Well, in my last FreeBSD Friday post, I talked about How to compile a portion of FreeBSD code with debugging? (Sysinstall for this example). The next step is to learn to step through the code. There is a debugging tool included with FreeBSD called gdb.

A good start for gdb is to read this document from the FreeBSD Developers’ Handbook.
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/developers-handbook/debugging.html

To really get good at gdb though, you should read the gdb documenation here:
http://sourceware.org/gdb/current/onlinedocs/gdb/

Well, lets get started.

Step 1 – Compile a portion of FreeBSD code with debugging enabled
How to compile a portion of FreeBSD code with debugging? (Sysinstall for this example)

Step 2 – Start gdb
As a user (not root) launch gdb with the name of the executable as the only parameter.

Step 3 – Set a break point
At the gdb prompt, type break main.

Step 4 – Start the program
To start the program type run and hit enter.

Step 5 – Step through the code
Ok, to step through the code you simply type ‘s’.

Once you have typed ‘s’ once, you can just hit enter and it will keep stepping through. You could keep typing ‘s’ but you don’t need to.

Step through the code until it terminates because you are not root.

Here is the entire run through in one screen.

Ok, you now have done some basic debugging with gdb and you have learned that you cannot run sysinstall as root.

Step 6 – Debug as root
Ok, this shouldn’t be hard for you by now. Sudo to root and repeat the above steps only this time the program will continue past the check for whether it is running as root because it will be. Stop just after you pass the line that checks if you are root.

One you get so far, you will actually get to the sysinstall gui and you can choose to exit.

Step 7 – Set a break point based on line number
Type the following to set a break point based on line number.

Step 8 – Continuing to the next break point
So now instead of stepping to line 110, we will just continue the program with the command “continue”. By the way, the following three commands will continue and all are really the exact same command. You might ask, “Why are there three ways to do the same thing?” I have to answer, “I don’t know, I didn’t write gdb.” But hey, I am not complaining.

• continue
• c
• fg

So yes to continue you can type any of the three commands at the gdb prompt and your program will continue until the next break point or until the program terminates.

Note on finding development code or development features
Often while developing, a developer adds code to help them develop. This is development code, development features, debug code, or whatever you want to call it. This code is not really meant to be used in production, but it sure helps the developer write and test and debug the production code. Most large applications have such hidden development features. When stepping through code, you should look for these.

As I was looking through the sysinstall code, I noticed a section of code starting at line 110 (obviously this is subject to change but you should be able to find the line number in the same area) that checks for a parameter called -fake.

    if (argc > 1 && !strcmp(argv[1], "-fake")) {
        variable_set2(VAR_DEBUG, "YES", 0);
        Fake = TRUE;
        msgConfirm("I'll be just faking it from here on out, OK?");
    }

This hidden switch is never mentioned in the man page. It appears to be one of those development only features that we can take advantage of to help us code Sysinstall. It also suggests that you can step through Sysinstall without having anything actually happen, which might be useful in debugging.

Making our first code change
Ok, so if I am going to use the -fake switch, I would assume that I could do so without running as root. Since we are “faking it” anyway, we might as well not be running as root at all.

So here is a code change I have made that will allow me to run as a normal user if I pass the -fake parameter. I am going to change line 73 (again this may not be the exact line for you as this is subject to change) where sysinstall checks if it is running as root and add an additional check to see if a parameter was passed and if so see if the parameter was -fake and if so, continue even though it is not root.

Here is what the code was originally.

    if (geteuid() != 0) {
        fprintf(stderr, "Error: This utility should only be run as root.\n");
        return 1;
    }

Here is what I changed the code to. Notice that I didn’t delete or add to the existing line just yet. Instead, I commented it out and added a new line because that makes it easier to switch back and forth when testing this new code out.

//if (geteuid() != 0) {
if (geteuid() != 0 && (argc < 2 || strcmp(argv[1], "-fake"))) { fprintf(stderr, "Error: This utility should only be run as root.\n"); return 1; } [/sourcecode] Ok, so save and exit. No go ahead and exit your root shell so you are just logged in as your user again. Recompile to apply your changes. In case you forgot, you recompile with this command:

Go ahead and debug again. Repeat the steps above again, however, this time, in the gdb prompt, before you execute the command “run”, go ahead and set the arguments to pass to your application so that the -fake argument is passed.

Just to make sure, lets show the arguments to make sure that we properly set them.

Now you can run your program in gdb and continue debugging sysinstall as a regular user. I think I am going to send this change in because maybe it should be a permanent change. What do you think?

Copyright ® Rhyous.com – Linking to this article is allowed without permission and as many as ten lines of this article can be used along with this link. Any other use of this article is allowed only by permission of Rhyous.com.

Hello everyone.

So I am not trying to be pro-Microsoft and Anit-open source with this comment. I like both and want that to be clear. However, Active Directory is the single most used authentication source for workstations in a corporation. It is hard to obtain new FreeBSD users if we cannot make it easier for corporate users who must have their machine joined to an Active Directory domain and they must authenticate to active directory. There is both too much effort and not enough effort in the Open Source world to integrate with Windows features such as Active Directory. I think that may be because often the open source community’s computers are probably rarely joined to a domain and just like there are too many Linux distros, there are two many ways to authenticate with Active Directory.

Active Directory is so common in the corporate world, it shouldn’t be so hard to join an Active Directory domain in FreeBSD. I mean, seriously, does it have to be such a pain? FreeBSD really needs a one command script to integrate with Active Directory, or a single port….imagine it. You run one command: joindomain or go to an “activedirectoryintegration” port and type make install. The script/install would prompt you for the domain and then it would look up a server and if it couldn’t find one it would prompt you for a domain controller name or IP, it would prompt your for credentials, etc…, when the script ended, the workstation would be a member of the domain and domain users would be able to login. Maybe also there should be a config file where you can add domain users/groups that can sudo to root.

Alas, it is not so easy. (Google summer of code project idea, anyone…)

You might be thinking to yourself that if I want a feature, I should write and contribute it myself. Which is in part true. However, I am already doing what I can to contribute and have other projects I am working on (for example, writing walk-thrus like the one you are about to read).

So, there are multiple documents and online resources and so here are my sources. However, I found none of them to be 100% correct and the writers words themselves drip with uncertainty about whether they are using the best way.

• http://satish-linuxbug.blogspot.com/2008/08/freebsd-with-active-directory-single.html
• http://www.nosam.com/2008/09/making-freebsd-7x-a-windows-server-20032008-active-directory-domain-member
• http://www.ctdx.net/2008/07/11/freebsd-single-sign-on-with-active-directory-and-access-control/
• http://web.irtnog.org/doc/how-to/freebsd-winbind
• www.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-HOWTO-Collection/domain-member.html
• http://segment7.net/projects/FreeBSD/kerberos.html
• http://joseph.randomnetworks.com/archives/2005/11/08/freebsd-users-and-groups-with-samba-winbind-and-active-directory/
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/magazine/2008.12.linux.aspx

It is good to have competition…among competitors in a market place…but not in a product itself. We need one difinitive method for authenticating to Active Directory. I don’t care if multiple methods exist as long as there is one method that the FreeBSD team can rally around, recommend, considers secure, and include in base, or as a single port.

I have never configured FreeBSD to authenticate its users to Active Directory before and I have hardly touched Kerberos 5, I consider myself a newbie in this area. However, the only way to move from being a newbie to being an expert is to learn it and configure it and troubleshoot it, so I can gain experience and then be an expert.

So I have been researching the past week and half (In the evenings outside of work). I had hoped to make it last Friday’s FreeBSD Friday post, but It probably won’t be finished by this Friday.

It will take me a while to research because:

1. I don’t want to say something is needed when it is not.
2. I don’t want to leave something out or forget to document a setting that is needed.
3. I don’t like to change settings that I don’t understand.
4. When writing a walk-thru, I don’t like telling some one what to do without explaining why when the why is not obvious.

So far it there are articles on integrating with Active Directory using the following:

1. FreeBSD + Samba 3.x
2. FreeBSD + Kerberos 5
3. FreeBSD + Kerberos 5 (built-in) + Samba 3.x
4. FreeBSD + Kerberos 5 (from ports) + Samba 3.x
5. FreeBSD + LDAP + Samba 3.x

The ones I have tested so far have not been fully functional, but I have not tested all the articles yet. Maybe I doc on each method is warranted.

So which method is the best for the largest majority of FreeBSD users?

So if you are in a Windows environment, you may want samba anyway so number 1 in the list looks like a good choice. However, some articles say that samba alone won’t work with Active Directory 2003/2008. If that is true, then number 3 in the list may be better. I don’t like number 4 because why install something that is already installed (however, Heimdal is installed not MIT and if there is a reason you need MIT then number 4 makes sense). Number 5 I haven’t even researched but the guy who wrote the doc now says it is not as good of an option as method 1.

Ok, so Active Directory has multiple settings, and the first thing I want to test is a default clean Active Directory install. And then if I increase the security, do any of the above methods break?

No one really seems to have taken this to the next level of research, so anyway…you can see my confusion and frustration. This is definitely an area that needs to be cleaned up documented and probable coded into a long term manageable solution.

Hello world,

I mostly use Windows 7 as a desktop but I often use FreeBSD with KDE, too.

I just submitted this wish to the KDE team.

Bug 221667 – Please make Keyboard shortcuts the same as those used by Microsoft Windows
https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=221667

If you agree, please Login and vote for this bug. I so want to always use the same keyboard shortcuts no matter which platform I am installed on.

This probably is not just an enhancement request for KDE but for every GUI Operating System everywhere. In fact, let’s make a standard set of Keyboard Shortcuts and have every desktop-like software use the same exact keyboard shortcuts. Maybe someone who is a member could write and RFC and publish it, or does it need to be an IEEE standard?

Anyway…I try not to rant, but today it happened. Sorry.

Ok, so the Control Panel is annoying to me in Windows 7 (or Windows 2008 or Windows Vista). I want the big long list like I used to have. Also, I would like the Administrative tools and other features to be part of it. Turns out there is a way to do this.

1. Create a new folder. It doesn’t matter where.
2. Rename the folder this:
   

   GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

You now have a nice Control Panel with everything in a big long list.

If you want you can drag it to your Start bar or ping it to your Taskbar.

Ok, so God Mode isn’t exactly some way to have all power over the box. It is really just a pretty, one-window-list of links to the interfaces of different management features

Ok, so maybe you want to work on fixing something in a portion of FreeBSD code, but you lack the knowledge to get started. That is what this document is for, to get you started.

For this example, I am going to use Sysinstall, which is a pretty old installer but still in use and functional. Let’s be honest, when the developers write in the code that Sysinstall needs to be completely rewritten and those notes are almost a decade old, you can guess that the installer is living far past its days. However, I don’t mind Sysinstall and many others don’t mind it either, which is probably why it is not updated yet. So lets at least see if we can inspire some contributors to start working on it. Sysinstall is actually on the Project Ideas page for a couple reasons, though I am surprised that “complete rewrite” is not one of them.

So lets get started.

Step 1 – Install FreeBSD
You need a FreeBSD Environment, so install one. Following one of these documents:
How do I install FreeBSD?
or if you want a FreeBSD install with a desktop as well:
How to install and configure a FreeBSD 8 Desktop with Xorg and KDE?

Step 2 – Download the FreeBSD Source
Follow this guide to make sure you have the source you need.
How to download FreeBSD-Current or FreeBSD-Stable using svn?

Now that you have read that post and have the source, you should understand what I mean when I say for this example I checked out head.

Step 3 – Find the location of the portion of source you wish to compile (Sysinstall in this example)

1. Change to the directory where your source is stored.

   $	cd /usr/home/jared/Devel/FreeBSD/head

2. It is probably a good idea to browse the folders and get an understanding of what code is where. But this is a task you should perform over time. For now, lets search for exactly what we want: sysinstall.

   $	find ./ -name sysinstall

   You will see that sysinstall is here: ./usr.sbin/sysinstall

3. Change to that directory.

   $	cd usr.sbin/sysinstall

Step 4 – Compile with debugging.
FreeBSD uses make to manage the compiling of the code, so it is really easy to compile it all.

1. Run this command to compile Syinstall with debugging.

   $	make DEBUG_FLAGS=-g

You should now see all the .o libraries and the sysinstall libraries. You have just compiled a portion of FreeBSD.

Copyright ® Rhyous.com – Linking to this article is allowed without permission and as many as ten lines of this article can be used along with this link. Any other use of this article is allowed only by permission of Rhyous.com.

Why does Firefox prompt for Domain (AD) Authentication? or How to get Firefox to automatically login to web sites with Domain Credentials (Sharepoint for example)?

Hey all,

I am sure you have been annoyed by the fact that when you use Firefox, the sites that require Domain credentials can popup and ask you to login. Sites like Sharepoint can ask you to log in over and over and over and over again. And then just when you are about as annoyed as you can be with typing your Domain user name and password, it prompts you some more.

For those of you who know, I work for LANDesk and we have server software and our Web Console uses NTLM authentication or Active Directory Domain credentials. You can log into the LDMS Web Console using Firefox using this method.

Well, this is really easy to make this “authentication prompt” go away. A quick search in your favorite search engine will resolve this (on a Windows box at least).

I found this site rather quickly:
http://www.1stbyte.com/2008/03/15/automatic-windows-authentication-with-firefox-networkautomatic-ntlm-authtrusted-uris/

Step 1 – Gather the lists of Sites that require domain authentication

1. Determine all the sites you go to at work that require domain or active directory credentials and put them in a text file.
   

   http://CompanyName-Sharepoint
   http://CompanyName-HelpDesk
   http://InternalServer1
   http://InternalServer2
   http://InternalServer3
   http://LDMSCore

2. Now format them like this:
   

   CompanyName-Sharepoint, CompanyName-HelpDesk, InternalServer1, InternalServer2, InternalServer3, LDMSCore

   Don’t worry if you don’t get them all, you can add new sites at any time.

   Note: Save this text file as you may want to do this again for someone else or you may want to do it again yourself computer gets rebuilt/upgraded.

Step 2 – Configure Firefox to Automatically Authenticate to these sites

1. Open Firefox.
2. Enter the following for the URL:
   about:config

3. When warned to be careful, click the “I’ll be careful, I promise” button.
4. In the Filter field, enter this value: network.automatic-ntlm-auth.trusted-uris
   Note: If the value is not there, you can add it as a new string.

5. Right click on the value and choose Modify.
6. Enter your servers as we formatted them above:
   

   CompanyName-Sharepoint, CompanyName-HelpDesk, InternalServer1, InternalServer2, InternalServer3, LDMSCore

7. Click Ok.
8. You shouldn’t have to close and re-open firefox but some poeple like to do this anyway.

You should now be able to browse your sites without having to enter credentials.

You may be asking the question:

Where can I get Windows 7 or where can I buy a Windows 7 license key (32 bit or 64 bit)?

Don’t steal it or pirate someone else’s key. One of the main reasons I am into open source such as FreeBSD is not because I don’t like Microsoft, but because I like to obey the law and open source lets me obey the law. I do used Windows all the time. I like many Microsoft products, including Windows 7. Yes, it is a better desktop than anything open source has to offer yet. Yes, you should pay for it. And Yes, someday the likes of Ubuntu and PC-BSD will remove the need to pay for an Operating System. Operating Systems will become ubiquitous. We aren’t there yet, so bite the bullet and pay for a nice shiny legal DVD with a nice legal key.

Amazon has your Windows 7 DVD and Legal License Keys here:
Windows 7 – Single License Key

• Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate
• Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit OEM 1pk
• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

Windows 7 – Multiple License Key

• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Family Pack (3-User)

Windows 7 – Upgrade License Key

• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade
• Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade
• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade

Stay Legal!

Please don’t post illegal locations or sketchy sites as those comments will be ignored/deleted.

If you want to compile a custom FreeBSD kernel or rebuild world or be a developer for FreeBSD, you may want to download the source.

Download FreeBSD Source as follows.

Step 1 – Install Subversion

Install subversion from ports or as a package.

From ports

# cd /usr/ports/devel/subversion
# make install

From packages

# pkg_add -r subversion

Note: Don’t forget to run ‘rehash’ if after install your current shell cannot find svn.

Step 2 – Check Out FreeBSD Source

To download FreeBSD source, use subversion. You may want to use Release, Stable, or Current. Release doesn’t have any updates, so if you want patches since release, you are likely wanting to do Release Engineering.

Release

svn checkout http://svn.freebsd.org/base/release/9.0.0/ /usr/src

Release Engineering

svn checkout http://svn.freebsd.org/base/releng/9.0/ /usr/src

Stable

# svn checkout http://svn.freebsd.org/base/stable/9 /usr/src

Currrent

# svn checkout http://svn.freebsd.org/base/head /usr/src

You now have FreeBSD source and you should be able to compile the kernel or the FreeBSD world.

FreeBSD X

I realize that PC-BSD exists, but sometimes, you need only FreeBSD without PBIs and you want it to do it all yourself because that is why you came to FreeBSD in the first place; to be an expert user and be able to set everything up yourself.

Requirements for Success
To consider the desktop a success, the user should be able to do the following after installation:

1. Have a graphical login screen.
2. Auto-mount CD/DVD and USB drives.
3. Connect a USB drive and read and write to it.
4. Browse the web with Firefox.
5. Create a document with Open Office.
6. Play an mp3.
7. Play a DVD

Step 1 – Download the DVD and burn it

1. To download the DVD, go here: http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
2. Click on your platform type. You are probably going to want i386 for a 32 bit computer or amd64 for a 64 bit computer.
3. Select the DVD and download it.
4. Extract it as it is compressed into a zip file. Use gunzip on FreeBSD or 7zip on Windows.
5. Use your favorite burning software to burn the ISO to disk.

Step 2 – Install FreeBSD and include Xorg and KDE4 as additional install packages.

1. Insert the installation media and boot off it. Wait for it to boot.
2. First select your Country.
3. At Sysinstall’s Main Menu, choose Standard.
4. Read the next screen and hit OK.
5. Press A to select Use entire disk.
6. Press Q to Finish.
7. For the Boot Manager choose Standard and hit OK.
8. Read the next screen and hit OK.
9. Press A to select Auto Defaults.
10. Press Q to Finish.
11. For Distributions select Custom. (Don’t worry, the Custom is not that hard) and select the following distributions:
    Required – You must have the base system and a kernel. 
    • base
    • kernels | GENERIC

    Optional – You don’t have to select these but I am selecting them.

    • dict
    • doc | en (or you language).
    • games
    • man
    • src | All (Optional, if you plan on having the source so you can work on it an contribute some work back to FreeBSD.)
    • ports
12. To get back to the Choose Distributions screen, either select Exit or OK.
13. Hit OK to continue.
14. At the Choose Installation Media screen choose CD/DVD.
15. Read the next screen and choose Yes.
16. Wait for the installations to complete.
17. Read the Success screen and hit OK.
18. Choose Yes to configuring an Ethernet network device.
19. Select you network card type and hit OK. It is usually the top entry. Mine is em0.
20. (Optional) You may want to say Yes to configure IPv6 these days. All my machines at home support IPv6 now since they are FreeBSD and Windows 7.
    It will try to detect a server, but probably won’t find one, that is just fine.
21. Choose Yes to try DHCP. Assuming you have a DHCP server (any corporate network or home with an internet connection and router has one).
    The network configuration screen will open with your IP Address.
22. Enter a computer name in the Host field.
23. Choose No when prompted if you want the machine to function as a network gateway.
24. Choose No when prompted if you want the machine to configure inetd.
25. When prompted to enable SSH, choose Yes if you are going to connect via SSH remotely. Choose No otherwise. I am choosing Yes because I always find a reason to SSH in.
26. Choose No to have anonymous FTP access to this machine.
27. Choose No to for configuring this as an NFS server.
28. Choose No to for configuring this as an NFS client (unless it is going to be and if it is going to be, you would no).
29. Choose No to customizing the system console settings.
30. Choose Yes to set the machines time zone now.
31. Choose No when asked if the CMOS clock is set to UTC (unless you know for sure 100% that it is).
32. Choose your Region.
33. Choose your Country.
34. Choose your Time Zone.
35. If prompted if your Time Zone looks reasonable, choose Yes.
36. When prompted if you have a PS/2, serial, or bus Mouse you need to understand that a mouse if almost always only PS2 or USB anymore. If USB choose No, otherwise choose Yes.
    If you choose Yes, then enable your mouse, test it and then exit that screen.
37. Choose Yes when prompted about the FreeBSD Package collection and if you want to browse it now as this is where we are going to install Xorg and KDE.
38. On the Package Selection screen, scroll down X11 and hit OK.
39. On the X11 screen, scroll down and select KDE4. Notice that a lot of other packages are auto-selected as dependencies. This is normal.
40. Continue scrolling down and select xorg-7.
41. Now click Ok.
42. You may want other packages such as bash. Choose them now.
43. Choose Install and you will see the Package Targets screen. It will only list the packages your selected, not all the dependencies, but don’t worry, all the dependencies will install.
44. Choose Ok.
45. Wait for the installation of the packages to complete.
46. When prompted for adding initial user accounts, choose Yes.
47. On the User and Group Management Screen choose User and hit OK.
48. Enter a user name under the Login ID field.
49. Leave UID and GROUP as is.
50. Enter a password and confirm the password.
51. Enter your full name.
52. In the Member Groups add these groups (without a space, only separated by a comma): wheel,operator
53. Leave home directory as is.
54. Leave the login shell as is. (Unless you installed bash and want to use it, then you can change it to /usr/local/bin/bash).
55. Hit OK.
56. Back at the User and group management screen choose Exit and hit OK. Feel free to add as many users as you need first, but don’t worry you can add more later.
57. Read the next screen and hit OK, it is just an informational screen about the fact that you must set a root password.
58. Enter the root password and hit enter and then enter it again and hit enter to confirm the password.
59. When prompted to visit the configuration menu for a chance to set any last options, choose No.
60. You are back at the Sysinstall Main Menu. Select Exit Install.
61. When asked if you are sure you wish to exit, choose Yes.
62. Read the next screen, and hit OK.
63. Whilst rebooting, remove your DVD from the drive so you don’t boot off it (assuming it is first in your boot order otherwise you may not need to do this).

FreeBSD 8 is now installed with all the software needed to make a nice FreeBSD 8 Desktop, Xorg-7 and KDE4. However, there are a few more steps to get Xorg-7 and KDE4 configured.

Step 3 – Patch your new system
Update and patch your system. I already have steps to do this here:
What are the first commands I run after installing FreeBSD
Important: While the ports tree is already installed, don’t skip this step. Updating the ports tree is how you get the latest versions.

Step 4 – Configure Xorg Dependencies

1. Login to the newly installed system with the username and password you created. Make sure you use the account that you added to the wheel and operators group.
2. Once logged in, su to root by simply typing this command:

   $

   su

3. After typing su, you will be prompted for a password. Enter the root password.
4. You now logged in as root. Your prompt should have changed from a $ to a NAME#. For example, I named my system FBSD8 so my prompt looks as follows:

   FBSD#

5. Add dbus to /etc/rc.conf. Either use easy editor, or use the following shell command to add it without using and editor.

   FBSD#

   echo ‘dbus_enable=”YES”‘ >> /etc/rc.conf

6. Enable dbus with this command.

   FBSD#

   /usr/local/etc/rc.d/dbus start

7. Add hald to /etc/rc.conf. Either use easy editor, or use the following shell command to add it without using and editor.

   FBSD#

   echo ‘hald_enable=”YES”‘ >> /etc/rc.conf

8. Enable hald with this command.

   FBSD#

   /usr/local/etc/rc.d/hald start

9. Reboot by running this command:

   FBSD#

   reboot

   Note: It is also common to reboot using this command: (It doesn’t matter which command you use to reboot.)

   FBSD#

   init 6

10. Once rebooted, log back in and su to root again.

Step 5 – Configure Xorg
Note 1: 1 and 2 are optional and you may skip them if you want. An xorg.conf file is not longer required. Usually most configurations work without it.
Note 2: If you are using VMWare, you may want to jump to this article and come back: How to install VMWare-tools on FreeBSD 8?

1. Have Xorg automatically create an xorg.conf file using this command:

   FBSD#

   Xorg -configure /root/xorg.conf.new -retro

2. Copy the xorg.conf.new to /etc/X11/xorg.conf

   FBSD#

   cp /root/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf

3. Type exit to logout as root. You should go back to the $ prompt.
4. Create a file called .xinitrc in the users home directory. This file will contain one line.

   $	echo exec /usr/local/kde4/bin/startkde4 > ~/.xinitrc

5. Run startx to launch Xorg-7 and KDE4.

   $

   startx

   Note: If something goes wrong here, your xorg.conf may not have been generated correctly. Reboot (you may have to hit the power button or SSH in to reboot as you may not have console access anymore).

Xorg-7 and KDE4 should now be working.

Step 6 – Enable KDM (Optional) on FreeBSD
Instead of having to login in at a command prompt and run startx, you may prefer a GUI login screen. This can be done very easily with KDM. There is an old way and a new way. Just in case the new way isn’t available to you for some reason, I will leave both methods. Do NOT use both of them.

The new way.

1. Add the following lines to /etc/rc.conf. Either use easy editor, or use the following shell command to add it without using and editor.

   FBSD# FBSD#

   echo ‘local_startup=”${local_startup} /usr/local/kde4/etc/rc.d”‘ >> /etc/rc.conf echo ‘kdm4_enable=”YES”‘ >> /etc/rc.conf

2. Start kdm

The old way.

1. If you are still in KDE, logout. Click the blue K icon at the bottom left of your screen and you can select Leave | Logout to exit KDE.
2. Use su to login as root as you have done before.
3. Open the following file with your favorite editor: /etc/ttys. I use Easy Editor or ee.

   FBSD#

   ee /etc/ttys

4. Find the following line: (In ee, Page Down three times almost takes me right to this line.)
   ttyv8 “/usr/local/bin/xdm -nodaemon” xterm off secure
5. Replace that line with this line:
   ttyv8 “/usr/X11R6/kde4/bin/kdm” xterm on secure
6. Reboot to have the virtual consoles restart. (or make sure Xorg and KDE are not running and run: kill -HUP 1)

KDM should now be working and your system should reboot to a graphic login screen, which is handled by kdm.

Step 7 – Enable CD/DVD/USB mounting
FreeBSD is more secure by default, so something as simple as accessing a CD or DVD or USB drive is not actually allowed by default. You have enable this.

These steps assume that your user is a member of the operator group. Remember above during the installation, I mentioned to make your user a member of both the wheel and operator groups.

1. Access a shell and su to root.
   Note: The easiest shell to access now that you are in KDE is Konsole. To access Konsole, click the K and go to Applications | System | Terminal. Also you can add the shell icon to your panel by right-clicking on the icon and choosing Add to Panel.
2. Enable vfs.usermount.

   FBSD#

   sysctl -w vfs.usermount=1

3. Configure vfs.usermount to be enabled on boot.

   FBSD#

   echo vfs.usermount=1 >> /etc/sysctl.conf

4. Open the following file with an editor: /etc/devfs.conf

   FBSD#

   ee /etc/devfs.conf

5. Add the following lines:
   # Commonly used by many ports
   link    acd0    cdrom
   link    acd0    dvd 

   # Allow all users to access CD’s
   perm /dev/acd0 0666
   perm /dev/acd1 0666
   perm /dev/cd0 0666
   perm /dev/cd1 0666

   # Allow all USB Devices to be mounted
   perm /dev/da0 0666
   perm /dev/da1 0666
   perm /dev/da2 0666
   perm /dev/da3 0666
   perm /dev/da4 0666

   # Misc other devices
   perm /dev/pass0 0666
   perm /dev/xpt0 0666
   perm /dev/agpart 0666
   perm /dev/uscanner0 0666

   Note: Yes, I copied these from a PC-BSD install’s version of this file.

   Note: Change to 0660 to only allow users in the operator group to mount drives.

6. Also you need a devfs.rules file.  Lets create one.

   FBSD#

   ee /etc/devfs.rules

7. Add the following lines.
   [Removable_Media]
   add path ‘ad*’ mode 666 group operator
   add path ‘acd*’ mode 666 group operator
   add path ‘cd*’ mode 666 group operator
   add path ‘pass*’ mode 666 group operator
   add path ‘xpt*’ mode 666 group operator
   add path ‘ugen*’ mode 666 group operator
   add path ‘usb*’ mode 666 group operator
   add path ‘lpt*’ mode 666 group cups
   add path ‘ulpt*’ mode 666 group cups
   add path ‘unlpt*’ mode 666 group cups
   add path ‘fd*’ mode 666 group operator

   Note: Again, I copied these from PC-BSD.

8. Tell /etc/rc.conf about the rules section in /etc/devfs.rules

   FBSD#

   echo ‘devfs_system_ruleset=”Removable_Media”‘ >> /etc/rc.conf

9. Edit the following file: /usr/local/etc/PolicyKit/PolicyKit.conf

   FBSD#

   ee /usr/local/etc/PolicyKit/PolicyKit.conf

10. Change the xml’s config section from this…

    <config version="0.1">
        <match user="root">
            <return result="yes"/>
        </match>
        <define_admin_auth group="wheel"/>
    </config>
    

    …to this:

    <config version="0.1">
            <define_admin_auth group="operator"/>
            <match action="org.freedesktop.hal.storage.mount-removable">
                    <return result="yes"/>
            </match>
            <match action="org.freedesktop.hal.storage.mount-fixed">
                    <return result="yes"/>
            </match>
            <match action="org.freedesktop.hal.storage.eject">
                    <return result="yes"/>
            </match>
    </config>
    

    Note: Yes, again, I copied this straight from PC-BSD’s PolicyKit.conf.

11. Edit the following file with ee: ee /etc/fstab

    FBSD#

    ee /etc/fstab

12. Comment out or remove the line for your /cdrom. I usually just comment it out by adding a # sign as shown:
    #/dev/acd0 /cdrom cd9660 ro,noauto 0 0
13. Restart the computer.

You should now be able to mount CD, DVD, and USB drives. You also should be able to both read and write to them, burn disks, write and format USB drives, etc…

Step 8 – Enable your sound card
I already have an article on this here and it is so very simple.
How to enable sound in FreeBSD 8?

Step 9 – Install Software

We are going to install the following software:

• Firefox
• Open Office
• K3b

Binary Packages

1. To browse the precompiled package lists, open a web browser to here:
   ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports//packages-8.0-release/Latest/ 

   My architecture is amd64 so the URL I use is this:
   ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/amd64/packages-8.0-release/Latest/

   Hint: Some time in the future you may be on a different version or architecture. If you run this command, it will fail and the output may show you where to go.

   FBSD#

   pkg_add -r DoesNotExist

Firefox

1. Access a shell and su to root as software should be installed as root.
2. FreeBSD has a binary package for Firefox, so to install it you only have to run one command:

   FBSD#

   pkg_add -r firefox35

3. Firefox 3.5 installation notes recommend adding a line to /boot/loader.conf, so use ee and add this line:
   sem_load=”YES”

Firefox is now installed.

Open Office
Note: Here I describe installing using ports, but there may be a package available. Read this post: http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=8639

1. Access a shell and su to root as software should be installed as root.
2. To install Open Office, run the following commands:
   Note: There is not package as of this moment, so we have to compile from ports and this takes longer. You can check for a package if you want as there may be one sometime after I write this document.) 

   FBSD# FBSD#

   cd /usr/ports/editors/openoffice.org make install

3. Wait…and wait…and wait…and wait…
4. Ok, when it fails because you have to manually download some items for java, read and follow the instructions:
   IMPORTANT: To build the JDK 1.6.0 port, you should have at least
   2.5Gb of free disk space in the build area! 

   Due to licensing restrictions, certain files must be fetched manually.

   Please download the Update 3 Source from http://www.java.net/download/jdk6/6u3/promoted/b05/jdk-6u3-fcs-src-b05-jrl-24_sep_2007.jar and the Source Binaries from http://www.java.net/download/jdk6/6u3/promoted/b05/jdk-6u3-fcs-bin-b05-jrl-24_sep_2007.jar and the Mozilla Headers from http://www.java.net/download/jdk6/6u3/promoted/b05/jdk-6u3-fcs-mozilla_headers-b05-unix-24_sep_2007.jar.

   Please open http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp in a web browser and follow the “Download” link for “JDK US DST Timezone Update Tool – 1_3_21” to obtain the time zone update file, tzupdater-1_3_21-2009p.zip.

   Please download the patchset, bsd-jdk16-patches-4.tar.bz2, from http://www.eyesbeyond.com/freebsddom/java/jdk16.html.

   Please place the downloaded file(s) in /usr/ports/distfiles and restart the build.

5. While you are at it, get the file from this prompt as well. I am not sure why it is not in the same prompt above, but it isn’t.

   Because of licensing restrictions, you must fetch the distribution manually.

   Please access http://www.FreeBSDFoundation.org/cgi-bin/download?download=diablo-caffe-freebsd7-amd64-1.6.0_07-b02.tar.bz2 with a web browser and “Accept” the End User License Agreement for “Caffe Diablo 1.6.0”.

   Please place the downloaded file(s) in /usr/ports/distfiles.

6. Make sure you followed the instructions, download the files, and placed them in /usr/ports/distfiles. Restart the build using the same command you ran before. If you didn’t know, you can probably press the up arrow on your keyboard to see command history so you don’t have to type it again.
7. You will shortly be prompted with a license agreement. Please read ever word, pressing the space bar to scroll until the end, before typing yes.
8. Now wait some more as Open Office and its dependencies continue compiling.
9. No you haven’t waited long enough.
10. Ok…no just kidding, wait a little more.
11. No really. It takes a long time to compile Open Office so leave it running and skip to the next step.

When it is done, you will be able to write documents that are compatible with MS Office.

K3b

1. Access a shell and su to root as software should be installed as root.
2. FreeBSD has a binary package for K3b, so to install it you only have to run one command:

   FBSD#

   pkg_add -r k3b

3. There are a lot of notes about postinstallation steps, so burning a CD is going to be for another day and another document.

Playing MP3s
As for paying I can play MP3s with juK the KDE4 Music player that is installed by default with KDE4.

You should now have the idea and can go installing software that you want.

Playing a DVD

Dragon Player didn’t play the a DVD for me. So I installed kmplayer-kde4. It didn’t play the DVD either. I installed Xine and it worked.

Keywords: FreeBSD X

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FreeBSD doesn’t enable the sound by default. However it is simple to detect and enable your sound card.

Step 1 – Detect Your Sound Cound

1. Install all sound kernel modules by running the following command:

   FBSD#

   kldload snd_driver

2. Check which kernel module was able to bind to your sound card by running this command:

   FBSD#

   cat /dev/sndstat

   The output will be similar to this but of course you may have a different sound card:

   FreeBSD Audio Driver (newpcm: 64bit 2009061500/amd64)
   Installed devices:
   pcm0: at io 0x2040 irq 16 kld snd_es137x [MPSAFE] (2p:1v/1r:1v channels duplex default)
3. Notice on the last line after kld there is a snd_. This is you sound card kernel module.