path: root/distrib/notes/alpha/install

Installing OpenBSD is a relatively complex process, but if you have
this document in hand and are careful to read and remember the
information which is presented to you by the install program, it
shouldn't be too much trouble.

Before you begin, you should know the geometry of your hard disk, i.e.
the sector size (note that sector sizes other than 512 bytes are not
currently supported), the number of sectors per track, the number of
tracks per cylinder (also known as the number of heads), and the
number of cylinders on the disk.  The OpenBSD kernel will try to
discover these parameters on its own, and if it can it will print them
at boot time.  If possible, you should use the parameters it prints.
(You might not be able to if your disk is so old that the
kernel can't figure out its geometry.)

You should now be ready to install OpenBSD.  It might be handy for you
to have a pencil, some paper, and a calculator handy.

The following is a walk-through of the steps you will take while
getting OpenBSD installed on your hard disk.  If any question has a
default answer, it will be displayed in brackets ("[]") after the
question.  If you wish to stop the installation, you may hit Control-C
at any time, but if you do, you'll have to begin the installation
process again from scratch.

	Boot your machine using the floppy.fs floppy.  When
	presented with the SRM console prompt, type "boot dva0"
	and hit return.  You should see about the primary and
	secondary boot and then the kernel should start to load.

	It will take a while to load the kernel from the floppy,
	most likely more than a minute.  If some action doesn't
	eventually happen, or the spinning cursor has stopped and
	nothing further has happened, either your boot floppy is
	bad or you are having hardware problems.  Either you have
	a bad boot floppy (in which case you should try another)
	or your alpha is not currently supported by OpenBSD.

	You will then be presented with the OpenBSD kernel boot
	messages.  You will want to read them to determine your
	disk's name and geometry.  Its name will be something like
	"sd0" or "wd0" and the geometry will be printed on a line that
	begins with its name.  As mentioned above, you will need your
	disk's geometry when creating OpenBSD partitions.  You will
	also need to know the device name to tell the install tools
	what disk to install on.

	While booting, you will probably see several warnings.  You
	should be warned that the kernel can't figure out what device
	it booted from and that no swap space is present.  Do not be
	alarmed, these are completely normal.  The first warning
	occurs because while OpenBSD/alpha can boot from the floppy
	drive, the kernel itself lacks a floppy driver.  When you reach
	the prompt asking you for a shell name, just hit return.

	You will next be asked for your terminal type.  If you are
	installing from a non-serial console, the default of "sun"
	if correct.  If you are installing from a serial console
	you should choose the terminal type from amongst those listed.
	(If your terminal type is xterm, just use vt100).  After
	entering the terminal type you will be greeted by a welcome
	message and asked if you really want to continue.

	Assuming you answered yes, the install program will then tell
	you which disks of that type it can install on, and ask you
	which it should use.  The name of the disk is typically "sd0".
	Reply with the name of your disk.

	Next you will have to edit or create a disklabel for the disk
	OpenBSD is being installed on.  The installation script will
	invoke the "ed" editor allowing you to do this.  Note that
	partition 'c' inside this disk label should ALWAYS reflect the
	entire disk, including any non-OpenBSD portions.  The root file
	system should be in partition 'a', and swap is usually in partition
	'b'.  It is recommended that you create separate partitions for
	/usr and /var, and if you have room for it, also for /home.

	The swap partition (usually 'b') should have a type of "swap", all
	other native OpenBSD partitions should have a type of "4.2BSD".
	Block and fragment sizes are usually 8192 and 1024 bytes, but can
	also be 16384 and 2048 bytes.

	The install program will now label your disk and ask which file
	systems should be created on which partitions.  It will auto-
	matically select the 'a' partition to be the root file system.
	Next it will ask for which disk and partition you want a file
	system created on.  This will be the same as the disk name (eg.
	"sd0") with the letter identifying the partition (eg. "d")
	appended (eg. "sd0d").  Then it will ask where this partition is
	to be mounted, eg. /usr.  This process will be repeated until
	you just hit return.

	At this point you will be asked to confirm that the file system
	information you have entered is correct, and given an opportunity
	to change the file system table.  Next it will create the new file
	systems as specified, OVERWRITING ANY EXISTING DATA.  This is the
	point of no return.

	After all your file systems have been created, the install program
	will give you an opportunity to configure the network.  The network
	configuration you enter (if any) can then be used to do the install
	from another system using NFS, HTTP or FTP, and will also be the
	configuration used by the system after the installation is complete.

	If you select to configure the network, the install program will
	ask you for a name of your system and the DNS domain name to use.
	Note that the host name should be without the domain part, and that
	the domain name should NOT include the host name part.

	Next the system will give you a list of network interfaces you can
	configure.  For each network interface you select to configure, it
	will ask for the IP address to use, the symbolic host name to use,
	the netmask to use and any interface-specific flags to set.  The
	interface-specific flags are usually used to determine which media
	the network card is to use.  The flags usually carry the following
	meaning:

		-link0 -link1	Use BNC (coaxial) port [default]
		link0 -link1	Use AUI port
		link0 link1	Use UTP (twisted pair) port

	After all network interfaces has been configured the install pro-
	gram will ask for a default route and IP address of the primary
	name server to use.  You will also be presented with an opportunity
	to edit the host table.

	At this point you will be allowed to edit the file system table
	that will be used for the remainder of the installation and that
	will be used by the finished system, following which the new file
	systems will be mounted to complete the installation.

	After these preparatory steps has been completed, you will be
	able to extract the distribution sets onto your system.  There
	are several install methods supported; FTP, HTTP, tape, CD-ROM, NFS
	or a local disk partition.  To install from a tape, the distrib-
	ution sets must have been written to tape prior to running the
	installation program, either as tar images or as gzipped tar
	images.  Note that installation from floppy is not currently
	supported.

	To install via FTP:
		To begin an FTP install you will need the following
		pieces of information.  Don't be daunted by this list;
		the defaults are sufficient for most people.
		    1) Proxy server URL if you are using a URL-based
		       ftp proxy (squid, CERN ftp, Apache 1.2 or higher).
		       You need to define a proxy if you are behind a
		       firewall that blocks outgoing ftp (assuming you
		       have a proxy available to use).
		    2) Do you need to use passive mode ftp?  Most modern
		       ftp servers are capable of dealing with passive
		       ftp connections.  You only need to enable this
		       option if you are behind a firewall that allows
		       outgoing ftp but blocks incoming tcp ports > 1023.
		       If in doubt say yes to this option.
		       Note that you will not be asked about passive
		       ftp if you are using a proxy.
		    3) The IP address (or hostname if you enabled
		       DNS earlier in the install) of an ftp server
		       carrying the OpenBSD 2.1 distribution.
		       If you don't know, just hit return when
		       asked if you want to see a list of such hosts.
		    4) The ftp directory holding the distribution sets.
		       The default value of pub/OpenBSD/2.1/alpha
		       is almost always correct.
		    5) The login and password for the ftp account.
		       The default will be correct unless you are
		       doing non-anonymous ftp.

		For instructions on how to complete the installation via
		ftp, see the section named "Common URL installations" below.

	To install via HTTP:
		To begin an HTTP install you will need the following
		pieces of information:
		    1) Proxy server URL if you are using a URL-based
		       http proxy (squid, CERN ftp, Apache 1.2 or higher).
		       You need to define a proxy if you are behind a
		       firewall that blocks outgoing http connections
		       (assuming you have a proxy available to use).
		    3) The IP address (or hostname if you enabled
		       DNS earlier in the install) of an http server
		       carrying the OpenBSD 2.1 distribution.
		       If you don't know, just hit return when
		       asked if you want to see a list of such hosts.
		    4) The directory holding the distribution sets.
		       There is no standard location for this;
		       You should use the directory specified
		       along with the server in the list of official
		       http mirror sites that you received in step 3.

		For instructions on how to complete the installation via
		http, see the section named "Common URL installations" below.

	To install from tape:
		In order to install from tape, the distribution sets to be
		installed must have been written to tape previously, either
		in tar format or gzip-compressed tar format.

		You will also have to identify the tape device where the
		distribution sets are to be extracted from.  This will
		typically be "nrst0" (no-rewind, raw interface).

		Next you will have to provide the file number of the set
		that is to be extracted.  Note that the file number starts
		at 1, which is the first file written to the tape.

		The install program will not automatically detect whether
		an image has been compressed, so it will ask for that
		information before starting the extraction.

	To install from CD-ROM:
		When installing from a CD-ROM, you will be asked which
		device holds the distribution sets.  This will typically
		be either "cd0" or "acd0".  Next you will be asked which
		partition on the CD-ROM the distribution is to be loaded
		from.  This is normally partition "a".

		Next you will have to identify the file system type that
		has been used to create the distribution on the CD-ROM,
		this can be either FFS or ISO CD9660.  The OpenBSD CD
		distribution uses the CD9660 format.

		You will also have to provide the relative path to the
		directory on the CD which holds the distribution, for the
		alpha this is "2.1/alpha".

		For instructions on how to complete the installation from
		the CD-ROM distribution, see the section named "Common
		file system installations" below.
		
	To install from a NFS mounted directory:
		When installing from a NFS-mounted directory, you must
		have completed network configuration above, and also
		set up the exported file system on the NFS server in
		advance.

		First you must identify the IP address of the NFS server
		to load the distribution from, and the file system the
		server expects you to mount.

		The install program will also ask whether or not TCP
		should be used for transport (the default is UDP).  Note
		that TCP only works with newer NFS servers.

		You will also have to provide the relative path to the
		directory on the file system where the distribution sets
		are located.  Note that this path should not be prefixed
		with a '/'.

		For instructions on how to complete the installation from
		the CD-ROM distribution, see the section named "Common
		file system installations" below.

	To install from a local disk partition:
		When installing from a local disk partition, you will
		first have to identify which disk holds the distribution
		sets.  This is normally "sdN" or "wdN" where N is a
		number 0 through 9.  Next you will have to identify the
		partition within that disk that holds the distribution,
		this is a single letter between 'a' and 'p'.

		You will also have to identify the type of file system
		residing in the partition identified.  Currently, you can
		only install from partitions that use the fast file system
		(ffs).

		You will also have to provide the relative path to the
		directory on the file system where the distribution sets
		are located.  Note that this path should not be prefixed
		with a '/'.

		For instructions on how to complete the installation from
		the a local disk partition, see the next section.
		
	Common file system installations:
		The following instructions are common to installations
		from local disk partitions, NFS mounted directories and
		CD-ROMs.

		A list of available distribution sets will be listed.  If
		any sets has already been extracted, those will be marked
		with an X.  Enter the name of one distribution set at a
		time, until all desired distribution sets has been
		installed on your system.

	Common URL installations:
		Once you have entered the required information, the
		install program will fetch a file list and present
		a list of all the distribution sets that were found
		in the specified directory.  (If no valid sets were found,
		you will be notified and given the option of unpacking
		any gzipped tar files found or getting a file list if
		none were found.)  If any sets have already been extracted,
		those sets will be marked with an X.

		At this point you may individually select distribution
		sets to install or enter "all" to install all of
		the sets (which is what most users will want to do).
		You may also enter "list" to get a file list or
		"done" when you are done selecting distribution sets.
		(It is also possible to enter an arbitrary filename
		and have it treated as a file set).

		Once you have selected the file sets you want to install
		and entered "done" you will be prompted to verify that
		you really do want to download and install the files.
		Assuming you acquiesce, the files will begin to download
		and unpack.  If not, you will be given the option of
		installing sets via one of the other install methods.


	When all the selected distribution sets has been extracted, you
	will be allowed to select which time zone your system will be
	using, all the device nodes needed by the installed system will
	be created for you and the file systems will be unmounted.  For
	this to work properly, it is expected that you have installed
	at least the "base21" and "etc21" distribution sets.


Congratulations, you have successfully installed OpenBSD 2.1. When you
reboot into OpenBSD, you should log in as "root" at the login prompt.
There is no initial password, but if you're using the machine in a
networked environment, you should create yourself an account and
protect it and the "root" account with good passwords.

Some of the files in the OpenBSD 2.1 distribution might need to be
tailored for your site.  In particular, the /etc/sendmail.cf file will
almost definitely need to be adjusted, and other files in /etc will
probably need to be modified, as well.  If you are unfamiliar with
UN*X-like system administration, it's recommended that you buy a book
that discusses it.