path: root/distrib/notes/i386/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 because you're sharing your disk with
another operating system, or because your disk is old enough that the
kernel can't figure out its geometry.)

If OpenBSD will be sharing the disk with DOS or another operating
system, you should have already completed the section of these notes
that instructed you on how to prepare your hard disk.  You should know
the size of the OpenBSD area of the disk and its offset from the
beginning of the disk.  You will need this information when setting up
your OpenBSD partitions.  If you BIOS uses translated geometry, you
should use this geometry for the remainder of the install.  This is
only necessary if you are sharing the disk with other operating systems
that use the translated geometry.

You should now be ready to install OpenBSD.

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 boot prompt hit return.  If the boot prompt
	does not appear in a reasonable amount of time, you either
	have a bad boot floppy or a hardware problem.  Try writing the
	floppy.fs floppy image to a different disk, and using that.
	If that doesn't work, try booting after disabling your CPU's
	internal and external caches (if any).  If it still doesn't
	work, OpenBSD probably can't be run on your hardware.  This can
	probably be considered a bug, so you might want to report it.
	If you do, please include as many details about your system
	configuration as you can.

	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, and should proceed
	as outlined above.

	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's partitions.  You will
	also need to know the name, to tell the install tools what
	disk to install on.  If you cannot read the messages as they
	scroll by, do not worry -- you can get at this information
	later inside the install program.

	While booting, you will probably see several warnings.  You
	should be warned that no swap space is present, and that
	init(8) cannot find /etc/rc.  Do not be alarmed, these are
	completely normal.  When you reach the prompt asking you for a
	shell name, just hit return.

	Now you will be asked whether you wish to do an "install"
	or an "upgrade".  Enter 'i' for a fresh install or 'u' to
	upgrade an existing installation.

	You will be presented with a welcome message and asked if
	you really wish to install (or upgrade).  Assuming you
	answered yes, you will be asked which terminal type to use.
	You should just hit return to select the default (pcvt25).

	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 "wd0" for IDE/RLL/ESDI/ST506
	drives or "sd0" for SCSI drives.  Reply with the name of your
	disk.

	Next you will have to edit or create a disk label for the disk
	OpenBSD is being installed on.  If there are any existing
	partitions defined (for any operating system), and a disk label
	is not found, you will first be given an opportunity to run
	fdisk and create an OpenBSD partition.

	If fdisk is being invoked on your behalf, it will start by
	displaying the current partitions defined and then allow you
	to modify this information, add new partitions and change
	which partition to boot from by default.  If you make a mistake,
	you will be allowed to repeat this procedure as necessary to
	correct this.  Note that you should make OpenBSD be the active
	partition at least until the install has been completed.

	Next the disk label which defines the layout of the OpenBSD
	file systems must be set up.  The installation script will
	invoke an interactive 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.
	If you are labeling a new disk, you will probably start
	out with an 'a' partition that spans the disk.  In this case
	You should delete 'a' before adding new partitions.
	The root file system should be in partition 'a', and swap
	is usually in partition 'b'.  If you have DOS or Linux
	partitions defined on the disk, these will usually show up
	as partition 'h', 'i' and so on.  It is recommended that
	you create separate partitions for /usr and /var, and if
	you have room for it, one for /home.  For help in the
	disk label editor, enter '?' or 'M' to view the manual
	page (see the info on the ``-E'' flag).

	Note that all OpenBSD partitions in the disk label must have an
	offset that makes it start within the OpenBSD part of the disk,
	and a size that keeps it inside of that portion of the disk.  This
	is within the bounds of the 'c' partition if the disk is not being
	shared with other operating systems, and within the OpenBSD fdisk
	partition if the disk is being shared.

	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 4096 and 512 or even 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.
	"wd0") with the letter identifying the partition (eg. "d")
	appended (eg. "wd0d").  Then it will ask where this partition is
	to be mounted, eg. /usr.  This process will be repeated until
	you enter "done".

	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 floppies 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 active mode ftp?  By default,
		       ftp will attempt to use passive mode and fall
		       back to an active connection if the server does
		       not support passive mode.  You only need to enable
		       this option if you are connecting to a buggy ftp
		       daemon that implements passive ftp incorrectly.
		       Note that you will not be asked about active
		       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 2.3 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/2.3/i386
		       is almost always correct.
		    5) The login and password for the ftp account.
		       You will only be asked for a password for
		       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 2.3 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
		i386 this is "2.3/i386".

		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 "wdN" or "sdN" 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
		install from partitions that has been formatted as fast
		file system (ffs) or MS-DOS.

		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.
		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.  You may also use wildcards in place of
		a file name, eg `*.tar.gz' or even `base*|comp*'.  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 extract file sets.  Assuming you
		acquiesce, the files will begin to extract.  If not, you
		will be given the option of installing sets via one of
		the other install methods.

	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.)

		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.  You may also
		use wildcards in place of a file name, eg `*.tar.gz' or
		even `base*|comp*'.  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 "base23" and "etc23" distribution sets.


Congratulations, you have successfully installed OpenBSD 2.3.  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 2.3 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.