Install Tips for Newbie with FreeBSD 10

[Nathan Whitehorn]

On 01/03/14 04:55, precutcolours at mailcan.com wrote:
> OK .. I should clarify. The whole point of the flash stick is to isolate
> the Apple Partition Table problem. I need GUID tables on all other
> disks. These must be used by other machines. The flash stick can stay
> put on its assigned box. (For booting that alone, there's no particular
> benefit to GUID tables, as you say.)

I'm still not quite sure why you need GPT -- if you are sharing the
disks with other FreeBSD, Apple, or Linux machines, they can all read
APM no matter the platform. And APM and GPT have essentially the same
features. But you are of course free to use GPT for non-boot disks if
you like.

> Next, I gather at least one UFS partition holds the BSD kernel. OK. So I
> can't boot FreeBSD straight from ZFS on PowerPC?

Not yet.

> Am I correct that the min install on the flash stick would be GRUB2
> pointing to a boot kernel on a UFS partition someplace else?

You don't need GRUB -- the regular FreeBSD loader and Open Firmware boot
menu should suffice.

> Since I can't use ZFS for the kernel anyway, would it be better to put
> the UFS-kernel partition on the flash stick itself, with the rest of BSD
> on some ZFS partition?

Yes, I'd think so. May speed up booting as well.

> I would already have the partition tables made, it's just a question of
> populating and filesystems. I do not see a need to ask FreeBSD to make
> the partition tables. I could have the filesystems already done, too, so
> the installer could just populate. I dislike the notion of installing
> one place, then divvying up. On Linux there is usually a menu-driven
> scheme to assign /tmp, /var, /home and such wherever during install. I
> assume FreeBSD 10 has something equivalent.

It does indeed. Our installer ZFS support is in its infancy though.
There are a number of directions you will find on the web for setting up
ZFS systems or ZFS + UFS boot partition. They are x86 focused, but the
same instructions -- aside from ZFS and GPT not being bootable -- apply
perfectly well to PPC.

>
>> FreeBSD project is not currently providing prebuilt PowerPC packages
> Thanks for that sad tip. I was waiting on v 10 binary packaging. I was
> aware of all the meltdowns in recent months. So even with the new v 10,
> I must build all packages on PowerPC from source, like Gentoo Linux? Has
> the BSD team any ETA/plans on binary package support for PowerPC
> (weeks/months/years/never)?
>
> Thanks again.
>

I'm hoping "months". Certainly not years. The PPC package building nodes
got shut down and then developed some disk problems and had to be moved
etc. etc. With 10.0 going out, we should get some breathing room to set
it all back up again.
-Nathan