8. Next Steps
Prev |  | Next

## 8. Next Steps

You should now have the tools you need to get around and edit files, so you can get everything up and running. There is a great deal of information in the FreeBSD handbook (which is probably on your hard drive) and FreeBSD's web site. A wide variety of packages and ports are on the CDROM as well as the web site. The handbook tells you more about how to use them (get the package if it exists, with `pkg_add /cdrom/packages/All/`packagename``, where `packagename` is the filename of the package). The CDROM has lists of the packages and ports with brief descriptions in `cdrom/packages/index`, `cdrom/packages/index.txt`, and `cdrom/ports/index`, with fuller descriptions in `/cdrom/ports/*/*/pkg/DESCR`, where the `*`s represent subdirectories of kinds of programs and program names respectively.

If you find the handbook too sophisticated (what with `lndir` and all) on installing ports from the CDROM, here is what usually works:

Find the port you want, say `kermit`. There will be a directory for it on the CDROM. Copy the subdirectory to `/usr/local` (a good place for software you add that should be available to all users) with:

`#` `cp -R /cdrom/ports/comm/kermit /usr/local`

This should result in a `/usr/local/kermit` subdirectory that has all the files that the `kermit` subdirectory on the CDROM has.

Next, create the directory `/usr/ports/distfiles` if it does not already exist using `mkdir`. Now check `/cdrom/ports/distfiles` for a file with a name that indicates it is the port you want. Copy that file to `/usr/ports/distfiles`; in recent versions you can skip this step, as FreeBSD will do it for you. In the case of `kermit`, there is no distfile.

Then `cd` to the subdirectory of `/usr/local/kermit` that has the file `Makefile`. Type

`#` `make all install`

During this process the port will FTP to get any compressed files it needs that it did not find on the CDROM or in `/usr/ports/distfiles`. If you do not have your network running yet and there was no file for the port in `/cdrom/ports/distfiles`, you will have to get the distfile using another machine and copy it to `/usr/ports/distfiles`. Read `Makefile` (with `cat` or `more` or `view`) to find out where to go (the master distribution site) to get the file and what its name is. (Use binary file transfers!) Then go back to `/usr/local/kermit`, find the directory with `Makefile`, and type `make all install`.

The other thing that happens when installing ports or packages is that some other program is needed.

Once it is installed type `rehash` to make FreeBSD reread the files in the path so it knows what is there. (If you get a lot of path not found messages when you use `whereis` or `which`, you might want to make additions to the list of directories in the path statement in `.cshrc` in your home directory. The path statement in UNIX® does the same kind of work it does in DOS, except the current directory is not (by default) in the path for security reasons; if the command you want is in the directory you are in, you need to type `./` before the command to make it work; no space after the slash.)

Prev |  | Next
7. Other Useful Commands | Home | 9. Your Working Environment

All FreeBSD documents are available for download at http://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/doc/

Questions that are not answered by the documentation may be sent to <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org>.
Send questions about this document to <freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.org>.