Free BSD 5.3 SMP Kernel

[Robert Slade]

Jon,

On Sat, 2005-01-29 at 11:24, Jon Mercer wrote:
> I'm just guessing, but it sounds like you come from a Linux background.
> 
Sort of, I have used Linux in the past (including building Kernels) but
only came back to it recently I've also played with Solaris on a Sun
Ultra. I'm looking to replace some of my servers etc which are running
W2K server. I have tried Fedora but it is not stable enough for a
production environment. Hence Free BSD. BTW neither FC2 or 3 will
install on the Proliant - probably due to lack of EISA support. 

> What you want to do is roll your own kernel by copying
> the /usr/src/sys/i386/conf/GENERIC file
> to /usr/src/sys/i386/conf/MYSYSTEMNAME
> 
> Upper case system names are traditionally used for the kernel config
> file in unix. HP-UX is the same, IIRC.
> 
> Edit in:
> 
> <quote>
> # To make an SMP kernel, the next two are needed
> options         SMP             # Symmetric MultiProcessor Kernel
> device          apic            # I/O APIC
> </quote>
> 
> You will also want to change things like ident to MYSYSTEMNAME. There
> are a plethora of other options to have a play with as well. 
> 
> after you've finished editing go to /usr/src and run
> 
> make buildkernel KERNCONF=MYSYSTEMNAME

Its running now, but taking it's time. I'm not surprised as it only
running on 1 cylinder so to speak.


> 
> then
> 
> make installkernel KERNCONF=MYSYSTEMNAME
> 
> then reboot. 
> 
> http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/kernelconfig.html will help you tremendously. Personally I find the whole process much simpler than configuring a Linux kernel.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Jon
> 
> 
> On Sat, 2005-01-29 at 11:12 +0000, Robert Slade wrote:
> > Hi,
> > 
> > I am new to Free BSD ( and Linux) and have just setup a rather old
> > Proliant 5000 as a test machine. It has Quad PII processors and I would
> > like to make use of them. The Install CDs only come with the 'Standard'
> > kernel. Looking through the handbook implies that support for multiple
> > processors in 5.3 was removed due to problems.
> > 
> > I have seen references to a 5.3 SMP kernal though, is it possible to get
> > hold of this, or do I have to wait for 5.4 to be released? If so when is
> > this likely to be released.
> > 
> > Sorry if this is a simple question.
> > 
> > Thanks
> > 
> > Rob
Again many thanks.

Rob