Importing some older note files.

[website_subgeniuskitty.com] / data / notes / openbsd_on_linode / index.md

# Overview #

Linode doesn't offer OpenBSD as an installation choice. These notes describe
the creation of an OpenBSD VM on Linode using the Linode rescue image to
bootstrap the OpenBSD installer.

# OpenBSD Installation #

 1. Create a new linode. The "Nanode 1GB" plan at $5/month is sufficient.

 2. Under the "Advanced" tab, delete the existing disks and create two new
    disks, both unformatted raw. The first should be 16 GB, named `root`. The
    second should be 1 GB, named `install`.

 3. Under the "Rescue" tab, set `/dev/sda` to the `install` disk and submit.
    The system should boot into Finnix where you can download and apply the OpenBSD
    install image. For example:

        root@ttyS0:~# dmesg | grep "sda"
        [    1.455839] sd 0:0:0:1: [sda] 2097152 512-byte logical blocks: (1.07 GB/1.00)
        <snip>
        root@ttyS0:~# wget http://mirrors.syringanetworks.net/pub/OpenBSD/6.5/amd64/install65.fs
        root@ttyS0:~# dd if=./install65.fs of=/dev/sda
        922496+0 records in
        922496+0 records out
        472317952 bytes (472 MB) copied, 64.5331 s, 7.3 MB/s
        root@ttyS0:~# shutdown -h now

 4. Under the "Advanced" tab, delete the existing "configuration" and create a
    new configuration with the following settings:

        Label: OpenBSD - Install
        VM Mode: Full virtualization
        Select a Kernel: Direct disk
        Run Level: Run Default Level
        Memory Limit: Do not set any limits on memory usage
        Block Device Assignment:
            /dev/sda: boot
            /dev/sdb: install
            /dev/sdX: None
        Root Device: /dev/sdb
        Filesystem/Boot Helpers: No to all

 5. Boot the newly created configuration. From the console, perform a normal
    OpenBSD install using `/dev/sda` as the target disk.

 6. Under the "Advanced" tab, create a second configuration with the following
    settings:

        Label: OpenBSD - Normal Operation
        VM Mode: Full virtualization
        Select a Kernel: Direct disk
        Run Level: Run Default Level
        Memory Limit: Do not set any limits on memory usage
        Block Device Assignment:
            /dev/sda: boot
            /dev/sdX: None
        Root Device: /dev/sda
        Filesystem/Boot Helpers: No to all

 7. Boot the new configuration. You should be able to login to the new system
    via SSH.