Getting an installer

Link to FreeBSD downloads

Choose the correct arch for your system. amd64 is probably the one you want if you know nothing about computer architectures.

you will have a lot of options:

*-bootonly.iso is a netinstall image that is for burning to a CD

*-disc1.iso is a supplementary CD image for *-bootonly.iso

*-dvd1.iso is a complete DVD image with extra packages

*-memstick.img is a complete image for burning to a USB stick

*-mini-memstick.img is a netinstall image for burning to a USB stick

I typically download and use one of the compressed memstick images. The mini image is fine but you probably want the regular memstick image if this is the first time you've ever installed FreeBSD. It alleviates some of the stress that comes with installing wireless drivers.

To burn a memstick image, use the disk destroyer program:

root@fbsd# xunz FreeBSD-13.1-RELEASE-amd64-memestick.img.xz

root@fbsd# sudo dd if=./FreeBSD-13.1-RELEASE-amd64-memestick.img of=/dev/sdx status=progress

root@fbsd# sudo eject /dev/sdx

Initial installation

pre-installation

The standard steps for installing Linux apply:

disable secure boot

enable USB booting

select boot device at startup time

Because this is hardware specific, it's a homework assignment for the audience.

Installation

FreeBSD has a menu driven installer that walks the user through various steps:

1. set keymap (leave default if you don't know)

2. set hostname

3. select sets

There are many sets to choose from. New users probably want to install all of them. I typically only install the lib32 set and add the rest later.

4. Partitioning

bsdinstall makes it easy to partition your drives. The Auto(ZFS) option is probably what you want as the default UFS configuration is unjournaled.

In the Auto(ZFS) menu, for a single hard drive installation, you want to stripe one disk. Select your hard drive.

If you want full disk encryption, select the Encrypt Disks option.

You also want to bump up the swap size to ram*1.5 as a general rule (so, for 4g of ram you will set 6g of swap, for 8g or ram you set 12g swap). If you selected Encrypt Disks, you should also select Encrypt Swap

When you are done, proceed with the installation. You will gt a confirmation message asking if you want to destroy the disk(s) you selected. This is your last chance to go back.

If you selected Encrypt Disks, you will be presented with a password prompt. This is the disk encryption password, not any user password.

5. Wait for sets to install

6. Configure root user

After the sets are installed, you will set a root password.

7. Network Config

If your wireless card is supported, all the hard parts are already done for you. If your wireless card is not supported, you might need to plug in an ethernet cable and compile the drivers into the kernel.

Select your card (em* is ethernet, wifi cards are named after their drivers)

If you choose wifi, the installer will scan for networks and give you a menu to select one. If the network is encrypted, you will be presented with a password prompt.

8. Time and date setup

9. Service setup

You will be p