First time install

[greenarrow]

Hey everyone. I'm a total newb to FreeBSD, but I'm trying an install tonight. Would someone just take a look at the following and let me know if I'm okay so far?


I used to have PC-BSD on my comp but KDE was just way too heavy for it. So far, I've installed it (FreeBSD)via the graphical installer on the new PCBSD DVD, plus the ports collection. Then, before connecting to the internet, I enabled pf, but I set pf_rules="/usr/share/examples/pf/faq-example1", the one that's made for home and office computer. Then I added to rc.conf: firewall_enable = "YES" and firewall_type = "client" to get ipfw working. Now i'm trying to install xorg via ports. I tried the pkg_add command first but kept getting a HUGE amount of errors. I think they were "can't find package" errors, but I'm not sure. The xorg install is taking 4ever. But does the firewall stuff look okay for a home desktop computer connected to a router? Thanks.

 

[Beastie]

Then, before connecting to the internet, I enabled pf, but I set pf_rules="/usr/share/examples/pf/faq-example1", the one that's made for home and office computer. Then I added to rc.conf: firewall_enable = "YES" and firewall_type = "client" to get ipfw working.

So you're using a pf configuration and enabling ipfw. That's quite odd, don't you think? Use pf_enable="YES" instead. And pf must still be loaded via its rc.d script.
Plus it's just an example configuration and you must customize it to your needs.

Now i'm trying to install xorg via ports. I tried the pkg_add command first but kept getting a HUGE amount of errors. I think they were "can't find package" errors, but I'm not sure.

pkg_add(1) installs packages (compiled applications), not ports (source code). Read those last two pages and decide what you want.
And post the exact error messages please.

 

[greenarrow]

Thanks for the reply.
Since this is my first try, I just thought it would be more secure to have both ipfw and pf loaded in case I missed something in one or the other. Does it make a difference? You said that pf needs to be loaded from it's rc.d script. I thought the handbook says you add it to rc.conf to start it at boot, and then just add the path for it to find pf.conf. Since I don't know anything about rulesets, I just thought I'd use the example one for a home client instead of pf.conf. Do I need to copy and paste the home-example to pf.conf? What else would I need to do to modify pf for a home desktop computer behind a router? The pf faq-example1 isn't good enough?

Oh, and I just used sysinstall to add Xorg, much easier. I also got xfce installed to! But there's an issue with my internet connection.

I'm running into trouble configuring my ethernet. In sysinstall, it detects everything except my host name. Where do I find that? Or do I
just make up a name?

Should I just install PC-BSD and then uninstall kde and install xfce? Would that be simpler for a newbie or would that just cause more problems?

 

[graudeejs]

you don't have a hostname.....
you can type something int..

mycool.desktop for example
I don't think you need firewall, at least at this point (for desktop).
you're probably likely to cause more problems with it than you gain anything

I was running desktop without firewall for very long time.
I started using it only because I wanted to learn it.