# Linux system possible to install FreeBSD using a mfsBSD image



## Alucn (Aug 9, 2022)

If you have a fresh new server, it is quite easy to get into a FreeBSD rescue system, here are the steps:

boot the Linux rescue system
download a recent mfsBSD image (.img not .iso)
wget https://mfsbsd.vx.sk/files/images/13/amd64/mfsbsd-13.1-RELEASE-amd64.img
write the image to the first drive
if it is a SATA or SAS drive
dd if=mfsbsd-13.1-RELEASE-amd64.img of=/dev/sda bs=1m
if it is a NVMe drive
dd if=mfsbsd-13.1-RELEASE-amd64.img of=/dev/nvme0n1 bs=1m

reboot the system
now you can login via SSH with the password “mfsroot”
if you want a secure password or an authorized key, you need to build your own mfsBSD image

I recommend using ZFS-on-root installs (e.g. the “zfsinstall” tool bundled in mfsBSD), so that in case of a problem you can import the zfs pool from the Linux rescue system and make changes to configuration files if necessary. The only thing that that cannot easily be installed from the Linux rescue system is the FreeBSD boot code.

If you are using a newer dedicated server that supports booting from UEFI, you can create an UEFI partition for booting and install and actually do a complete FreeBSD installation from the Linux rescue system.

More advanced users can setup grub to boot FreeBSD from ZFS, but there are many limitations to supported pool features and the user may require two ZFS pools. I personally recommend sticking to the FreeBSD boot loader.
reference material：


			FreeBSD on Hetzner dedicated servers – VX Weblog
		



			Martin Matuška - mfsBSD and mfslinux


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## hardworkingnewbie (Aug 11, 2022)

Yeah, and if the FreeBSD boot code is installed and gets corrupted after freebsd-update - this already happened to my on a dedicated server - it's the end of the line with this approach, because you will not be able to update it again.

This above is nice on non-critical systems; when systems are critical though you definitely want to have a FreeBSD rescue system provided by your server company.


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## SirDice (Aug 11, 2022)

hardworkingnewbie said:


> and if the FreeBSD boot code is installed and gets corrupted after freebsd-update


Won't happen because freebsd-update(8) doesn't update the bootcode. You have to do this by hand.


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## yuABXBM (Sep 8, 2022)

Could I humbly ask if you could point me to somewhere that explains the actual problem / if you could point out what the problem you are addressing is? I just started my attempt on exploring this system, and as such, fail to see the obvious challenges that everyone else sees. Anywho, if you dont mind:

Why wouldnt a full pci passthrough to a VM with freebsd memstick (or similar) from rescue (linux) not work? I'm obviously missing something here :|

Thanks in advance


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