xfer revision 1.3
1Installation is supported from several media types, including:
2
3	DOS floppies
4	Tape
5	Remote NFS partition
6	FTP
7
8No matter which installation medium you choose, you'll need to have
9two floppy disks available (either 1.2M or 1.44 will work, though
10both should be the same type).  On the first, you'll put the
11kernel-copy image that's appropriate for your system.  On the second,
12you'll put the install or upgrade floppy image, depending on whether
13you're installing NetBSD for the first time, or upgrading a previous
14installation.
15
16If you are using an Adaptec AHA-154x or Buslogic BT-54x SCSI host
17adapter, you need the kcaha-10.fs kernel-copy image.  If you're using
18a Buslogic BT-445, BT-74x, or BT-9xx SCSI host adapter, you'll need
19the kcbt-10.fs image.  If you're using a disk controller other than
20those mentioned above, either kernel-copy disk image will work for
21you.
22
23If you are using a UN*X-like system to write the floppy images to
24disks, you should use the "dd" command to copy the file system images
25(.fs files) directly to the raw floppy disks.  It is suggested that
26you read the dd(1) manual page or ask your system administrator to
27determine the correct set of arguments to use; it will be slightly
28different from system to system, and a comprehensive list of the
29possibilities is beyond the scope of this document.
30
31If you are using DOS to write the floppy images to disks, you should
32use the "rawrite" utility, provided in the "i386/utilities" directory
33of the NetBSD distribution.  It will write the file system images (.fs
34files) to disks.
35
36Note that, when installing, the kernel-copy floppy can be write-protected
37(i.e. read-only), but the install floppy MUST not be write-protected.
38The install program needs to write some temporary files, and if the
39disk is write-protected, it can't.  If you're upgrading your system,
40both the kernel-copy and upgrade floppies may be write-protected.
41
42Obviously, the steps necessary to prepare the distribution sets for
43installation or upgrade depend on which installation medium you
44choose.  The steps for the various media are outlined below.
45
46To install or upgrade NetBSD using DOS floppies, you need to do the
47following:
48
49	Count the number of "set_name.xx" files that make up the
50	distribution sets you want to install or upgrade.  You will
51	need one fifth that number of 1.2M floppies, or one sixth that
52	number of 1.44M floppies.  You should only use one size of
53	floppy for the install or upgrade procedure; you can't use
54	some 1.2M floppies and some 1.44M floppies.
55
56	Format all of the floppies with DOS.  DO NOT make any of them
57	bootable DOS floppies, i.e. don't use "format/s" to format
58	them.  (If the floppies are bootable, then the DOS system
59	files that make them bootable will take up some space, and you
60	won't be able to fit as many distribution set parts per disk.)
61	If you're using floppies that are formatted for DOS by their
62	manufacturers, they probably aren't bootable, and you can use
63	them out of the box.
64
65	Place all of the "set_name.xx" files on the DOS disks, five
66	per disk if you're using 1.2M disks, six per disk if you're
67	using 1.44M disks.  How you do this is up to you; there are
68	many possibilities.  You could, for instance, use a DOS
69	terminal program to download them on to the floppies, or use
70	a UN*X-like system capable of reading and writing DOS file
71	systems (either with "mtools" or a real DOS file system)
72	to place them on the disk.
73
74	Once you have the files on DOS disks, you can proceed to the
75	next step in the installation or upgrade process.  If you're
76	installing NetBSD from scratch, go to the section on preparing
77	your hard disk, below.  If you're upgrading an existing
78	installation, go directly to the section on upgrading.
79
80To install or upgrade NetBSD using a tape, you need to do the
81following:
82
83	To install NetBSD from a tape, you need to make a tape that
84	contains the distribution set files, in "tar" format.  If
85	you're making the tape on a UN*X-like system, the easiest way
86	to do so is probably something like:
87
88		tar cf <tape_device> <dist_directories>
89
90	where "<tape_device>" is the name of the tape device that
91	describes the tape drive you're using (possibly /dev/rst0, or
92	something similar, but it will vary from system to system.
93	(If you can't figure it out, ask your system administrator.)
94	In the above example, "<dist_directories>" are the
95	distribution sets' directories, for the distribution sets you
96	wish to place on the tape.  For instance, to put the "base10"
97	and "etc10" distributions on tape (in order to do the absolute
98	minimum installation to a new disk), you would do the
99	following:
100
101		cd .../NetBSD-1.0		# the top of the tree
102		cd i386/binary
103		tar cf <tape_device> base10 etc10
104
105	(Note that you still need to fill in "<tape_device>" in the
106	example.)
107
108	Once you have the files on the tape, you can proceed to the
109	next step in the installation or upgrade process.  If you're
110	installing NetBSD from scratch, go to the section on preparing
111	your hard disk, below.  If you're upgrading an existing
112	installation, go directly to the section on upgrading.
113
114To install or upgrade NetBSD using a remote partition, mounted via
115NFS, you must do the following:
116
117	NOTE:	This method of installation is recommended only for
118		those already familiar with using BSD network
119		configuration and management commands.  If you aren't,
120		this documentation should help, but is not intended to
121		be all-encompassing.
122
123	Place the NetBSD distribution sets you wish to install into a
124	directory on an NFS server, and make that directory mountable
125	by the machine on which you are installing or upgrading NetBSD.
126	This will probably require modifying the /etc/exports file on
127	of the NFS server and resetting its mount daemon (mountd).
128	(Both of these actions will probably require superuser
129	privileges on the server.)
130
131	You need to know the the numeric IP address of the NFS server,
132	and, if the server is not on a network directly connected to
133	the machine on which you're installing or upgrading NetBSD,
134	you need to know the numeric IP address of the router closest
135	to the NetBSD machine.  Finally, you need to know the numeric
136	IP address of the NetBSD machine itself.
137
138	Once the NFS server is set up properly and you have the
139	information mentioned above, you can proceed to the next step
140	in the installation or upgrade process.  If you're installing
141	NetBSD from scratch, go to the section on preparing your hard
142	disk, below.  If you're upgrading an existing installation, go
143	directly to the section on upgrading.
144
145To install or upgrade NetBSD by using FTP to get the installation
146sets, you must do the following:
147
148	NOTE:	This method of installation is recommended only for
149		those already familiar with using BSD network
150		configuration and management commands.  If you aren't,
151		this documentation should help, but is not intended to
152		be all-encompassing.
153
154	The preparations for this installation/upgrade method are
155	easy; all you make sure that there's some FTP site from which
156	you can retrieve the NetBSD distribution when you're about to
157	install or upgrade.  You need to know the numeric IP address
158	of that site, and, if it's not on a network directly connected
159	to the machine on which you're installing or upgrading NetBSD,
160	you need to know the numeric IP address of the router closest
161	to the NetBSD machine.  Finally, you need to know the numeric
162	IP address of the NetBSD machine itself.
163
164	Once you have this information, you can proceed to the next
165	step in the installation or upgrade process.  If you're
166	installing NetBSD from scratch, go to the section on
167	preparing your hard disk, below.  If you're upgrading an
168	existing installation, go directly to the section on
169	upgrading.
170
171If you are upgrading NetBSD, you also have the option of installing
172NetBSD by putting the new distribution sets somewhere in your existing
173file system, and using them from there.  To do that, you must do the
174following:
175
176	Place the distribution sets you wish to upgrade somewhere in
177	your current file system tree.  At a bare minimum, you must
178	upgrade the "base" binary distribution, and so must put the
179	"base10" set somewhere in your file system.  If you wish,
180	you can do the other sets, as well, but you should NOT upgrade
181	the "etc" distribution; the "etc" distribution contains system
182	configuration files that you should review and update by hand.
183
184	Once you have done this, you can proceed to the next step in
185	the upgrade process, actually upgrading your system.
186