Basic FreeBSD Setup & Install Notes

This doc covers basic setup of a FreeBSD server. It gets all the core OS functionality on the box, but doesn't cover application software, etc.

Install FreeBSD, using the ISO disk images from http://www.freebsd.org. During the install, you should use these settings/defaults:

Partition Defaults:
- Swap: 512MB or 2X RAM [NOTE: For EV servers, should be 4X drive capacity]
- /: 2048MB
- /var: ~2048MB
- /usr: Rest of disk
Install 'User Only' distribution
Install ports collection
Do any necessary basic config (e.g. networking) during install process.
Do not setup any users (yet), despite what the install process recommends

Basic software installation:

install /usr/ports/net/cvsup-without-gui
[OPTIONAL] Upgrade to freebsd-stable. See the FreeBSD-stable upgrade notes for more
Get the latest ports by copying the ports-supfile from another server (or use the sample file)
Do a cvsup ports-supfile to download the latest stuff

Now, install from ports:

/usr/ports/shells/bash
/usr/ports/net/mtr (this will take forever because it installs perl, etc. as dependencies)
/usr/ports/www/lynx
/usr/ports/net/ntp (then copy /etc/ntp.conf from another server and put ntpd_enable=“YES” in /etc/rc.conf )
/usr/ports/ports-mgmt/port-maintenance-tools (this is the port management meta package)
/usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portaudit
/usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portupgrade
/usr/ports/editors/vim
/usr/ports/security/sudo
/usr/ports/ftp/wget
/usr/ports/ftp/curl
/usr/ports/sysutils/screen
/usr/ports/net/rsync

Modify passwd file (using vipw), and add at least a toor acct. This means copying the entry for root, and changing the shell to /usr/local/bin/bash
Add other accounts if needed using adduser
Get rid of the stupid message of the day in /etc/motd
Setup automatic ports downloads, using /usr/local/bin/ports_sup.sh or similar. Run this via cron.

Finally, configure rest of server as desired/needed.