The FreeBSD 6.2 Crash Course

First Boot in FreeBSD 6.2

After you've removed the installation disc and rebooted your machine, you'll be greeted by the FreeBSD boot screen again. It looks much like the one on the CD, except the default option is to boot FreeBSD from the hard drive. It's time-limited, so after 10 seconds the default option will be executed automatically; you can speed this up by pressing Enter.

After the system initialization output flies by, you'll be asked for login information. At this point you have a lot of system configuration to do, so it probably makes sense to log in as the root user for this session. Ordinarily you don't want to do this unless you are only going to be performing tasks that require root access, and when you're done with your work, you'll want to log out. In all other situations, log in as the user you created for yourself during the installation procedure, and use the su command to switch to root permissions when you need to.

The operating system is ready to use just as it is, but no matter what you want to use it for, it will require some further configuration. In its initial condition, FreeBSD isn't configured for most people's uses. Well, technically you can use it, but it won't be optimally maintainable and some things won't work as intended. Some of your hardware may not work, it'll be difficult to install new software, and some of the programs in the base system have unusable but secure initial settings. This section concentrates on common post-install configuration ...