Table of Contents
It is possible to install NetBSD together with other operating systems on one hard disk.
If there is already an operating system on the hard disk, think about how you can free some space for NetBSD; if NetBSD will share the disk with other operating systems you will probably need to create a new partition (which you will do with sysinst). Often times this will not be possible unless you resize an existing partition.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to resize an existing partition with sysinst, but there are some commercial products (like Partition Magic) and some free tools (GNU Parted, FIPS, pfdisk) available for this.
You can also install NetBSD on a separate hard disk.
Advice
Unless you are comfortable with setting up a partitioning scheme for two or more operating systems, and unless you understand the risk of data loss if you should make a mistake, it is recommended that you give NetBSD its own hard disk. This removes the risk of damage to the existing operating system.
It is possible to install and run NetBSD on top of other operating systems without having to worry about partitioning. Emulators or virtualization environments provide a quick and secure way to try out NetBSD. The host operating system remains unchanged, and the risk of damaging important data is minimized.
Information about NetBSD as a Xen host and guest system is available on the NetBSD/xen web page.
The NetBSD on emulated hardware web page provides detailed information about various emulators and the supported NetBSD platforms. It should also be noted that NetBSD runs as a VMware guest.
The first thing to do before installing NetBSD is to read the
release information and installation notes in one of the
INSTALL files: this is the official
description of the installation procedure, with platform-specific
information and important details. It is available in HTML, PostScript,
plain text, and an enhanced text format to be used with
more. These
files can be found in the root
directory of the NetBSD release (on the install CD or on the FTP
server). For example:
ftp://ftp.NetBSD.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-5.0/port/INSTALL.html
The terminology used by NetBSD for partitioning is different from the typical DOS/Windows terminology; in fact, there are two partitioning schemes involved when running NetBSD on a typical PC. NetBSD installs in one of the four primary BIOS partitions (the partitions defined in the hard disk partition table).
Within a BIOS partition (also called slice) NetBSD defines its BSD partitions using a disklabel: these partitions can be seen only by NetBSD and are identified by lowercase letters (starting with “a”). For example, wd0a refers to the “a” partition of the first IDE disk (wd0) and sd0a refers to the “a” partition of the first SCSI disk. In Figure 2.1, “Partitions” there are two primary BIOS partitions, one used by DOS and the other by NetBSD. NetBSD describes the disk layout through the disklabel.
Note
The meaning of partitions “c” and “d” is typical of the i386 port. On most other ports, “c” represents the whole disk.
Note
If NetBSD shares the hard disk with another operating system (like in the previous example) you will want to install a boot manager, i.e., a program which lets you choose which OS to start at boot time. sysinst can do this for you and will ask if you want to install one. Unless you have specific reasons not to, you should let sysinst perform this step.
The exact amount of space required for a given NetBSD installation varies depending on the platform being used and which distribution sets are selected. In general, if you have 1GB of free space on your hard drive, you will have more than enough space for a full installation of the base system.
If you plan to fetch distribution sets over the network (not necessary if you downloaded a full-size install ISO) and do not use DHCP, write down your basic network settings. You will need:
Your IP address (example: 192.168.1.7)
the netmask (example: 255.255.255.0)
the IP address of your default gateway (example: 192.168.1.1)
the IP address of the DNS server you use (example: 145.253.2.75)
Before you begin the installation, make sure that you have a reliable backup of any operating systems and data on the used hard disk. Mistakes in partitioning your hard disk can lead to data loss. Existing operating systems may become unbootable. "Reliable backup" means that the backup and restore procedure is tested and works flawlessly!
The NetBSD installation system consists of two parts. The first part is the installation kernel. This kernel contains the NetBSD install program sysinst and it is booted from a CD (or DVD), memory card, USB flash drive, or floppy disk. The sysinst program will prepare the disk: it separates the disk space into partitions, makes the disk bootable and creates the necessary file systems.
The second part of the install system is made up of the binary distribution sets: the files of the NetBSD operating system. The installer needs to have access to the distribution sets. sysinst will usually fetch these files from the CD or DVD you burned, but it can also get them via FTP, NFS, or local filesystem.
The NetBSD Project provides complete install media for every
supported hardware architecture. This is usually in the form of
bootable CD images (.iso files). For example:
ftp://ftp.NetBSD.org/pub/NetBSD/iso/5.0/
Note
Please see the list of mirrors and choose a local server near you for downloads
To use a bootable NetBSD install CD
download the iso file for your hardware
architecture and burn it to a CD or DVD. You will need to handle
this step alone, as burning programs vary widely. Ensure that
your computer is set up to boot from CD-ROM before hard drives,
insert the disc, and reboot the computer.
If you need to create installation floppies, you need to
copy floppy images to a diskette. The floppy images are available
on the NetBSD FTP servers or on a NetBSD install CD.
To perform this operation in DOS you can use the
rawrite program in the
i386/installation/misc directory. For
Windows, there's a version in rawr32.zip.
The image files are
i386/installation/floppy/boot1.fs and
i386/installation/floppy/boot2.fs for
installation of a “normal” PC.
The other floppies that are available are described in more detail
in the INSTALL document.
Note
Before you write the boot images to floppies, you should always check that the floppies are good: this simple step is often overlooked, but can save you a lot of trouble!
The procedure to write floppies is:
Format the floppy.
Go to the
I386\INSTALLATION\FLOPPYdirectory of the CD-ROM.Run the
..\MISC\RAWRITEprogram (or extract..\MISC\RAWR32.ZIPif you're on a Windows system, and run the RAWRITE32 program in that file). Usually the “Source file”s areBOOT1.FSandBOOT2.FSand the “Destination drive” is A:
To create a boot floppy in a Unix environment, the dd command can be used: For example:
#cd i386/installation/floppy#dd if=boot.fs of=/dev/fd0a bs=36b
Note
A 1440K floppy contains 1474560 bytes and is made up of 80
cylinders, 2 tracks, 18 sectors and 512 bytes per sector, i.e., 80 *
2 * 18 = 2880 blocks.
Thus bs=36b copies one cylinder (18 * 2 blocks) at
a time and repeats the operation 80 times instead of 2880.
This is the checklist about the things that should be clear and on-hand now:
Available disk space
Bootable medium with the install system
CD/DVD or server with the distribution sets
Your network information (only if you will be fetching distribution sets via the network and do not use DHCP)
A working backup
A printout of the INSTALL document