Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    What is "nanobsd" ?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved 1.2.3-PRERELEASE-TESTING snapshots - RETIRED
    29 Posts 10 Posters 19.1k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • S
      Slam
      last edited by

      lol I was half way flashing the slice image when I read Jimps post, so I had to stop and download the correct image, the image is 1GB when unpacked and it took ages to burn, I think atleast 10~13 mins, I dont have no serial port on these alix so I cant connect and see whats happening but Ive had no luck getting an ip from either ports…I have an atheros mini pci card installed, Ill take that out and try again, maybe its prompting for configuration?

      Slam

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • jimpJ
        jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
        last edited by

        Looks like I'll need a new CF before I try, mine is only 256MB :)

        Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

        Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

        Do not Chat/PM for help!

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • dotdashD
          dotdash
          last edited by

          Hmm. Decided to try the nano image on my Alix just to see what happens.
          Yes, the image is larger. It's go get a refreshing beverage longer. Maybe get up and get some fresh air longer. Not surprising- the root fs is 950M, the custom 1 GB 1.2.2 I built takes about the same time to write to the card.
          Once loaded, it seems to run pretty much the same as the standard image. I tried it on a 2d3 with an atheros card and it came up fine with vr0 as lan and vr1 as wan.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • V
            vorgusa
            last edited by

            ohh ok.. I have not had time to try this yet, but it has a bigger image by default then the regular embedded?  sounds good since it seemed like they were running out of room, at least with the 2.0 version.  I will give this a try tonight!

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • jimpJ
              jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
              last edited by

              @vorgusa:

              ohh ok.. I have not had time to try this yet, but it has a bigger image by default then the regular embedded?  sounds good since it seemed like they were running out of room, at least with the 2.0 version.  I will give this a try tonight!

              It may be that is the size for testing, not sure what the final target size will be. I'm also not sure if the usable space will really be 1/2 what you see in the image or what. Since it uses an active slice and an upgrade slice, the total space available may only be half the full image size.

              Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

              Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

              Do not Chat/PM for help!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • V
                vorgusa
                last edited by

                Not sure how exiciting this is to everyone, but got it up and running on a Soekris 5500 box.  Haven't tested much other then looking at the serial console interface, but I will test it out tomorrow night.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • AhnHELA
                  AhnHEL
                  last edited by

                  Definitely let us know if she upgrades successfully and any package installations.  ;)

                  AhnHEL (Angel)

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • V
                    vorgusa
                    last edited by

                    got everything up and running and logged into the web interface.  I had some unusual errors at one point when I restarted the box and it had some sort of error and rebooted itself again and worked fine after it did a file system check.  Tried to do an auto upgrade, which did not work. Tried downloading the slice and doing a manual update, which did not work. And last but not least I SSH'd in and tried from the console and it failed saying "/var: write failed, filesystem is full"  I checked my stats and it says 9% full.  Is there another procedure for updating a NanoBSD?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • dotdashD
                      dotdash
                      last edited by

                      /var is still a memory disk, so this is the same problem that the embedded upgrades have had.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • jimpJ
                        jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                        last edited by

                        A little update, the nanobsd images really haven't seen much testing and debugging by the devs until the last couple days, and even then things are focusing on 2.0 and then backporting fixes where possible.

                        I've got nano image running on my ALIX right now with a FreeBSD 7.2-based image of 2.0, and it's getting better all the time. There are still some kinks to work out though.

                        Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

                        Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

                        Do not Chat/PM for help!

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • V
                          vorgusa
                          last edited by

                          What have they done so far that is different then the regular 2.0 build?  might be worth giving it a try

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • jimpJ
                            jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                            last edited by

                            The main difference is how the filesystem works and is laid out on the CF and when it is running.

                            As with the old embedded builds, there is a separate partition for the config and such. There are now two slices (partitions, basically) for the main code, one to run off of, and one for upgrading.

                            For example, you start off running on slice #1. If you upgrade, it will download an upgrade image and then copy that to slice #2. If that worked and checked out ok, it will activate slice #2 and then reboot from there. It will run from slice #2 until the next upgrade, which will make it switch back to #1.

                            If for whatever reason an upgrade doesn't work, all you'd have to do is switch the slice back to the old image. On my ALIX, I get the F1/F2 prompt to boot from either slice, and I can just press the corresponding button to boot either image manually (The default is switched to the proper image as part of the upgrade process)

                            There may now also be some packages on embedded, but which ones and how that will work hasn't been decided upon yet.

                            As far as FreeBSD and pfSense are concerned, there isn't a much difference so far except for the code that handles nanobsd-specific things like upgrading.

                            As a consequence of all this cool new stuff the minimum CF size will be 1GB, but seeing as you can get 2GB cards for $10-15 this really shouldn't be all that bad.

                            Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

                            Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

                            Do not Chat/PM for help!

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • F
                              FooFighter
                              last edited by

                              sounds great  ;D

                              does this mean that we can expect a working online update for nanobsd via web interface in the near future?
                              unscrewing my alix box for updates sometimes really is a pita  :D

                              regards,

                              foo

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • G
                                gloomrider
                                last edited by

                                @FooFighter:

                                sounds great  ;D

                                does this mean that we can expect a working online update for nanobsd via web interface in the near future?
                                unscrewing my alix box for updates sometimes really is a pita  :D

                                regards,

                                foo

                                I'm with you!  I use a second CF card just in case I have to go back.  I was thinking about using a Dremel and cutting a slot in the front of the case so I don't have to go through all that.  But no matter what, it wouldn't look very good.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • jimpJ
                                  jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                                  last edited by

                                  @FooFighter:

                                  sounds great  ;D

                                  does this mean that we can expect a working online update for nanobsd via web interface in the near future?
                                  unscrewing my alix box for updates sometimes really is a pita  :D

                                  Yes, online updates should work just as they do with full versions, actually doing it this way it even more reliable than that method since even if an update trashes the upgrade partition, there is still a working system to run from.

                                  It is a lot better, though I have cut a slot out of the front of my ALIX with a Dremel so I can remove the card whenever I want :)

                                  Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

                                  Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

                                  Do not Chat/PM for help!

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • jimpJ
                                    jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                                    last edited by

                                    @gloomrider:

                                    I'm with you!  I use a second CF card just in case I have to go back.  I was thinking about using a Dremel and cutting a slot in the front of the case so I don't have to go through all that.  But no matter what, it wouldn't look very good.

                                    It doesn't have to look too bad. Here's mine, the first time I ever tried it. I put a little post-it flag on the CF so I can pull it out, though others may prefer a sturdier adhesive tab like for file folders, I already had some of these on hand.

                                    alix-open.JPG
                                    alix-open.JPG_thumb
                                    alix-closed.JPG
                                    alix-closed.JPG_thumb

                                    Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

                                    Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

                                    Do not Chat/PM for help!

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • S
                                      sandman06
                                      last edited by

                                      will this boot automatically by default. like m0n0wall using 192.168.1.1

                                      or will it require to configure it initially using the serial port

                                      i prefer to do it over the web interface, such as m0n0wall

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • jimpJ
                                        jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                                        last edited by

                                        @sandman06:

                                        will this boot automatically by default. like m0n0wall using 192.168.1.1

                                        or will it require to configure it initially using the serial port

                                        i prefer to do it over the web interface, such as m0n0wall

                                        It depends on your hardware. It boots up with vr0 as LAN and vr1 as WAN on my ALIX, and 192.168.1.1 for LAN and DHCP for WAN. It works, but I prefer to order the ports the other way so I reassign afterward if I'm doing any long-term testing.

                                        I think if it uses NICs other than vr, it makes you assign on boot, iirc.

                                        Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

                                        Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

                                        Do not Chat/PM for help!

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • S
                                          sandman06
                                          last edited by

                                          thanks for the quick reply.

                                          yes the hardware im using is alix too. 2c2

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.