What is "nanobsd" ?
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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.
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What have they done so far that is different then the regular 2.0 build? might be worth giving it a try
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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.
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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 :Dregards,
foo
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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 :Dregards,
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.
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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 :DYes, 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 :)
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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.
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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
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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.
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thanks for the quick reply.
yes the hardware im using is alix too. 2c2
