OpenBSD installation notes
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 3:22 pm
Beard length: Medium-Long
Preparation time: A sunny afternoon
After the FreeBSD notes, here's OpenBSD. Why OpenBSD? It's less insecure* than FreeBSD, e.g through Xorg running as a regular user and a (partial) ASLR implementation. It also has better support for obscure hardware (in my case, an old Toshiba laptop).
* DEF CON speak for "more secure".
A fair warning, while OpenBSD has some nice features I've found it slow and unreliable as a desktop. But don't let that discourage your beard growth, or maybe you're more lucky than me.
* * *
OpenBSD comes in three flavours (FAQ 5.1), with approximate Debian equivalents:
- RELEASE: stable
- STABLE: stable-updates
- CURRENT: unstable
This guide is for RELEASE, but only CURRENT has updated packages. STABLE needs a system rebuilt from source.
http://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/5.5/
install.fs is for USB sticks, install.iso for CDs. Use dd for former, cdw (or similar) for latter.
Before continuing you want to read the OpenBSD FAQ, especially Chapters 4 (Installation), 9 (Migrating to OpenBSD) and 15 (Ports). Check "6.13 - What are my wireless networking options?" if you're on Wifi.
http://www.openbsd.org/faq/index.html
Installation is straightforward. Grillers will notice you can make custom install sets recognized by the installer.
One notable difference is partioning; where Linux usually has a root and swap partition only, OpenBSD uses many different ones. Religion:
init: rc
sound: sndio
package management: pkg_add
window manager: fvwm, cwm
editor: vi
Login and you'll see a message from Theo:
I'd avoid XDM as it's unlikely to work well (see e.g http://forums.freebsd.org/viewtopic.php?t=42381).
Package sources:
Note you CANNOT use binaries from 5.4 or earlier!!! (see http://www.openbsd.org/faq/upgrade55.html#time_t)
If you want bash instead of ksh
Follow this tutorial to get mounts working:
http://daemonforums.org/showthread.php?t=2232
Compare to Linux where user mounts need sudoers or udevil or polkit or whatever. Keep in mind you need to relogin to apply group changes.
Disable ipv6
Make it persistent by adding to /etc/hostname.<interface>
To check what services are running:
Add bloat as desired - 08/15 office in my case:
The above was a lazy first attempt which pulled in GTK3 - you probably want to avoid metapackages, especially in CURRENT. Note that pkg_add installs to /usr/local.
Doing large installs in a TTY seems more reliable, but even then, it takes A LONG TIME. Max verbose so you don't get worried. Afterwards it will tell what services were added; to start them at boot, edit /etc/rc.conf.local (see man rc.conf). For example:
To upgrade packages on CURRENT, do:
On RELEASE you just get a new iso every 6 months and do a "dist-upgrade".
I've had problems with Xinitrc, so I went with SLiM. Maybe it pulled in some depends I had missed before.
Locate db:
If you have lots of RAM you'll want to increase process memory limits (if you've suffered from memory leaks, you'll find this a pretty cool feature). Edit /etc/login.conf, e.g:
Reboot.
More bestial tips:
http://eradman.com/posts/openbsd-workstation.html
http://www.bsdnow.tv/tutorials/the-desktop-obsd
Scrot or it didn't happen:
Preparation time: A sunny afternoon
After the FreeBSD notes, here's OpenBSD. Why OpenBSD? It's less insecure* than FreeBSD, e.g through Xorg running as a regular user and a (partial) ASLR implementation. It also has better support for obscure hardware (in my case, an old Toshiba laptop).
* DEF CON speak for "more secure".
A fair warning, while OpenBSD has some nice features I've found it slow and unreliable as a desktop. But don't let that discourage your beard growth, or maybe you're more lucky than me.
* * *
OpenBSD comes in three flavours (FAQ 5.1), with approximate Debian equivalents:
- RELEASE: stable
- STABLE: stable-updates
- CURRENT: unstable
This guide is for RELEASE, but only CURRENT has updated packages. STABLE needs a system rebuilt from source.
http://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/5.5/
install.fs is for USB sticks, install.iso for CDs. Use dd for former, cdw (or similar) for latter.
Before continuing you want to read the OpenBSD FAQ, especially Chapters 4 (Installation), 9 (Migrating to OpenBSD) and 15 (Ports). Check "6.13 - What are my wireless networking options?" if you're on Wifi.
http://www.openbsd.org/faq/index.html
Installation is straightforward. Grillers will notice you can make custom install sets recognized by the installer.
One notable difference is partioning; where Linux usually has a root and swap partition only, OpenBSD uses many different ones. Religion:
init: rc
sound: sndio
package management: pkg_add
window manager: fvwm, cwm
editor: vi
Login and you'll see a message from Theo:
Code: Select all
$ mail
$ 1
exitPackage sources:
Code: Select all
# vi /etc/profileCode: Select all
export PKG_PATH=http://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/5.5/packages/i386If you want bash instead of ksh
Code: Select all
# . /etc/profile
# pkg_add -iv bash-4.2.45p0
# usermod -s /usr/local/bin/bash <youruser>
# usermod -s /usr/local/bin/bash root
http://daemonforums.org/showthread.php?t=2232
Compare to Linux where user mounts need sudoers or udevil or polkit or whatever. Keep in mind you need to relogin to apply group changes.
Disable ipv6
Code: Select all
# ifconfig <interface> -inet6Code: Select all
up -inet6Code: Select all
# netstat -at | grep LISTENCode: Select all
# pkg_add -ivvvvv nano-2.2.6.tgz xfce-4.10p0 cups-1.7.1p0 libreoffice-4.1.4.2v0-no_java ntfs_3g-2013.1.13p2Doing large installs in a TTY seems more reliable, but even then, it takes A LONG TIME. Max verbose so you don't get worried. Afterwards it will tell what services were added; to start them at boot, edit /etc/rc.conf.local (see man rc.conf). For example:
Code: Select all
pkg_scripts="dbus_daemon avahi_daemon avahi_dnsconfd cupsd cups_browsed"Code: Select all
# pkg_add -uvI've had problems with Xinitrc, so I went with SLiM. Maybe it pulled in some depends I had missed before.
Code: Select all
pkg_add -i slim-1.3.6p2Code: Select all
/usr/libexec/locate.updatedbCode: Select all
:datasize-max=1024M:\
:datasize-cur=1024M:\ More bestial tips:
http://eradman.com/posts/openbsd-workstation.html
http://www.bsdnow.tv/tutorials/the-desktop-obsd
Scrot or it didn't happen: