[Bug 293983] [request] Label partitions of install images with version info to enable quick identification
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2026 18:59:45 UTC
https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=293983
Bug ID: 293983
Summary: [request] Label partitions of install images with
version info to enable quick identification
Product: Base System
Version: Unspecified
Hardware: Any
OS: Any
Status: New
Severity: Affects Many People
Priority: ---
Component: misc
Assignee: bugs@FreeBSD.org
Reporter: walter.von.entferndt@posteo.net
OBSERVED STATUS: The partitions of the installation images shipped by FreeBSD
are not labeled. The result is that when you have some installation media with
FBSD, you can not easily identify which version they hold -- and some people
have dozen's of USB thumb drives with FBSD and it's derivatives flying around
;)
EXPECTED/SUGGESTION: Label the FBSD partition with the version they install,
e.g. s/th like FBSD-15.1-RELEASE_INST or FBSD-15-STABLE_INST. 2nd there could
be a zero-length file in the root filesystem named like the installed version.
Is it possible to label a whole disk?
RATIONALE: This would enable a very quick identification just by looking up the
label with gpart(8) or mounting the media and listing the root filesystem.
Currently one has to browse the filesystem and find e.g.
/usr/freebsd-packages/offline, where the version is in the filenames
(/etc/os-release is only available at runtime). This could be easier.
EXAMPLE:
root@t450s:~ # gpart show -l da0
=> 1 3932159 da0 MBR (2G)
1 66584 1 (null) (33M)
66585 2962960 2 (null) [active] (1G)
3029545 902615 - free - (441M)
The 2nd partition could be labeled like this:
66585 2962960 2 FBSD-15-STABLE-20260312030027 [active] (1G)
or FBSD-15-STABLE_INST_20260312030027 [...]
root@t450s:~ # gpart show -l da0s2
=> 0 2962960 da0s2 BSD (1G)
0 16 - free - (8K)
16 2962944 1 (null) (1G)
The last line could be
16 2962944 1 FBSD-15-STABLE_20260312030027 (1G)
No one cares if you choose a dash or underscore here.
Thx in advance!
--
You are receiving this mail because:
You are the assignee for the bug.