INSTALLATION NOTES for OpenBSD/mvme68k 2.1
What is OpenBSD?
----------------
OpenBSD is a Berkeley Networking Release 2 (Net/2) and 4.4BSD-Lite
-derived Operating System. It is a fully functional UN*X-like system
which runs on many architectures and is being ported to more.
Continuing the multi-platform tradition, OpenBSD has added ports to
mvme68k, powerpc and arc machines. Kernel interfaces have continued
to be refined, and now several subsystems and device drivers are
shared among the different ports. You can look for this trend to
continue.
Security of the system as a whole has been significantly improved.
Source code for all critical system components has been checked for
remote-access, local-access, denial-of-service, data destruction, or
information-gathering problems. Tools like ipf, ipnat, and nc have
been added to the tree because security conscious people often need
them.
OpenBSD 2.1 has significantly enhanced the binary emulation subsystem
(which includes iBCS2, Linux, OSF/1, SunOS, SVR4, Solaris and Ultrix
compatibility) and several kernel subsystems have been generalized to
support this more readily. The binary emulation strategy is aimed at
making the emulation as accurate as possible.
Cryptography components are part of OpenBSD. OpenBSD is from Canada,
and export of these pieces (such as kerberosIV) to the world is not
restricted. Note that it can not be re-exported from the US once it
has entered US. Because of this, take care NOT to get the distrib-
ution from an FTP server in the US if you are outside of Canada and
the US.
Many new user programs have been added in OpenBSD 2.1, as well,
bringing it closer to our goal of supplying a complete and modern
UN*X-like environment. Tools like perl and ksh are standard, as are
numerous other useful tools.
OpenBSD/mvme68k 2.0 was written under contract for Willowglen Singapore
for an embedded application. Theo de Raadt, Dale Rahn, and Chuck Cranor
were involved in working on this port which runs on the MVME147, MVME162,
MVME167 and perhaps other models also.
Sources of OpenBSD:
-------------------
This is a list of currently known ftp servers:
Germany:
ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/pub/unix/openbsd/mirrors/OpenBSD ==
ftp://ftp.de.openbsd.org/pub/unix/openbsd/mirrors/OpenBSD
Japan:
ftp://ftp.tut.ac.jp/OpenBSD == ftp://ftp.jp.openbsd.org/OpenBSD
ftp://ftp.dti.ad.jp/pub/OpenBSD
Switzerland:
ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD ==
ftp://ftp.eu.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD
USA:
ftp://hydra.heuris.com/pub/OpenBSD ==
ftp://ftp1.usa.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD
ftp://freestuff.cs.colorado.edu/pub/OpenBSD ==
ftp://ftp2.usa.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD
ftp://ftp.ctaz.com/pub/OpenBSD ==
ftp://ftp5.usa.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD
ftp://pub.seastrom.com/pub/OpenBSD ==
ftp://ftp1.usa.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD
As well, the file ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/2.1/ftplist
contains a list which is continually updated. If you wish to become a
distribution site for OpenBSD, contact deraadt@cvs.openbsd.org.
OpenBSD 2.1 Release Contents:
-----------------------------
The OpenBSD 2.1 release is organized in the following way. In the
.../2.1 directory, there is one sub-directory per architecture, for
each of the architectures that OpenBSD 2.1 has a binary distribution
for. That is described further along in this document).
The mvme68k-specific portion of the OpenBSD 2.1 release is found in the
"mvme68k" subdirectory of the distribution. That subdirectory is laid
out as follows:
.../2.1/mvme68k/
INSTALL.mvme68k this document
tars/ mvme68k binary distribution sets;
see below.
tools/ Base GENERIC kernel, tools,
and an installation script.
The OpenBSD/mvme68k binary distribution sets contain the binaries which
comprise the OpenBSD 2.1 release for the mvme68k. There are seven binary
distribution sets, and the "security" distribution set. The binary
distribution sets can be found in subdirectories of the "mvme68k/tars"
subdirectory of the OpenBSD 2.1 distribution tree, and are as follows:
base21 The OpenBSD/mvme68k 2.1 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
includes shared library support, and excludes
everything described below.
[ 11.7M gzipped, 36.0M uncompressed ]
comp21 The OpenBSD/mvme68k Compiler tools. All of the tools
relating to C, C++, and FORTRAN.
This set includes the system include files
(/usr/include), the linker, the compiler tool chain,
and the various system libraries (except the shared
libraries, which are included as part of the base
set). This set also includes the manual pages for all
of the utilities it contains, as well as the system
call and library manual pages.
[ 7.4M gzipped, 23.8M uncompressed ]
etc21 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.)
[ 91K gzipped, 450K uncompressed ]
games21 This set includes the games and their manual pages.
[ 2.8M gzipped, 7.0M uncompressed ]
man21 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.
[ 1.8M gzipped, 9.3M uncompressed ]
misc21 This set includes the system dictionaries (which are
rather large), the typesettable document set, and
man pages for other architectures which happen to be
installed from the source tree by default.
[ 1.1M gzipped, 6.2M uncompressed ]
text21 This set includes OpenBSD's text processing tools,
including groff, all related programs, and their
manual pages.
[ 1.0M gzipped, 3.7M uncompressed ]
The "mvme68k/install" directory contains an install script, and a
GENERIC kernel.
OpenBSD System Requirements and Supported Devices:
--------------------------------------------------
OpenBSD/mvme68k 2.1 runs on the following classes of machines:
- MVME147 - Motorola with 68030 and 68881
- MVME162 - Motorola with 68040
- MVME167 - Motorola with 68040
The minimal configuration requires 4M of RAM and ~60M of disk space.
To install the entire system requires much more disk space, and to
compile the system, more RAM is recommended. (OpenBSD with 4M of
RAM feels like Solaris with 4M of RAM.) Note that until you have
around 16M of RAM, getting more RAM is more important than getting a
faster CPU.)
Supported devices include:
MVME147:
serial ports:
on-board ttya and ttyb
ethernet:
on-board AMD 7990 Lance ethernet ("le0")
SCSI:
on-board
Parallel:
a driver exists, but it is not integrated.
MVME162:
serial ports:
on-board tty00-03 - Zilog Z85230 SCC
ethernet:
on-board Intel 82596CA ethernet ("ie0")
SCSI:
on-board SCSI controller NCR53c710
Parallel:
Not available for this board
VME:
drivers for short I/O access
Flash:
1 MB flash, either Intel 28F008SA or 28F020
driver is available, but doesn't work
Jumper GPIO3 selects Flash memory map and must
be installed for booting with the Flash driver (default)
SRAM:
supported
VMEbus:
untested
IP:
untested
MVME167
serial:
on-board tty00 - tty03 - Cirrus Logic CD2401
ethernet:
on-board Intel 82596CA ethernet ("ie0")
SCSI:
on-board SCSI controller NCR53c710
Parallel:
Not supported
SRAM:
supported
Getting the OpenBSD System onto Useful Media:
---------------------------------------------
Installation is supported from several media types, including:
NFS partitions
FTP
Tape
The steps necessary to prepare the distribution sets
for installation depend on which method of installation
you choose. The various methods are explained below.
To prepare for installing via an NFS partition:
Place the OpenBSD software you wish to install into
a directory on an NFS server, and make that directory
mountable by the machine which you will be installing
OpenBSD on. This will probably require modifying the
/etc/exports file of the NFS server and resetting
mountd, acts which will require superuser privileges.
Note the numeric IP address of the NFS server and of
the router closest to the the new OpenBSD machine,
if the NFS server is not on a network which is
directly attached to the OpenBSD machine.
If you are using a diskless setup to install OpenBSD on
your machine, you can take advantage of the fact that
the above has already been done on your machine's server.
So, you can conveniently put the OpenBSD filesets in your
machine's root filesystem on the server where the install
program can find them.
Once you have done this, you can proceed to the next
step in the installation process, preparing your
system for OpenBSD installation.
To prepare for installing via FTP:
NOTE: this method of installation is recommended
only for those already familiar with using
the BSD network-manipulation commands and
interfaces. If you aren't, this documentation
should help, but is not intended to be
all-encompassing.
The preparations for this method of installation
are easy: all you have to do is make sure that
there's some FTP site from which you can retrieve
the OpenBSD installation when it's time to do
the install. You should know the numeric IP
address of that site, the numeric IP address of
your nearest router if one is necessary
Once you have done this, you can proceed to the next
step in the installation process, preparing your
system for OpenBSD installation.
To prepare for installing via a tape:
To install OpenBSD from a tape, you need to somehow
get the OpenBSD filesets you wish to install on
your system on to the appropriate kind of tape,
in tar format.
If you're making the tape on a UN*X system, the easiest
way to do so is:
tar cvf
where "" is the name of the tape device
that describes the tape drive you're using (possibly
something like /dev/nrst0, but we make no guarantees 8-).
Under SunOS 5.x, this would be something like /dev/rmt/0mbn.
Again, your mileage may vary. If you can't figure it out,
ask your system administrator. "" are the names
of the "set_name.nnn" files which you want to be placed
on the tape.
Once you have done this, you can proceed to the next
step in the installation process, preparing your
system for OpenBSD installation.
Preparing your System for OpenBSD Installation:
-----------------------------------------------
;
; This section should talk about setting up the NVRAM environment
; on the various models.
;
MVME162:
Be sure to use the SET command to set the date before trying
to use the ethernet support in the 162-Bug.
MVME162/167:
162Bug> env
Local SCSI Bus Reset on Debugger Startup [Y/N] = N? y
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
Network Auto Boot Configuration Parameters Pointer (NVRAM) = 00000000? fffc0080
Update Non-Volatile RAM (Y/N)? y
Reset Local System (CPU) (Y/N)? y
MVME147:
May need to set the ethernet address using the LSAD 147-Bug command.
Installing the OpenBSD System:
------------------------------
Installing OpenBSD is a relatively complex process, but if you have
this document in hand it shouldn't be too much trouble.
There are several ways to install OpenBSD onto a disk. The easiest way
nin terms of preliminary setup is to use the OpenBSD miniroot that can
be booted off your local disk's swap partition. Alternatively, if your
Sparcstation is hooked up in a network you can find a server and arrange
for a diskless setup which is a convenient way to install on a machine
whose disk does not currently hold a usable operating system (see the
section `Installing using a diskless setup' below).
Installing using the OpenBSD miniroot.
The miniroot is a self-contained OpenBSD filesystem holding all utilities
necessary to install OpenBSD on a local disk. It is distributed as a plain
file designed to be transferred to a raw disk partition from which it can
be booted using the appropriate PROM command. Usually, the miniroot will
be loaded into the swap partition of a disk. If needed, you can use any
other unused partition, but remember that the partition will then not
available during the installation process.
This will cause the kernel contained in the miniroot to be booted.
After the initial probe messages you'll asked to start the install
or upgrade procedure. Proceed to the section `Running the installation
scripts' below.
Installing using a diskless setup.
First, you must setup a diskless client configuration on a server. If
you are using a OpenBSD system as the boot-server, have a look at the
diskless(8) manual page for guidelines on how to proceed with this.
If the server runs another operating system, you'll have to consult
documentation that came with it (on SunOS systems, add_client(8) is a
good start).
Your Sparcstation 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 a filename composed of
the machine's IP address followed by the machine's architecture, separated
by a period. For example, a sun4c machine which has been assigned IP
address 130.115.144.11, will make an TFTP request for `8273900B.SUN4C'.
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/boot' in the OpenBSD/sparc
distribution. Unfortunately, it is necessary to install this file
differently for sun4 and sun4c clients: the sun4 version needs to have its
`a.out' header stripped off (otherwise the machine will crash), while the
sun4c version must retain it (otherwise the PROM will complain).
Here's an example to illustrate this whole mess:
server# cd //usr/mdec
if client is a sun4:
server# set SKIP=1
server# set KARCH=SUN4
else
server# set SKIP=0
server# set KARCH=SUN4C
server# dd if=boot of=/tftpboot/boot.sparc.OpenBSD.$KARCH skip=$SKIP bs=32
server# cd /tftpboot
server# ln -s boot.sparc.OpenBSD.$KARCH 8273900B.$KARCH
Note: some versions of Openboot ROMs (sun4c/sun4m) seem to require that the
boot program size is nicely rounded. Therefore it may be necessary to
strip(8) off the symbol table.
After the boot program has been loaded into memory and given control by
the PROM, 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 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
rogram starts reading from the remote root filesystem in search of the
kernel which is then read into memory.
As noted above in the section `Preparing your System for OpenBSD Installation',
you have several options when choosing a location to store the installation
filesets. However, the easiest way is to put the *.tar.gz files you want
to install into the root directory for your client on the server.
Next, unpack `base.tar.gz' and `etc.tar.gz' on the server in the root
directory for your machine. If you elect to use a separately NFS-mounted
filesystem for `/usr' with your diskless setup, make sure the "./usr" base
files in base.tar.gz end up in the correct location. One way to do this is
to temporarily use a loopback mount on the server, re-routing /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:
/etc/hosts
Add the IP addresses of both server and client.
/etc/myname
This files contains the client's hostname; use the same
name as in /etc/hosts.
/etc/fstab
Enter the entries for the remotely mounted filesystems.
For example:
server:/export/root/client / nfs rw 0 0
server:/export/exec/sun4.OpenBSD /usr nfs rw 0 0
Now you must populate the the `/dev' directory for your client. If you server
runs SunOS 4.x, you can simply change your working directory to `/dev'
and run the MAKEDEV script: `sh MAKEDEV all'.
On SunOS 5.x systems, MAKEDEV can also be used, but there'll be error
messages about unknown user and groups. These errors are inconsequential
for the purpose of installing OpenBSD. However, you may want to correct them
if you plan to the diskless setup regularly. In that case, you may re-run
MAKEDEV on your OpenBSD machine once it has booted.
Boot your workstation from the server by entering the appropriate `boot'
command at the monitor prompt. Depending on the PROM version in your machine,
this command takes one of the following forms:
> b le()bsd -s # for sun4 monitors
ok boot le()bsd -s # for version 1 OpenBOOT ROMs
ok boot net bsd -s # for version 2 OpenBOOT ROMs
This will boot the OpenBSD kernel in single-user mode.
[[
NOTE: the latter two examples assume you operate the OpenBOOT ROM in
"new command mode". If your machine comes up and gives you a `>' prompt
instead of `ok', type:
>n # enter native OpenBOOT mode
ok setenv sunmon-compat? false # make it permanent
ok
]]
If you use a diskless setup with a separately NFS-mounted /usr filesystem,
mount /usr by hand now:
OpenBSD# mount /usr
At this point, it's worth checking the disk label and partition sizes on
the disk you want to install OpenBSD onto. OpenBSD understands SunOS-style
disklabels, so if your disk was previously used by SunOS there will be
a usable label on it. Use `disklabel -e ' (where is the
device name assigned by the OpenBSD kernel, e.g. `sd0') to view and
modify the partition sizes. See the section `Preparing your System for
OpenBSD Installation' above for suggestions about disk partition sizes.
Make sure all your partitions start and end on cylinder boundaries.
NOTE: if you are installing on a SCSI disk that does *not* have a SunOS
or OpenBSD label on it, you may still be able to use disklabel(8) but you'll
have to create all partitions from scratch. If your disk is listed in
`/etc/disktab', you may use the entry (which in most cases only defines
a `c' partition to describe the whole disk) to put an initial label on
the disk. DO NOT USE `disklabel -r ...' TO INITIALIZE YOUR DISK LABEL;
THIS WILL LEAD TO UNPREDICTABLE RESULTS. This deficiency will be fixed
in a next release.
Here follows an example of what you'll see while in the dislabel editor.
Do not touch any of the parameters except for the `label: ' entry and
the actual partition size information at the bottom (the lines starting
with `a:', `b:', ...).
The size and offset fields are given in sector units. Be sure to make
these numbers multiples of the of the number of sectors per cylinder:
the kernel might be picky about these things, but aside from this you'll
have the least chance of wasting disk space.
Partitions on which you intend to have a mountable filesystem, should
be given fstype `4.2BSD'. Remember, the `c' partition should describe
the whole disk.
The `(Cyl. x - y)' info that appears after the hash (`#') character is
treated as a comment and need not be filled in when altering partitions.
Special note: the line containing `8 partitions:' is best left alone,
even if you define less then eight partitions. If this line displays
a different number and the program complains about it (after you leave
the editor), then try setting it to `8 partitions:'.
OpenBSD# disklabel sd2
# /dev/rsd2c:
type: SCSI
disk: SCSI disk
label: Hold Your Breath
flags:
bytes/sector: 512
sectors/track: 64
tracks/cylinder: 7
sectors/cylinder: 448
cylinders: 1429
rpm: 3600
interleave: 1
trackskew: 0
cylinderskew: 0
headswitch: 0 # milliseconds
track-to-track seek: 0 # milliseconds
drivedata: 0
8 partitions:
#size offset fstype [fsize bsize cpg]
a: 50176 0 4.2BSD 0 0 0 # (Cyl. 0 - 111)
b: 64512 50176 swap # (Cyl. 112 - 255)
c: 640192 0 unknown # (Cyl. 0 - 1428)
d: 525504 114688 4.2BSD 0 0 0 # (Cyl. 256 - 1428)
If you are upgrading a OpenBSD installation, start the upgrade script:
OpenBSD# sh upgrade.sh
else, start the installation script:
OpenBSD# sh install.sh
These scripts will do most of the work of transferring the system from the
tar files onto your disk. You will frequently be asked for confirmation
before the script proceeds with each phase of the installation process.
Occasionally, you'll have to provide a piece of information such as the
name of the disk you want to install on or IP addresses and domain names
you want to assign. If your system has more than one disk, you may want
to look at the output of the dmesg(8) command to see how your disks
have been identified by the kernel.
The installation script goes through the following phases:
- determination of the disk to install OpenBSD on
- checking of the partition information on the disk
- creating and mounting the OpenBSD filesystems
- setup of IP configuration
- extraction of the distribution tar files
- installation of boot programs
Now try a reboot. (If needed, swap your scsi id's first). Initially
I'd suggest you "boot sd()bsd -bs", then try multiuser after that.
if you boot single-user the OpenBSD incantation to make the root
filesystem writable is
OpenBSD# mount -u /dev/sd0a /
The Sun monitor normally tries to load a file called "vmunix". On
OpenBOOT ROM systems you can change it to load OpenBSD instead using
the following commands:
On version 1 OpenBOOT ROMs:
>n
ok setenv boot-from sd(0,0,0)bsd
ok
On version 2 OpenBOOT ROMs:
ok setenv boot-file bsd
ok setenv boot-device /sbus/esp/sd@0,0
Congratulations, you have successfully installed OpenBSD 2.0. When you
reboot into OpenBSD, you should log in as "root" at the login prompt.
There is no initial password, but if you're using the machine in a
networked environment, you should create yourself an account and
protect it and the "root" account with good passwords.
Some of the files in the OpenBSD 2.0 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.
Installing from SunOS.
You need a SunOS machine to install OpenBSD. You also need at
least the following pieces:
the *.tar.gz files you want to install (as a minimum, base.tar.gz)
gzip (GNU gzip) SunOS binary
gtar (GNU tar) SunOS binary
the "install.sh" script
a "/boot" file from a SunOS machine that matches your machine type
(e.g. sun or sun4c)
a kernel, most likely "/bsd"
All these pieces, except "/boot", are supplied in the OpenBSD/sparc
distribution.
You need to format and partition the disk using SunOS (since
OpenBSD/sparc uses SunOS disk labels.) Give yourself adequate
partition sizes. Here is an example layout:
partition size offset will be..
sd2a 28140 0 /
sd2b 16170 28140 swap
sd2c 204540 0 `whole disk'
sd2g 160230 44310 /usr
BTW, These are not recommended sizes. They simply match the first
(tiny) disk that OpenBSD/sparc ran on.
Use SunOS to newfs the partitions which will have filesystems on them.
(OpenBSD's filesystem format is identical to SunOS).
sunos# newfs /dev/rsd2a
[... lots of output]
sunos# newfs /dev/rsd2g
[... lots of output]
NOTE: If you are able to, there is a performance benefit from
newfs'ing using OpenBSD. If you newfs using the OpenBSD newfs command,
be sure to use the -O flag for your / partition, so that newfs will
use the 4.3BSD filesystem format, rather than the new 4.4BSD filesystem
format. If you forget, you will not be able to boot -- the SunOS boot
blocks do not understand the extended 4.4BSD filesystem format.
Mount those partitions in a tree formation, under /mnt; ie:
sunos# df
Filesystem kbytes used avail capacity Mounted on
[...]
/dev/sd2a 11501 0 11501 0% /mnt
/dev/sd2g 179529 0 179529 0% /mnt/usr
Place a standard SunOS "/boot" program in /mnt (your new root
partition), and use the SunOS command "installboot" to make it work.
The installboot man page says to do something like this:
sunos# cp /boot /mnt/boot
sunos# /usr/mdec/installboot -vlt /mnt/boot /usr/mdec/bootsd /dev/rsd2a
You can now extract the provided "*.tar.gz files onto your disk. The
provided script, "install_from_sunos.sh" will help you:
sunos# ls -FC
base.tar.gz etc.tar.gz man.tar.gz secr.tar.gz
comp.tar.gz games.tar.gz misc.tar.gz text.tar.gz
install.sh bsd.id3_scsi
sunos# ./install_from_sunos.sh
[...]
This script NEEDS gzip and gtar (GNU gzip and GNU tar) on your
execution path! The tar files are in a "new format" that includes
directory information, and SunOS tar will not read them. Statically
linked versions of these programs for SunOS are supplied in the
distribution.
After the files have been extracted, repair /mnt/etc/fstab to match
your actual disk layout. (Minus the "/mnt" component of each path, of
course :-)
Now proceed to reboot the machine as described above in "Installing
using a diskless setup".
Upgrading a previously-installed OpenBSD System:
------------------------------------------------
To upgrade to OpenBSD 2.0 from a previous version follow the instructions
in the section "Installing OpenBSD", but run the script `upgrade.sh'
in stead of `install.sh'.
The upgrade script will use the existing disk partitions to install the
new system in, and also preserves the files in `/etc'.
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, the source code
is provided. Otherwise, you can get the pieces over the Internet using
ANONCVS, CTM or FTP. For more information, see
http://www.openbsd.org/anoncvs.html
http://www.openbsd.org/ctm.html
http://www.openbsd.org/ftp.html
Using online OpenBSD documentation:
-----------------------------------
Documentation is available if you first install the manual
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), and
passwd(5).
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.
Administrivia:
--------------
There are various mailing lists available via the mailing list
server at . 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.