# Where to find old releases of FreeBSD?



## karan (Sep 9, 2012)

Hi! I have bought a book about FreeBSD. But the book was published in 2008 year. So I think that if I download a last release of FreeBSD then some commands and advices from book will not be able to work on a new version of FreeBSD. That's why I would like to download for example FreeBSD 7.0 release, but can't find it.
    I'm a newcomer in FreeBSD and will be glad to hear some advices from you. FreeBSD I want to install onto a notebook ACER ASPIRE 5536G.


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## ondra_knezour (Sep 9, 2012)

Most of commands mentioned in book should be still applicable, but older releases are also available, for example here. 

There is no reason to be afraid of changes, as FreeBSD is well documented. I would suggest try latest release and consult your book with informations found in Handbook linked above.


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## xibo (Sep 9, 2012)

If you need a 7.0 installation you can install the 7.3 release and downgrade it to 7.0, by the same procedure that updating works.

The source can be fetched from svn://svn.freebsd.org/base/release/7.0.0.


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## karan (Sep 9, 2012)

Thank you! Therefore I think it will be difficult to understand the changes because this is my first time when would be work with FreeBSD. I have some skill with Linux systems which little similiar to FreeBSD.


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## mamalos (Sep 10, 2012)

It is not very wise to use an older distribution of any OS just because you have bought a book for this OS that uses an older distro in its examples.  Your OS, at least for security matters, should always be as up-to-date as possible (or as old as possible, but this is a different discussion) and even though some stuff may have changed from the time your book is covering, I'm quite certain that most things will work for newer versions as well. Moreover, changes made are commonly done due to a reason, and are usually leading to a "better" version.

On the other hand, if you *must* follow an older branch of FreeBSD, you can download 7.4 that is still available and supported (up to a point) and do your stuff there, as it is the most close version to the one you're seeking.

PS. BTW, what is the title of this book you've acquired? Maybe someone will be able to consult you with a book that covers all things you need without having to work with an older version of FreeBSD.


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## wblock@ (Sep 10, 2012)

mamalos is right, use a current release.  But for completeness, old FreeBSD releases all the way back to 1.0 can be found at http://ftp-archive.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD-Archive/old-releases/.


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## knarf (Sep 11, 2012)

Oh, I thought versions before 2.0 are no longer allowed to be actively distributed. Also 1.1.5.1 is missing in this archive (the first version I installed a while ago).


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