Hitchhiker's Guide to Openbsd

9.4 - Running Linux binaries on OpenBSD
OpenBSD/i386 is able to run Linux binaries when the kernel is compiled with the COMPAT_LINUX 
option and the runtime sysctl kern.emul.linux is also set. If you are using the GENERIC kernel (which 
you should be), COMPAT_LINUX is already enabled, and you will just need to do: 
# sysctl kern.emul.linux=1
For this to be done automatically each time the computer boots, remove the # (comment) character at the 
beginning of the line 
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9 - Migrating to OpenBSD
#kern.emul.linux=1 # enable running Linux binaries
in /etc/sysctl.conf, so that it reads 
kern.emul.linux=1 # enable running Linux binaries
and reboot your system to have it take effect. 
To run any Linux binaries that are not statically linked (most of them), you need to follow the 
instructions on the 
compat_linux(8)
manual page. 
A simple way to get most of the useful Linux libraries is to install the 
fedora/base
package from 
your nearest FTP mirror. To find out more about the packages and ports system read 
FAQ 15 - The 
OpenBSD Packages and Ports System
. To install the above mentioned package you would issue 
# export PKG_PATH=ftp://your.ftp.mirror/pub/OpenBSD/4.9/
packages/i386/
# pkg_add -i fedora_base
Note that 
pkg_add(1)
 will automatically execute sysctl to set kern.emul.linux to the correct value upon 
adding this package. However, it does not change 
/etc/sysctl.conf
, so if you wish Linux 
emulation to be enabled by default, you need to modify kern.emul.linux there. 
9.5 - Accessing your Linux files from OpenBSD
OpenBSD supports the EXT2FS file system. For further information, see 
FAQ 14
. 
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10 - System Management
 
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