cannot remotely log in after pulling FreeBSD source to /usr/src via sysinstall

S

shva

I was trying to follow FreeBSD Handbook to create a jail. So I first pulled down the source file to /usr/src by

Code: 
sysinstall

choosing Configure, then Distributions, then src, and then everything under that (downloading via ftp). However, after I finished and logged out, I found myself not able to remotely log back in. I then physically attached a monitor and a keyboard to see what I could do, surprisingly finding I did not need a password to log in as root: the root password was reset to empty. Also, it seemed that the /etc/passwd had also been reset, since I could not find previously existing users in it.

Fortunately the user home directories were not erased so I just recreated these user account and everything was back to normal. But what on earth was happening?
 
Sounds more like you installed base (roughly, /, /boot, /bin, /sbin, /etc, /usr/bin, /usr/sbin).
 
Shouldn't base only install things inside /usr/src? Here is a screenshot I got when doing sysinstall -> Configure -> src

sysinstall.png


I selected all of them, but somehow it wrote something outside /usr/src (e.g. /etc/passwd). I don't know what happened.
 
Are you 100% sure you didn't select some other option before hitting "OK" ?

Because what you describe, really sounds like you installed the "base" distribution and not copied the "base" src distribution.

Can you reproduce this behavior ? I for one, cannot.
 
Yes, I suspect you chose Configure > Distributions > base instead by accident.
Extracting the source will definitely not touch anything outside /usr/src.
 
Another reason not to use sysinstall for such a simple task. It's quite easy to screw up your installation. Use sysinstall only for the first install, then learn to use the OS to change what you want/need and forget sysinstall ever existed.
 
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