NetBSD/distrib/notes/pmax/install

Reminder:
	Always back up files before installing or upgrading.
	If installing from source,  always install and boot a new kernel
	before installing a new userland!


If at all possible, you should consult the ``Installation Guide''
document on the NetBSD/pmax web page, at http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/pmax.
It has not been possible to reproduce the pmax installation Web page
in fixed-font hardcopy format for the _VER release.  You must either visit
the URL above, or request a rendered version (e.g., PostScript).

Please check the NetbSD/pmax _VER installation instructions at

    http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/pmax/pmax-install.html

now, and return to this document when you used those instructions to
install a diskimage, and used sysinst to label a disk and extract the
NetBSD/pmax _VER installation tar sets.


Install via diskless boot.
--------------------------

The preferred path is to upgrade or install by diskless-booting a
minimal system via NFS, and using that to upgrade or install.  The
file
	installation/netboot/diskimage.tar.gz

contains a suitable set of files. (it is a tar copy of the contents of
a root filesystem diskimage) .  You will need to find an NFS server,
unpack the tarfile, and setup BOOTP/dhcp service for your pmax.
Complete instructions are in the installation notes or the pmax web
page.

Since the system install utility, sysinst, requires a read/write root,
netbooting is only feasible if your NFS server exports the diskless
root read-write.  If this is not possible, you should install via
diskimage.



Install via diskimage.
----------------------

If netbooting with a _writable_ NFS root is not possible, the
recommended installation is to unpack and copy a diskimage onto the
raw partition of a disk.  The diskimage file is in

installation/diskimage/diskimage.gz

is shipped compressed and is around 8020 kBytes; it uncompresses to
exactly 32Mbytes.

To install the diskimage onto disk rzX  on a NetBSD/pmax system, do:
	disklabel -W /dev/rrzXc
	gunzip -c diskimage.gz | dd of=/dev/rrzX2c bs=10240

Most other NetBSD ports are similar, but use  rsdXc instead of rrzXc.

On NetBSD/i386, the `raw disk partition' is the 'd' parttion, so do:
	disklabel -W /dev/rsdXd
	gunzip -c diskimage.gz | dd of=/dev/rsdXd bs=10240

On NetBSD, be sure to use disklabel -W to enable writing to the label
area of the disk. If you forget this and/or use the `block' device,
the dd command will silently fail.

On MS-DOS, use an unzip utlility, then use rawrite.

Then boot using, e.g,
	>> boot -f rz(0,X,0)netbsd		# 3100
	>> boot 5/rzX/netbsd 			# 5000/200
	>> boot 3/rzX/netbsd			# other machines

	(NOTE: replace the X with the unit number of your disk:
         boot 3/rz2/netbsd to boot drive 2 on a 5000/xxx.)

then continue from ``Once you've booted the diskimage''.



Installing from Ultrix
----------------------

The Ultrix bootloader can boot ECOFF-format NetBSD kernels.
So the technique of dd'ing a disk image into swap, copying
a kernel to the root, and then booting via the "n" argument
should work with Ultrix too.  Since Ultrix cannot mount
4.4BSD format FFS filesystems, just dd the diskimage into
your swap partition, copy a netbsd.ecoff kernel from the FTP site,
and proceed from step #5 of the `Upgrade via diskimage' above.

Again, be sure to specify the partition where you dd'ed the NetBSD
diskimage as your root device in step #7!



Once you've booted the diskimage
---------------------------

Once you'e booted a diskimage and pointed the kernel at the approriate
devices to use for root, and dump, NetBSD kernel will prompt you for
a single-user shell;

	Enter pathname of shell or RETURN for sh: 


At this point, press the RETURN key.
then when you get a standalone root prompt, set your terminal type

	TERM=pmax; export TERM;


Next, you need to ensure that the root filesystem is writable so that
sysinst can create temporary files, temporary disklabels, etc.
If you booted via NFS, the diskless root should already be writable.
If you booted from disk, type

	mount /dev/rzXY

where X is the disk unit you booted from, and Y is either a or b,
(e.g., use /dev/rz2a for drive 2 with diskimage in the 'a' partition,
and rz2b for diskimage in swap.)



Then, start sysinst.  For the ALPHA release, you should start sysinst
with an empty release-version string:

	sysinst -r ""

(to stop sysinst automatically inserting the reelase into set names).
For the BETA or the final relase, just use

	sysinst

Then, choose   'install' or 'upgrade'.

When you've finished the install/upgrade, be sure to edit /etc/rc.conf
and set "rc_configured" to YES when you are done.  If you're doing an
upgrade, merge your old etc from /etc.old into /etc.

You're then ready to reboot!



Post-intallation notes:
----------------------
Some of the files in the NetBSD _VER distribution might need to be
tailored for your site.  In particular, the /etc/sendmail.cf file will
almost definitely need to be adjusted, and other files in /etc will
probably need to be modified.  If you are unfamiliar with UN*X-like
system administration, it's recommended that you buy a book that
discusses it.

NetBSD/pmax 1.3 uses an X11R5 X server. These servers cannot read the
compressed fonts which are shipped with standard X11R6 configurations.

If you installed X11 and want to run a local Xserver, you must take
post-installation steps to make the X11R5 server work that are
standard for X11R6.3. The distribution file /usr/X11R6/bin/README.pmax
contains information on how to choose an Xserver and how to access
compressed fonts via a font server or to decompress the X fonts
after installation.  Please follow the directions there.