              FreeBSD Quickstart Guide for Linux(R) Users

  John Ferrell

   $FreeBSD:
   release/8.4.0/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/linux-users/article.xml
   39808 2012-10-25 14:42:07Z eadler $

   Copyright (c) 2008 The FreeBSD Documentation Project

   $FreeBSD:
   release/8.4.0/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/linux-users/article.xml
   39808 2012-10-25 14:42:07Z eadler $

   FreeBSD is a registered trademark of the FreeBSD Foundation.

   Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

   Intel, Celeron, EtherExpress, i386, i486, Itanium, Pentium, and
   Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation
   or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

   Red Hat, RPM, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat,
   Inc. in the United States and other countries.

   UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United
   States and other countries.

   Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to
   distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those
   designations appear in this document, and the FreeBSD Project was
   aware of the trademark claim, the designations have been followed
   by the "(TM)" or the "(R)" symbol.

   This document is intended to quickly familiarize intermediate to
   advanced Linux(R) users with the basics of FreeBSD.

     --------------------------------------------------------------

1 Introduction

   This document will highlight the differences between FreeBSD and
   Linux so that intermediate to advanced Linux users can quickly
   familiarize themselves with the basics of FreeBSD. This is just a
   technical quickstart, it does not attempt to design
   "philosophical" differences between the two operating systems.

   This document assumes that you have already installed FreeBSD. If
   you have not installed FreeBSD or need help with the installation
   process please refer to the   Installing FreeBSD chapter of the
   FreeBSD Handbook.

     --------------------------------------------------------------

2 Shells: No Bash?

   Those coming from Linux are often surprised to find that Bash is
   not the default shell in FreeBSD. In fact, Bash is not even in the
   default installation. Instead, FreeBSD uses tcsh(1) as the default
   shell. Although, Bash and your other favorite shells are available
   in FreeBSD's Packages and Ports Collection.

   If you do install other shells you can use chsh(1) to set a user's
   default shell. It is, however, recommended that the root's default
   shell remain unchanged. The reason for this is that shells not
   included in the base distribution are normally installed in
   /usr/local/bin or /usr/bin. In the event of a problem the file
   systems where /usr/local/bin and /usr/bin are located may not be
   mounted. In this case root would not have access to its default
   shell, preventing root from logging in. For this reason a second
   root account, the toor account, was created for use with
   non-default shells. See the security FAQ for information regarding
   the toor account.

     --------------------------------------------------------------

3 Packages and Ports: Adding software in FreeBSD

   In addition to the traditional UNIX(R) method of installing
   software (download source, extract, edit source code, and
   compile), FreeBSD offers two other methods for installing
   applications: packages and ports. A complete list of of all
   available ports and packages can be found here.

     --------------------------------------------------------------

  3.1 Packages

   Packages are pre-compiled applications, the FreeBSD equivalents of
   .deb files on Debian/Ubuntu based systems and .rpm files on
   Red Hat/Fedora based systems. Packages are installed using
   pkg_add(1). For example, the following command installs Apache
   2.2:

 # pkg_add /tmp/apache-2.2.6_2.tbz

   Using the -r switch will tell pkg_add(1) to automatically fetch a
   package and install it, as well as any dependencies:

 # pkg_add -r apache22
 Fetching ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-6.2-release/Latest/apache22.tbz... Done.
 Fetching ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-6.2-release/All/expat-2.0.0_1.tbz... Done.
 Fetching ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-6.2-release/All/perl-5.8.8_1.tbz... Done.
 [snip]

 To run apache www server from startup, add apache22_enable="YES"
 in your /etc/rc.conf. Extra options can be found in startup script.

     Note: If you are running a release version of FreeBSD (6.2, 6.3,
     7.0, etc., generally installed from CD-ROM) pkg_add -r will
     download packages built for that specific release. These
     packages may not be the most up-to-date version of the
     application. You can use the PACKAGESITE variable to override
     this default behavior. For example, set PACKAGESITE to
     ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-6-stable/Latest/
     to download the most recent packages built for the 6.X series.

   For more information on packages please refer to section 4.4 of
   the FreeBSD Handbook: Using the Packages System.

     --------------------------------------------------------------

  3.2 Ports

   FreeBSD's second method for installing applications is the
   Ports Collection. The Ports Collection is a framework of Makefiles
   and patches specifically customized for installing various
   software applications from source on FreeBSD. When installing a
   port the system will fetch the source code, apply any required
   patches, compile the code, and install the application (and do the
   same for any dependencies).

   The Ports Collection, sometimes referred to as the ports tree, can
   be found in /usr/ports. That is assuming the Ports Collection was
   installed during the FreeBSD installation process. If the
   Ports Collection has not been installed it can be added from the
   installation discs using sysinstall(8), or pulled from the FreeBSD
   servers using csup(1) or portsnap(8). Detailed instructions for
   installing the Ports Collection can be found in section 4.5.1 of
   the handbook.

   Installing a port is as simple (generally) as changing in to the
   port's directory and starting the build process. The following
   example installs Apache 2.2 from the Ports Collection:

 # cd /usr/ports/www/apache22
 # make install clean

   A major benefit of using ports to install software is the ability
   to customize the installation options. For example, when
   installing Apache 2.2 from ports you can enable mod_ldap by
   setting the WITH_LDAP make(1) variable:

 # cd /usr/ports/www/apache22
 # make WITH_LDAP="YES" install clean

   Please see section 4.5 of the FreeBSD Handbook, Using the
   Ports Collection, for more information about the Ports Collection.

     --------------------------------------------------------------

  3.3 Ports or packages, which one should I use?

   Packages are just pre-compiled ports, so it is really a matter of
   installing from source (ports) versus installing from binary
   packages. Each method has its own benefits:

   Packages (binary)

     * Faster installation (compiling large applications can take
       quite a while).

     * You do not need to understand how to compile software.

     * No need to install compilers on your system.

   Ports (source)

     * Ability to customize installation options. (Packages are
       normally built with standard options. With ports you can
       customize various options, such as building additional modules
       or changing the default path.)

     * You can apply your own patches if you are so inclined.

   If you do not have any special requirements, packages will
   probably suit your situation just fine. If you may ever need to
   customize, ports are the way to go. (And remember, if you need to
   customize but prefer packages, you can build a custom package from
   ports using make package and then copy the package to other
   servers.)

     --------------------------------------------------------------

4 System Startup: Where are the run-levels?

   Linux uses the SysV init system, whereas FreeBSD uses the
   traditional BSD-style init(8). Under the BSD-style init(8) there
   are no run-levels and no /etc/inittab, instead startup is
   controlled by the rc(8) utility. The /etc/rc script reads
   /etc/defaults/rc.conf and /etc/rc.conf to determine which services
   are to be started. The specified services are then started by
   running the corresponding service initialization scripts located
   in /etc/rc.d/ and /usr/local/etc/rc.d/. These scripts are similar
   to the scripts located in /etc/init.d/ on Linux systems.

   +----------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Why are there two locations for service initialization         |
   | scripts? The scripts found in /etc/rc.d/ are for applications  |
   | that are part of the "base" system. (cron(8), sshd(8),         |
   | syslog(3), and others.) The scripts in /usr/local/etc/rc.d/    |
   | are for user-installed applications such as Apache, Squid,     |
   | etc.                                                           |
   |                                                                |
   | What is the difference between the "base" system and           |
   | user-installed applications? FreeBSD is developed as a         |
   | complete operating system. In other words, the kernel, system  |
   | libraries, and userland utilities (such as ls(1), cat(1),      |
   | cp(1), etc.) are developed and released together as one. This  |
   | is what is referred to as the "base" system. The               |
   | user-installed applications are applications that are not part |
   | of the "base" system, such as Apache, X11, Mozilla Firefox,    |
   | etc. These user-installed applications are generally installed |
   | using FreeBSD's Packages and Ports Collection. In order to     |
   | keep them separate from the "base" system, user-installed      |
   | applications are normally installed under /usr/local/.         |
   | Therefore the user-installed binaries reside in                |
   | /usr/local/bin/, configuration files are in /usr/local/etc/,   |
   | and so on.                                                     |
   +----------------------------------------------------------------+

   Services are enabled by specifying ServiceName_enable="YES" in
   /etc/rc.conf (rc.conf(5)). Take a look at /etc/defaults/rc.conf
   for the system defaults, these default settings are overridden by
   settings in /etc/rc.conf. Also, when installing additional
   applications be sure to review the documentation to determine how
   to enable any associated services.

   The following snippet from /etc/rc.conf enables sshd(8) and Apache
   2.2. It also specifies that Apache should be started with SSL.

 # enable SSHD
 sshd_enable="YES"
 # enable Apache with SSL
 apache22_enable="YES"
 apache22_flags="-DSSL"

   Once a service has been enabled in /etc/rc.conf, the service can
   be started from the command line (without rebooting the system):

 # /etc/rc.d/sshd start

   If a service has not been enabled it can be started from the
   command line using forcestart:

 # /etc/rc.d/sshd forcestart

     --------------------------------------------------------------

5 Network configuration

  5.1 Network Interfaces

   Instead of a generic ethX identifier that Linux uses to identify a
   network interface, FreeBSD uses the driver name followed by a
   number as the identifier. The following output from ifconfig(8)
   shows two Intel(R) Pro 1000 network interfaces (em0 and em1):

 % ifconfig
 em0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
         options=b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU>
         inet 10.10.10.100 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 10.10.10.255
         ether 00:50:56:a7:70:b2
         media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseTX <full-duplex>)
         status: active
 em1: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
         options=b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU>
         inet 192.168.10.222 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.10.255
         ether 00:50:56:a7:03:2b
         media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseTX <full-duplex>)
         status: active

     --------------------------------------------------------------

  5.2 IP Configuration

   An IP address can be assigned to an interface using ifconfig(8).
   However, to remain persistent across reboots the IP configuration
   must be included in /etc/rc.conf. The following example specifies
   the hostname, IP address, and default gateway:

 hostname="server1.example.com"
 ifconfig_em0="inet 10.10.10.100  netmask 255.255.255.0"
 defaultrouter="10.10.10.1"

   Use the following to configure an interface for DHCP:

 hostname="server1.example.com"
 ifconfig_em0="DHCP"

     --------------------------------------------------------------

6 Firewall

   Like IPTABLES in Linux, FreeBSD also offers a kernel level
   firewall; actually FreeBSD offers three firewalls:

     * IPFIREWALL

     * IPFILTER

     * PF

   IPFIREWALL or IPFW (the command to manage an IPFW ruleset is
   ipfw(8)) is the firewall developed and maintained by the FreeBSD
   developers. IPFW can be paired with dummynet(4) to provide traffic
   shaping capabilities and simulate different types of network
   connections.

   Sample IPFW rule to allow SSH in:

 ipfw add allow tcp from any to me 22 in via $ext_if

   IPFILTER is the firewall application developed by Darren Reed. It
   is not specific to FreeBSD, and has been ported to several
   operating systems including NetBSD, OpenBSD, SunOS, HP/UX, and
   Solaris.

   Sample IPFILTER command to allow SSH in:

 pass in on $ext_if proto tcp from any to any port = 22

   The last firewall application, PF, is developed by the OpenBSD
   project. PF was created as a replacement for IPFILTER. As such,
   the PF syntax is very similar to that of IPFILTER. PF can be
   paired with altq(4) to provide QoS features.

   Sample PF command to allow SSH in:

 pass in on $ext_if inet proto tcp from any to ($ext_if) port 22

     --------------------------------------------------------------

7 Updating FreeBSD

   There are three methods for updating a FreeBSD system: from
   source, binary updates, and the installation discs.

   Updating from source is the most involved update method, but
   offers the greatest amount of flexibility. The process involves
   synchronizing a local copy of the FreeBSD source code with the
   FreeBSD Subversion servers. Once the local source code is up to
   date you can build new versions of the kernel and userland. For
   more information on source updates see the chapter on updating in
   the FreeBSD Handbook.

   Binary updates are similar to using yum or apt-get to update a
   Linux system. The command freebsd-update(8) will fetch new updates
   and install them. The updates can be scheduled using cron(8).

     Note: If you do use cron(8) to schedule the updates, please be
     sure to use freebsd-update cron in your crontab(1) to reduce the
     possibility of a large number of machines all pulling updates at
     the same time.

 0 3 * * * root /usr/sbin/freebsd-update cron

   The last update method, updating from the installation discs, is a
   straight-forward process. Boot from the installation discs and
   select the option to upgrade.

     --------------------------------------------------------------

8 procfs: Gone But Not Forgotten

   In Linux, you may have looked at /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward to
   determine if IP forwarding was enabled. Under FreeBSD you should
   use sysctl(8) to view this and other system settings, as procfs(5)
   has been deprecated in current versions of FreeBSD. (Although
   sysctl is available in Linux as well.)

   In the IP forwarding example, you would use the following to
   determine if IP forwarding is enabled on your FreeBSD system:

 % sysctl net.inet.ip.forwarding
 net.inet.ip.forwarding: 0

   The -a flag is used to list all the system settings:

 % sysctl -a
 kern.ostype: FreeBSD
 kern.osrelease: 6.2-RELEASE-p9
 kern.osrevision: 199506
 kern.version: FreeBSD 6.2-RELEASE-p9 #0: Thu Nov 29 04:07:33 UTC 2007
     root@i386-builder.daemonology.net:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC

 kern.maxvnodes: 17517
 kern.maxproc: 1988
 kern.maxfiles: 3976
 kern.argmax: 262144
 kern.securelevel: -1
 kern.hostname: server1
 kern.hostid: 0
 kern.clockrate: { hz = 1000, tick = 1000, profhz = 666, stathz = 133 }
 kern.posix1version: 200112
 ...

     Note: Some of these sysctl values are read-only.

   There are occasions where procfs is required, such as running
   older software, using truss(1) to trace system calls, and Linux
   Binary Compatibility. (Although, Linux Binary Compatibility uses
   its own procfs, linprocfs(5).) If you need to mount procfs you can
   add the following to /etc/fstab:

 proc                /proc           procfs  rw,noauto       0       0

     Note: noauto will prevent /proc from being automatically mounted
     at boot.

   And then mount procfs with:

 # mount /proc

     --------------------------------------------------------------

9 Common Commands

  9.1 Package Management



       Linux command (Red Hat/Debian)       FreeBSD       Purpose     
                                           equivalent 
   yum install package / apt-get install   pkg_add -r Install package 
   package                                 package    from remote     
                                                      repository      
   rpm -ivh package / dpkg -i package      pkg_add -v Install package 
                                           package    
   rpm -qa / dpkg -l                       pkg_info   List installed  
                                                      packages        

     --------------------------------------------------------------

  9.2 System Management



    Linux command   FreeBSD equivalent             Purpose            
   lspci           pciconf               List PCI devices             
   lsmod           kldstat               List loaded kernel modules   
   modprobe        kldload / kldunload   Load/Unload kernel modules   
   strace          truss                 Trace system calls           

     --------------------------------------------------------------

10 Conclusion

   Hopefully this document has provided you with enough to get
   started with FreeBSD. Be sure to take a look at the
   FreeBSD Handbook for more in depth coverage of the topics touched
   on as well as the many topics not covered in this document.

     --------------------------------------------------------------
