First steps after installing FreeBSD

After installing FreeBSD successfully, we will complete the following steps before proceeding with the actual setup.

First, we will install the nano editor and the carootnss certificates with the following command:

root$: pkg inst nano ca_root_nss

SSD Trim

Here is a short guide on how to activate the trim support of an SSD.

First, we boot into single-user mode.

The following commands will activate the trim support.

$: tunefs -t enable /dev/ada<partition number>

$: tunefs -p /dev/ada<partition number>

$: reboot

Shell

The bash shell isn't included by default with FreeBSD: it's tcsh that we'll be using. It is not recommended to use a shell installed by ports (bash, for example) for our root user, as this will not work in case of problems (missing library, for example, or no access to /usr/local).

If we want to use a different shell for the root account: we change the root account shell instead (this administrator account is used for this). By default, the tcsh does not suggest a color, and the PC beeps, so we configure it by editing the /etc/csh.cshrc file that is common to all users:

root$: nano /etc/csh.cshrc =>

# Add color to CLI
setenv CLICOLOR true
setenv COLORTERM true

# Disable system beep
set nobeep

The bootloader menu has a 10-second timeout, which is a bit long. We'll reduce it to 2 seconds:

root$: sysrc -f /boot/loader.conf autoboot_delay=2

Deactivate the internal loudspeaker

With the following instruction, we can disable the internal speakers:

root$: nano /etc/sysctl.conf =>

kern.vt.enable_bell=0
hw.syscons.bell=0

CPU microcode update

The package devcpu-data provides us with microcode updates for use with the microcode cpuctl update function. We can use this to keep the firmware of our processor up to date.

root$: pkg inst devcpu-data
root$: service microcode_update enable
root$: service microcode_update start

powerd++

The powerdxx daemon is a replacement for FreeBSD's native powerd. It monitors the system load and adjusts the CPU clock accordingly.

root$: pkg inst powerdxx
root$: service powerd disable
root$: service powerd stop
root$: service powerdxx enable
root$: service powerdxx start

localization

For FreeBSD to be localized in German, we take the following steps:

$: nano ~/.xinitrc =>

export LC_ALL=de_DE.UTF-8
export LANGUAGE=de_DE.UTF-8
export LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
setxkbmap de


$: nano ~/.profile =>

LANG=de_DE.UTF-8; export LANG


$: nano ~/.login_conf =>

me:
  :charset=UTF-8: 
  :lang=de_DE.UTF-8: 
  :tc=default:


root$: nano /etc/profile =>

LANG=de_DE.UTF-8; export LANG
CHARSET=UTF-8; export CHARSET

doas

The doas utility is a program originally written for OpenBSD that allows a user to execute a command as if he were another user. Typically, doas is used to allow non-privileged users to execute commands as if they were the root user. The doas program provides a sudo alternative, a popular method in the Linux community for granting administrative privileges to specific users.

The doas program offers two advantages over sudo: its configuration file has a simple syntax and is smaller.

We can install it as follows:

root$: pkg inst doas

Then we create the following configuration file:

root$: nano /usr/local/etc/doas.conf => 

# allow user and dont require a password to execute commands as root
permit nopass keepenv :username #replace it with your own username
 
# reboot
permit nopass :username cmd reboot

Discuss...

Danschmid