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Support #765

Updated by Daniel Curtis almost 9 years ago

This is a guide on how I manually setup FreeBSD with a ZFS root, without the help of a GUI or bsdinstall. This guide is intended to install FreeBSD using the installation DVD and will work offline. 

 * When the FreeBSD Installer Welcome message appears, choose *Shell*. 

 * Create the slices: 
 <pre> 
 gpart create -s gpt ada0 
 gpart add -b 40 -s 512K -l gpboot -t freebsd-boot ada0 
 gpart add -s 4G -t freebsd-swap -a 1M -l swap0 ada0  
 gpart add -t freebsd-zfs -a 1M -l disk0 ada0  
 gpart bootcode -b /boot/pmbr -p /boot/gptzfsboot -i 1 ada0 
 </pre>  

 * Create ZFS pool and root dataset, then mount it: 
 <pre> 
 zpool create -o cachefile=/boot/zfs/zpool.cache -m none -f rpool /dev/gpt/disk0  
 zfs set checksum=fletcher4 rpool  
 zfs create rpool/root  
 mkdir /tmp/mntzfs  
 zfs set mountpoint=/tmp/mntzfs rpool/root 
 </pre> 
 #* Then create some additional system datasets: 
 <pre> 
 zfs create -o canmount=off rpool/root/usr  
 zfs create -o canmount=off rpool/root/var  
 zfs create -o compression=on     -o exec=on    -o setuid=off rpool/root/tmp  
 zfs create -o compression=gzip -o setuid=off    rpool/root/usr/ports  
 zfs create -o compression=off    -o exec=off -o setuid=off rpool/root/usr/ports/distfiles  
 zfs create -o compression=off    -o exec=off -o setuid=off rpool/root/usr/ports/packages  
 zfs create -o compression=gzip -o exec=off -o setuid=off    rpool/root/usr/src  
 zfs create -o compression=lzjb rpool/root/usr/obj 
 zfs create -o compression=lzjb -o exec=off -o setuid=off rpool/root/var/crash  
 zfs create -o compression=off    -o exec=off -o setuid=off rpool/root/var/empty  
 zfs create -o compression=lzjb -o exec=on    -o setuid=off rpool/root/var/tmp  
 </pre>  

 * Export and then reimport the zfs pool: 
 <pre> 
 zpool export rpool  
 zpool import -o cachefile=/tmp/zpool.cache rpool 
 </pre> 

 * Set the permissions of the temp directories in the zfs mount: 
 <pre> 
 chmod 1777 /tmp/mntzfs/tmp  
 chmod 1777 /tmp/mntzfs/var/tmp  
 </pre>  

 * Extract the base.txz and kernel.txz to the zfs root to install the base system: 
 <pre> 
 cat /usr/freebsd-dist/base.txz | tar --unlink -xpJf - -C /tmp/mntzfs 
 cat /usr/freebsd-dist/kernel.txz | tar --unlink -xpJf - -C /tmp/mntzfs 
 cp /tmp/zpool.cache /tmp/mntzfs/boot/zfs/zpool.cache 
 </pre>  

 * Add the initial system configuration: 
 <pre> 
 echo 'zfs_enable="YES"' >> /tmp/mntzfs/etc/rc.conf  
 echo 'zfs_load="YES"' >> /tmp/mntzfs/boot/loader.conf  
 echo 'if_em_load="YES"' >> /tmp/mntzfs/boot/loader.conf  
 echo 'vfs.root.mountfrom="zfs:rpool/root"' >> /tmp/mntzfs/boot/loader.conf   
 echo 'sshd_enable="YES"' >> /tmp/mntzfs/etc/rc.conf  
 echo 'ifconfig_em0="inet 192.168.10.70 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 198.100.10.255"' >> /tmp/mntzfs/etc/rc.conf  
 echo 'defaultrouter="192.168.10.1"' >> /tmp/mntzfs/etc/rc.conf  
 echo 'hostname="freebsd.example.com"' >> /tmp/mntzfs/etc/rc.conf 
 echo 'nameserver 192.168.10.1' >> /tmp/mntzfs/etc/resolv.conf 
 </pre>  

 * Unmount the zpool: 
 <pre> 
 zpool export rpool 
 </pre> 

 * Reboot the system and eject the FreeBSD install disc: 
 <pre> 
 reboot 
 </pre> 

 h2. Resources 

 * https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/42773/

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