Installation is supported from several media types, including:

	FFS partitions
	Tape
	Remote NFS partition
	CD-ROM
	FTP
	HTTP

If you have the OpenBSD CD-ROM distribution (and a CD-ROM drive)
you can boot from it.  Otherwise, you will need to create a bootable
floppy disk.


Creating a bootable floppy disk using DOS/Windows:

	First you need to get access to the OpenBSD Bootable floppy
	images.  If you can access the CD-ROM distribution under DOS
	the bootable disks are in the OSREV/MACHINE directory, otherwise
	you you will have to download them from one of the OpenBSD
	ftp or http mirror sites, using ftp or a web-viewer.  In either
	case, take care to do "binary" transfers, since these are
	images files and any DOS cr/lf translations or control/z EOF
	interpretations will result in corrupted transfers.
	
	You will also need to go to the "tools" directory and grab a
	copy of the rawrite.exe utility and its documentation.  This
	program is needed to correctly copy the bootable filesystem
	image to the floppy, since it's an image of a unix partition
	containing a ffs filesystem, not a MSDOS format diskette.

	Once you have installed rawrite.exe, just run it and specify the
	name of the bootable image, such as "floppy.fs" and the name of
	the floppy drive, such as "a:".  Be sure to use good quality HD
	(1.44MB) floppies, formatted on the system you're using.  The
	image copy and boot process is not especially tolerant of read
	errors. 

	Note that if you are using NT to write the images to disk, you
	will need to use ntrw.exe instead.  It is also available in the
	"tools" directory.  Grab it and run in with the correct 
	arguments like this "ntrw <image> <drive>:"

	Note that, when installing, the boot floppy can be write-protected
	(i.e.  read-only).


Creating a bootable floppy disk using SunOS or other Un*x-like system:

	First, you will need obtain a local copy of the bootable filesystem
	image as described above.  If possible use cksum or md5 to verify
	the checksums of the images vs. the values in the CKSUM or MD5
	files on the mirror site.

	Next, use the dd(1) utility to copy the file to the floppy drive.
	Under SunOS, the command would be:

		dd if=floppy{:--:}OSrev.fs of=/dev/rfd0c bs=36b

	If you are using something other than SunOS, you may have to adapt
	this to conform to local naming conventions for the floppy and
	options suitable for copying to a "raw" floppy image.  The key
	issue is that the device name used for the floppy *must* be one
	that refers to the whole 2880 block image, not a partition or
	compatibility mode, and the copy command needs to be compatible
	with the requirement that writes to a raw device must be in
	multiples of 512-byte blocks.  The variations are endless and
	beyond the scope of this document.

	If you're doing this on the system you intend to boot the floppy on,
	copying the floppy back to a file and doing a compare or checksum
	is a good way to verify that the floppy is readable and free of
	read/write errors.


If you neither have a floppy drive nor a CD-ROM drive on your alpha:

	If you don't have a floppy drive you can copy the floppy
	image onto the hard disk you intend to install OpenBSD on.
	Doing so will overwrite the disk's old contents, however.

	You must use a UN*X-like system to write the floppy image
	to the hard disk you will be using for OpenBSD/MACHINE.  You
	should use the "dd" command to copy the file system image
	(floppy{:--:}OSrev.fs or floppyB{:--:}OSrev.fs) directly to the raw 'c'
	device (whole disk) of the target hard disk.  It is suggested
	that you read the dd(1) manual page or ask your system
	administrator to determine the correct set of arguments to use;
	it will be slightly different from system to system, and a
	comprehensive list of the possibilities is beyond the scope of
	this document.

	Please note that this will put a floppy disklabel on your
	disk which will confuse the install script.  To fix this
	you need to ask for a shell (answer "s" to the first question)
	when booting your disk and do "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rsd0c
	count=20" assuming your booted from sd0.  After doing this you will
	not be able to boot that disk again unless you complete
	the install.  You can now enter "install" and start the
	actual install process.


The steps necessary to prepare the distribution sets for installation
depend on which method of installation you choose.  Some methods
require a bit of setup first that is explained below.

To install or upgrade OpenBSD using a tape, you need to do the
following:

	To install OpenBSD from a tape, you need to make a tape
	that contains the distribution set files, in "tar" format.
	If you're making the tape on a UN*X-like system, the easiest
	way to do so is probably something like:

		tar cf <tape_device> <dist_directories>

	where "<tape_device>" is the name of the tape device that
	describes the tape drive you're using (possibly /dev/rst0,
	or something similar, but it will vary from system to
	system.  (If you can't figure it out, ask your system
	administrator.) In the above example, "<dist_directories>"
	are the distribution sets' directories, for the distribution
	sets you wish to place on the tape.  For instance, to put
	the "base{:--:}OSrev" and "etc{:--:}OSrev" distributions on tape (in order
	to do the absolute minimum installation to a new disk),
	you would do the following:

		cd .../OSREV		# the top of the tree
		cd MACHINE/
		tar cf <tape_device> base{:--:}OSrev etc{:--:}OSrev

	(Note that you still need to fill in "<tape_device>" in the
	example.)

	Once you have the files on the tape, you can proceed to
	the next step in the installation or upgrade process.  If
	you're installing OpenBSD from scratch, go to the section
	on preparing your hard disk, below.  If you're upgrading
	an existing installation, go directly to the section on
	upgrading.


To install OpenBSD using a remote partition, mounted via
NFS, you must do the following:

	NOTE:	This method of installation is recommended only for
		those already familiar with using BSD network
		configuration and management commands.  If you aren't,
		this documentation should help, but is not intended to
		be all-encompassing.

	Place the OpenBSD distribution sets you wish to install
	into a directory on an NFS server, and make that directory
	mountable by the machine on which you are installing or
	upgrading OpenBSD.  This will probably require modifying
	the /etc/exports file of the NFS server and resetting
	its mount daemon (mountd).  (Both of these actions will
	probably require superuser privileges on the server.)

	You need to know the numeric IP address of the NFS
	server, and, if the server is not on a network directly
	connected to the machine on which you're installing or
	upgrading OpenBSD, you need to know the numeric IP address
	of the router closest to the OpenBSD machine.  Finally,
	you need to know the numeric IP address of the OpenBSD
	machine itself.

	Once the NFS server is set up properly and you have the
	information mentioned above, you can proceed to the next
	step in the installation or upgrade process.  If you're
	installing OpenBSD from scratch, go to the section on
	preparing your hard disk, below.  If you're upgrading an
	existing installation, go directly to the section on
	upgrading.

If you are upgrading OpenBSD, you also have the option of installing
OpenBSD by putting the new distribution sets somewhere in your
existing file system, and using them from there.  To do that, you
must do the following:

	Place the distribution sets you wish to upgrade somewhere
	in your current file system tree.  At a bare minimum, you
	must upgrade the "base" binary distribution, and so must
	put the "base{:--:}OSrev" set somewhere in your file system.  If
	you wish, you can do the other sets, as well, but you should
	NOT upgrade the "etc" distribution; the "etc" distribution
	contains system configuration files that you should review
	and update by hand.

	Once you have done this, you can proceed to the next step
	in the upgrade process, actually upgrading your system.