by gh0st

Getting the release

First go to freebsd.org and pick the proper architecture. You will see the option of x86 and x64. To find out which one to pick you generally need to go by how much RAM you have. If you have under 4gigs of RAM the go with x86, 4gigs or more then go with x64.

Knowledge requirements

• Unix basics – i.e. directory setups and concepts.
• Shell, i.e. Bash, CSH, KSH, etc. – You need to have a basic grasp on this
• Unix concepts – i.e., everything is a file, shit like this.

Install

If you have never messed around with Unix like OS’s before then you probably should go to Linux first, pick something like Ubuntu and learn the Unix basics (also, the installer on Ubuntu is generally more friendly).

Note: If you don’t want to, then go and grab the FreeBSD handbook and read through it.

First boot

Press Enter and go through the basic installer (it is pretty fucking easy). If you can’t navigate through that then you shouldn’t be reading this.

Part 1: Wireless

If you are on a desktop, you don’t have to worry about this. However, if you are on a laptop you, will be confronted with a wireless connection screen inside the installer. Just find your wireless network id and click it, then enter your password and continue. After the install, you should auto connect to your home wireless, but if you go somewhere else it won’t do this (obviously). So follow these simple steps:

1. “ifconfig” – this will print out your card name and its alias. Most of the time it is just “wlan0”.
2. “ifconfig wlan0 scan” – brings up network ids
3. “ifconfig wlan0 nwid ‘FooBar Network’ wpakey “FO0Bar_password”
4. If your network is unencrypted use the “-wep” or “-wpa” option where the “wpakey” would normally be
5. “dhclient wlan0” – this will setup all the DHCP shit
6. to test run “ping google.com”

Part 2: Users

You will come to a point where you will be asked if you want to create a user. Select yes and go thru the basics until you get to the part where it asks you if you want to add this person to any groups. In this you want to type “wheel” this will be used later when adding you to the list of sudoers

Part 3: Post install

After you are done you will reboot your computer and take out the medium which you used to install FreeBSD with. The computer should boot normally and you will be confronted with a basic CLI login screen (we will be adding a graphical login manager later). Login as root (only for this section, doing this routinely is a rootkit waiting to happen).

Once you are logged in as the root user you will do the following:

1. We are assuming you are connected to your home network; run “ping google.com” to test this.
2. Now we are going to install a few basic packages. You will be doing all this as root for now but later you can finally use the user you created. Run the “pkg” command and go through the dialog. Next, run “pkg install sudo”.
3. Run “visudo” and once you see text press the ‘i’ key to start editing text. Scroll down until you see “Uncomment to allow members of the wheel to” blah blah blah, press the Del key to uncomment. Next press the Esc key then press Shift “:wq”. Having done that will allow the user you created to have access to sudoers.

We will now be setting up our desktop environment and login manager as well as a shit ton of other stuff to get you started. First run “pkg install nano”. Once that installs you want to install basic GUI packages such as a desktop environment

I will later write a file on how to customize xfce, but for now we are just setting up.

Part 4: Packages and settings up the desktop environment and login manager

Run “pkg install xorg xfce4-session firefox hexchat epdfview”. Once that finally installs run pkg install "xfce4-wm-themes slim xfce4-mixer" (or “xfce4-pulseaudio-daemon"). Once you install this, you can poke around and configure xfce to your liking but that is for a different zine.

4. Log out of root and login as the user you created. You should have basic    permissions now that you are a sudoer. Next you want to configure     things so that xfce will work, run “sudo nano /etc/rc.conf” and add     the following to the file:

dbus_enable=“YES” hald_enable=“YES” slim_enable=“YES” moused_enable=“YES” powerd_enable=“YES” (if you are on a laptop only)

Next, press Ctrl-O and press Enter.

Now your xfce should be able to function normally. Next run "`cd ~`" to get
to your home directory and run "`nano .xinitrc`". Add the following to the file:

> `exec /usr/local/bin/startxfce4`

This will make it so when you boot up and login with SLIM or the CLI login
screen you will be able to boot into xfce. Note that if you aren't using a
graphical login manager you will need to run "`startx`" to boot into the desktop.

That's all for now folks. Stay tuned for my next article in the next
issue of lainzine. I will be covering ricing your xfce desktop.

> Note: This will have some spelling errors and maybe even some gaps in the
guide. Don't bitch about it, figure it out. If you can't, there are tons of
forums, discussion boards, mailing lists and IRC channels dedicated to Unix
full of helpful, enthusiastic people.