Hitchhiker's Guide to Openbsd

4.11 - Adding a file set after install
"Oh no! I forgot to add a file set when I did the install!" 
Sometimes, you realize you really DID need 
comp49.tgz
(or any other system component) after all, but you didn't 
realize this at the time you installed your system. Good news: There are two easy ways to add file sets after the initial 
install: 
Using the upgrade process
Simply boot your install media (CD-ROM or Floppy), and choose Upgrade (rather than Install). When you get to the lists 
of file sets to install, choose the sets you neglected to install first time around, select your source, and let it install them 
for you. 
Using tar(1)
The install file sets are simply compressed tar files, and you can expand them manually from the root of the filesystem: 
# cd /
# tar xzvphf comp49.tgz
Do NOT forget the 
'p'
option in the above command in order to restore the file permissions properly! 
One common mistake is to think you can use 
pkg_add(1)
 to add missing file sets. This does not work. pkg_add(1) is the 
package management tool
 to install third party software. It handles package files, not generic tar files like the install sets. 
If you are installing the 
xbase
file set on your system for the first time using tar(1) and without rebooting, the shared 
library cache must be updated after the installation using 
ldconfig(8)
. To add all the X libraries to the cache: 
# ldconfig -m /usr/X11R6/lib
http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq4.html (37 of 43)9/4/2011 10:01:58 AM

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4 - OpenBSD 4.9 Installation Guide
Alternatively, you can just reboot your system, and this will be done automatically by the 
rc(8)
 startup script. 
4.12 - What is 'bsd.rd'?
bsd.rd
is a "RAM Disk" kernel. This file can be very useful; many developers are careful to keep it on the root of their 
system at all times. 
Calling it a "RAM Disk kernel" describes the root filesystem of the kernel -- rather than being a physical drive, the 
utilities available after the boot of 
bsd.rd
are stored in the kernel, and are run from a RAM-based filesystem. 
bsd.rd
also includes a healthy set of utilities to allow you to do system maintenance and installation. 
On some platforms, 
bsd.rd
is actually the preferred installation technique -- you place this kernel on an existing 
filesystem, boot it, and run the install from it. On most platforms, if you have a running older version of OpenBSD, you 
can FTP a new version of 
bsd.rd
, reboot from it, and install a new version of OpenBSD without using any removable 
media at all. 
Here is an example of booting 
bsd.rd
on an i386 system: 
Using Drive: 0 Partition: 3
reading boot.....
probing: pc0 com0 com1 apm mem[639k 255M a20=on]
disk: fd0 hd0+
>> OpenBSD/i386 BOOT 3.15
boot> boot hd0a:/bsd.rd
. . . normal boot to install . . .
As indicated, you will be brought to the install program, but you can also drop to the shell to do maintenance on your 
system. 
The general rule on booting 
bsd.rd
is to change your boot kernel from 
/bsd
to 
bsd.rd
through whatever means used 
on your platform.