# Can only do minimum install



## drhowarddrfine (Dec 15, 2010)

It's been a long time since I've installed FreeBSD but I'm a long time user. I don't have a DVD burner or large enough flash drive so I downloaded the dvd iso onto a Linux box (convenient) and extracted the files. I thought I'd install over ftp to that box. I burned the boot disk and ran sysinstall trying to install 8.1. No matter what I try, only a minimum install will work and using a kernel or developer install causes an error saying it can't find the install packages from the installation directory right after copying all the files into /boot. However, at one time I did have these installed before a power failure screwed up the disks and I had to start over.

Perhaps related, sysinstall reports it cannot ftp to the freebsd.org servers to do the install. 

I'm sure I've allocated enough disk space but here it is:

```
/ 2G
swap 2G
/var 4G
/tmp 1G
/usr 10G

2nd disk: 
/home all of it
```


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## SirDice (Dec 15, 2010)

You really don't need more then a minimal install. I advise not to install any packages from the CDs/DVDs as they are quite old by now. Just do the minimal install, update the base, install/update the ports tree and work from there.

The home directories are mounted on /usr/home/. /home/ is just a symlink to it.


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## drhowarddrfine (Dec 15, 2010)

Well, I didn't try to. Originally I selected everything but games and ports in sysinstall but the error calls it "packages/INDEX". I can't get man pages or the other docs and sources that way.


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## Beastie (Dec 15, 2010)

Like SirDice said, only do a minimal install (GENERIC kernel + base) using sysinstall. And nothing else.

When you boot the newly installed system, mount *disc1* or its ISO image (or download the same files from the FTP server), cd to the distributions you want to extract and execute the install.sh script found in each directory.
For the source, pass *all* (or only the parts you want) to install.sh.
The documentation is available as a package so you install it using *pkg_add*.


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## drhowarddrfine (Dec 15, 2010)

Beastie said:
			
		

> When you boot the newly installed system, mount *disc1* or its ISO image (or download the same files from the FTP server), cd to the distributions you want to extract and execute the install.sh script found in each directory.


I told myself I was going to do it that way. And then I didn't. 

I'd never done it that way in the past, though. Just used sysinstall for everything but my intention is to do everything from as close to ground zero as I can. Thanks and I'll come back to this if there are any issues.


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