About this Document Quick install notes for the impatient What is NetBSD? Dedication Changes Between The NetBSD 9 and 10 Releases Features to be removed in a later release The NetBSD Foundation Sources of NetBSD NetBSD 10.0_RC6 Release Contents NetBSD/sparc subdirectory structure Binary distribution sets NetBSD/sparc System Requirements and Supported Devices Supported machines Machines not supported by NetBSD/sparc Supported devices Unsupported devices Getting the NetBSD System on to Useful Media Preparing your System for NetBSD installation Configuring your PROM Determining how to access your SCSI disk from the PROM Determining how to boot from an SBUS card Deciding on partition sizes Configuration of network interfaces Installing the NetBSD System Installing NetBSD by placing a bootable file system on a partitioned hard drive Installing NetBSD by using a bootable CD-ROM Installing NetBSD by using a netboot setup Installing NetBSD by using a bootable tape Running the installation scripts Post installation steps Upgrading a previously-installed NetBSD System Compatibility Issues With Previous NetBSD Releases Using online NetBSD documentation Administrivia Thanks go to Legal Mumbo-Jumbo The End
This document describes the installation procedure for
NetBSD
10.0_RC6 on the
sparc
platform.
It is available in four different formats titled
INSTALL.ext,
where
.ext
is one of
.ps, .html, .more,
or .txt:
.ps.html.moremore(1)
and
less(1)
pager utility programs.
This is the format in which the on-line
man
pages are generally presented.
.txtYou are reading the HTML version.
This section contains some brief notes describing what you need to install NetBSD 10.0_RC6 on a machine of the sparc architecture.
NetBSD-10.0_RC6-sparc.iso.
You need the CD to boot your system.
Alternatively, you may netboot the installation kernel. This process is
covered below, in detail.
sparc/binary/sets/
directory.
When you boot the install
CD-ROM,
the installation program
can fetch these files for you (using, e.g., ftp)
if you have a network connection.
There are several other methods to get the binary sets onto
your machine.
You will at a minimum need
the following sets:
kern-GENERIC.tgz,
base.tgz
and
etc.tgz.
In a typical workstation installation you will probably want
all the installation sets.
The media you just prepared will be used to boot the installation kernel, which contains all the tools required to install NetBSD.
STOP-A
keys, or send a BREAK if you're on a serial console.
At the
``ok''
prompt, type the command to boot your system into
NetBSD.
The command to boot from CD is one of the following commands (depending on
your model):
``b sd(,30,)'',
``boot sd(,30,)'',
or
``boot cdrom''.
The NetBSD Operating System is a fully functional open-source operating system derived from the University of California, Berkeley Networking Release 2 (Net/2), 4.4BSD-Lite, and 4.4BSD-Lite2 sources. NetBSD runs on many different different system architectures (ports) across a variety of distinct CPU families, and is being ported to more. The NetBSD 10.0_RC6 release contains complete binary releases for most of these system architectures, with preliminary support for the others included in source form. Please see the NetBSD website for information on them.
NetBSD is a completely integrated system. In addition to its highly portable, high performance kernel, NetBSD features a complete set of user utilities, compilers for several languages, the X Window System, firewall software and numerous other tools, all accompanied by full source code.
NetBSD is a creation of the members of the Internet community. Without the unique cooperation and coordination the net makes possible, NetBSD would not exist.
NetBSD 10.0 is dedicated to the memory of Ryo SHIMIZU, who passed away in May 2023.
Ryo's technical contributions are too many to list here in full. He was a long term contributor and worked on a lot of low-level code over various architectures, from x68k to aarch64. He also worked on various out-of-tree NetBSD items, like the IIJ git repository conversion.
The project lost an excellent technical contributor and many of us a good friend.
The NetBSD 10.0_RC6 release provides many significant changes, including support for many new devices, hundreds of bug fixes, new and updated kernel subsystems, and numerous userland enhancements. The result of these improvements is a stable operating system fit for production use that rivals most commercially available systems.
One important new feature in this release is the support for extended attributes and access controll lists on FFS file systems.
For new installations the installer will default to disable this features, so the file system is compatible with older NetBSD releases (before 10), and allow other operating systems to mount this file systems at least in read-only mode.
If you want a new installed file system to support extended attributes,
change the file system type from
``FFSv2''
to
``FFSv2ea''
in the partitioning menu.
You can also convert file systems later, using the
fsck_ffs(8)
utility.
More details are available in
this guide.
If you are upgrading from a version of NetBSD-current please also check the Compatibility Issues With Previous NetBSD Releases.
It is impossible to completely summarize the massive development that
went into the
NetBSD
10.0_RC6 release.
The complete list of changes can be found in the following files:
CHANGES
CHANGES-10.0
files in the top level directory of the NetBSD 10.0 release tree.
groff(1).
Man pages are now handled with
mandoc(1),
and
groff(1)
can still be found in pkgsrc as
textproc/groff.
pf(4).
This packet filter is obsolete and unmaintained in
NetBSD.
It will be eventually removed due to possible long-standing
security issues and lack of multiprocessor support.
New installations should use
npf(7).
The
NetBSD
Foundation is a tax exempt, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation
that devotes itself to the traditional goals and spirit of the
NetBSD
Project and owns the trademark of the word
``NetBSD''.
It supports the design, development, and adoption of
NetBSD
worldwide.
More information on the
NetBSD
Foundation, its composition, aims, and work can be found at:
https://www.NetBSD.org/foundation/
Refer to
mirrors
The root directory of the NetBSD 10.0_RC6 release is organized as follows:
.../NetBSD-10.0_RC6/
CHANGESCHANGES-10.0CHANGES.prevLAST_MINUTEREADME.filesimages/source/In addition to the files and directories listed above, there is one directory per architecture, for each of the architectures for which NetBSD 10.0_RC6 has a binary distribution.
The source distribution sets can be found in subdirectories of the
source
subdirectory of the distribution tree.
They contain the complete sources to the system.
The source distribution sets are as follows:
config(1)
utility.
All the above source sets are located in the
source/sets
subdirectory of the distribution tree.
The source sets are distributed as compressed tar files.
Except for the
pkgsrc
set, which is traditionally unpacked into
/usr/pkgsrc,
all sets may be unpacked into
/usr/src
with the command:
# cd / ; tar -zxpf set_name.tgz
In each of the source distribution set directories, there are files which contain the checksums of the files in the directory:
MD5SHA512The SHA512 digest is safer, but MD5 checksums are provided so that a wider range of operating systems can check the integrity of the release files.
sparc
subdirectory of the distribution:
.../NetBSD-10.0_RC6/sparc/.
It contains the following files and directories:
INSTALL.htmlINSTALL.psINSTALL.txtINSTALL.more.more
file contains underlined text using the
more(1)
conventions for indicating italic and bold display.
binary/kernel/netbsd-GENERIC.gznetbsd-GENERIC.MP.gznetbsd-GENERIC_SCSI3.gzsd0.
netbsd-KRUPS.gznetbsd-MRCOFFEE.gznetbsd-MRCOFFEE_OFW.gznetbsd-GENERIC_SUN4U.gzsets/installation/bootfs/miniroot/netboot/tape/sparc/binary/sets
subdirectory
of the
NetBSD
10.0_RC6
distribution tree, and are as follows:
/usr/include)
and the various system libraries (except the shared
libraries, which are included as part of the
base
set).
This set also includes the manual pages for
all of the utilities it contains, as well as the
system call and library manual pages.
/etc
and in several other places.
This set
must
be installed if you are installing the system from scratch, but should
not
be used if you are upgrading.
GENERIC
kernel named
/netbsd.
You
must
install this distribution set.
GENERIC.MP
kernel, which will use multiple processors (if present), named
/netbsd.
GENERIC_SCSI3
kernel, which will set SCSI ID 3 to
sd0,
named
/netbsd.
GENERIC_SUN4U
kernel, which supports only UltraSPARC systems in 32 bit mode, named
/netbsd.
KRUPS
kernel, which supports the JavaStation-NC, named
/netbsd.
MRCOFFE
kernel, which which supports the OpenBOOT PROM 2 JavaStation-1, named
/netbsd.
MRCOFFE_OFW
kernel, which which supports the OpenFirmware JavaStation-1, named
/netbsd.
/usr/share.
/rescue.
groff(1),
all related programs, and their manual pages.
NetBSD maintains its own set of sources for the X Window System in order to assure tight integration and compatibility. These sources are based on X.Org. Binary sets for the X Window System are distributed with NetBSD. The sets are:
The sparc binary distribution sets are distributed as gzipped tar files
named with the extension
.tgz,
e.g.
base.tgz.
The instructions given for extracting the source sets work equally
well for the binary sets, but it is worth noting that if you use that
method, the filenames stored in the sets are relative and therefore
the files are extracted
below the current directory.
Therefore, if you want to extract the binaries into your system, i.e.
replace the system binaries with them, you have to run the
tar -xzpf
command from the root directory (
/
) of your system.
The minimum configuration requires 4 MB of RAM and 140 MB of disk space. To install the entire system requires considerably more space, and more RAM to achieve reasonable performance. NetBSD with 4 MB of RAM feels like Solaris with 4 MB of RAM -- slow. Note that until you have around 16 MB of RAM, getting more RAM is more important than getting a faster CPU.
GENERIC_SUN4U
kernel.
UltraSPARC based machines in 32-bit or 64-bit mode are supported by the
NetBSD/sparc64
port.
Refer to
http://www.NetBSD.org/ports/sparc64/index.html
GENERIC.MP)
/dev/ttyC0)
JavaStation-1, and JavaStation-NC
Installation is supported from several media types, including:
The steps necessary to prepare the distribution sets for installation depend upon which installation medium you choose. The steps for the various media are outlined below.
binary/sets
and
sparc/binary/sets.
(You only need to know this if you are mixing installer and installation
media from different versions - the installer will know the proper
default location for the sets it comes with).
Proceed to the instructions on installation.
Once you have this information, you can proceed to the next step in the installation or upgrade process. If you're installing NetBSD from scratch, go to the section on preparing your hard disk, below. If you're upgrading an existing installation, go directly to the section on upgrading.
/etc/exports
file on the NFS server and resetting its mount daemon (mountd).
(Both of these actions will probably require superuser
privileges on the server.)
You need to know the numeric IP address of the NFS server, and, if you don't have DHCP available on your network and the server is not on a network directly connected to the machine on which you're installing or upgrading NetBSD, you need to know the numeric IP address of the router closest to the NetBSD machine. Finally, you need to know the numeric IP address of the NetBSD machine itself.
Once the NFS server is set up properly and you have the information mentioned above, you can proceed to the next step in the installation or upgrade process. If you're installing NetBSD from scratch, go to the section on preparing your hard disk, below. If you're upgrading an existing installation, go directly to the section on upgrading.
If you're making the tape on a UNIX-like system, the easiest way to do so is probably something like:
# tar -cf tape_device dist_sets
where
tape_device
is the name of the tape device that
represents the tape drive you're using.
This might be
/dev/rst0,
or something similar, but it will vary from system to system.
In the above example,
dist_sets
is a list of filenames corresponding to the distribution sets that you
wish to place on the tape.
For instance, to put the
kern-GENERIC, base, and etc
distributions on tape (the absolute minimum required for installation),
you would do the following:
# cd .../NetBSD-10.0_RC6
# cd sparc/binary
# tar -cf tape_device kern-GENERIC.tgz base.tgz etc.tgz
Once you have the files on the tape, you can proceed to the next step in the installation or upgrade process. If you're installing NetBSD from scratch, go to the section on preparing your hard disk, below. If you're upgrading an existing installation, go directly to the section on upgrading.
First, you need to stop your system from automatically booting when
powered on. Pressing the
STOP
key (sometimes called the
L1
key, found on the left side of your keyboard) and the
a
key will halt your system and give you a PROM prompt. If you are using a
Tadpole SPARCbook, you press the
Pause
and
a
keys. If you are using a serial console, send a
``BREAK''
signal from your terminal (the method of sending
``BREAK''
varies from terminal to terminal).
If the ethernet address of your sparc system is
ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff,
then your NVRAM battery is dead and you will have trouble using
ethernet (among other problems). Read the
Sun NVRAM/Hostid FAQ.
If you have a valid ethernet address and you plan to netboot, write down your system's ethernet address.
Next, you should set your system to always use the OpenBoot PROM (sometimes called ``new command mode'') if it defaults to sunmon. The NetBSD kernel relies on some of the functionality provided by the OpenBoot PROM. If your machine gives you a `>' prompt instead of an `ok' prompt, type:
> n
ok setenv sunmon-compat? false
ok
Next, if you are using any security features of OpenBoot PROM, you should turn them off -- NetBSD can't deal well with this.
ok setenv security-mode none
If you are using a serial console, the NetBSD/sparc installer defaults to using 9600 bps, 8N1 settings. You may want to configure your system and serial terminal like this prior to booting the installer. Additionally, a new installation of NetBSD/sparc will default to these settings as well.
The OpenBoot PROM 1 machines (SPARCstation/server 1, SPARCstation/server 1+, IPC, and SLC) have an odd SCSI quirk you should be aware of. There are three SCSI addressing schemes used by your system: SCSI target ID (set by physical jumpers on the device), PROM `unit' number (set by OpenBoot PROM 1, based on its SCSI target ID), and the name you reference within an operating system (set by the kernel, based on the PROM `unit' number).
Sun shipped these systems with the internal drives set to SCSI target IDs
3 and 1. The default value of the OpenBoot PROM variable
`sd-targets'
is
`31204567.'
This variable maps how the OpenBoot PROM 1 assigns
`unit'
numbers based on the SCSI target ID.
Thus the device at SCSI target ID 3 is considered
`unit'
0, and the SCSI device at target ID 0 is
`unit'
3. When you type
``boot scsi(0,0,0)'',
the OpenBoot PROM will boot from
`unit'
0 (which is SCSI target ID 3, the internal hard drive). The
SunOS
kernel is hard-wired to map
sd0
to SCSI target 3, and
sd3
to SCSI target 0.
PROM Unit#| SCSI Target | SunOS name
| 0 | 3 | sd0
| 1 | 1 | sd1
| 2 | 2 | sd2
| 3 | 0 | sd3
| 4 | 4 | st0
| 5 | 5 | st1
| 6 | 6 | cdrom
| |
The
NetBSD/sparc
GENERIC
kernel does not wire things down as does
SunOS.
It names the disks in the order
that the SCSI targets are probed (01234567). If you only have one disk,
it is always
sd0
regardless of its SCSI target ID or its PROM
`unit'
number, and there are no problems. If you have two disks, one at
SCSI ID 2
(`unit'
2) and SCSI ID 3
(`unit'
0), then they are recognized as
sd0
and
sd1
respectively. This can be a problem if you are not
aware of it, particularly when creating an fstab.
There are two approaches to fixing this problem: changing the mapping that OpenBoot PROM 1 does, and changing the NetBSD kernel configuration. To get OpenBoot PROM 1 to number the SCSI `unit' numbers the same as the SCSI target IDs, you need to run this command:
ok setenv sd-targets 01234567
This may, however, cause problems if you were to later attempt to use SunOS on this machine or if you reset the OpenBoot PROM variables.
The other approach is to use a
NetBSD
kernel that matches the PROM's odd target mapping by treating
`unit'
0 (i.e. SCSI target ID 3) as
sd0
and
`unit'
3 (i.e. SCSI target ID 0) as
sd3.
The
GENERIC_SCSI3
kernel performs this target mapping, but the
GENERIC
and
INSTALL
kernels do not.
The machines with OpenBoot PROM 2 (SPARCstation/server 2, ELC, IPX, and all sun4m models) have a similar SCSI target mapping in the form of a devalias entry. That is, the device alias disk is shorthand for the disk at SCSI ID 3 on the internal SCSI controller. Normally, the disk device alias is what the PROM uses as the default boot device, i.e. in the absence of a device argument to the boot command. Note that there are also pre-configured device alias entries for disk0, disk1, disk2 and disk3, which are in fact a one-to-one mapping to the SCSI targets 0 to 3 (all on the internal SCSI controller).
Again, it may be advantageous to use a fixed
``SCSI target''
to
``NetBSD disk unit''
mapping in your kernel configuration file (such as is done in the
GENERIC_SCSI3
kernel) to ensure that your disks remain showing up at the same
NetBSD
device unit numbers even if you add disks to your system at a later time.
sd(c,u,p)
syntax to address SCSI devices. OpenBoot PROM 2 uses a more intuitive
syntax using device aliases.
To calculate the parameters for sunmon and OpenBoot PROM 1:
0'
=
`a',
`1'
=
`b',
etc.)
Therefore, to boot from the swap partition on the internal hard drive (first SCSI bus, target 0, lun 0, partition 1), one would use:
ok boot sd(0,0,1)
To boot from a CD-ROM (first SCSI bus, target 6, lun 0, partition dynamically determined), one would use:
ok boot sd(0,30,)
And, to boot from a kernel named
netbsd-GENERIC
on the fourth partition
(`d',
often the
/usr
partition) on an external hard drive (first SCSI bus, target 2, lun 0,
partition 3), one would use:
ok boot sd(0,10,3)netbsd-GENERIC
Now, for OpenBoot PROM 2, SCSI devices are specified by an OpenBOOT devalias which provides simple mnemonics for the full path to the device. Type devalias in OpenBoot PROM 2 to get a list of all of the available aliases. Just the alias and partition are necessary when booting.
Therefore, to boot from the swap partition on the internal hard drive (OpenBoot PROM 2 assumes the internal hard drive is at target 3), one would use:
ok boot disk:b
To boot from a CD-ROM (OpenBoot PROM 2 assumes the CD-ROM is at target 6), one would use:
ok boot cdrom
And, to boot from a kernel named
netbsd-GENERIC
on the fourth partition
(`d',
often the
/usr
partition) on an external hard drive (target 2, partition 3), one would use:
ok boot disk2:d netbsd-GENERIC
The full device path specifier for OpenBoot PROM 2 depends on how OpenBoot
PROM 2 recognizes
your SCSI controller. Typically, one would use something like:
/sbus/esp/sd@t,p
where t is the SCSI target and p is the partition number.
ok cd /
ok ls
ffd3b790 TI,TMS390S10@0,f8fffffc
ffd2d254 virtual-memory@0,0
ffd2d198 memory@0,0
ffd2b65c obio
ffd2b310 iommu@0,10000000
ffd2b2a0 openprom
ffd24af0 aliases
ffd24abc options
ffd24a88 packages
ok cd iommu
ok ls
ffd2b454 sbus@0,10001000
ok cd sbus
ok ls
ffd467e8 cgthree@3,0
ffd42a1c SUNW,hme@1,8c00000
ffd4297c le@0,c00000
ffd40d28 ledma@4,8400010
ffd40c9c SUNW,bpp@4,c800000
ffd40c00 audio@4,1300000
ffd3dc68 espdma@4,8400000
ok cd SUNW,hme
ok ls
ok pwd
/iommu@0,10000000/sbus@0,10001000/SUNW,hme@1,8c00000
ok words
reset seek load open close
watch-net selftest obp-selftest write read
preamble-32 enable-link-pulse disable-link-pulse
force-speeds reset-transceiver use-bit-bang-mode
use-frame-mode dump-phys transfer-speed=10
transfer-speed=100 mii-write mii-read
create-rev-id
ok .attributes
hm-rev 00000022
version 1.18
model SUNW,501-2919
device_type network
intr 00000037 00000000
interrupts 00000004
address-bits 00000030
max-frame-size 00004000
reg 00000001 08c00000 00000108
00000001 08c02000 00002000
00000001 08c04000 00002000
00000001 08c06000 00002000
00000001 08c07000 00000020
name SUNW,hme
ok
ok boot /iommu/sbus/SUNW,hme
root on sd0a dumps on sd0b
no file system for sd0 (dev 0x700)
cannot mount root, error = 79
root device (default sd0a): ?
use one of: fd0[a-h] le0 le1 hme0 sd0[a-h] halt
root device (default sd0a): hme0
dump device: hme0
file system (default generic): nfs
root on hme0
A minimal installation of NetBSD requires about 140 MB. A full installation requires considerably more. A good initial size for the swap partition is twice the amount of physical memory in your machine (unlike SunOS 4.x, there are no restrictions on the size of the swap partition that would render part of your memory unusable).
Note that there are limitations on the size of the root partition for various models.
On sun4 machines, the NetBSD sparc boot loader can only boot from RAID partitions that start at the beginning of the disk.
On sun4 and early PROM version sun4c machines, the PROM can only boot from the first 1Gb of the disk.
On later PROM version sun4c and early PROM version sun4m machines, the PROM can only boot from the first 2Gb of the disk.
On later PROM version sun4m machines, the PROM can only boot from the first 4Gb of the disk.
If automatic detection is not available or not working properly in your
environment, you may have to specify the type connection using the
media
parameter of
ifconfig(8).
During installation, you'll get the opportunity to specify the appropriate
medium. Use
10base5
or
AUI
to select the AUI connector, or
10baseT
or
UTP
to select the UTP connector.
Fast ethernet interfaces default to
auto,
which usually does not detect properly and runs at
`10BaseT'
speed.
The options are
10baseT,
10baseTX,
and
auto.
The
hme
and
qfe
interfaces also allow
10baseT-FDX
and
100baseT-FDX.
Installing NetBSD is a relatively complex process, but if you have this document in hand it shouldn't be too much trouble.
There are several ways to install
NetBSD
onto your system.
The easiest way is to use the
miniroot.fs
image copied to your local disk's swap partition or a scratch drive.
If your Sparc is hooked up in a network, you may configure another
UNIX-like
machine as a netboot server for your Sparc.
For more information on the commands and variables available in the OpenBoot PROM (present in all sun4c and sun4m machines), go to http://docs.sun.com and search for ``openboot reference'' (without quotes).
installation/miniroot/miniroot.fs.gz
is a compressed, self-contained
NetBSD
file system holding all utilities necessary to install
NetBSD
onto a disk attached to your system.
It is distributed as a compressed plain
file you will transfer to a raw disk partition.
You will then boot this installer using the appropriate PROM command.
The simplest case is where you place the
miniroot.fs
file system on the swap partition of your disk.
Alternatively, you can place
it on any other unused partition on any disk (such as a Zip disk).
Be forewarned that you will not be able to install
NetBSD
onto the partition that contains the
miniroot.fs
as this partition is needed during the install process.
Loading the file system onto a raw partition is straightforward.
First, download
miniroot.fs
to your system.
Next, reboot in single-user mode (i.e.
boot -s)
to ensure that your system will not be swapping.
Finally, place the
miniroot.fs
on your partition of choice.
On
NetBSD
or SunOS the commands are:
# gunzip miniroot.fs.gz
# dd if=miniroot.fs of=/dev/rsd0b bs=4k
Here,
/dev/rsd0b
is assumed to be your swap partition.
If you decide to place
miniroot.fs
on a non-swap partition, it will overwrite all of the contents of that
partition, but you will not need to reboot into single-user mode to write it.
After transferring the file system to disk, bring the system down by:
# halt
Then boot the installer by typing the appropriate command at the PROM prompt (this example is for the swap partition):
> b sd(,,1)netbsd -s
ok boot sd(,,1)netbsd -s
ok boot disk:b netbsd -s
The monitor boot command will load the NetBSD kernel contained in the file system image. After the initial probe messages you'll be asked to start the install or upgrade procedure. Proceed to the section Running the installation scripts. below.
images/NetBSD-10.0_RC6-sparc.iso
or create your own.
If you wish to create your own, you should follow the directions on the
NetBSD
Bootable CD-ROM HOW-TO at:
http://www.NetBSD.org/docs/bootcd.html#sparcimage
Once you have downloaded
NetBSD-10.0_RC6-sparc.iso
or created your own disk image, then you need to burn it to a CD-R.
The CD-ROM attached to your Sparc must support 512 byte sectors to be
bootable.
All Sun brand CD-ROMs will work, as well as many other manufacturers.
See the Sun CD-ROM FAQ:
http://saturn.tlug.org/suncdfaq/
Sun sets their CD-ROM drives to SCSI ID 6. We recommend you do the same.
Boot the installer by typing the appropriate command at the PROM prompt:
> b sd(,30,)
ok boot sd(,30,)
ok boot cdrom
After the initial probe messages you'll be asked to start the install or upgrade procedure. Proceed to the section Running the installation scripts. below.
To netboot a sparc, you must configure one or more servers to provide
information and files to your sparc (the
`client').
If you are using
NetBSD
(any architecture) on your netboot server(s), the information
provided here should be sufficient to configure everything.
Additionally, you may wish to look at the
diskless(8)
manual page and the manual pages for each daemon you'll be configuring.
If the server(s) are another operating system, you should consult the
NetBSD Diskless HOW-TO, which will walk you through the steps necessary to
configure the netboot services on a variety of platforms:
https://www.NetBSD.org/docs/network/netboot/
You may either netboot the installer so you can install onto a locally attached disk, or you may run your system entirely over the network.
Briefly, the netboot
process involves discovery, bootstrap, kernel and file system stages.
In the first stage, the client discovers information
about where to find the bootstrap program.
Next, it downloads and executes the bootstrap program.
The bootstrap program goes through another discovery phase to determine
where the kernel is located.
The bootstrap program tries to mount the NFS share containing the kernel.
Once the kernel is loaded, it starts executing.
For RAM disk kernels, it mounts the RAM disk file system and begins
executing the installer from the RAM disk.
For normal (non-RAM disk) kernels, the
kernel tries to mount the NFS share that had the kernel and starts
executing
the installation tools or
init(8).
All sparc systems except JavaStations with OpenFirmware PROM
use a combination of RARP and BOOTP for the discovery stage.
In the past, these systems used RARP and BOOTPARAMS. JavaStations
booting from OpenFirmware use DHCP.
TFTP is used in the bootstrap phase to download
the bootstrap program,
boot.net,
which has been linked to a file name appropriate to the client's
architecture and IP address as described in the TFTP section below.
JavaStations with OpenFirmware need a special bootstrap program,
bootjs.net,
which is a version of boot.net in ELF format.
It is not linked to the IP address.
NFS is used in both the kernel and file system stages to download the
kernel, and to access files on the file server.
We will use
`CC:CC:CC:CC:CC:CC'
as the MAC address (ethernet hardware address) of your netboot client
machine.
You should have determined this address in an earlier stage.
In this example, we will use
`192.168.1.10'
as the IP address of your client and
`client.test.net'
as its name.
We will assume you're providing all of your netboot services
on one machine called
`server.test.net'
with the client's files exported from the directory
/export/client/root.
You should, of course, replace all of these with the names, addresses,
and paths appropriate to your environment.
You should set up each netboot stage in order (i.e., discovery, bootstrap, kernel, and then file system) so that you can test them as you proceed.
dhcpd(8)
in
bootpd(8)
compatible mode
Put the following lines in your
/etc/dhcpd.conf
(see
dhcpd.conf(5)
and
dhcp-options(5)
for more information):
ddns-update-style none;
# Do not use any dynamic DNS features
#
allow bootp; # Allow bootp requests, thus the dhcp server
# will act as a bootp server.
#
authoritative; # master DHCP server for this subnet
#
subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
# Which network interface to listen on.
# The zeros indicate the range of addresses
# that are allowed to connect.
}
group {
# Set of parameters common to all clients
# in this "group".
#
option broadcast-address 192.168.1.255;
option domain-name "test.net";
option domain-name-servers dns.test.net;
option routers router.test.net;
option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
#
# An individual client.
#
host client.test.net {
hardware ethernet CC:CC:CC:CC:CC:CC;
fixed-address 192.168.1.10;
#
# Name of the host (if the fixed address
# doesn't resolve to a simple name).
#
option host-name "client";
#
# Name of the bootloader or kernel
# to download via tftp.
#
# Only needed for JavaStations with OpenFirmware!
#
filename "bootjs.net";
#
# The path on the NFS server.
#
option root-path "/export/client/root";
#
# The host address of the NFS server. This is mandatory for
# NetBSD kernels even it's the same host as the DHCP server.
#
next-server server.test.net;
}
#you may paste another "host" entry here for additional
#clients on this network
}
allow bootp;
You will need to make sure that the
dhcpd.leases
file exists.
# touch /var/db/dhcpd.leases
You will need to start the dhcpd. If it's already running, you will need to restart it to force it to re-read its configuration file. If the server is running NetBSD, you can achieve this with:
# /etc/rc.d/dhcpd restart
rarpd(8)
Note: no rarpd is needed to boot OpenFirmware based JavaStations.
Create an
/etc/ethers
file with the following line:
CC:CC:CC:CC:CC:CC client
Add your client to the server's
/etc/hosts
file:
192.168.1.10 client
You will need to start the rarpd. If it's already running, you will need to restart it to force it to re-read its configuration file. If the server is running NetBSD, you can achieve this with:
# /etc/rc.d/rarpd restart
tftpd(8)
The default configuration of the TFTP server is to run in a
chroot(8)
environment in the
/tftpboot
directory.
Thus, the first order of business is to create this directory:
# mkdir -p /tftpboot
Next, edit
/etc/inetd.conf
and uncomment the line with the TFTP daemon:
tftp dgram udp wait root /usr/libexec/tftpd tftpd -l -s /tftpboot
Now, restart
inetd(8).
If the server is running
NetBSD,
you can achieve this with:
# /etc/rc.d/inetd restart
Now, you need to copy the
bootloader
for your sparc machine to
/tftpboot.
Get
boot.net
from the
installation/netboot
directory of the distribution.
# cp boot.net /tftpboot
Now, you need to link
boot.net
to the filename that your sparc will look for.
It will look for a filename composed of the machine's IP address
(in hexadecimal) followed by the machine's architecture,
separated by a period.
For example, a sun4c machine which has been assigned IP address
192.168.1.10, will make a TFTP request for
C0A8010A.SUN4C.
You can use
bc(1)
to help calculate the filename:
# bc
obase=16
192
C0
168
A8
1
1
10
A
quit
# cd /tftpboot
# ln -s boot.net C0A8010A.SUN4C
For OpenFirmware based JavaStations you use the file
bootjs.net
and do not create a symlink for the IP address. This machines do full
DHCP autoconfiguration, so the bootstrap filename is provided by the
DHCP server.
Just to be sure, let's make everything readable.
# chmod -R a+rX /tftpboot
Sometimes, the
arp(8)
table gets messed up, and the TFTP server can't communicate with the
client.
In this case, it will write a log message (via
syslogd(8))
to
/var/log/messages
saying:
`tftpd: write: Host is down'.
If this is the case, you may need to force the server to map your client's
ethernet address to its IP address:
# arp -s client CC:CC:CC:CC:CC:CC
nfsd(8),
mountd(8),
and
rpcbind(8)
Now your system should be able to load the bootstrap program and start looking for the kernel. Let's set up the NFS server. Create the directory you are exporting for the netboot client:
# mkdir -p /export/client/root
Put the following line in
/etc/exports
to enable NFS sharing:
/export/client/root -maproot=root client.test.net
If your server is currently running an NFS server, you only need to
restart
mountd(8).
Otherwise, you need to start
rpcbind(8)
and
nfsd(8).
If the server is running
NetBSD,
you can achieve this with:
# /etc/rc.d/rpcbind start
# /etc/rc.d/nfsd start
# /etc/rc.d/mountd restart
Now, if you place a kernel named
netbsd
in
/export/client/root
your client should boot the kernel.
Use
binary/kernel/netbsd-GENERIC.gz.
# gunzip netbsd-GENERIC.gz
# mv netbsd-GENERIC /export/client/root/netbsd
If you are netbooting the installer, copy the distribution files to
the client's root directory and extract the tools from
installation/netboot/rootfs.tgz.
# cp *.tgz /export/client/root
# cd /export/client/root
# tar -xpzf rootfs.tgz
You can skip this step if you do not plan to run your client diskless after installation. Otherwise, you need to extract and set up the client's installation of NetBSD. The Diskless HOW-TO describes how to provide better security and save space on the NFS server over the procedure listed here. See for details.
# cd /export/client/root
# tar -xpzf /path/to/files/base.tgz
# tar -xpzf /path/to/files/etc.tgz
Continue with the other non-essential distribution sets if desired.
# mkdir /export/client/root/swap
# dd if=/dev/zero of=/export/client/swap bs=4k count=4k
# echo '/export/client/swap -maproot=root:wheel client.test.net' >> /etc/exports
# /etc/rc.d/mountd restart
# cd /export/client/root/dev
# ./MAKEDEV all
This procedure only works on NetBSD hosts.
fstab(5)
Create a file in
/export/client/root/etc/fstab
with the following lines:
server:/export/client/swap none swap sw,nfsmntpt=/swap
server:/export/client/root / nfs rw 0 0
rc.conf(5)
Edit
/export/client/root/etc/rc.conf
rc_configured=YES
hostname="client"
defaultroute="192.168.1.1"
nfs_client=YES
auto_ifconfig=NO
net_interfaces=""
Make sure rc does not reconfigure the network device since it will lose its connection to the NFS server with your root file system.
hosts(5)
file.
Edit
/export/client/root/etc/hosts
::1 localhost
127.0.0.1 localhost
192.168.1.10 client.test.net client
192.168.1.5 server.test.net server
If you want
these services to start up every time you boot
your server, make sure the following lines are present in your
/etc/rc.conf:
dhcpd=YES dhcpd_flags="-q"
rarpd=YES rarpd_flags="-a"
nfs_server=YES # enable server daemons
mountd=YES
rpcbind=YES rpcbind_flags="-l" # -l logs libwrap
Also, you'll need to make sure the
tftpd
line in
/etc/inetd.conf
remains uncommented.
Now, netboot your Sparc from the server by entering the appropriate boot command at the monitor prompt. Depending on the PROM version in your machine, this command takes one of the following forms:
> b le()netbsd
ok b le()netbsd
ok boot net netbsd
After the initial probe messages you'll be asked to start the install or upgrade procedure. Proceed to the section Running the installation scripts. below.
Get the tape images
(installation/tape/tapefile1.gz and installation/tape/tapefile2)
and transfer them to a tape.
Make sure you use the
`no rewind scsi tape'
device.
Run the following commands:
# gunzip tapefile1.gz
# mt -f /dev/nrst0 rew
# dd if=tapefile1 of=/dev/nrst0 bs=4k conv=osync
# dd if=tapefile2 of=/dev/nrst0 bs=4k conv=osync
Now you can transfer the
NetBSD10.0_RC6.
distribution sets from
(binary/sets)
to the tape by using a series of additional
# dd if=<aset>.tgz of=/dev/nrst0 bs=4k conv=osync
Insert the tape into your Sparc's tapestation. Boot the installer by typing the appropriate command at the PROM prompt:
> b st()
ok boot st()
ok boot tape
After the initial probe messages you'll be asked to confirm the tape device and tape file number containing the installation tools. Then, proceed to the section Running the installation scripts. below.
If you're using a terminal device connected to a serial port, choose a terminal type appropriate for that device, e.g. vt100 or vt200.
Next, you will be presented with a choice of two installation methods: a new full-screen sysinst program, or the traditional script-based miniroot program. The sysinst program is easier to use, but the miniroot program is more flexible. Both of these installation methods will follow the same set of procedures and will fully install NetBSD on your Sparc.
You will frequently be asked for confirmation before the system proceeds with each phase of the installation process.
Occasionally, you will have to provide a piece of information such as the
name of the disk you want to install on, partitioning information,
or IP addresses and domain names you want to assign.
If your system has
more than one disk, you may want to look at the output of the
dmesg(8)
command to see how your disks have been identified by the kernel.
The installation script goes through the following phases:
Now try a reboot. Initially we'd suggest you boot sd()netbsd -bs, then try multiuser after that. If you boot single-user the NetBSD incantation to make the root file system writable is
# mount -u /dev/sd0a /
Your PROM might have been setup to instruct the boot program to load
a file called
vmunix.
On OpenBoot PROM systems you can change it to load
netbsd
instead using the following commands:
ok setenv boot-from sd(0,0,0)netbsd
ok setenv boot-file netbsd
ok setenv boot-device disk:a
Congratulations,
you have successfully installed
NetBSD10.0_RC6.
Once you've got the operating system running, there are a few things you need to do in order to bring the system into a properly configured state. The most important steps are described below.
postinstall(8).
/etc/rc.conf
If you or the installation software haven't done any configuration of
/etc/rc.conf
(sysinst
normally will),
the system will drop you into single user mode on first reboot with the
message
/etc/rc.conf is not configured. Multiuser boot aborted.
and with the root file system
(/)
mounted read-only.
When the system asks you to choose a shell, simply press
RETURN
to get to a
/bin/sh
prompt.
If you are asked for a terminal type, respond with
sun
for a local console, or whatever is appropriate for your serial
console (some systems display garbage with a
sun
terminal type, you may need to use
sun-ss5)
and press
RETURN.
You may need to type one of the following commands to get your delete key
to work properly, depending on your keyboard:
# stty erase '^h'
# stty erase '^?'
At this point, you need to configure at least
one file in the
/etc
directory.
You will need to mount your root file system read/write with:
# /sbin/mount -u -w /
Change to the
/etc
directory and take a look at the
/etc/rc.conf
file.
Modify it to your tastes, making sure that you set
rc_configured=YES
so that your changes will be enabled and a multi-user boot can
proceed.
Default values for the various programs can be found in
/etc/defaults/rc.conf,
where some in-line documentation may be found.
More complete documentation can be found in
rc.conf(5).
When you have finished editing
/etc/rc.conf,
type
exit
at the prompt to
leave the single-user shell and continue with the multi-user boot.
Other values that may need to be set in
/etc/rc.conf
for a networked environment are
hostname
and possibly
defaultroute.
You may also need to add an
ifconfig_int
for your
<int>
network interface,
along the lines of
ifconfig_le0="inet 192.0.2.123 netmask 255.255.255.0"
or, if you have
myname.my.dom
in
/etc/hosts:
ifconfig_le0="inet myname.my.dom netmask 255.255.255.0"
To enable proper hostname resolution, you will also want to add an
/etc/resolv.conf
file or (if you are feeling a little more adventurous) run
named(8).
See
resolv.conf(5)
or
named(8)
for more information.
Instead of manually configuring networking,
DHCP can be used by setting
dhcpcd=YES
in
/etc/rc.conf.
If you are using a serial console, you will have to edit the
/etc/ttys
file and change
sun
to the appropriate terminal type, such as vt220.
After reboot, you can log in as
root
at the login prompt.
If you didn't set a password in
sysinst,
there
is no initial password.
You should create an account for yourself (see below) and protect it and the
``root''
account with good passwords.
By default, root login from the network is disabled (even via
ssh(1)).
One way to become root over the network is to log in as a different
user that belongs to group
``wheel''
(see
group(5))
and use
su(1)
to become root.
Use the
useradd(8)
command to add accounts to your system.
Do not
edit
/etc/passwd
directly! See
vipw(8)
and
pwd_mkdb(8)
if you want to edit the password database.
If you installed the X Window System, you may want to read the chapter about X in the NetBSD Guide:
If you wish to install any of the software freely available for UNIX-like systems you are strongly advised to first check the NetBSD package system, pkgsrc. pkgsrc automatically handles any changes necessary to make the software run on NetBSD. This includes the retrieval and installation of any other packages the software may depend upon.
sparc/10.0_RC6/All
subdir.
If you installed
pkgin(1)
in the
sysinst
post-installation configuration menu, you can use it to automatically install
binary packages over the network.
Assuming that
/usr/pkg/etc/pkgin/repositories.conf
is correctly configured, you can install them with the following commands:
# pkgin install tcsh bash perl apache xfce4 firefox ...
The above command will install the Tenex-csh and Bourne Again shells, the Perl programming language, Apache web server, Xfce desktop environment and the Firefox web browser as well as all the packages they depend on.
If it was not automatically installed,
pkgin(1)
can be installed on a fresh
NetBSD
system with
pkg_add(1):
export PKG_PATH=https://cdn.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/packages/NetBSD/$(uname -p)/$(uname -r | cut -d_ -f1)/All pkg_add pkgin
pkgsrc(7)
framework for compiling packages and did not install it from the
sysinst(8)
post-installation configuration menu, you can obtain it by retrieving
the file
/usr/pkgsrc
(though other locations work fine) with the commands:
# cd /usr
# tar -zxpf pkgsrc.tar.gz
After extracting, see the
doc/pkgsrc.txt
file in the extraction directory (e.g.,
/usr/pkgsrc/doc/pkgsrc.txt)
for more information.
/etc/mail/aliases
to forward root mail to the right place.
Don't forget to run
newaliases(1)
afterwards.
/etc/rc.local
to run any local daemons you use.
/etc
files are documented in section 5 of the manual; so just invoking
# man 5 filename
is likely to give you more information on these files.
The easiest way to upgrade to NetBSD 10.0_RC6 is with binaries, and that is the method documented here.
To do the upgrade, you must boot the install kernel using one of the methods described above. You must also have at least the base and kern binary distribution sets available. Finally, you must have sufficient disk space available to install the new binaries. Since files already installed on the system are overwritten in place, you only need additional free space for files which weren't previously installed or to account for growth of the sets between releases.
Since upgrading involves replacing the kernel, boot blocks, and most of the system binaries, it has the potential to cause data loss. You are strongly advised to back up any important data on the NetBSD partition or on another operating system's partition on your disk before beginning the upgrade process.
The upgrade procedure is similar to an installation, but without the hard disk partitioning.
Fetching the binary sets is done in the same manner as the installation procedure; refer to the installation part of the document for help. File systems are checked before unpacking the sets.
After a new kernel has been copied to your hard disk, your
machine is a complete
NetBSD
10.0_RC6
system.
However, that doesn't mean that you're finished with the upgrade process.
You will probably want to update the set of device nodes you have in
/dev.
If you've changed the contents of
/dev
by hand, you will need to be careful about this, but if
not, you can just cd into
/dev,
and run the command:
# sh MAKEDEV all
sysinst
will attempt to merge the settings stored in your
/etc
directory with the new version of
NetBSD
using the
postinstall(8)
utility.
However,
postinstall(8)
is only able to deal with changes that are easily automated.
It is recommended that you use the
etcupdate(8)
tool to merge any remaining configuration changes.
Users upgrading from previous versions of NetBSD may wish to bear the following problems and compatibility issues in mind when upgrading to NetBSD 10.0_RC6.
Note that sysinst will automatically invoke
postinstall fix
In
NetBSD9
and earlier, filesystems listed in
/etc/fstab
would be mounted before non-legacy
zfs
filesystems. Starting from
NetBSD10
this order has been reversed.
If you have ever run a version of NetBSD-current between April 18, 2020 and September 23, 2022 (the version numbers used in the affected time range are between 9.99.56 and 9.99.106) your FFS file systems might have broken extended attributes stored.
You should follow this guide before booting the updated system multi-user for the first time.
Note that you do not need to do anything special if you never did run any affected kernel, especially if you have never run NetBSD-current.
The display drivers used for modern GPUs and the whole subsystem supporting it (DRM/KMS) have been updated to a newer version. Unfortunately not all issues with this have been resolved before the NetBSD10.0 release. You can find a list of issues in the Open issues with new DRM/KMS section of the release engineering wiki page.
A number of things have been removed from the NetBSD 10.0_RC6 release. See the ``Components removed from NetBSD'' section near the beginning of this document for a list.
Documentation is available if you installed the manual
distribution set.
Traditionally, the
``man pages''
(documentation) are denoted by
`name(section)'.
Some examples of this are
intro(1),
man(1),
apropos(1),
passwd(1),
and
passwd(5).
The section numbers group the topics into several categories, but three are of primary interest: user commands are in section 1, file formats are in section 5, and administrative information is in section 8.
The man command is used to view the documentation on a topic, and is started by entering man [section] topic. The brackets [] around the section should not be entered, but rather indicate that the section is optional. If you don't ask for a particular section, the topic with the lowest numbered section name will be displayed. For instance, after logging in, enter
# man passwd
to read the documentation for
passwd(1).
To view the documentation for
passwd(5),
enter
# man 5 passwd
instead.
If you are unsure of what man page you are looking for, enter
# apropos subject-word
where subject-word is your topic of interest; a list of possibly related man pages will be displayed.
If you've got something to say, do so!
We'd like your input.
There are various mailing lists available via the mailing list
server at
majordomo@NetBSD.org.
See
https://www.NetBSD.org/mailinglists/
for details.
There are various mailing lists set up to deal with comments and questions about this release. Please send comments to: netbsd-comments@NetBSD.org.
To report bugs, use the
send-pr(1)
command shipped with
NetBSD,
and fill in as much information about the problem as you can.
Good bug reports include lots of details.
Bugs also can be submitted and queried with the web interface at
https://www.NetBSD.org/support/send-pr.html
There are also port-specific mailing lists, to discuss aspects of
each port of
NetBSD.
Use majordomo to find their addresses, or visit
https://www.NetBSD.org/mailinglists/
If you're interested in doing a serious amount of work on a specific port, you probably should contact the `owner' of that port (listed below).
If you'd like to help with NetBSD, and have an idea as to how you could be useful, send us mail or subscribe to: netbsd-users@NetBSD.org.
As a favor, please avoid mailing huge documents or files to these mailing lists. Instead, put the material you would have sent up for FTP or WWW somewhere, then mail the appropriate list about it. If you'd rather not do that, mail the list saying you'll send the data to those who want it.
Keith Bostic Ralph Campbell Mike Karels Marshall Kirk McKusick
for their work on BSD systems, support, and encouragement.
All product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
The following notices are required to satisfy the license terms of the software that we have mentioned in this document:
NetBSD is a registered trademark of The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
In the following statement, the phrase ``this text'' refers to portions
of the system documentation.
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form in
NetBSD, from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2004 Edition, Standard for
Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX),
The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2004 by the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.
In the event of any discrepancy between these versions and the original
IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group
Standard is the referee document.
The original Standard can be obtained online at
http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html.
This notice shall appear on any product containing this material.
In the following statement, "This software" refers to the parallel port driver:
Some files have the following copyright:
Permission to use, copy, modify and distribute this software and its
documentation is hereby granted, provided that both the copyright
notice and this permission notice appear in all copies of the
software, derivative works or modified versions, and any portions
thereof, and that both notices appear in supporting documentation.
CARNEGIE MELLON ALLOWS FREE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IN ITS
CONDITION. CARNEGIE MELLON DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY OF ANY KIND FOR
ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
Carnegie Mellon requests users of this software to return to
any improvements or extensions that they make and grant Carnegie the
rights to redistribute these changes.
Some files have the following copyright:
Author: Chris G. Demetriou
Permission to use, copy, modify and distribute this software and
its documentation is hereby granted, provided that both the copyright
notice and this permission notice appear in all copies of the
software, derivative works or modified versions, and any portions
thereof, and that both notices appear in supporting documentation.
Carnegie Mellon requests users of this software to return to
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Some files have the following copyright:
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this
software and its documentation for any purpose and without
fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright
notice appear in all copies. Stanford University
makes no representations about the suitability of this
software for any purpose. It is provided "as is"
without express or implied warranty.
Copyright (c) 1991,1990,1989 Carnegie Mellon University
All Rights Reserved.
Software Distribution Coordinator or Software.Distribution@CS.CMU.EDU
School of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890
All rights reserved.
CARNEGIE MELLON ALLOWS FREE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IN ITS "AS IS"
CONDITION. CARNEGIE MELLON DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY OF ANY KIND
FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
Software Distribution Coordinator or Software.Distribution@CS.CMU.EDU
School of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890