FreeBSD created by Nate Williams, Jordan Hubbard, and Rod Grimes, is an open-source Unix-like operating system derived from BSD. It is widely used for various applications including servers, networking, and storage solutions. Its permissive license and strong performance make it a popular choice in both commercial and open-source projects.
Get an overview of FreeBSD, starting with version 13.3:
ISO: https://download.freebsd.org/releases/amd64/amd64/ISO-IMAGES/13.3/FreeBSD-13.3-RELEASE-amd64-bootonly.iso (380 MB)
Installer: bsdinstall, a Bourne shell script, the source code is available at https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-src/tree/main/usr.sbin/bsdinstall
Network Interface: hn0, configured via DHCP, no IPv6
Hostname: freebsd.local
Disk Layout: da0, auto (ZFS)
Root: password set
SSH: Enabled
Type:halt -p
You can interactively use the magic command:
bsdconfig networking
Apply the new name (freebsd.lab.local):hostname freebsd.lab.local
Keep it at reboot:sysrc hostname="freebsd.lab.local"
Set the static IP address:sysrc ifconfig_hn0="inet 192.168.1.26/24"
Set the gateway:sysrc defaultrouter="192.168.1.1"
Resolving DNS, change the file /etc/resolv.conf:nameserver 8.8.8.8
nameserver 8.8.4.4
lookup file bind
Restart the network stack to apply the changes:service netif restart
service routing restart
Set the interface to use DHCP:sysrc ifconfig_hn0="DHCP"
Don't use old default router option:sysrc defaultrouter="NO"
Restart the network stack to apply the changes:service netif restart
service routing restart
Check the network interface and default route:resolvconf -i
route show default
ping -4 -c 2 yahoo.fr
If the default route is not set correctly, run:dhclient hn0
Don't forget to change your /etc/hosts file.
Finally, check the result with: ifconfig hn0
You can also check your Internet connection with:ping yahoo.fr
You can interactively use the magic commands bsdconfig useradd or adduser
The hard way:
To add a user named admin:pw user add -m -n admin
Allow admin to use su for administration:pw group mod wheel -m admin
Assign a password to admin:passwd admin
Check the results with: id admin
You can now use ssh to administrate the box remotely:ssh admin@IP_ADDRESS
FreeBSD does not include sudo or doas by default.
Before being able to do that, you need get root access using the command su, then update your pkg database and upgrade all installed packages:pkg update && pkg upgrade
Finally install sudo pkg install sudo or if you prefer to use doas pkg install doas.
Alternatively, you can use the built-in su, for example su root -c "ipfstat -io".
Let's install nginx:pkg install nginx
The configuration file is here: /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf
No need to tune it. It is enough for our test.
By default the root web directory is /usr/local/www/nginx.
Enable nginx at startup:sysrc nginx_enable=YES
Start nginx: service nginx start
cd /usr/local/www/nginx
mv index.html index.html.backup
echo '<h1>It works!</h1>' > index.html
You can now browse the test page from another computer by navigating to http://<IP_ADDRESS>.
FreeBSD has three firewalls built into the base system: PF, IPFW, and IPFILTER, also known as IPF
We will use PF: sysrc pf_enable=yes
Logging support for PF is provided by pflog(4): sysrc pflog_enable=yes
Change the file /etc/pf.conf (allow only ping/ssh/www from anywhere):ext_if='hn0'
set skip on lo
block log all
pass in on $ext_if inet proto icmp all icmp-type echoreq
pass in on $ext_if inet proto tcp from any to any port {ssh, www}
pass out
Let's enable PF!service pf start
# You will lost your ssh connection
| Action | Command |
|---|---|
| Start PF | service pf start |
| Start pflog | service pflog start |
| Check the rules syntax | pfctl -nf /etc/pf.conf |
| Apply new rules | pfctl -f /etc/pf.conf |
| View active rules | pfctl -s rules |
| Flush current rules | pfctl -F rules |
| Disable PF | service pf stop |
| Check logs | tcpdump -nettti pflog0 |
From a 13.3 release, you can see the patches at https: //www.freebsd.org/releases/13.3R/errata.
You can also check for available updates:freebsd-update updatesready
Fetch the available updates: freebsd-update fetch
Install the fetched updates: freebsd-update install
You can then check your version using: freebsd-version
Update your binary packages: pkg upgrade
To upgrade from version 13.3 to 14.1:freebsd-update fetch
freebsd-update install
freebsd-update -r 14.1-RELEASE upgrade
Follow the steps (merge files if necessary, then run /usr/sbin/freebsd-update install.
Please reboot and run:/usr/sbin/freebsd-update install
pkg bootstrap -f
pkg-static install -f pkg
pkg update
pkg upgrade
reboot
Then, you can check your version using freebsd-version.
Type: df -hThe results:Filesystem Size Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
zroot/ROOT/default 6.0G 2.9G 3.2G 47% /
devfs 1.0K 0B 1.0K 0% /dev
zroot/tmp 3.2G 96K 3.2G 0% /tmp
zroot/var/log 3.2G 564K 3.2G 0% /var/log
zroot 3.2G 96K 3.2G 0% /zroot
zroot/usr/home 3.2G 128K 3.2G 0% /usr/home
zroot/usr/ports 3.2G 96K 3.2G 0% /usr/ports
zroot/usr/src 3.2G 96K 3.2G 0% /usr/src
zroot/var/audit 3.2G 96K 3.2G 0% /var/audit
zroot/var/crash 3.2G 96K 3.2G 0% /var/crash
zroot/var/mail 3.2G 96K 3.2G 0% /var/mail
zroot/var/tmp 3.2G 104K 3.2G 0% /var/tmp
The kernel: sysctl kern.bootfile (generally → /boot/kernel/kernel)
Hypervisor: bhyve(8)
Default MTA: DMA (DragonFly Mail Agent)
Pros
Cons
Last update: 2024/08/04
Click to top.