# Unable to install distribution sets



## wrm (Feb 6, 2013)

Hi, I just installed FreeBSD-9.1 (amd64) on a VMware virtual machine using the minimal ISO. Basic installation went fine and I have a working shell.  I can ping things like ftp.freebsd.org which gives me confidence that the network is working.

I now try to install using the sysinstall 'configure' menu to add a distribution set (base, ports) but when I try the ftp or ftp passive method, I get 
	
	



```
Unable to transfer the base distribution from ftp://ftp.freebsd.org
```
 I have tried a few other ftp servers with the same result.

Any ideas?

I also tried installing the pkgng using /usr/sbin/pkg.  It tries bootstrapping the pkg tool and several times failed. It now seems to have succeeded (*pkg help* now works), so can I use this to get the base installation instead of using the sysinstall?


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## wblock@ (Feb 6, 2013)

sysinstall(8) is obsolete, please stop using it.  It cannot install the distribution sets for FreeBSD 9.  The new methods are portsnap(8) and freebsd-update(8), or devel/subversion.  See Updating and Upgrading FreeBSD in the Handbook.


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## wrm (Feb 6, 2013)

Ah, ok. Last time I installed FreeBSD was around v4.5 so I guess things have changed somewhat...  Is the concept of a distribution set no longer valid as well. If so, what replaced it?


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## wblock@ (Feb 6, 2013)

The new installer does let you select some of these: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.IS...k/using-bsdinstall.html#bsdinstall-components.  If you plan on updating the base source or ports beyond what comes with the release, there is not much point to installing those distributions, since the update methods have changed and need to start with an empty directory anyway.


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