Installing a BSD Operating System will take a little effort the first time around. It is not simple like the Mac OS or Linux even. You will need to understand your hardware and you will need to make various decisions along the course of your installation. It is not for the faint of heart.

Fortunately, after you have performed your first install, perhaps with the help of a friend, you will find the second time around much easier. You will understand what a partition is and how big you would want each one to be. And you will know the kinds of questions you will have to answer during the installation.

Since the installations of FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD vary, I will not go into great detail. Instead I will offer tips to help you in your installation.

To begin, you will need to choose which BSD will fit your needs best. I am partial to FreeBSD as it has served me well as a web server, file server, firewall and a gateway. I typically purchase x86 hardware with Intel processors so FreeBSD is an ideal candidate. I could also choose NetBSD or OpenBSD since they also run on x86 hardware. Their capabilities are quite similar. Each flavor of BSD borrows qualities from each other when they see fit and any BSD will likely work for you. But if you had a Sun box, FreeBSD is out. Only OpenBSD or NetBSD can install on Sun boxes.

Ok, what else should I consider in deciding my candidate OS? What is the main job of that new box? If it is going to be a firewall, you may lean to OpenBSD. If it is going to be a file server, you may choose FreeBSD for it's speedy networking. Look at your options and determine your best bet.

Ok, now assume you have chosen your OS. Now you can either download the installation software or purchase it. When you download it, it is entirely free but you will need to wait for the download. If you are downloading an ISO file so you can create your own installation CD, you may have to wait a while even if you are on a dedicated line. The advantage of purchasing the installation software is that you can avoid the download and have all the required software at your fingertips. The revenue from your purchase also goes towards the future development of your new favorite OS. Purchasing the software if the right thing to do. For a paltry $40 you can have one of the most powerful Unix Operating Systems in the world shipped to your doorstep. It is well worth it.

Now that you have your software and are ready to install the new OS, carefully follow the instructions which come with the software. Go step by step and try your best to learn about what you are doing. Knowing various details can be a great help down the road. After your first installation you can choose how you want to perform the next install. Also keep in mind that the best way to learn is to learn about what you did wrong. Did you make your mail partition too small for your new mail server? Did you only give 50megs to your users partition? Did you put your swapspace on the slow IDE drive and not your quick SCSI drive? Remember your mistakes and learn from them. Before you know it you will be advising others on how to install a BSD system.

• Installing to FreeBSD
• OpenBSD Installation Guide
• NetBSD Installation
• Resources for Newbies (FreeBSD)
• The Installation (FreeBSD Diary)
• Configuration Settings (OpenBSD)