# Best order to install packages



## Mausy5043 (Sep 29, 2012)

Hi,

I'm relatively new to FreeBSD. I've done some Linux installations in the past and I've been experimenting with FreeBSD (9.0-RELEASE) for a while now. 
I have an old PC-box (amd64) left over and I decided I want to use it as a headless server on my home-network. I have several Macs, iPods and Windows7 machines and a WiFi-printer on the network as well as a Synology NAS.
What I anticipate to be installing on the server is:

Apache server and later phpMyAdmin and some wiki-software
syslog server
SAMBA server
CUPS server w/ hplip support
 Transmission client

In the past weeks I've been doing some practice runs by installing FreeBSD on a virtual machine and trying out different stuff I need (including building a custom kernel). 
Eventually, I want to administer the server completely remotely using [CMD="ssh"][/CMD].

I was wondering if there is an adviced order in which I would need to install the various packages.
Do I need to install DNS? Or will things work fine without it?
Because CUPS/hplip seem to require a GUI do I need to install xorg and Gnome2 or can I do without?
Any suggestions are highly appreciated.


----------



## suntzu (Sep 29, 2012)

DNS si in base.
The default syslog can do a pretty decent job. 


There isn't a particular order to install different apps.
I don't think that you need to install Xorg to manage a any type of server.


----------



## mamalos (Sep 29, 2012)

You don't need DNS in order to run the services you're mentioning (except if you want to have name resolution for your home machines).

The order of installing your programs is irrelevant. You can start off with the one you know best and keep on with the others.

Good luck.

PS. What do you mean by "transmission client"?


----------



## Mausy5043 (Sep 29, 2012)

*Transmission*



			
				mamalos said:
			
		

> PS. What do you mean by "transmission client"?



See http://www.transmissionbt.com/
Transmission is a BT-client.


----------



## kpa (Sep 29, 2012)

net-p2p/transmission-daemon and net-p2p/transmission-cli, best thing since sliced bread


----------



## dave (Sep 29, 2012)

While DNS will work fine untouched, you can very easily enable a simple caching server in FreeBSD which willspeed up DNS resolution for your local network.  Simply add your upstream DNS servers as forwarders in /etc/namedb/named.conf, specify the loop back address in /etc/resolv.conf, and put 
	
	



```
named_enable="YES"
```
 into /etc/rc.conf.  Now you can point internal clients to your server as for DNS to speed up resolution.

As for installing software, it doesn't seem to matter what order, although I always start by installing ports-mgmt/portmaster because can use it to install a bunch of stuff in a more or less unattended way.  Are you using ports or packages?  You should be clear on the difference...


----------



## Mausy5043 (Sep 29, 2012)

dave said:
			
		

> As for installing software, it doesn't seem to matter what order, although I always start by installing ports-mgmt/portmaster because can use it to install a bunch of stuff in a more or less unattended way.  Are you using ports or packages?  You should be clear on the difference...



I used pkg_add to install stuff on the virgin system. I added ports-mgmt/portmaster and ports-mgmt/portaudit using pkg_add. Since then I tend to use [CMD="-"]portmaster[/CMD] to add whatever I need. 

I admit that I tend to use the terms "port" and "package" to mean the same thing. I am somewhat confused by the two. Not sure when something is a port or package. The handbook isn't very clear on that subject too. It starts talking about installing packages and then suddenly ports are being installed. :\
Sorry for that.


----------



## kpa (Sep 29, 2012)

A package is what gets installed either by fetching a package from the package repository or by compiling a port. Ports are sets of instructions and metadata for building the packages, they live under /usr/ports/*/*. The term port is used for both many times because a package is in a way "installed port".


----------



## dave (Sep 29, 2012)

Packages and Ports are very much NOT the same thing.  I suggest you get clear on the difference before you continue.  You should review the handbook: Chapter 5 Installing Applications: Packages and Ports. Packages are pre-compiled versions of ports.  As such, they are much faster to install, because they do not need to be compiled at install time.  However, they are not updated nearly as often.  AND, afaik, they _cannot_ be configured for various install-time options like ports can.  You will find that most FreeBSD admins prefer ports by far.


----------



## Mausy5043 (Sep 29, 2012)

Yes. I found this page very insightful: http://lostandunfound.hubpages.com/hub/FreeBSD-packages-vs-ports


----------



## SirDice (Oct 1, 2012)

dave said:
			
		

> Packages and Ports are very much NOT the same thing.


Packages are simply pre-compiled ports, nothing more, nothing less.


----------

