INSTALLATION NOTES for OpenBSD/mvme88k 4.0
What is OpenBSD?
----------------
OpenBSD is a fully functional, multi-platform UN*X-like Operating
System based on Berkeley Networking Release 2 (Net/2) and 4.4BSD-Lite.
There are several operating systems in this family, but OpenBSD
differentiates itself by putting security and correctness first. The
OpenBSD team strives to achieve what is called a 'secure by default'
status. This means that an OpenBSD user should feel safe that their
newly installed machine will not be compromised. This 'secure by
default' goal is achieved by taking a proactive stance on security.
Since security flaws are essentially mistakes in design or implement-
ation, the OpenBSD team puts as much importance on finding and fixing
existing design flaws and implementation bugs as it does writing new
code. This means that an OpenBSD system will not only be more secure,
but it will be more stable. The source code for all critical system
components has been checked for remote-access, local-access, denial-
of-service, data destruction, and information-gathering problems.
In addition to bug fixing, OpenBSD has integrated strong cryptography
into the base system. A fully functional IPsec implementation is
provided as well as support for common protocols such as SSL and SSH.
Network filtering and monitoring tools such as packet filtering, NAT,
and bridging are also standard, as well as several routing services,
such as BGP and OSPF. For high performance demands, support for
hardware cryptography has also been added to the base system. Because
security is often seen as a tradeoff with usability, OpenBSD provides
as many security options as possible to allow the user to enjoy secure
computing without feeling burdened by it.
To integrate more smoothly in other environments, OpenBSD 4.0 also
provides, on some platforms, several binary emulation subsystems
(which includes iBCS2, Linux, OSF/1, SunOS, SVR4, Solaris, and Ultrix
compatibility), aiming at making the emulation as accurate as possible
so that it is transparent to the user.
Because OpenBSD is from Canada, the export of Cryptography pieces
(such as OpenSSH, IPsec, and Kerberos) to the world is not restricted.
(NOTE: OpenBSD can not be re-exported from the US once it has entered
the US. Because of this, take care NOT to get the distribution from
an FTP server in the US if you are outside of Canada and the US.)
A comprehensive list of the improvements brought by the 4.0 release
is available on the web at http://www.OpenBSD.org/40.html.
OpenBSD/mvme88k runs on the Motorola 88100 processor-based VME boards
and systems built upon them.
Sources of OpenBSD:
-------------------
This is a list of currently known FTP servers at the time of the 4.0 release.
For a more recent list, please refer to
http://www.OpenBSD.org/ftp.html
Main server in Canada:
ftp://ftp.OpenBSD.org/pub/OpenBSD (Alberta)
Argentina:
ftp://ftp.openbsd.md5.com.ar/pub/OpenBSD (Buenos Aires)
ftp://mirrors.localhost.net.ar/pub/OpenBSD (Buenos Aires)
Australia:
ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/OpenBSD (Canberra, .au only)
ftp://ftp.it.net.au/mirrors/OpenBSD (Perth)
ftp://ftp.planetmirror.com/pub/OpenBSD (Sydney)
ftp://mirror.pacific.net.au/OpenBSD (Sydney)
ftp://openbsd.wiretapped.net/pub/OpenBSD (Sydney)
Austria:
ftp://gd.tuwien.ac.at/opsys/OpenBSD (Vienna)
ftp://ftp.catai.net/pub/OpenBSD (Vienna)
ftp://ftp.kd85.com/pub/OpenBSD (Vienna)
Belgium:
ftp://ftp.scarlet.be/pub/openbsd
ftp://ftp.belnet.be/packages/openbsd (Brussels)
Brazil:
ftp://ftp.openbsd.org.br/pub/OpenBSD (Curitiba)
ftp://ftp.das.ufsc.br/pub/OpenBSD (Santa Catarina)
Bulgaria:
ftp://ftp.bg.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD (Plovdiv)
Canada:
ftp://ftp.ca.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD (Edmonton)
Czech Republic:
ftp://ftp.openbsd.cz/pub/OpenBSD (Prague)
Denmark:
ftp://mirrors.dotsrc.org/openbsd (Aalborg)
ftp://ftp.dkuug.dk/pub/OpenBSD (Copenhagen)
Finland:
ftp://ftp.jyu.fi/pub/OpenBSD (Jyvaskyla)
France:
ftp://ftp.ac-creteil.fr/OpenBSD
ftp://ftp.crans.org/pub/OpenBSD (Paris)
Germany:
ftp://ftp.de.openbsd.org/unix/OpenBSD (Berlin)
ftp://ftp.freenet.de/pub/ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD (Duesseldorf)
ftp://openbsd.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/pub/OpenBSD (Erlangen)
ftp://ftp-stud.fht-esslingen.de/pub/OpenBSD (Esslingen)
ftp://openbsd.bay13.net/pub/OpenBSD (Hamburg)
ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/OpenBSD (Muenchen)
ftp://ftp.bytemine.net/pub/OpenBSD (Oldenburg)
Greece:
ftp://filoktitis.noc.uoa.gr/pub/OpenBSD (Athens)
ftp://ftp.physics.auth.gr/pub/mirrors/OpenBSD/OpenBSD (Thessaloniki)
ftp://ftp.duth.gr/pub/OpenBSD (Thrace)
Ireland:
ftp://ftp.esat.net/pub/OpenBSD (Dublin)
Italy:
ftp://ftp.unina.it/pub/OpenBSD (Napoli)
Japan:
ftp://ftp.netlab.is.tsukuba.ac.jp/pub/os/OpenBSD (Ibaraki)
ftp://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/OpenBSD (Ishikawa)
ftp://ftp.nara.wide.ad.jp/pub/OpenBSD (Nara)
ftp://ftp.iij.ad.jp/pub/OpenBSD (Tokyo)
ftp://ftp.jp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD (Tokyo)
ftp://ftp.kddlabs.co.jp/OpenBSD (Tokyo)
Latvia:
ftp://ftp.secure.lv/pub/OpenBSD
ftp://ftp.bsd.lv/pub/OpenBSD (Riga)
Lithuania:
ftp://ftp.openbsd.lt/pub/OpenBSD
The Netherlands:
ftp://ftp.nl.uu.net/pub/OpenBSD (Amsterdam)
ftp://ftp.calyx.nl/pub/OpenBSD (Amsterdam)
ftp://muk.kd85.com/pub/OpenBSD (Amsterdam)
ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/OpenBSD (Utrecht)
Norway:
ftp://ftp.inet.no/pub/OpenBSD (Oslo)
Poland:
ftp://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/pub/OpenBSD
Portugal:
ftp://ftp.fmed.uc.pt/pub/OpenBSD
Romania:
ftp://mirrors.evolva.ro/OpenBSD (Bucharest)
ftp://mirrors.obs.utcluj.ro/pub/OpenBSD (Cluj-Napoca)
ftp://ftp.physics.uvt.ro/pub/OpenBSD (Timisoara)
Russia:
ftp://ftp.chg.ru/pub/OpenBSD (Chernogolovka-Moscow)
ftp://ftp.radio-msu.net/pub/OpenBSD (Moscow)
South Africa:
ftp://ftp.is.co.za/pub/OpenBSD (Johannesburg)
Spain:
ftp://ftp.rediris.es/mirror/OpenBSD (Madrid)
Sweden:
ftp://ftp.su.se/pub/OpenBSD (Stockholm)
ftp://ftp.stacken.kth.se/pub/OpenBSD (Stockholm)
ftp://ftp.btradianz.se/pub/OpenBSD (Stockholm)
ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/OpenBSD (Uppsala)
Switzerland:
ftp://mirror.switch.ch/pub/OpenBSD (Zurich)
Taiwan:
ftp://openbsd.cc.ntu.edu.tw/pub/OpenBSD (NTU)
Thailand:
ftp://ftp.ce.kmitl.ac.th/pub/OpenBSD (Bangkok)
Turkey:
ftp://ftp.enderunix.org/pub/OpenBSD (Istanbul)
Ukraine:
ftp://ftp.openbsd.org.ua/pub/OpenBSD (Kiev)
United Kingdom:
ftp://ftp.plig.org/pub/OpenBSD (London)
USA:
ftp://ftp5.usa.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD (Redwood City, CA)
ftp://ftp3.usa.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD (Boulder, CO)
ftp://mirror.sg.depaul.edu/pub/OpenBSD (Chicago, IL)
ftp://rt.fm/pub/OpenBSD (Lake in the Hills, IL)
ftp://osmirrors.cerias.purdue.edu/pub/OpenBSD (West Lafayette, IN)
ftp://ftp.cse.buffalo.edu/pub/OpenBSD (Buffalo, NY)
ftp://ftp.crimelabs.net/pub/OpenBSD (New York, NY)
ftp://ftp.nyc.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD (New York, NY)
ftp://mirrors.24-7-solutions.net/pub/OpenBSD (New York, NY)
ftp://openbsd.mirrors.pair.com (Pittsburgh, PA)
ftp://ftp.ptptech.com/pub/OpenBSD (Ashburn, VA)
ftp://openbsd.secsup.org/pub/openbsd (Fairfax, VA)
ftp://ftp.tux.org/bsd/openbsd (Springfield, VA)
ftp://openbsd.mirrors.tds.net/pub/OpenBSD (Madison, WI)
Additionally, the file ftp://ftp.OpenBSD.org/pub/OpenBSD/ftplist
contains a list which is continually updated. If you wish to become a
distribution site for OpenBSD, contact <www@OpenBSD.org>.
OpenBSD 4.0 Release Contents:
-----------------------------
The OpenBSD 4.0 release is organized in the following way. In the
.../4.0 directory, for each of the architectures having an OpenBSD 4.0
binary distribution, there is a sub-directory.
The mvme88k-specific portion of the OpenBSD 4.0 release is found in the
"mvme88k" subdirectory of the distribution. That subdirectory is laid
out as follows:
.../4.0/mvme88k/
INSTALL.mvme88k Installation notes; this file.
CKSUM, MD5 Output of the cksum(1) and md5(1) programs,
usable for verification of the correctness of
downloaded files.
*.tgz mvme88k binary distribution sets; see below.
bsd A stock GENERIC mvme88k kernel which will be
installed on your system during the install.
bsd.rd A compressed RAMDISK kernel; the embedded
filesystem contains the installation tools.
Used for simple installation from a pre-existing
system.
installboot The OpenBSD/mvme88k boot loader installation
program.
bootxx The OpenBSD/mvme88k boot block.
bootsd The OpenBSD/mvme88k disk boot loader.
bootst The OpenBSD/mvme88k tape boot loader.
netboot The OpenBSD/mvme88k Sun-compatible network boot
loader.
stboot A VID tape block.
tftpboot The OpenBSD/mvme88k tftp-compatible network boot
loader.
These files can be used to make a bootable tape suitable for installation.
They can also be used to configure an NFS server to support installation
over the network. See the section "Getting the OpenBSD system onto Useful
Media" for more information.
The OpenBSD/mvme88k binary distribution sets contain the binaries which
comprise the OpenBSD 4.0 release for mvme88k systems. There are ten
binary distribution sets. The binary distribution sets can be found in
the "mvme88k" subdirectory of the OpenBSD 4.0 distribution tree,
and are as follows:
base40 The OpenBSD/mvme88k 4.0 base binary distribution. You
MUST install this distribution set. It contains the
base OpenBSD utilities that are necessary for the
system to run and be minimally functional.
It excludes everything described below.
[ 78.4 MB gzipped, 193.7 MB uncompressed ]
comp40 The OpenBSD/mvme88k Compiler tools. All of the tools
relating to C, C++, and fortran are supported. This set
includes the system include files (/usr/include), the
linker, the compiler tool chain, and the various system
libraries.
This set also includes the manual pages for all
of the utilities it contains, as well as the system
call and library manual pages.
[ 38.0 MB gzipped, 135.0 MB uncompressed ]
etc40 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; see the section named "Upgrading
a previously-installed OpenBSD System" below.)
[ 1.0 MB gzipped, 3.8 MB uncompressed ]
game40 This set includes the games and their manual pages.
[ 6.7 MB gzipped, 14.4 MB uncompressed ]
man40 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.
[ 6.5 MB gzipped, 23.2 MB uncompressed ]
misc40 This set includes the system dictionaries (which are
rather large), and the typesettable document set.
[ 2.1 MB gzipped, 7.1 MB uncompressed ]
xbase40 This set includes the base X distribution. This includes
programs, headers and libraries.
[ 75.0 MB gzipped, 141.6 MB uncompressed ]
xetc40 This set includes the X window system configuration files
that reside in /etc. It's the equivalent of etc40 for X.
[ 927.5 KB gzipped, 1.8 MB uncompressed ]
xfont40 This set includes all of the X fonts.
[ 31.6 MB gzipped, 35.8 MB uncompressed ]
xshare40 This set includes all text files equivalent between
all architectures.
[ 1.9 MB gzipped, 10.5 MB uncompressed ]
OpenBSD System Requirements and Supported Devices:
--------------------------------------------------
OpenBSD/mvme88k 4.0 runs on the systems built around the following
MVME boards:
- MVME187 (Single board computer with 88100 processor)
- MVME188 (HYPERmodule-based systems with up to 4 88100 processors)
Besides various Motorola complete systems (M8120, MVME187-based series
900, etc), OpenBSD/mvme88k also runs on the MVME187-based Triton Dolphin
System 100.
The minimal configuration requires 16MB of RAM and ~250MB of disk space.
To install the entire system requires much more disk space, and to
compile the system, more RAM is recommended.
Supported HYPERmodules: (for MVME188 systems)
1P32 (1 88100 processor, 2 88200 CMMUs, similar to MVME187)
1P64 (1 88100 processor, 4 88200 CMMUs)
1P128 (1 88100 processor, 8 88200 CMMUs, untested)
1P128 (1 88100 processor, 2 88204 CMMUs)
1P256 (1 88100 processor, 4 88204 CMMUs)
1P512 (1 88100 processor, 8 88204 CMMUs, untested)
2P64 (2 88100 processors, 4 88200 CMMUs)
2P128 (2 88100 processors, 8 88200 CMMUs)
2P256 (2 88100 processors, 4 88204 CMMUs)
2P512 (2 88100 processors, 8 88204 CMMUs)
4P128 (4 88100 processors, 8 88200 CMMUs)
4P512 (4 88100 processors, 8 88204 CMMUs)
Supported devices:
MVME187 on-board devices:
Cirrus Logic CD2401 serial ports, tty00-tty03/tty07(M8120) (cl)
Intel 82596CA Ethernet (ie)
NCR53c710 SCSI Controller (ssh)
128KB SRAM (/dev/sram0)
8KB NVRAM (/dev/nvram0)
MVME188 on-board devices:
serial ports on SYSCON board, ttya-ttyb (dart)
2KB NVRAM (/dev/nvram0)
Additional VMEbus devices:
MVME328 High Performance SCSI Controller (vs)
MVME332XT High Performance Serial I/O Controller (vx)
MVME376 Ethernet Communications Controller (le)
Getting the OpenBSD System onto Useful Media:
---------------------------------------------
Installation is supported from several media types, including:
CD-ROM
FFS partitions (for upgrades only)
Tape
Remote NFS partitions
FTP
HTTP
The steps necessary to prepare the distribution sets for installation
depend on which method of installation you choose. Some methods
require a bit of setup first that is explained below.
The installation allows installing OpenBSD directly from FTP mirror
sites over the internet, however you must consider the speed and
reliability of your internet connection for this option. It may save
much time and frustration to use ftp get/reget to transfer the
distribution sets to a local server or disk and perform the installation
from there, rather than directly from the internet.
The variety of options listed may seem confusing, but situations vary
widely in terms of what peripherals and what sort of network arrangements
a user has, the intent is to provide some way that will be practical.
Creating an (optionally bootable) installation tape:
To install OpenBSD from a tape, you need to make a tape that
contains the distribution set files, each in "tar" format or in
"gzipped tar format". First you will need to transfer the
distribution sets to your local system, using ftp or by
mounting the CD-ROM containing the release. Then you need to
make a tape containing the files.
If you're making the tape on a UN*X-like system, the easiest way
to do so is make a shell script along the following lines, call it
"/tmp/maketape".
#! /bin/sh
TAPE=${TAPE:-/dev/nrst0}
mt -f ${TAPE} rewind
if test $# -lt 1
then
dd of=${TAPE} if=stboot obs=512
dd of=${TAPE} if=bootst obs=512
dd of=${TAPE} if=bsd.rd obs=8k conv=sync
fi
for file in base etc comp game man misc
do
dd if=${file}40.tgz of=${TAPE} obs=8k conv=sync
done
tar cf ${TAPE} bsd
mt -f ${TAPE} offline
# end of script
And then:
cd .../4.0/mvme88k
sh -x /tmp/maketape
Note that, by default, this script creates a bootable tape. If
you only want to fetch the OpenBSD files from tape, but want to
boot from another device, you can save time and space creating
the tape this way:
cd .../4.0/mvme88k
sh -x /tmp/maketape noboot
If you're using a system other than OpenBSD or SunOS, the tape
name and other requirements may change. You can override the
default device name (/dev/nrst0) with the TAPE environment
variable. For example, under Solaris, you would probably run:
TAPE=/dev/rmt/0n sh -x /tmp/maketape
Note that, when installing, the tape can be write-protected
(i.e. read-only).
To install OpenBSD using a remote partition, mounted via
NFS, you must do the following:
NOTE: This method of installation is recommended only for
those already familiar with using BSD network
configuration and management commands. If you aren't,
this documentation should help, but is not intended to
be all-encompassing.
Place the OpenBSD distribution sets you wish to install
into a directory on an NFS server, and make that directory
mountable by the machine on which you are installing or
upgrading OpenBSD. This will probably require modifying
the /etc/exports file of the NFS server and resetting
its mount daemon (mountd). (Both of these actions will
probably require superuser privileges on the server.)
You need to know the numeric IP address of the NFS
server, and, if the server is not on a network directly
connected to the machine on which you're installing or
upgrading OpenBSD, you need to know the numeric IP address
of the router closest to the OpenBSD machine. Finally,
you need to know the numeric IP address of the OpenBSD
machine itself.
Once the NFS server is set up properly and you have the
information mentioned above, you can proceed to the next
step in the installation or upgrade process.
If you are upgrading OpenBSD, you also have the option of installing
OpenBSD by putting the new distribution sets somewhere in your
existing file system, and using them from there. To do that, do
the following:
Place the distribution sets you wish to upgrade somewhere
in your current file system tree. At a bare minimum, you
must upgrade the "base" binary distribution, and so must
put the "base40" set somewhere in your file system. It
is recommended that you upgrade the other sets, as well.
Preparing your System for OpenBSD Installation:
-----------------------------------------------
Before installing OpenBSD on your machine, you will want to check your
machine's NVRAM settings, from the BUG.
The BUG provides a simple syntax reminder for every command, as well as a
description of the commands; if you need help, just use
187-Bug> HE
for a command list, or
187-Bug> HE FOO
for help on a specific command.
If you are located in the diagnostics directory (with a prompt in -Diag>
rather than -Bug>), be sure to revert to the normal Bug operating mode
with the SD command:
187-Diag> SD
187-Bug>
The default settings are usually suitable for OpenBSD; make sure the
environment is configured in BUG mode. You can check and change this with
the ENV command. Ideally, the first two items of the ENV data will be as
follows:
187-Bug> ENV
Bug or System environment [B/S] = B?
Field Service Menu Enable [Y/N] = N?
in order to boot directly into the BUG, without executing the complete
selftest sequence. Do not forget, after changing the ENV parameters, to
save the changes in NVRAM as suggested by the ENV command itself.
If the board has a built-in Ethernet controller, its address must be correct;
the LSAD command allows the address to be edited.
OpenBSD/mvme88k will not run correctly if the clock is stopped (power-saving
mode). Be sure to check that it is running by setting the current date with
the SET command.
If you plan to permanently boot from the network, make sure your ENV settings
match the following setup:
Network Auto Boot Enable [Y/N] = N? Y
Network Auto Boot at power-up only [Y/N] = Y? N
Network Auto Boot Abort Delay = 5? 2 (or any value at your choice)
Network Auto Boot Configuration Parameters Pointer (NVRAM) =
00000000? FFFC0080
Installing the OpenBSD System:
------------------------------
Installing OpenBSD is a relatively complex process, but if you have
this document in hand and are careful to read and remember the
information which is presented to you by the install program, it
shouldn't be too much trouble.
Before you begin, you should know the geometry of your hard disk, i.e.
the sector size (note that sector sizes other than 512 bytes are not
currently supported), the number of sectors per track, the number of
tracks per cylinder (also known as the number of heads), and the
number of cylinders on the disk. The OpenBSD kernel will try to
discover these parameters on its own, and if it can it will print them
at boot time. If possible, you should use the parameters it prints.
(You might not be able to because you're sharing your disk with
another operating system, or because your disk is old enough that the
kernel can't figure out its geometry.)
There are several ways to install OpenBSD onto a disk. The easiest way
in terms of preliminary setup is to use the OpenBSD ramdisk kernel that can
be booted from tape.
Alternatively, if the mvme88k is hooked up to a network, it is possible
to set up another machine as a server for diskless setup, which is a
convenient way to install on a machine whose disk does not currently
hold a usable operating system.
This is difficult to get set up correctly the first time, but easy to
use afterwards. (See ``Installing using a diskless setup'' below).
Boot device restrictions:
The BUG firmware will not necessarily be able to boot from any device in
the system.
The following limitations apply:
- bootable SCSI tapes must have device ID 4 or 5.
- bootable SCSI disks must have device ID 0, 1, 2 or 3.
- only the first two MVME328 cards in a system (CLUN 6 and 7) can be
used as the boot controller.
Booting from the Installation Media:
Prior to attempting an installation, everything of value on the target
system should be backed up. While installing OpenBSD does not necessarily
wipe out all the partitions on the hard disk, errors during the install
process can have unforeseen consequences and will probably leave the system
unbootable if the installation process is not completed. Availability
of the installation media for the prior installation, such as a Motorola
SystemV/mvme88k tape is always a good insurance, should it be necessary
to "go back" for some reason.
After taking care of all that, the system should be brought down gracefully
using the shutdown(8) and/or halt(8) commands, which will eventually go
back to the ``BUG>'' prompt (it may be necessary to send a break if the
system is completely halted).
Booting from SCSI tape:
Bootable tapes can be booted with the following command at the prompt:
187-Bug> BO xx yy
Where `xx' is the SCSI controller number (00 for the built-in SCSI
controller on MVME187), and `yy' is the encoding for the SCSI device ID,
which varies between controllers.
Recent BUG can list the available disk and tape controllers, using the
"IOT;H" command:
187-Bug>IOT;H
I/O Controllers Available:
CLUN CNTRL-TYPE CNTRL-Address N-Devices
0 VME187 $FFF47000 *
6 VME328 $FFFF9000 *
In this example, the built-in controller, as well as an external MVME328
controller, are available.
The encoding for the drive ID is as follows:
- MVME187 built-in controller and MVME327 SCSI controller:
'yy' is ten times the device ID.
- MVME328 SCSI controller:
'yy' is eight times the device ID, written in hexadecimal
- MVME350 tape controller:
'yy' is always zero, as this controller only supports one tape drive.
For example, booting from a tape drive using SCSI ID #5 will be done with:
187-Bug> BO 00 50
using the MVME187 built-in controller, but with:
187-Bug> BO 06 28
using an MVME328 board.
Note that OpenBSD/mvme88k can boot off any tape drive supported by the BUG,
even if its controller is not supported by OpenBSD.
Booting from Network:
OpenBSD/mvme88k can boot off any network card supported by the BUG, even
if the card itself is not supported by OpenBSD. Two network boot loaders
are provided: one for Sun-compatible diskless setup (bootparams and NFS
root), and a simpler version limited to TFTP support.
The Sun-compatible network bootloader currently only supports the MVME187
on-board interface, and will not be able to boot from any other Ethernet
controller. The tftp bootloader does not have this limitation and will boot
from any BUG-supported Ethernet controller.
If you plan to use the Sun-compatible bootloader, "netboot", it will be
necessary to set up a complete diskless client configuration on a server. If
the boot server is an OpenBSD system, the diskless(8) manual page will
provide detailed information on the process.
If the server runs another operating system, the setup instructions will
likely be available as part of the documentation that came with it (on
SunOS systems, add_client(8) and the Sun System/Networks administrators
guide constitute a good start; on Solaris systems, share(1M) is a good
starting point as well).
Using the TFTP-compatible bootloader, "tftpboot", only requires a TFTP
server to be installed on the network, with both the tftpboot file and
the kernel image (usually bsd.rd) available from it.
The list of BUG-supported Ethernet controllers is available with the
"NIOT;A" command. For example:
187-Bug> NIOT;A
Network Controllers/Nodes Supported
CLUN DLUN Name Address
0 0 VME187 $FFF46000
2 0 VME376 $FFFF1200
3 0 VME376 $FFFF1400
4 0 VME376 $FFFF1600
5 0 VME376 $FFFF5400
6 0 VME376 $FFFF5600
7 0 VME376 $FFFFA400
10 0 VME374 $FF000000
11 0 VME374 $FF100000
12 0 VME374 $FF200000
13 0 VME374 $FF300000
14 0 VME374 $FF400000
15 0 VME374 $FF500000
The "NIOT;H" lists only the available controllers in the machine. For
example, on an MVME187 system with no external network card:
187-Bug> NIOT;H
Network Controllers/Nodes Available
CLUN DLUN Name Address
0 0 VME187 $FFF46000
If the BUG does not support the NIOT command (MVME187 BUG prior to version
1.3 doesn't), then it has no support for netbooting.
Before netbooting, enter "NIOT" and fill the parameters. Be sure to provide
the correct values for Controller LUN and Device LUN (as listed in the
"NIOT;H" output); also the "Boot File Load Address" and "Boot File
Execution Address" need to be set to 00AF0000. The "Boot File Name" must
match the name of the netboot file on the server (copying it as
"netboot.mvme88k" or "tftpboot.mvme88k" is usually a wise choice). Finally,
"Argument File Name" needs to be set to "bsd.rd" in order to boot the
installation miniroot, rather than the regular kernel.
Here are acceptable values for a 187 card using the built-in controller:
187-Bug> NIOT
Controller LUN =00?
Device LUN =00?
Node Control Memory Address =01FF0000?
Client IP Address =0.0.0.0?
Server IP Address =0.0.0.0?
Subnet IP Address Mask =255.255.255.0?
Broadcast IP Address =255.255.255.255?
Gateway IP Address =0.0.0.0?
Boot File Name ("NULL" for None) =? netboot.mvme88k
Argument File Name ("NULL" for None) =? bsd.rd
Boot File Load Address =001F0000? 00AF0000
Boot File Execution Address =001F0000? 00AF0000
Boot File Execution Delay =00000000?
Boot File Length =00000000?
Boot File Byte Offset =00000000?
BOOTP/RARP Request Retry =00?
TFTP/ARP Request Retry =00?
Trace Character Buffer Address =00000000?
BOOTP/RARP Request Control: Always/When-Needed (A/W)=W?
BOOTP/RARP Reply Update Control: Yes/No (Y/N) =Y?
If you change the NIOT configuration, you will be asked whether you want to
make these changes permanent. Do not answer Y unless you plan to netboot
this board very often; be sure to have the ENV settings use a correct
address for the NIOT parameters block in this case. A valid setting is:
Network Auto Boot Configuration Parameters Pointer (NVRAM) =
00000000? FFFC0080
for example.
Once the NIOT parameters are set, it should be possible to boot the machine
from the server with the NBO command:
187-Bug> NBO 00 00
or if you know the IP address for the mvme88k and the TFTP server,
you can directly provide the boot loader's filename and the kernel name
on the commandline:
187-Bug> NBO 00 00 192.168.0.68 192.168.0.1 tftpboot.mvme88k bsd.rd
where, in this example, 192.168.0.68 is the address of the mvme88k computer,
and 192.168.0.1 the address of the diskless server.
If the BUG version does not understand the NIOT and NBO commands (most
MVME187 don't), there is currently no way to netboot.
Installing using the tape or netboot procedure:
You should now be ready to install OpenBSD.
The following is a walk-through of the steps you will take while
getting OpenBSD installed on your hard disk. If any question has a
default answer, it will be displayed in brackets ("[]") after the
question. If you wish to stop the installation, you may hit Control-C
at any time, but if you do, you'll have to begin the installation
process again from scratch. Using Control-Z to suspend the process
may be a better option, or at any prompt enter '!' to get a shell,
from which 'exit' will return you back to that prompt (no refresh
of the prompt though).
Boot your machine from the installation media as described above.
It will take a while to load the kernel especially from a slow
network connection, most likely more than a minute. If some action
doesn't eventually happen, or the spinning cursor has stopped and
nothing further has happened, either your boot media is bad, your
diskless setup isn't correct, or you may have a hardware or
configuration problem.
Once the kernel has loaded, you will be presented with the
OpenBSD kernel boot messages. You will want to read them
to determine your disk's name and geometry. Its name will
be something like "sd0" or "wd0" and the geometry will be
printed on a line that begins with its name. As mentioned
above, you will need your disk's geometry when creating
OpenBSD partitions. You will also need to know the device
name to tell the install tools what disk to install on. If
you cannot read the messages as they scroll by, do not
worry -- you can get at this information later inside the
install program.
You will next be asked for your terminal type. You should choose
the terminal type from amongst those listed.
(If your terminal type is xterm, just use vt100).
After entering the terminal type you will be asked whether you
wish to do an "(I)nstall" or an "(U)pgrade". Enter 'I' for a
fresh install or 'U' to upgrade an existing installation.
You will be presented with a welcome message and asked if
you really wish to install (or upgrade). Assuming you
answered yes, the install program will then tell you which
disks of that type it can install on, and ask you which it
should use. The name of the disk is typically "sd0" for
SCSI drives.
Reply with the name of your disk.
Next the disk label which defines the layout of the OpenBSD
file systems must be set up. The installation script will
invoke an interactive editor allowing you to do this. Note
that partition 'c' inside this disk label should ALWAYS
reflect the entire disk, including any non-OpenBSD portions.
If you are labeling a new disk, you will probably start
out with an 'a' partition that spans the disk. In this
case you should delete 'a' before adding new partitions.
The root file system should be in partition 'a', and swap
is usually in partition 'b'.
It is recommended that you create separate partitions for /usr,
/tmp, and /var, and if you have room for it, one for /home. In
doing this, remember to skip 'c', leaving it as type "unused".
For help in the disk label editor, enter '?' or 'M' to view the
manual page (see the info on the ``-E'' flag).
The swap partition (usually 'b') should have a type of "swap", all
other native OpenBSD partitions should have a type of "4.2BSD".
Block and fragment sizes are usually 8192 and 1024 bytes, but can
also be 4096 and 512 or even 16384 and 2048 bytes.
The install program will now label your disk and ask which file
systems should be created on which partitions. It will auto-
matically select the 'a' partition to be the root file system.
Next it will ask for which disk and partition you want a file
system created on. This will be the same as the disk name (e.g.
"sd0") with the letter identifying the partition (e.g. "d")
appended (e.g. "sd0d"). Then it will ask where this partition is
to be mounted, e.g. /usr. This process will be repeated until
you enter "done".
At this point you will be asked to confirm that the file system
information you have entered is correct, and given an opportunity
to change the file system table. Next it will create the new file
systems as specified, OVERWRITING ANY EXISTING DATA. This is the
point of no return.
After all your file systems have been created, the install program
will give you an opportunity to configure the network. The network
configuration you enter (if any) can then be used to do the install
from another system using HTTP or FTP, and will also be the
configuration used by the system after the installation is complete.
If you select to configure the network, the install program will
ask you for the name of your system and the DNS domain name to use.
Note that the host name should be without the domain part, and that
the domain name should NOT include the host name part.
Next the system will give you a list of network interfaces you can
configure. For each network interface you select to configure, it
will ask for the IP address to use, the symbolic host name to use,
the netmask to use, and any interface-specific flags to set. The
interface-specific flags are usually used to determine which media
the network card is to use. Typically no media flags are required
as autodetection normally works, but you will be prompted with a
list of the acceptable media flags, and asked if you want to provide
any. In doubt, do not enter any media flags; or you can refer to
the manual page for your interface for the appropriate flags.
After all network interfaces have been configured, the install pro-
gram will ask for a default route and IP address of the primary
name server to use. You will also be presented with an opportunity
to edit the host table.
At this point you will be allowed to edit the file system table
that will be used for the remainder of the installation and that
will be used by the finished system, following which the new file
systems will be mounted to complete the installation.
After these preparatory steps have been completed, you will be
able to extract the distribution sets onto your system. There
are several install methods supported; FTP, HTTP, tape,
CD-ROM, NFS, or a local disk partition.
To install via FTP:
To begin an FTP install you will need the following
pieces of information. Don't be daunted by this list;
the defaults are sufficient for most people.
1) Proxy server URL if you are using a URL-based
FTP proxy (squid, CERN FTP, Apache 1.2 or higher).
You need to define a proxy if you are behind a
firewall that blocks outgoing FTP (assuming you
have a proxy available to use).
2) Do you need to use active mode FTP? By default,
ftp will attempt to use passive mode and fall
back to an active connection if the server does
not support passive mode. You only need to enable
this option if you are connecting to a buggy FTP
daemon that implements passive FTP incorrectly.
Note that you will not be asked about active
FTP if you are using a proxy.
3) The IP address (or hostname if you enabled
DNS earlier in the install) of an FTP server
carrying the OpenBSD 4.0 distribution.
If you don't know, just hit return when
asked if you want to see a list of such hosts.
4) The FTP directory holding the distribution sets.
The default value of pub/OpenBSD/4.0/mvme88k
is almost always correct.
5) The login and password for the FTP account.
You will only be asked for a password for
non-anonymous FTP.
For instructions on how to complete the installation via
FTP, see the section named "Common URL installations" below.
To install via HTTP:
To begin an HTTP install you will need the following
pieces of information:
1) Proxy server URL if you are using a URL-based
HTTP proxy (squid, CERN FTP, Apache 1.2 or higher).
You need to define a proxy if you are behind a
firewall that blocks outgoing HTTP connections
(assuming you have a proxy available to use).
2) The IP address (or hostname if you enabled
DNS earlier in the install) of an HTTP server
carrying the OpenBSD 4.0 distribution.
If you don't know, just hit return when
asked if you want to see a list of such hosts.
3) The directory holding the distribution sets.
There is no standard location for this;
You should use the directory specified
along with the server in the list of official
HTTP mirror sites that you received in step 3.
For instructions on how to complete the installation via
HTTP, see the section named "Common URL installations" below.
To install from tape:
In order to install from tape, the distribution sets to be
installed must have been written to tape previously, either
in tar format or gzip-compressed tar format.
You will also have to identify the tape device where the
distribution sets are to be extracted from. This will
typically be "nrst0" (no-rewind, raw interface).
Next you will have to specify how many files have to be
skipped on the tape. This number is usually zero, unless
you have created a bootable tape, in which case the number
will be 3.
The install program will not automatically detect whether
an image has been compressed, so it will ask for that
information before starting the extraction.
To install from CD-ROM:
When installing from a CD-ROM, you will be asked which
device holds the distribution sets. This will typically
be "cd0". Next you will be asked which partition on the
CD-ROM the distribution is to be loaded from. This is
normally partition "a".
Next you will have to identify the file system type that
has been used to create the distribution on the CD-ROM,
this can be either FFS or ISO CD9660. The OpenBSD CD-ROM
distribution uses the CD9660 format.
You will also have to provide the relative path to the
directory on the CD-ROM which holds the distribution, for
the mvme88k this is "4.0/mvme88k".
For instructions on how to complete the installation from
the CD-ROM distribution, see the section named "Common
file system installations" below.
To install from an NFS mounted directory:
When installing from an NFS-mounted directory, you must
have completed network configuration above, and also
set up the exported file system on the NFS server in
advance.
First you must identify the IP address of the NFS server
to load the distribution from, and the file system the
server expects you to mount.
The install program will also ask whether or not TCP
should be used for transport (the default is UDP). Note
that TCP only works with newer NFS servers.
You will also have to provide the relative path to the
directory on the file system where the distribution sets
are located. Note that this path should not be prefixed
with a '/'.
For instructions on how to complete the installation from
the CD-ROM distribution, see the section named "Common
file system installations" below.
To install from a local disk partition:
When installing from a local disk partition, you will
first have to identify which disk holds the distribution
sets. This is normally "sdN", where N is a number
0 through 9. Next you will have to identify the partition
within that disk that holds the distribution; this is a
single letter between 'a' and 'p'.
You will also have to identify the type of file system
residing in the partition identified. Currently, you can
only install from partitions that have been formatted as the
Berkeley fast file system (ffs).
You will also have to provide the relative path to the
directory on the file system where the distribution sets
are located. Note that this path should not be prefixed
with a '/'.
For instructions on how to complete the installation from
a local disk partition, see the next section.
Common file system installations:
The following instructions are common to installations
from mounted disk partitions, NFS mounted directories and
CD-ROMs.
A list of available distribution sets will be listed.
You may individually select distribution sets to install
or enter `all' to install all of the sets (which is what
most users will want to do). You may also enter `list'
to get a file list or `done' when you are done selecting
distribution sets. You may also use wildcards in place of
a file name, e.g. `*.tgz' or even `base*|comp*'. It is
also possible to enter an arbitrary filename and have it
treated as a file set.
Once you have selected the file sets you want to install
and entered `done' you will be prompted to verify that
you really do want to extract file sets. Assuming you
acquiesce, the files will begin to extract. If not, you
will be given the option of installing sets via one of
the other install methods.
Common URL installations:
Once you have entered the required information, the
install program will fetch a file list and present
a list of all the distribution sets that were found
in the specified directory. (If no valid sets were found,
you will be notified and given the option of unpacking
any gzipped tar files found or getting a file list if
none were found.)
At this point you may individually select distribution
sets to install or enter `all' to install all of the
sets (which is what most users will want to do). You
may also enter `list' to get a file list or `done' when
you are done selecting distribution sets. You may also
use wildcards in place of a file name, e.g. `*.tgz' or
even `base*|comp*'. It is also possible to enter an
arbitrary filename and have it treated as a file set.
Once you have selected the file sets you want to install
and entered `done' you will be prompted to verify that
you really do want to download and install the files.
Assuming you acquiesce, the files will begin to download
and unpack. If not, you will be given the option of
installing sets via one of the other install methods.
When all the selected distribution sets has been extracted, you
will be allowed to select which time zone your system will be
using, all the device nodes needed by the installed system will
be created for you, and the file systems will be unmounted. For
this to work properly, it is expected that you have installed
at least the "base40", "etc40", and "bsd" distribution sets.
Congratulations, you have successfully installed OpenBSD 4.0. When you
reboot into OpenBSD, you should log in as "root" at the login prompt.
You should create yourself an account and protect it and the "root"
account with good passwords.
The install program leaves root an initial mail message. We recommend
you read it, as it contains answers to basic questions you might have
about OpenBSD, such as configuring your system, installing packages,
getting more information about OpenBSD, sending in your dmesg output
and more. To do this, run
mail
and then just enter "more 1" to get the first message. You quit mail by
entering "q".
Some of the files in the OpenBSD 4.0 distribution might need to be
tailored for your site. We recommend you run:
man afterboot
which will tell you about a bunch of the files needing to be reviewed.
If you are unfamiliar with UN*X-like system administration, it's
recommended that you buy a book that discusses it.
Net Boot or Diskless Setup Information:
The set up is similar to SunOS diskless setup, but not identical, because
the Sun setup assumes that the bootblocks load a kernel image, which then
uses NFS to access the exported root partition, while the OpenBSD bootblocks
use internal NFS routines to load the kernel image directly from the
exported root partition.
Please understand that no one gets this right the first try, since
there is a lot of setup and all the host daemons must be running and
configured correctly. If you have problems, extract the diskless(8)
manpage, find someone who's been through it before and use the host
syslog and tcpdump(8) to get visibility of what's happening (or not).
Your mvme88k expects to be able to download a second stage bootstrap
program via TFTP after having acquired its IP address through RevARP when
instructed to boot "over the net". It will look for the filename specified
on the NBO commandline, or via the NIOT parameters.
Normally, this file is a symbolic link to an appropriate second-stage
boot program, which should be located in a place where the TFTP daemon
can find it (remember, many TFTP daemons run in a chroot'ed environment).
You can find the boot program in `/usr/mdec/netboot' in the OpenBSD/mvme88k
distribution.
After the boot program has been loaded into memory and given control by
the BUG, it starts locating the machine's remote root directory through
the BOOTPARAM protocol. First a BOOTPARAM WHOAMI request is broadcast
on the local net. The answer to this request (if it comes in) contains
the client's name. This name is used in the next step, a BOOTPARAM GETFILE
request -- sent to the server that responded to the WHOAMI request --
requesting the name and address of the machine that will serve the client's
root directory, as well as the path of the client's root on that server.
Finally, this information (if it comes in) is used to issue a REMOTE MOUNT
request to the client's root filesystem server, asking for an NFS file
handle corresponding to the root filesystem. If successful, the boot
program starts reading from the remote root filesystem in search of the
kernel which is then read into memory.
Unpack `base40.tgz' and `etc40.tgz' on the server in the root directory
for your target machine. If you elect to use a separately NFS-mounted
filesystem for `/usr' with your diskless setup, make sure the "./usr" base
files in base40.tgz end up in the correct location. One way to do this is
to temporarily use a loopback mount on the server, re-routing <root>/usr to
your server's exported OpenBSD "/usr" directory. Also put the kernel and
the install/upgrade scripts into the root directory.
A few configuration files need to be edited:
<root>/etc/hosts
Add the IP addresses of both server and client.
<root>/etc/myname
This files contains the client's hostname; use the same
name as in <root>/etc/hosts.
<root>/etc/fstab
Enter the entries for the remotely mounted filesystems.
For example:
server:/export/root/client / nfs rw 0 0
server:/export/exec/mvme88k.OpenBSD /usr nfs rw 0 0
Now you must populate the `/dev' directory for your client. If the server
does not run OpenBSD you might save the MAKEDEV output:
eo=echo ksh MAKEDEV all > all.sh
and then tailor it for your server operating system before running it. Note
that MAKEDEV is written specifically for ksh, and may not work on any other
Bourne shell.
There will be error messages about unknown users and groups. These errors are
inconsequential for the purpose of installing OpenBSD. However, you may
want to correct them if you plan to use the diskless setup regularly. In that
case, you may re-run MAKEDEV on your OpenBSD machine once it has booted.
Upgrading a previously-installed OpenBSD System:
------------------------------------------------
Warning! Upgrades to OpenBSD 4.0 are currently only supported from the
immediately previous release. The upgrade process will also work with older
releases, but might not execute some migration tasks that would be necessary
for a proper upgrade. The best solution, whenever possible, is to backup
your data and reinstall from scratch.
To upgrade OpenBSD 4.0 from a previous version, start with the general
instructions in the section "Installing OpenBSD".
Boot from an installation tape, or the miniroot over the network.
When prompted, select the (U)pgrade option rather than the (I)nstall
option at the prompt in the install process.
The upgrade script will ask you for the existing root partition, and
will use the existing filesystems defined in /etc/fstab to install the
new system in. It will also use your existing network parameters.
From then, the upgrade procedure is very close to the installation
procedure described earlier in this document. Note that the upgrade
procedure will not let you pick the ``etc40.tgz'' set, so as to
preserve your files in `/etc' which you are likely to have customized
since a previous installation.
However, it is strongly advised that you unpack the etc40.tgz set in
a temporary directory and merge changes by hand, since all components of
your system may not function correctly until your files in `/etc' are
updated.
Getting source code for your OpenBSD System:
--------------------------------------------
Now that your OpenBSD system is up and running, you probably want to get
access to source code so that you can recompile pieces of the system.
A few methods are provided. If you have an OpenBSD CD-ROM, the source
code is provided. Otherwise, you can get the pieces over the Internet
using anonymous CVS, CTM, CVSync or FTP. For more information, see
http://www.OpenBSD.org/anoncvs.html
http://www.OpenBSD.org/ctm.html
http://www.OpenBSD.org/cvsync.html
http://www.OpenBSD.org/ftp.html
Using online OpenBSD documentation:
-----------------------------------
Documentation is available if you first install the manual pages
distribution set. Traditionally, the UN*X "man pages" (documentation)
are denoted by 'name(section)'. Some examples of this are
intro(1),
man(1),
apropos(1),
passwd(1),
passwd(5) and
afterboot(8).
The section numbers group the topics into several categories, but three
are of primary interest: user commands are in section 1, file formats
are in section 5, and administrative information is in section 8.
The 'man' command is used to view the documentation on a topic, and is
started by entering 'man [section] topic'. The brackets [] around the
section should not be entered, but rather indicate that the section is
optional. If you don't ask for a particular section, the topic with the
least-numbered section name will be displayed. For instance, after
logging in, enter
man passwd
to read the documentation for passwd(1). To view the documentation for
passwd(5), enter
man 5 passwd
instead.
If you are unsure of what man page you are looking for, enter
apropos subject-word
where "subject-word" is your topic of interest; a list of possibly
related man pages will be displayed.
Adding third party software; ``packages'' and ``ports'':
--------------------------------------------------------
As complete as your OpenBSD system is, you may want to add any of several
excellent third party software applications. There are several ways to do
this. You can:
1) Obtain the source code and build the application based
upon whatever installation procedures are provided with the
application.
2) Use the OpenBSD ``ports'' collection to automatically get any
needed source file, apply any required patches, create the
application, and install it for you.
3) Use the OpenBSD ``package'' collection to grab a pre-compiled
and tested version of the application for your hardware.
If you purchased the OpenBSD CD-ROM set you already have several popular
``packages'', and the ``ports'' collection.
Instructions for installing applications from the various sources using
the different installation methods follow.
You should also refer to the packages(7) manual page.
Installing applications from the CD-ROM package collection:
The OpenBSD CD-ROM ships with several applications pre-built
for various hardware architectures. The number of applications
vary according to available disk space. Check the directory
4.0/packages/m88k to see which packages are available for
your hardware architecture. That directory will be on the same
CD-ROM containing the OS installation files for your architecture.
To install one or more of these packages you must:
1) become the superuser (root).
2) mount the appropriate CD-ROM.
3) use the ``pkg_add'' command to install the software.
Example (in which we use su(1) to get superuser privileges, thus
you have to be in group "wheel", see the manual page for su(1)).
$ su
Password: <enter your root password>
# mkdir -p /cdrom
# mount /dev/cd0a /cdrom
# pkg_add /cdrom/4.0/packages/m88k/<package-name>
# <add more packages if desired>
# umount /cdrom
Package names are usually the application name and version
with .tgz appended, e.g. emacs-21.3.tgz
Installing applications from the ftp.OpenBSD.org package collection:
All available packages for your architecture have been placed on
ftp.OpenBSD.org in the directory pub/OpenBSD/4.0/packages/m88k/
You may want to peruse this to see what packages are available. The
packages are also on the OpenBSD FTP mirror sites. See
http://www.OpenBSD.org/ftp.html
for a list of current FTP mirror sites.
Installation of a package is very easy.
1) become the superuser (root)
2) use the ``pkg_add'' command to install the software
``pkg_add'' is smart enough to know how to download the software
from the OpenBSD FTP server. Example:
$ su
Password: <enter your root password>
# pkg_add \
ftp://ftp.OpenBSD.org/pub/OpenBSD/4.0/packages/m88k/emacs-21.3.tgz
Installing applications from the CD-ROM ports collection:
The CD-ROM ``ports'' collection is a set of Makefiles, patches,
and other files used to control the building and installation
of an application from source files.
Creating an application from sources can require a lot of
disk space, sometimes 50 megabytes or more. The first step is
to determine which of your disks has enough room. Once you've
made this determination, read the file PORTS located on the
CD-ROM which contains the ports tree.
To build an application you must:
1) become the superuser (root)
2) have network access, or obtain the actual source files by
some other means.
3) cd to the ports directory containing the port you wish
to build. To build samba, for example, where you'd
previously copied the ports files into the /usr/ports
directory: cd /usr/ports/net/samba
4) make
5) make install
6) make clean
Installing applications from the OpenBSD ports collection:
See http://www.OpenBSD.org/ports.html for current instructions
on obtaining and installing OpenBSD ports.
You should also refer to the ports(7) manual page.
Installing other applications:
If an OpenBSD package or port does not exist for an application
you're pretty much on your own. The first thing to do is ask
<ports@OpenBSD.org> if anyone is working on a port -- there may
be one in progress.
If you can't find an existing port, try to make your own and
feed it back to OpenBSD. That's how our ports collection grows.
Some details can be found at http://www.OpenBSD.org/porting.html
with more help coming from the mailing list, <ports@OpenBSD.org>.
Administrivia:
--------------
There are various mailing lists available via the mailing list
server at <majordomo@OpenBSD.org>. To get help on using the mailing
list server, send mail to that address with an empty body, and it will
reply with instructions. There are also two OpenBSD Usenet newsgroups,
comp.unix.bsd.openbsd.announce for important announcements and
comp.unix.bsd.openbsd.misc for general OpenBSD discussion.
To report bugs, use the 'sendbug' command shipped with OpenBSD,
and fill in as much information about the problem as you can. Good
bug reports include lots of details. Additionally, bug reports can
be sent by mail to:
bugs@OpenBSD.org
Use of 'sendbug' is encouraged, however, because bugs reported with it
are entered into the OpenBSD bugs database, and thus can't slip through
the cracks.
As a favor, please avoid mailing huge documents or files to the
mailing lists. Instead, put the material you would have sent up
for FTP somewhere, then mail the appropriate list about it, or, if
you'd rather not do that, mail the list saying you'll send the data
to those who want it.
For more information about reporting bugs, see
http://www.OpenBSD.org/report.html