GNet Solutions » FreeBSD Administration

This is a guide on converting a FreeBSD 10 installation to a PCBSD desktop.

Prepare the Environment¶

• Make sure the system is up to date:
  

  pkg update && pkg upgrade
  

• Then, disable the FreeBSD package repository:
  

  mv /etc/pkg/FreeBSD.conf /root/FreeBSD.conf-old
  

• Now create the pkg repos directory:
  

  mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos
  

• Then, create the PCBSD repo file:
  

  vi /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/pcbsd.conf
  

  • And add the following:
    

    pcbsd: {
           url: "http://pkg.cdn.pcbsd.org/10.0-RELEASE/amd64",
           signature_type: "fingerprints",
           fingerprints: "/usr/local/etc/pkg/fingerprints/pcbsd",
           enabled: true
          }
    

• Next, create the pkg fingerprints directories:
  

  mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/pkg/fingerprints/pcbsd/revoked
  mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/pkg/fingerprints/pcbsd/trusted
  

• Then, download the repository's fingerprint file:
  

  cd /usr/local/etc/pkg/fingerprints/pcbsd/trusted/
  fetch --no-verify-peer https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pcbsd/pcbsd/master/src-sh/pcbsd-utils/pc-extractoverlay/ports-overlay/usr/local/etc/pkg/fingerprints/pcbsd/trusted/pkg.cdn.pcbsd.org.20131209
  

• Update the package database and any installed packages:
  

  pkg upgrade -fy
  

Converting FreeBSD to a PC-BSD Desktop¶

• Once the repository configuration is complete install the base components:
  

  fetch --no-verify-peer -o /etc/freebsd-update.conf 'https://github.com/pcbsd/freebsd/raw/master/etc/freebsd-update.conf'
  freebsd-update fetch
  freebsd-update install
  

• Then setup the installation to be a PC-BSD desktop
  

  pkg install -fy pcbsd-base
  rehash
  pbreg set /PC-BSD/SysType PCBSD
  pc-extractoverlay ports
  pc-extractoverlay desktop
  

• Install a desktop environment:
  

  pkg install pcbsd-meta-lxde
  

• Setup the first boot scripts:
  

  touch /var/.runxsetup
  touch /var/.pcbsd-firstboot
  touch /var/.pcbsd-firstgui
  

• Then, reboot the system:
  

  reboot
  

NOTE: If you are using NVIDIA video hardware, load the driver before rebooting into the display wizard:

pkg install pcbsd-meta-nvidia

Resources¶

• https://forums.pcbsd.org/thread-20411.html