[ This is an update of the Newbie's Corner article that first appeared in the January 1999 issue. ]

Although newbies may have a lot of questions, one that's asked quite often is "I'm planning on installing FreeBSD from my Windows partition. What files do I need to download?". Since this is a "FAQ", I figured it would be a good candidate for a Newbie's Corner article.

Many people are confused about what they need to do to install from Windows. This is because they haven't bothered to read any documentation. Browsing to the FreeBSD web site, you'll see a large header that says "Easy to Install". Under it is some text with a link to these directions. Follow them. In particular, the ones under the "Before Installing from MS-DOS" will help you.

If you don't have a FreeBSD CDROM (I'm assuming that if you did, you'd install from it instead), you can download the parts you need for a minimal installation. I recommend a minimal installation if you're installing from Windows, because you can add other parts after you have the system up and running.

What to Download

If you log into ftp.FreeBSD.org, and follow the directions in the login message, you'll find yourself in the /pub/FreeBSD/releases/i386/ directory, or the /pub/FreeBSD/releases/alpha/ directory, depending on which architecture you're using. At the time this article was written, 4.2-RELEASE was the latest release. For example purposes, we'll assume you're running an x86 machine. In that case, connect to ftp.FreeBSD.org, change directories to /pub/FreeBSD/releases/i386/4.2-RELEASE, and download the entire contents of the bin directory. it is also a good idea to get the manpages directory, although it is not mandatory for a minimal install.

You should download the files into C:\FreeBSD on your Windows system. Be sure to keep the directory structure! It should look like this:

C:\FreeBSD\bin
C:\FreeBSD\manpages

And so on.

Installation

The installation process is exactly the same as any other type of install (FTP, CDROM, etc.). Boot off the floppies you made (you did read the instructions didn't you?), then choose MS-DOS as the installation media. If you set everything up properly (directory structures, etc.), you should be on your way to installing FreeBSD.

Conclusion

That's all there is to it. More information on installation can be found in the FreeBSD handbook.

- jim

Return to the January 2001 Issue