class="USERINPUT">boot -h</kbd>
</pre>

<p>and you should now definitely be seeing everything on the serial port. If that still
doesn't work, check your serial cabling as well as the settings on your terminal
emulation program or actual terminal device. It should be set for 9600 baud, 8 bits, no
parity.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>

<div class="SECT2">
<hr />
<h3 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN474" name="AEN474">1.6 Question and Answer Section for
Alpha/AXP Architecture Users</a></h3>

<div class="QANDASET">
<dl>
<dt>1.6.1. <a href="#Q1.6.1.">Can I boot from the ARC or Alpha BIOS Console?</a></dt>

<dt>1.6.2. <a href="#Q1.6.2.">Help! I have no space! Do I need to delete everything
first?</a></dt>

<dt>1.6.3. <a href="#Q1.6.3.">Can I mount my Compaq Tru64 or VMS extended
partitions?</a></dt>

<dt>1.6.4. <a href="#Q1.6.4.">What about support for Compaq Tru64 (OSF/1)
binaries?</a></dt>

<dt>1.6.5. <a href="#Q1.6.5.">What about support for Linux binaries?</a></dt>

<dt>1.6.6. <a href="#Q1.6.6.">What about support for NT Alpha binaries?</a></dt>
</dl>

<div class="QANDAENTRY">
<div class="QUESTION">
<p><a id="Q1.6.1." name="Q1.6.1."></a><b>1.6.1.</b> Can I boot from the ARC or Alpha BIOS
Console?</p>
</div>

<div class="ANSWER">
<p><b></b>No. FreeBSD, like Compaq Tru64 and VMS, will only boot from the SRM
console.</p>
</div>
</div>

<div class="QANDAENTRY">
<div class="QUESTION">
<p><a id="Q1.6.2." name="Q1.6.2."></a><b>1.6.2.</b> Help! I have no space! Do I need to
delete everything first?</p>
</div>

<div class="ANSWER">
<p><b></b>Unfortunately, yes.</p>
</div>
</div>

<div class="QANDAENTRY">
<div class="QUESTION">
<p><a id="Q1.6.3." name="Q1.6.3."></a><b>1.6.3.</b> Can I mount my Compaq Tru64 or VMS
extended partitions?</p>
</div>

<div class="ANSWER">
<p><b></b>No, not at this time.</p>
</div>
</div>

<div class="QANDAENTRY">
<div class="QUESTION">
<p><a id="Q1.6.4." name="Q1.6.4."></a><b>1.6.4.</b> What about support for Compaq Tru64
(OSF/1) binaries?</p>
</div>

<div class="ANSWER">
<p><b></b>FreeBSD can run Tru64 applications very well using the <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/url.cgi?ports/emulators/osf1_base/pkg-descr"><tt
class="FILENAME">emulators/osf1_base</tt></a> port/package.</p>
</div>
</div>

<div class="QANDAENTRY">
<div class="QUESTION">
<p><a id="Q1.6.5." name="Q1.6.5."></a><b>1.6.5.</b> What about support for Linux
binaries?</p>
</div>

<div class="ANSWER">
<p><b></b>FreeBSD can run AlphaLinux binaries with the assistance of the <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/url.cgi?ports/emulators/linux_base/pkg-descr"><tt
class="FILENAME">emulators/linux_base</tt></a> port/package.</p>
</div>
</div>

<div class="QANDAENTRY">
<div class="QUESTION">
<p><a id="Q1.6.6." name="Q1.6.6."></a><b>1.6.6.</b> What about support for NT Alpha
binaries?</p>
</div>

<div class="ANSWER">
<p><b></b>FreeBSD is not able to run NT applications natively, although it has the
ability to mount NT partitions.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

<div class="SECT1">
<hr />
<h2 class="SECT1"><a id="LAYOUT" name="LAYOUT">2 Distribution Format</a></h2>

<p>A typical FreeBSD distribution directory looks something like this (exact details may
vary depending on version, architecture, and other factors):</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
ERRATA.HTM      README.TXT      compat1x        dict            kernel
ERRATA.TXT      RELNOTES.HTM    compat20        doc             manpages
HARDWARE.HTM    RELNOTES.TXT    compat21        docbook.css     packages
HARDWARE.TXT    base            compat22        filename.txt    ports
INSTALL.HTM     boot            compat3x        floppies        proflibs
INSTALL.TXT     catpages        compat4x        games           src
README.HTM      cdrom.inf       crypto          info            tools
</pre>

<p>These same files are contained in the first CDROM of a multi-disk set, but they are
laid out slightly differently on the disk. On most architectures, the installation CDROM
also contains a &#8220;live filesystem&#8221; in addition to the distribution files. The
live filesystem is useful when repairing or troubleshooting an existing FreeBSD
installation (see <a href="#TROUBLE">Section 4</a> for how to use this).</p>

<p>The <tt class="FILENAME">floppies</tt> directory will be of particular interest to
users who are unable to boot from the CDROM media (but are able to read the CDROM by
other means). It is easy to generate a set of 1.44MB boot floppies from the <tt
class="FILENAME">floppies</tt> directory (see <a href="#FLOPPIES">Section 1.3</a> for
instructions on how to do this) and use these to start an installation from CDROM, FTP,
or NFS. The rest of the data needed during the installation will be obtained
automatically based on your selections. If you've never installed FreeBSD before, you
also want to read the entirety of this document (the installation instructions) file.</p>

<p>If you're trying to do some other type of installation or are merely curious about how
a distribution is organized, what follows is a more thorough description of some of these
items in more detail:</p>

<ol type="1">
<li>
<p>The <tt class="FILENAME">*.TXT</tt> and <tt class="FILENAME">*.HTM</tt> files contain
documentation (for example, this document is contained in both <tt
class="FILENAME">INSTALL.TXT</tt> and <tt class="FILENAME">INSTALL.HTM</tt>) and should
be read before starting an installation. The <tt class="FILENAME">*.TXT</tt> files are
plain text, while the <tt class="FILENAME">*.HTM</tt> files are HTML files that can be
read by almost any Web browser. Some distributions may contain documentation in other
formats as well, such as PDF or PostScript.</p>
</li>

<li>
<p><tt class="FILENAME">docbook.css</tt> is a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) file used by
some Web browsers for formatting the HTML documentation.</p>
</li>

<li>
<p>The <tt class="FILENAME">base</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">catpages</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">crypto</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">dict</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">doc</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">games</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">info</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">manpages</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">proflibs</tt>, and <tt class="FILENAME">src</tt> directories contain the
primary distribution components of FreeBSD itself and are split into smaller files for
easy packing onto floppies (should that be necessary).</p>
</li>

<li>
<p>The <tt class="FILENAME">compat1x</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">compat20</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">compat21</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">compat22</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">compat3x</tt>, and <tt class="FILENAME">compat4x</tt> directories
contain distributions for compatibility with older releases and are distributed as single
gzip'd tar files - they can be installed during release time or later by running their
<tt class="FILENAME">install.sh</tt> scripts.</p>
</li>

<li>
<p>The <tt class="FILENAME">floppies/</tt> subdirectory contains the floppy installation
images; further information on using them can be found in <a href="#FLOPPIES">Section
1.3</a>.</p>
</li>

<li>
<p>The <tt class="FILENAME">packages</tt> and <tt class="FILENAME">ports</tt> directories
contain the FreeBSD Packages and Ports Collections. Packages may be installed from the
packages directory by running the command:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp><kbd
class="USERINPUT">/stand/sysinstall configPackages</kbd>
</pre>

<p>Packages can also be installed by feeding individual filenames in <tt
class="FILENAME">packages</tt>/ to the <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=pkg_add&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">pkg_add</span>(1)</span></a>
command.</p>

<p>The Ports Collection may be installed like any other distribution and requires about
190MB unpacked. More information on the ports collection may be obtained from <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/ports/" target="_top">http://www.FreeBSD.org/ports/</a> or
locally from <tt class="FILENAME">/usr/share/doc/handbook</tt> if you've installed the
<tt class="FILENAME">doc</tt> distribution.</p>
</li>

<li>
<p>Last of all, the <tt class="FILENAME">tools</tt> directory contains various DOS tools
for discovering disk geometries, installing boot managers and the like. It is purely
optional and provided only for user convenience.</p>
</li>
</ol>

<br />
<br />
<p>A typical distribution directory (for example, the <tt class="FILENAME">info</tt>
distribution) looks like this internally:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
CHECKSUM.MD5    info.ab         info.ad         info.inf        install.sh
info.aa         info.ac         info.ae         info.mtree
</pre>

<p>The <tt class="FILENAME">CHECKSUM.MD5</tt> file contains MD5 signatures for each file,
should data corruption be suspected, and is purely for reference. It is not used by the
actual installation and does not need to be copied with the rest of the distribution
files. The <tt class="FILENAME">info.a*</tt> files are split, gzip'd tar files, the
contents of which can be viewed by doing:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">cat info.a* | tar tvzf -</kbd>
</pre>

<p>During installation, they are automatically concatenated and extracted by the
installation procedure.</p>

<p>The <tt class="FILENAME">info.inf</tt> file is also necessary since it is read by the
installation program in order to figure out how many pieces to look for when fetching and
concatenating the distribution. When putting distributions onto floppies, the <tt
class="FILENAME">.inf</tt> file <span class="emphasis"><i
class="EMPHASIS">must</i></span> occupy the first floppy of each distribution set!</p>

<p>The <tt class="FILENAME">info.mtree</tt> file is another non-essential file which is
provided for user reference. It contains the MD5 signatures of the <span
class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">unpacked</i></span> distribution files and can be
later used with the <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=mtree&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">mtree</span>(8)</span></a> program
to verify the installation permissions and checksums against any possible modifications
to the file. When used with the <tt class="FILENAME">base</tt> distribution, this can be
an excellent way of detecting trojan horse attacks on your system.</p>

<p>Finally, the <tt class="FILENAME">install.sh</tt> file is for use by those who want to
install the distribution after installation time. To install the info distribution from
CDROM after a system was installed, for example, you'd do:</p>

<pre class="SCREEN">
<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">cd /cdrom/info</kbd>
<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">sh install.sh</kbd>
</pre>
</div>

<div class="SECT1">
<hr />
<h2 class="SECT1"><a id="UPGRADING" name="UPGRADING">3 Upgrading FreeBSD</a></h2>

<p>These instructions describe a procedure for doing a binary upgrade from an older
version of FreeBSD.</p>

<div class="WARNING">
<blockquote class="WARNING">
<p><b>Warning:</b> While the FreeBSD upgrade procedure does its best to safeguard against
accidental loss of data, it is still more than possible to <span class="emphasis"><i
class="EMPHASIS">wipe out your entire disk</i></span> with this installation! Please do
not accept the final confirmation request unless you have adequately backed up any
important data files.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>

<div class="IMPORTANT">
<blockquote class="IMPORTANT">
<p><b>Important:</b> These notes assume that you are using the version of <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sysinstall&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">sysinstall</span>(8)</span></a>
supplied with the version of FreeBSD to which you intend to upgrade. Using a mismatched
version of <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sysinstall&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">sysinstall</span>(8)</span></a> is
almost guaranteed to cause problems and has been known to leave systems in an unusable
state. The most commonly made mistake in this regard is the use of an old copy of <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sysinstall&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">sysinstall</span>(8)</span></a>
from an existing installation to upgrade to a newer version of FreeBSD. This is <span
class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">not</i></span> recommended.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>

<div class="WARNING">
<blockquote class="WARNING">
<p><b>Warning:</b> Binary upgrades to FreeBSD 6.1-RELEASE from FreeBSD 4-STABLE are not
supported at this time. There are some files present in a FreeBSD 4-STABLE whose presence
can be disruptive, but are not removed by a binary upgrade. One notable example is that
an old <tt class="FILENAME">/usr/include/g++</tt> directory will cause C++ programs to
compile incorrectly (or not at all).</p>

<p>These upgrade instructions are provided for the use of users upgrading from relatively
recent FreeBSD 6.1-STABLE snapshots.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>

<div class="SECT2">
<hr />
<h3 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN702" name="AEN702">3.1 Introduction</a></h3>

<p>The upgrade procedure replaces distributions selected by the user with those
corresponding to the new FreeBSD release. It preserves standard system configuration
data, as well as user data, installed packages and other software.</p>

<p>Administrators contemplating an upgrade are encouraged to study this section in its
entirety before commencing an upgrade. Failure to do so may result in a failed upgrade or
loss of data.</p>

<div class="SECT3">
<hr />
<h4 class="SECT3"><a id="AEN706" name="AEN706">3.1.1 Upgrade Overview</a></h4>

<p>Upgrading of a distribution is performed by extracting the new version of the
component over the top of the previous version. Files belonging to the old distribution
are not deleted.</p>

<p>System configuration is preserved by retaining and restoring the previous version of
the following files:</p>

<p><tt class="FILENAME">Xaccel.ini</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">XF86Config</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">adduser.conf</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">aliases</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">aliases.db</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">amd.map</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">crontab</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">csh.cshrc</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">csh.login</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">csh.logout</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">cvsupfile</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">dhclient.conf</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">disktab</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">dm.conf</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">dumpdates</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">exports</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">fbtab</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">fstab</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">ftpusers</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">gettytab</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">gnats</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">group</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">hosts</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">hosts.allow</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">hosts.equiv</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">hosts.lpd</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">inetd.conf</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">localtime</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">login.access</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">login.conf</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">mail</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">mail.rc</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">make.conf</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">manpath.config</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">master.passwd</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">motd</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">namedb</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">networks</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">newsyslog.conf</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">nsmb.conf</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">nsswitch.conf</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">pam.conf</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">passwd</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">periodic</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">ppp</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">printcap</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">profile</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">pwd.db</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">rc.conf</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">rc.conf.local</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">rc.firewall</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">rc.local</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">remote</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">resolv.conf</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">rmt</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">sendmail.cf</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">sendmail.cw</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">services</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">shells</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">skeykeys</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">spwd.db</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">ssh</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">syslog.conf</tt>, <tt class="FILENAME">ttys</tt>, <tt
class="FILENAME">uucp</tt></p>

<p>The versions of these files which correspond to the new version are moved to <tt
class="FILENAME">/etc/upgrade/</tt>. The system administrator may peruse these new
versions and merge components as desired. Note that many of these files are
interdependent, and the best merge procedure is to copy all site-specific data from the
current files into the new.</p>

<p>During the upgrade procedure, the administrator is prompted for a location into which
all files from <tt class="FILENAME">/etc/</tt> are saved. In the event that local
modifications have been made to other files, they may be subsequently retrieved from this
location.</p>
</div>
</div>

<div class="SECT2">
<hr />
<h3 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN780" name="AEN780">3.2 Procedure</a></h3>

<p>This section details the upgrade procedure. Particular attention is given to items
which substantially differ from a normal installation.</p>

<div class="SECT3">
<hr />
<h4 class="SECT3"><a id="AEN783" name="AEN783">3.2.1 Backup</a></h4>

<p>User data and system configuration should be backed up before upgrading. While the
upgrade procedure does its best to prevent accidental mistakes, it is possible to
partially or completely destroy data and configuration information.</p>
</div>

<div class="SECT3">
<hr />
<h4 class="SECT3"><a id="AEN786" name="AEN786">3.2.2 Mount Filesystems</a></h4>

<p>The disklabel editor is entered with the nominated disk's filesystem devices listed.
Prior to commencing the upgrade, the administrator should make a note of the device names
and corresponding mountpoints. These mountpoints should be entered here. <span
class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">Do not</i></span> set the &#8220;newfs flag&#8221;
for any filesystems, as this will cause data loss.</p>
</div>

<div class="SECT3">
<hr />
<h4 class="SECT3"><a id="AEN791" name="AEN791">3.2.3 Select Distributions</a></h4>

<p>When selecting distributions, there are no constraints on which must be selected. As a
general rule, the <tt class="LITERAL">base</tt> distribution should be selected for an
update, and the <tt class="LITERAL">man</tt> distribution if manpages are already
installed. Other distributions may be selected beyond those originally installed if the
administrator wishes to add additional functionality.</p>
</div>

<div class="SECT3">
<hr />
<h4 class="SECT3"><a id="FSTAB" name="FSTAB">3.2.4 After Installation</a></h4>

<p>Once the installation procedure has completed, the administrator is prompted to
examine the new configuration files. At this point, checks should be made to ensure that
the system configuration is valid. In particular, the <tt
class="FILENAME">/etc/rc.conf</tt> and <tt class="FILENAME">/etc/fstab</tt> files should
be checked.</p>
</div>
</div>

<div class="SECT2">
<hr />
<h3 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN801" name="AEN801">3.3 Upgrading from Source Code</a></h3>

<p>Those interested in an upgrade method that allows more flexibility and sophistication
should take a look at <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/cutting-edge.html"
target="_top">The Cutting Edge</a> in the FreeBSD Handbook. This procedure involves
rebuilding all of FreeBSD from source code. It requires reliable network connectivity,
extra disk space, and time, but has advantages for networks and other more complex
installations. This is roughly the same procedure as is used for track the -STABLE or
-CURRENT development branches.</p>

<p><tt class="FILENAME">/usr/src/UPDATING</tt> contains important information on updating
a FreeBSD system from source code. It lists various issues resulting from changes in
FreeBSD that may affect an upgrade.</p>
</div>
</div>

<div class="SECT1">
<hr />
<h2 class="SECT1"><a id="TROUBLE" name="TROUBLE">4 Troubleshooting</a></h2>

<div class="SECT2">
<h3 class="SECT2"><a id="REPAIRING" name="REPAIRING">4.1 Repairing an Existing FreeBSD
Installation</a></h3>

<p>FreeBSD features a &#8220;fixit&#8221; option in the top menu of the <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sysinstall&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">sysinstall</span>(8)</span></a>
installation program. It provides a shell with common programs from the FreeBSD base
system; this environment is useful for repairing or troubleshooting an existing FreeBSD
installation. To use fixit mode, you will also need either the <tt
class="FILENAME">fixit.flp</tt> floppy, generated in the same fashion as the boot
floppies, or the &#8220;live filesystem&#8221; CDROM. In multi-disk FreeBSD
distributions, the live filesystem image is typically located on the installation disk.
Note that some UNIX system administration experience is required to use the fixit
option.</p>

<p>Generally, there are two ways of invoking fixit mode. Users who can boot from the
FreeBSD installation CDROM, should do so and then choose the &#8220;fixit&#8221; item
from the main <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sysinstall&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">sysinstall</span>(8)</span></a>
menu. Then select the &#8220;CDROM/DVD&#8221; option from the fixit menu.</p>

<p>Users who cannot boot from CDROM, but can boot from floppy disk, require a few more
steps. In addition to the <tt class="FILENAME">boot.flp</tt> and <tt
class="FILENAME">kern<tt class="REPLACEABLE"><i>X</i></tt>.flp</tt> disks required for
installation, create the <tt class="FILENAME">fixit.flp</tt> floppy disk, in the same way
as the other floppy disks. Follow the instructions for booting the installation program
from floppy disk until reaching the main <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sysinstall&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">sysinstall</span>(8)</span></a>
menu. At that point, choose the &#8220;fixit&#8221; item from the main <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sysinstall&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+6.1-RELEASE">
<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">sysinstall</span>(8)</span></a>
menu. Then select the &#8220;Floppy&#8221; option from the fixit menu, and insert the <tt
class="FILENAME">fixit.flp</tt> floppy disk when prompted to do so.</p>

<p>The CDROM and floppy fixit environments are similar, but not identical. Both offer a
shell with a variety of commands available for checking, repairing and examining
filesystems and their contents. The CDROM version of fixit provides all of the commands
and programs available in the FreeBSD base system, through the live filesystem. By
contrast, the floppy fixit environment can only offer a subset of commands due to space
constraints.</p>

<p>In the floppy version of fixit, some standalone utilities can be found in <tt
class="FILENAME">/stand</tt> or <tt class="FILENAME">/mnt2/stand</tt>. In the CDROM
version of fixit, these same programs can be found in <tt class="FILENAME">/stand</tt> or
<tt class="FILENAME">/mnt2/rescue</tt> (as well as the rest of the programs from the live
filesystem, which can be found under <tt class="FILENAME">/mnt</tt>).</p>
</div>

<div class="SECT2">
<hr />
<h3 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN845" name="AEN845">4.2 Common Installation Problems for
Alpha/AXP Architecture Users</a></h3>
</div>
</div>
</div>

<hr />
<p align="center"><small>This file, and other release-related documents, can be
downloaded from <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/snapshots/">http://www.FreeBSD.org/snapshots/</a>.</small></p>

<p align="center"><small>For questions about FreeBSD, read the <a
href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/docs.html">documentation</a> before contacting &#60;<a
href="mailto:questions@FreeBSD.org">questions@FreeBSD.org</a>&#62;.</small></p>

<p align="center"><small>For questions about this documentation, e-mail &#60;<a
href="mailto:doc@FreeBSD.org">doc@FreeBSD.org</a>&#62;.</small></p>
++++


