FreeBSDNews.com

Finally Moving Away From Windows

By Leave a Comment

User Nicholas Manios tells us about his journey from Windows 10 to FreeBSD 11.1. He makes sure to successfully migrate any needed apps through a VM on bhyve, and imports configurations for cross-platform apps like Firefox. Those looking to make the switch, see if Nicholas’ story may help with the process.

I didn’t want to install Windows again, but something didn’t feel right about installing some flavour of Linux. Back at home I have a small collection of FreeBSD servers running in all sorts of jails and other physical hardware, with the exception of one Debian server which I had the hardest time dealing with (it would be FreeBSD too if 802.11ac support was there as it is acting as my WiFi/gateway/IDS/IPS). I loved my FreeBSD servers, and yes I will write posts about each one soon enough. I wanted that cleanliness and familiarity on my desktop as well (I really love the ports collection!). It’s settled – I will run FreeBSD on my laptop. This also created a new rivalry with my father, which is not a bad thing either.

Finally Moving Away From Windows

[How-To] FreeNAS & WebDAV SSL on Windows Server 2012 R2

By Leave a Comment

In this video tutorial, user freakyfoe shows us how to get WebDAV with SSL set up on FreeNAS, using Windows Server 2012.

If you are having problems mounting a SSL WebDAV volume on Server 2012 R2 follow this guide.

FreeNAS WebDAV Basic Auth over SSL installation on Windows Server 2012.

WebDAV over HTTP was always working fine but WebDAV over SSL was always giving me login failed on Server 2012, and since I didn’t find all the information in one place I decided to share it with you.

Original: http://webmastertips.info/freenas-webdav-ssl-on-windows-server-2012-r2/

[How-To] FreeBSD UEFI Root on ZFS and Windows Dual Boot

By Leave a Comment

User Kevin Bowling shows us how to get FreeBSD and Windows to dual boot on a single machine. This method uses UEFI as the main bootloader. Follow the link provided for the full set of instructions.

bsdmag_photo_40371_20150828Somehow I’ve managed to mostly not care about UEFI until now. On my new laptop, I decided I should give it a go. There are some small benefits, nothing life changing, but booting multiple OSes is a lot easier, especially if they are UEFI-native, and you can get a nice frame buffer the boot manager and the OS can use before starting graphically (and after, if you don’t have accelerated graphics drivers).

For reference, how I run FreeBSD desktop/laptop: digital-life*

Full tutorial: https://bsdmag.org/freebsd_uefi_root/

[How-To] FreeBSD UEFI Root on ZFS and Windows Dual Boot

By Leave a Comment

User Kev009 shows us how to get UEFI Root on ZFS set up along with Windows dual boot on FreeBSD. See the link below for the full instructions.

windowsbsdSomehow I’ve managed to mostly not care about UEFI until now. On my new laptop, I decided I should give it a go. There are some small benefits, nothing life changing, but booting multiple OSes is a lot easier especially if they are UEFI native, and you get a nice frame buffer the boot manager can use as will the OS before starting graphically (and after, if you don’t have accelerated graphics drivers).

For reference, how I run FreeBSD desktop/laptop: digital-life

Thanks to

Most of this was cribbed from the following sources:

Install Windows 10 or other UEFI OS ….

Full tutorial: http://kev009.com/wp/2016/07/freebsd-uefi-root-on-zfs-and-windows-dual-boot/

FreeBSD is available in Microsoft’s Azure Marketplace

By Leave a Comment

Microsoft has announced that FreeBSD 10.3 is now available as a virtual machine image in the Azure Marketplace. Azure is Microsoft’s cloud computing platform and infrastructure for deploying various applications.

freebsdazure

Today, I’m excited to announce the availability of FreeBSD 10.3 as a ready-made VM image available directly from the Azure Marketplace. This means that not only can you quickly bring-up a FreeBSD VM in Azure, but also that in the event you need technical support, Microsoft support engineers can assist.

Here’s how easy it is to get up and going through the Azure portal. Simply click on the +New on the left pane (or the marketplace tile on your dashboard), type “FreeBSD 10.3” in the search text box, and you’re there.

Original announcement: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/freebsd-now-available-in-azure-marketplace/

Create and Upload a FreeBSD VHD to Azure

This article shows you how to create and upload a virtual hard disk (VHD) that contains the FreeBSD operating system so you can use it as your own image to create a virtual machine (VM) in Azure.

Important:

Azure has two different deployment models for creating and working with resources: Resource Manager and classic. This article covers using the classic deployment model. Microsoft recommends that most new deployments use the Resource Manager model.

Full tutorial: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/virtual-machines-linux-classic-freebsd-create-upload-vhd/

Related links:

News Hub – Microsoft unveils FreeBSD build for virtual appliances among Azure updates
The Register – Microsoft has created its own FreeBSD image. Repeat. Microsoft has created its own FreeBSD image
The VAR Guy – FreeBSD vs. Linux: Which Open Source OS Does Microsoft Now Love More?
Redmond Magazine – Microsoft Releases FreeBSD 10.3 Image in Azure Marketplace
Softpedia – FreeBSD Now Available on Microsoft’s Azure
fossBytes – Microsoft Creates Its Own Distribution Of FreeBSD Operating System
Build Azure – Azure Marketplace: FreeBSD 10.3
Slashdot – Microsoft Has Created Its Own FreeBSD
iTWire – Microsoft announces its own FreeBSD to ensure Azure support
WinBeta – Microsoft creates its own FreeBSD distribution to run on Azure
The Cloud Mouth – Hacking your way to root on FreeBSD in Azure
More from the FreeBSD Foundation on the Project’s Partnership with Microsoft

PlayOnBSD (run Windows software)

By 3 Comments

PlayOnBSD has recently been added to the FreshPorts repository. See the full description of the port in the links below.

PlayOnBSD

This is a port of PlayOnLinux to FreeBSD. It allows you to easily install and use numerous games and apps designed to run with Microsoft Windows. The Windows emulation is provided by Wine. WWW: http://www.playonlinux.com/

SVNWeb : Homepage : Distfiles Availability : PortsMon

To install the port: cd /usr/ports/emulators/playonbsd/ && make install clean
To add the package: pkg install playonbsd
PKGNAME: playonbsd

Wine Reviews: http://www.wine-reviews.net/2016/03/playonbsd-easily-install-and-run.html

FreshPorts PlayonBSD: http://www.freshports.org/emulators/playonbsd

How-To: Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard on FreeBSD via bhyve hypervisor

By Leave a Comment

bhyvew2012Thanks to this tutorial by user James Lodge, we can get Windows Server 2012 R2 running on a FreeBSD bhyve hypervisor. Follow the link below for the full instructions.

Before embarking its worth reviewing the requirements as running Windows on Bhyve does require a bit of work and not for the faint hearted. It also requires some pretty specific hardware requirements/features as Bhyve has been built form the ground up with modern hardware accelerated virtualisation features at the forefront leave all the legacy cruff in its wake.

Requirements:

  • FreeBSD Current 11 r288524 (minimum)
  • Kernel Modules
    • vmm.ko  (Bhyve)
    • nmdm.ko  (Null Modem)
    • if_tap.ko (tap network interface)
    • if_bridge.ko (bridge network interface)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Installation ISO
  • An AutoUnattend.xml file
    • To automate the installation as there is no graphical console.
  • virtio Windows drivers
  • CPU Supporting EPT with Unrestricted Guest Feature
    • EPT was introduce by Intel in 2008 as part of the Nehalem family of processors but lacked the unrestricted guest feature until the release of Westmere in 2010. Without unrestricted guest you will not be able to boot via the UEFI ROM
  • 7zip and cdrtools packages installed
  • Some spare time and patients

Full tutorial: https://jameslodge.com/freebsd-bhyve-hypervisor-running-windows-server-2012-r2-standard/

Running Windows under FreeBSD’s bhyve

By Leave a Comment

bhyve Thanks to the folks at pr1ntf.xyz, we can get Windows virtualized with bhyve on FreeBSD. Follow the link below for full instructions.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Windows Operating System Family.

As I wrote about in the past, Windows support was coming to the FreeBSD hypervisor bhyve. Support officially came with FreeBSD 11.0-CURRENT r288524 when it was announced via the FreeBSD Virtualization mailing list. Shortly after, Windows Diplomat Michael Dexter wrote a great how-to on the FreeBSD Wiki to get Windows up and going under bhyve.

Full tutorial: http://pr1ntf.xyz/windowsunderbhyve.html

Install Wine on FreeBSD

By 1 Comment

This tutorial by the folks at WineHQ shows us how to get Wine set up on FreeBSD. Wine is a compatibility layer that allows you to run Windows application on several open source operating systems.

Original: http://wiki.winehq.org/FreeBSD

winehq_logo_glass

Installation

The FreeBSD Ports repository contains up-to-date packages for both Wine’s stable and development releases, not to mention the experimental wine-staging release (currently a separate project from wine, but not really a fork… it’s complicated).

Installing the necessary package is very easy. If you’re on a 32-bit version of FreeBSD, use the pkg install command with one of wine (stable release), wine-devel (development release), or wine-staging (separate experimental release). For example, to install the wine development release: 

pkg install wine-devel

If you’re on a 64-bit version of FreeBSD, support for 64-bit Windows apps hasn’t been implemented yet, but you can still run 32-bit Windows apps fine. Instead of the packages listed above, just choose from i386-wine, i386-wine-devel, or i386-wine-staging.

Building Wine

{i} This section is mostly taken from the FreeBSD Wiki’s page on 32-bit Wine

Since FreeBSD doesn’t yet support cross-compiling 32-bit programs from a 64-bit environment, you’ll need to use a chroot. Otherwise, the process shouldn’t be hard at all….

  1. Load the necessary i386 files for a chroot into a folder
  2. Add mount points for necessary directories to the chroot

  3. Enter the chroot, set a few environment variables, and start ldconfig running

  4. Move to your desired version’s build directory and make the package [Read more…]

Setting up FreeBSD and jails on Azure – part 1: networking

By 1 Comment

This tutorial by user Gianugo shows us how to set up FreeBSD jails on the Microsoft Azure platform.

Original post: http://www.boldlyopen.com/2015/03/17/setting-up-freebsd-and-jails-on-azure-part-1-networking/

azureI set up this blog on Azure as an excuse to play with the new FreeBSD VM Depot image, learn more about jails and write the occasional blog post about random stuff. I took extensive notes while at it and I will be posting them here for future reference and to help the occasional search engine user.

I will skip all the clicking through that can easily get to a running FreeBSD VM in Azure. There is tons of FreeBSD documentation, including specific Azure tutorials that my team and others have written. I am lazy, so I will just point out specific Azure differences and how to take care of them.

A word of caution: please don’t consider what you read here to be authoritative. I’m doing this for fun and my free time is what it is, so don’t think I researched this stuff thoroughly. It worked for me and seems to be still working as I write this – that’s all I needed.

Let’s start with networking. Every public cloud has their own approach, and Azure is no different. Two things to remember about Azure IP management:

[Read more…]