Comments on: FreeBSD 7.0 New Install http://my.galagzee.com/2008/06/28/freebsd-70-new-install/ Tech in a Galagzee, Not So Far Away. Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:43:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ville Walveranta http://my.galagzee.com/2008/06/28/freebsd-70-new-install/comment-page-1/#comment-1072 Ville Walveranta Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:36:11 +0000 http://my.galagzee.com/?p=74#comment-1072 I switched to portsnap; much better than cvsup! It also solved another item on my wish list. For long time I've wished there would be some automated way to indicate, say, day on daily basis as to which ports have been updated. Portsnap does this automatically! I also installed portaudit (/usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portaudit) which provides a daily list of installed ports that have security vulnerabilities. This list along with the updated ports list (provided by portsnap) makes system management a whole lot easier. While portsnap must be added to the crontab to run daily (for example), portaudit install adds a similarly named script to /usr/local/etc/periodic/security/ directory from where it's triggered daily. I switched to portsnap; much better than cvsup! It also solved another item on my wish list. For long time I’ve wished there would be some automated way to indicate, say, day on daily basis as to which ports have been updated. Portsnap does this automatically!

I also installed portaudit (/usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portaudit) which provides a daily list of installed ports that have security vulnerabilities. This list along with the updated ports list (provided by portsnap) makes system management a whole lot easier.

While portsnap must be added to the crontab to run daily (for example), portaudit install adds a similarly named script to /usr/local/etc/periodic/security/ directory from where it’s triggered daily.

]]> By: Ville Walveranta http://my.galagzee.com/2008/06/28/freebsd-70-new-install/comment-page-1/#comment-923 Ville Walveranta Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:24:03 +0000 http://my.galagzee.com/?p=74#comment-923 By the way, thanks for the info about portsnap; I wasn't aware of it. Seems like it's a better (less bandwidth-hungry) way to update the ports tree. I found a good <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/ports/sysutils/portsnap/Attic/pkg-descr?rev=1.2&content-type=text/plain" TARGET="_blank" rel="nofollow">synopsis</a> on why it's better than cvsup: <em>»Portsnap is a system for securely updating the ports tree by distributing signed compressed snapshots. This is the client half of that system; it downloads compressed snapshots into /usr/local/portsnap ("portsnap fetch") and uses those to extract a ports tree into /usr/ports ("portsnap extract") or update an existing tree ("portsnap update"). In addition to operating entirely over HTTP, portsnap can use under a tenth of the bandwidth required by CVSup if a copy of the ports tree is being updated every few days.»</em> One thing that I haven't figured out how to do but that would be immensely useful is how to automatically generate a list of ports that have been updated (as compared to the installed versions). By the way, thanks for the info about portsnap; I wasn’t aware of it. Seems like it’s a better (less bandwidth-hungry) way to update the ports tree. I found a good synopsis on why it’s better than cvsup:

»Portsnap is a system for securely updating the ports tree by distributing signed compressed snapshots. This is the client half of that system; it downloads compressed snapshots into /usr/local/portsnap (“portsnap fetch”) and uses those to extract a ports tree into /usr/ports (“portsnap extract”) or update an existing tree (“portsnap update”).

In addition to operating entirely over HTTP, portsnap can use under a tenth of the bandwidth required by CVSup if a copy of the ports tree is being updated every few days.»

One thing that I haven’t figured out how to do but that would be immensely useful is how to automatically generate a list of ports that have been updated (as compared to the installed versions).

]]> By: Ville Walveranta http://my.galagzee.com/2008/06/28/freebsd-70-new-install/comment-page-1/#comment-922 Ville Walveranta Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:29:42 +0000 http://my.galagzee.com/?p=74#comment-922 Actually I don't remember why I made those changes :-). They were in response to some kind of persistent console messages I was getting a year or so ago. If memory serves, they had to do with "system running low on resource/file handles" type problem which the setting changes remedied (and since the new server is going to be used for the same type of use, general web/mail/database use, I adopted them as part of my "standard" settings). Actually I don’t remember why I made those changes :-) . They were in response to some kind of persistent console messages I was getting a year or so ago. If memory serves, they had to do with “system running low on resource/file handles” type problem which the setting changes remedied (and since the new server is going to be used for the same type of use, general web/mail/database use, I adopted them as part of my “standard” settings).

]]> By: DrTebi http://my.galagzee.com/2008/06/28/freebsd-70-new-install/comment-page-1/#comment-915 DrTebi Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:57:24 +0000 http://my.galagzee.com/?p=74#comment-915 Hello, I am finding some interesting posts here on your blog, while I am going through a couple of FreeBSD 7.0 installs myself. I also wanted to mention that you can use portsnap instead of cvsup, it's easier to use and installed by default on FreeBSD 7.0. You can find more useful info about portsnap here: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/portsnap.html What I am curious about are the changes you made in loader.conf. Could you explain what and why you made those changes? Since my servers are also web/db/mail servers, these settins may be relevant for me as well. Thanks, DrTebi Hello,

I am finding some interesting posts here on your blog, while I am going through a couple of FreeBSD 7.0 installs myself.

I also wanted to mention that you can use portsnap instead of cvsup, it’s easier to use and installed by default on FreeBSD 7.0. You can find more useful info about portsnap here:
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/portsnap.html

What I am curious about are the changes you made in loader.conf. Could you explain what and why you made those changes? Since my servers are also web/db/mail servers, these settins may be relevant for me as well.

Thanks,
DrTebi

]]> By: Gábor Auth http://my.galagzee.com/2008/06/28/freebsd-70-new-install/comment-page-1/#comment-886 Gábor Auth Sun, 03 Aug 2008 10:43:06 +0000 http://my.galagzee.com/?p=74#comment-886 Hi! Very useful article, many thanks, earlier I used portsnap and freebsd-update, but a year ago I changed OS to Solaris and since then I haven't had FreeBSD. But now I'm thinking of returning to FreeBSD... :) Hi!

Very useful article, many thanks, earlier I used portsnap and freebsd-update, but a year ago I changed OS to Solaris and since then I haven’t had FreeBSD. But now I’m thinking of returning to FreeBSD… :)

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