57 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
57 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
You can do network installations over 3 types of communications links:
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Serial port: SLIP / PPP
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Parallel port: PLIP (laplink cable)
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Ethernet: A standard Ethernet controller (includes some
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PCMCIA networking cards).
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SLIP support is rather primitive and limited primarily to directly
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connected links, such as a serial cable running between a laptop
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computer and another PC. The link must be hard-wired as the SLIP
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installation doesn't currently offer a dialing capability (that
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facility is offered by the PPP utility, which should be used in
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preference to SLIP whenever possible). When you choose the SLIP
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option, you'll be given the option of later editing the slattach
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command before it's run on the serial line. It is expected that
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you'll run slattach (or some equivalent command) on the other end of
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the link at that time and bring up the line. FreeBSD will then
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install itself at serial speeds of up to 115.2K/baud (the recommended
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speed for a hardwired cable).
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If you're using a modem then PPP is almost certainly your only choice.
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Make sure that you have your service provider's information handy as
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you'll need to know it fairly early in the installation process. You
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will need to know, at the minimum, your service provider's IP address
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and possibly your own (though you can also leave it blank and allow
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PPP to negotiate it with your ISP if your ISP supports such dynamic
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negotiation). You will also need to know how to use the various "AT
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commands" to dial the ISP with your particular brand of modem as the
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PPP dialer provides only a very simple terminal emulator and has no
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"modem capabilities database".
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If a hard-wired connection to another FreeBSD (2.0R or later) machine
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is available, you might also consider installing over a "laplink"
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parallel port cable. The data rate over the parallel port is much
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higher than what is typically possible over a serial line, and speeds
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of up to 50KB/sec are not uncommon.
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Finally, for the fastest possible network installation, an Ethernet
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adaptor is always a good choice! FreeBSD supports most common PC
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Ethernet cards, a table of which is provided in the FreeBSD Hardware
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Guide (see the Documentation menu on the boot floppy). If you are
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using one of the supported PCMCIA Ethernet cards, also be sure that
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it's plugged in _before_ the laptop is powered on! FreeBSD does not,
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unfortunately, currently support "hot insertion" of PCMCIA cards.
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You will also need to know your IP address on the network, the
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"netmask" value for your address class, and the name of your machine.
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Your system administrator can tell you which values to use for your
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particular network setup. If you will be referring to other hosts by
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name rather than IP address, you'll also need a name server and
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possibly the address of a gateway (if you're using PPP, it's your
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provider's IP address) to use in talking to it. If you do not know
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the answers to all or most of these questions then you should really
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probably talk to your system administrator _first_ before trying this
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type of installation! Choosing the wrong IP address on a busy network
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will NOT make you popular with your systems administrator! :-)
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