# Headless install by removing hard-drive



## matthewp (Mar 8, 2015)

Hello everyone. I am attempting to install FreeBSD 10 on a headless server. I know the guide suggests using a serial connection to do this I'm attempting to do it a different way for now (partially because I do not have a serial connector).

What I have done so far is remove the harddrive from the server and connect it to another computer using a SATA->usb connection. From there I was able to install FreeBSD 10 onto the hard-drive using VirtualBox (I created a vmdk for the connection). This worked out really well and I can ssh into the VM.

However when I try plugging the harddrive back into the headless server and wait for an IP to show up on the network... it never happens.

My guess is that the reason is that the network interface is for the one VirtualBox provides. So what I would like to do is create a network interface for the server's network card.

My question is, can I do this without it being connected to the server? Can I create a new interface, assign it DHCP, plug it in and have it work?  I've never tried something like this before and thought I'd ask the smart people here first.


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## obsigna (Mar 8, 2015)

I did this a few times in a little different manner. However, I guess you ran into the same obstacle as I did the first time.

In order to assign an IP address, either static or dynamic, normally you would need the name of the network interface for the proper ifconfig_* command in the file /etc/rc.conf. Fortunately, you can put something like the following into rc.conf until you figured out the correct interface:

```
...
ifconfig_DEFAULT="192.168.xx.yy/24"
...
```
or

```
...
ifconfig_DEFAULT="SYNCDHCP"
...
```
I used this technique for preparing a USB pendrive for headless FreeBSD installation via ssh. I wrote a post on this on my BLog. It is in German, however, Google Translator does a reasonable job to translate it into different languages:

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&ie=UTF-8&u=http://blog.obsigna.net/?p=409&edit-text=&act=url


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## matthewp (Mar 8, 2015)

Thank you!  Setting ifconfig_DEFAULT did indeed work.  Very appreciated.


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## matthewp (Mar 8, 2015)

Once I do this should I go change rc.conf to the network interface I'm using?  In my case it's re0.  I can't ping out to the internet currently and I'm wondering if this is the reason why.


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## rmoe (Mar 9, 2015)

Maybe I miss something but if you know the interface is re0 what keeps you away from just adapting your /etc/rc.conf?


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