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OpenBSD Frequently Asked Questions
Commonly Encountered Issues Recent updates
This FAQ is supplemental documentation to the man pages, available both in the installed system and online. The FAQ covers the active release of OpenBSD, currently v5.2. There are likely features and changes to features in the development version (-current) of OpenBSD that are not covered in the FAQ.
The FAQ is available in text form in the pub/OpenBSD/doc directory from many FTP mirrors, along with archival versions.
1 - Introduction to OpenBSD
- 1.1 - What is OpenBSD?
- 1.2 - On what systems does OpenBSD run?
- 1.3 - Why might I want to use OpenBSD?
- 1.4 - Is OpenBSD really free?
- 1.5 - How can I help support OpenBSD?
- 1.6 - Who maintains OpenBSD?
- 1.7 - When is the next release of OpenBSD?
- 1.8 - What is included with OpenBSD?
- 1.9 - What is new in OpenBSD 5.2?
- 1.10 - Can I use OpenBSD as a desktop system?
- 1.11 - Why is/isn't ProductX included?
2 - Getting to know OpenBSD
3 - Getting started with OpenBSD
- 3.1 - Buying an OpenBSD CD set
- 3.2 - Buying OpenBSD T-Shirts
- 3.3 - Does OpenBSD provide an ISO image for download?
- 3.4 - Downloading via FTP, HTTP, RSYNC or AFS
- 3.5 - Verifying your download
- 3.6 - Selecting Hardware
- 3.7 - What is an appropriate "first system" to learn OpenBSD on?
4 - OpenBSD 5.2 Installation Guide
- 4.1 - Overview of the OpenBSD installation procedure
- 4.2 - Pre-installation checklist
- 4.3 - Creating bootable OpenBSD install media
- 4.4 - Booting OpenBSD install media
- 4.5 - Performing a simple install
- 4.6 - Details for a more complex install
- 4.7 - What files are needed for installation?
- 4.8 - How should I partition my disk?
- 4.9 - Multibooting OpenBSD (amd64, i386)
- 4.10 - Sending your dmesg to dmesg@openbsd.org after the install
- 4.11 - Adding a file set after install
- 4.12 - What is 'bsd.rd'?
- 4.13 - Common installation problems
- 4.14 - Customizing the install process
- 4.15 - How can I install a number of similar systems?
- 4.16 - How can I get a dmesg(8) to report an install problem?
5 - Building the System from Source
- 5.1 - OpenBSD's Flavors
- 5.2 - Why should I build my system from source?
- 5.3 - Building OpenBSD from source
- 5.4 - Building a release
- 5.5 - Building X
- 5.6 - Why do I need a custom kernel?
- 5.7 - Building a custom kernel
- 5.8 - Boot-time configuration
- 5.9 - Using config(8) to change your kernel
- 5.10 - Getting more verbose output during boot
- 5.11 - Common Problems when Compiling and Building
6 - Networking
- 6.1 - Before we go any further
- 6.2 - Initial network setup
- 6.3 - How do I filter and firewall with OpenBSD?
- 6.4 - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
- 6.5 - Point to Point Protocol
- 6.6 - Tuning networking parameters
- 6.7 - Using NFS
- 6.9 - Setting up a bridge with OpenBSD
- 6.10 - How do I boot using PXE?
- 6.11 - The Common Address Redundancy Protocol (CARP)
- 6.12 - Using OpenNTPD
- 6.13 - What are my wireless networking options?
- 6.14 - How can I do equal-cost multipath routing?
7 - Keyboard and Display Controls
- 7.1 - How do I remap the keyboard? (wscons)
- 7.2 - Is there console mouse support in OpenBSD?
- 7.3 - Accessing the console scrollback buffer. (amd64, i386, some Alpha)
- 7.4 - How do I switch consoles? (amd64, i386, Zaurus, some Alpha)
- 7.5 - How can I use a console resolution of 80x50? (amd64, i386, some Alpha)
- 7.6 - How do I use a serial console?
- 7.7 - How do I blank my console? (wscons)
- 7.8 - EVERYTHING I TYPE AT THE LOGIN PROMPT IS IN CAPS!
- 7.9 - What is tmux(1)?
8 - General Questions
- 8.1 - I forgot my root password... What do I do!
- 8.2 - X won't start, I get lots of error messages
- 8.3 - Can I use programming language "L" on OpenBSD?
- 8.8 - Is there any way to use my floppy drive if it's not attached during boot?
- 8.9 - OpenBSD Bootloader (i386, amd64 specific)
- 8.10 - Using S/Key on your OpenBSD system
- 8.12 - Does OpenBSD support SMP?
- 8.13 - I sometimes get Input/output error when trying to use my tty devices
- 8.14 - What web browsers are available for OpenBSD?
- 8.15 - How do I use the mg editor?
- 8.16 - Ksh does not appear to read my .profile!
- 8.17 - Why does my /etc/motd file get written over when I modified it?
- 8.20 - Antialiased and TrueType fonts in X
- 8.21 - Does OpenBSD support any journaling filesystems?
- 8.22 - Reverse DNS or Why is it taking so long for me to log in?
- 8.23 - Why do the OpenBSD web pages not conform to HTML4/XHTML?
- 8.24 - Why is my clock off by twenty-some seconds?
- 8.25 - Why is my clock off by several hours?
9 - Migrating to OpenBSD
- 9.1 - Tips for users of other Unix-like Operating Systems
- 9.2 - Dual boot of Linux and OpenBSD
- 9.3 - Converting your Linux (or other Sixth Edition-style) password file to BSD-style.
- 9.4 - Running Linux binaries on OpenBSD
- 9.5 - Accessing your Linux files from OpenBSD
10 - System Management
- 10.1 - When I try to su to root it says that I'm in the wrong group
- 10.2 - How do I duplicate a filesystem?
- 10.3 - How do I start daemons with the system? (Overview of rc(8))
- 10.4 - Why do users get relaying access denied when they are remotely sending mail through my OpenBSD system?
- 10.5 - I've set up POP, but I get errors when accessing my mail through POP. What can I do?
- 10.6 - Why does Sendmail ignore /etc/hosts?
- 10.7 - Setting up a Secure HTTP Server using SSL(8)
- 10.8 - I made changes to /etc/passwd with vi(1), but the changes didn't seem to take place. Why?
- 10.9 - How do I add a user? or delete a user?
- 10.10 - How do I create a ftp-only account?
- 10.11 - Setting up user disk quotas
- 10.12 - Setting up KerberosV Clients and Servers
- 10.13 - Setting up an Anonymous FTP Server
- 10.14 - Confining users to their home directories in ftpd(8).
- 10.15 - Applying patches in OpenBSD.
- 10.16 - Tell me about chroot(2) Apache?
- 10.17 - Can I change the root shell?
- 10.18 - What else can I do with ksh?
- 10.19 - Directory services, in particular YP
- 10.20 - Character sets and localization
11 - The X Window System
- 11.1 - Introduction to X
- 11.2 - Configuring X
- 11.3 - Configuring X on amd64 and i386
- 11.4 - Starting X
- 11.5 - Customizing X
12 - Hardware and Platform-Specific Questions
- 12.1 - General hardware notes
- 12.2 - DEC Alpha
- 12.3 - AMD 64
- 12.4 - ARM-based appliances
- 12.5 - HP 9000 series 300, 400
- 12.6 - HP Precision Architecture (PA-RISC)
- 12.7 - i386
- 12.8 - Landisk
- 12.9 - Luna88k
- 12.11 - MacPPC
- 12.12 - MVME68k
- 12.13 - MVME88k
- 12.14 - SGI
- 12.15 - SPARC
- 12.16 - UltraSPARC
- 12.17 - DEC VAX
- 12.18 - Sharp Zaurus
13 - Multimedia
- 13.1 - How do I configure my audio device?
- 13.2 - Playing different kinds of audio
- 13.3 - How can I play audio CDs in OpenBSD?
- 13.4 - Can I use OpenBSD to record audio samples?
- 13.5 - How do I setup an audio server?
- 13.6 - What can I do if I have audio problems?
- 13.7 - How do I use my MIDI instruments?
- 13.8 - Tell me about Ogg Vorbis and MP3 encoding?
- 13.9 - How can I playback video DVDs in OpenBSD?
- 13.10 - How do I burn CDs and DVDs?
- 13.11 - But I want my media files in format FOO.
- 13.12 - Is it possible to play streaming media under OpenBSD?
- 13.13 - Can I have a Java plugin in my web browser? (i386 & amd64 only)
- 13.14 - Can I have a Flash plugin in my web browser? (i386 only)
14 - Disk Setup
- 14.1 - Disks and Partitions
- 14.2 - Using OpenBSD's fdisk(8)
- 14.3 - Using OpenBSD's disklabel(8)
- 14.4 - Adding extra disks in OpenBSD
- 14.5 - How is swap handled?
- 14.6 - Soft Updates
- 14.7 - How do OpenBSD/i386 and OpenBSD/amd64 boot?
- 14.8 - What are the issues regarding large drives with OpenBSD?
- 14.9 - Installing Bootblocks - i386/amd64 specific
- 14.10 - Preparing for disaster: Backing up and Restoring from tape.
- 14.11 - Mounting disk images in OpenBSD
- 14.12 - Help! I'm getting errors with IDE DMA!
- 14.14 - Why does df(1) tell me I have over 100% of my disk used?
- 14.15 - Recovering partitions after deleting the disklabel
- 14.16 - Can I access data on filesystems other than FFS?
- 14.17 - Can I use a flash memory device with OpenBSD?
- 14.18 - Optimizing disk performance
- 14.19 - Why aren't we using async mounts?
15 - The OpenBSD packages and ports system
- 15.1 - Introduction
- 15.2 - Package management
- 15.3 - Working with ports
- 15.4 - FAQ
- 15.5 - Reporting problems
- 15.6 - Helping us
PF User's Guide
- Basic Configuration
- Advanced Configuration
- Additional Topics
- Example Rulesets
Commonly Encountered Issues
- Common Installation Problems
- How do I upgrade my system?
- Packet Filter
- Should I use Ports or Packages?
- How do I set up a multi-boot system?
- Wireless networking options
Recent Updates
- Large drive info -- updated for >2TB disks
- FAQ updated for 5.2
- Disklabel Unique Identifiers -- new
- Overview of rc(8) -- updated for rc.d
- Setting up a "live" USB media -- new
- Setting up an audio server -- new
- What is tmux(1)? -- new
The FAQ maintainers, following principles of honesty and idealism and where you can stuff them both, are Nick Holland and Stuart Henderson.
Past contributors include Steven Mestdagh, Joel Knight, Eric Jackson, Wim Vandeputte and Chris Cappuccio.
For information about and assisting in the translation of the FAQ and the rest of the OpenBSD website, see the translation page.
Questions and comments regarding this FAQ may be directed to faq@openbsd.org. General questions about OpenBSD should be directed to the appropriate mail list.
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OpenBSD FAQ Copyright © 1998-2012 OpenBSD
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"If you don't find it in the index, look very carefully through the
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