xref: /src/distrib/notes/i386/contents

The i386-specific portion of the NetBSD _VER release is found in the
"i386" subdirectory of the distribution.  That subdirectory is laid
out as follows:

.../NetBSD-_VER/i386/
	INSTALL			Installation notes; this file.

	binary/
		sets/		i386 binary distribution sets;
				see below.

			Split/	Split i386 binary distribution
				sets; see below.

		security/	i386 security distribution;
				see below;
	installation/

		floppy/		i386 boot and installation
				floppies; see below.


		misc/		Miscellaneous i386
				installation utilities; see
				installation section, below.

There are two i386 floppy images, named "boot.fs" and "boot-small.fs",
in the "i386/installation/floppy" subdirectory of the NetBSD _VER
distribution. These are 1.44M and 1.2M floppy disk images
(respectively). These floppies are bootable, and are used both for
installations and for upgrades.  They are described in more detail
below.  There are also gzipped version of these floppies (named with
".fs.gz") available.

Bootable installation/upgrade floppies:

	These disks are bootable, and contains the software necessary
	to prepare your hard drive for NetBSD and install the NetBSD
	distribution, or to upgrading an already installed 
        system from a previous version of NetBSD.

        Unlike previous NetBSD releases, there are no separate "kernel
        copy" floppies or "upgrade" floppies. Instead, the install
        floppy contains only a special compressed kernel with a built
        in ramdisk image of the installation/upgrade file
        system. There is also no longer any need to use a different
        boot floppy for Adaptec and Buslogic based systems.

	The only difference between the "boot.fs" and "boot-small.fs"
	floppies is that the 1.2M "boot-small.fs" image does not
	contain support for PCMCIA or PCI devices so that it can be
	fit on a 1.2M floppy suitable for use on older systems.

        Because the kernel on the installation disks is not suitable
        for use beyond initial installation and configuration, a
        "generic" kernel has been placed in a distribution set named
        "kern". This kernel is intended to run your system while
        you build a custom kernel. It is strongly encouraged that you
        build a custom kernel for your installation rather than use
        the prebuilt generic kernel on a long term basis.

        Please note that because of space considerations the kernels
        booted from the installation floppies do not contain drivers
        that are not needed during installation -- in particular, no
        drivers needed to run the X Window System are available in
        these kernels.

The NetBSD/i386 binary distribution sets contain the binaries which
comprise the NetBSD _VER release for the i386.  There are eight binary
distribution sets and the "security" distribution set.  The binary
distribution sets can be found in the "i386/binary/sets" subdirectory
of the NetBSD _VER distribution tree, and are as follows:


	base	The NetBSD/i386 _VER base binary distribution.  You
		MUST install this distribution set.  It contains the
		base NetBSD utilities that are necessary for the
		system to run and be minimally functional.  It
		includes shared library support, and excludes
		everything described below.
		[ 9.7M gzipped, 25.0M uncompressed ]

	comp	The NetBSD/i386 Compiler tools.  All of the tools
		relating to C, C++, and FORTRAN (yes, there are two!).
		This set includes the system include files
		(/usr/include), the linker, the compiler tool chain,
		and the various system libraries (except the shared
		libraries, which are included as part of the base
		set).  This set also includes the manual pages for all
		of the utilities it contains, as well as the system
		call and library manual pages.
		[ 7.1M gzipped, 24.1M uncompressed ]

	etc	This distribution set contains the system
		configuration files that reside in /etc and in several
		other places.  This set MUST be installed if you are
		installing the system from scratch, but should NOT be
		used if you are upgrading.  (If you are upgrading,
		it's recommended that you get a copy of this set and
		CAREFULLY upgrade your configuration files by hand.)
		[ 53K gzipped, 328K uncompressed ]

	games	This set includes the games and their manual pages.
		[ 3.0M gzipped, 7.3M uncompressed ]

	kern	This set contains a NetBSD/i386 _VER GENERIC kernel,
		named "/netbsd". You MUST install this distribution
		set.
		[ 1.1M gzipped, 2.2M uncompressed ]

	man	This set includes all of the manual pages for the
		binaries and other software contained in the base set.
		Note that it does not include any of the manual pages
		that are included in the other sets.
		[ 2.5M gzipped, 10.6M uncompressed ]

	misc	This set includes the system dictionaries (which are
		rather large), the typesettable document set, and
		man pages for other architectures which happen to be
		installed from the source tree by default.
		[ 2.2M gzipped, 8.3M uncompressed ]

	text	This set includes NetBSD's text processing tools,
		including groff, all related programs, and their
		manual pages.
		[ 1.0M gzipped, 3.7M uncompressed ]


IMPORTANT: In previous versions of NetBSD, the kernel from the install
floppy was copied onto the hard drive in a special step. In the new
install system, the kernel on the floppy is unsuited to being copied
onto the hard drive. Instead, a new set, "kern", has been added which
contains a generic kernel to be unloaded onto the drive. It must be
extracted in order to have a minimally functioning system.

The i386 security distribution set is named "secr" and can be found in
the "i386/binary/security" subdirectory of the NetBSD _VER
distribution tree.  It contains security related binaries which depend
on cryptographic source code. You do not need this distribution set to
use encrypted passwords in your password file; the "base" distribution
includes a crypt library which can perform only the decryption
function.  The security distribution includes a version of the
Kerberos IV network security system, and a Kerberized version of the
"telnet" program.  The "secr" distribution set can be found only on
those sites which carry the complete NetBSD distribution and which can
legally obtain it.  (Remember, because of United States law, it may
not be legal to distribute this set to locations outside of the United
States and Canada.)
	[ 798K gzipped, 2.4M uncompressed ]

Since NetBSD 1.3, binary sets for the X Window system are also
distributed with NetBSD. The binaries are based on X11R6.3,
and XFree86 3.3.1 in the case of NetBSD/i386. You can not yet
install them using the new automated install system. However,
they are gzipped tarfiles, just like the other sets, so you
can always simply extract them once you have your NetBSD
system installed and running. The sets are:

	xbase	The basic files needed for a complete X
		client environment. This does not include
		the X servers.
		[ 2.5M gzipped, 7.7M uncompressed ]

	xcomp	The extra libraries and include files needed
		to compile X source code.
		[ 1.7M gzipped, 7.3M uncompressed ]

	xcontrib	Programs that were contributed to X.

		[ 183k gzipped, 600k uncompressed ]

	xfont	Fonts needed by X.
		[ 5.8M gzipped, 7M uncompressed ]

	xserver	All XFree86 X servers. Because all of them are
		included, this set is large. However, you will
		only need one of the servers provided in this
		set (typically XF86_SVGA).
		[ 12M gzipped, 29M unzipped ]

The i386 binary distribution sets are distributed as gzipped tar files
named with the extension ".tgz", e.g. "base.tgz". They are also
available in split form -- catted together, the members of a split set
form a gzipped tar file.  Each i386 binary distribution set also has
its own checksum files, just as the source distribution sets do.

The instructions given for extracting the source sets work equally
well for the binary sets, but it is worth noting that if you use that
method, the files are extracted "below" the current directory.  That
is, if you want to extract the binaries "into" your system, i.e.
replace the system binaries with them, you have to run the "tar xfp"
from /.  Also note that if you upgrade or install this way, those
programs that you are using at the time will NOT be replaced unless
you run "tar" with the "--unlink" option.  If you follow the normal
installation or upgrade procedures, this will be taken care of for
you.