Guides

Choose a task #

Guides favor reproducible checks, reversible changes, and links to primary documentation. Confirm that a page lists the installed FreeBSD release before applying its commands.

Installation and orientation #

• Supported FreeBSD releases records the current maintenance boundary from one data source.
• Check a system before installing FreeBSD covers release, storage, network, application, and recovery decisions.
• Check desktop and laptop hardware establishes device-level evidence before installation.
• Orient a Linux administrator on FreeBSD maps services, packages, devices, and configuration without assuming Linux conventions.
• Move files without GNU mv -t translates target-directory commands into native operand order and safe find batches.
• Choose a FreeBSD documentation and support channel routes interface, procedure, release, community, package, vendor, and defect questions to the right owner.
• Configure locale, keyboard, and time zone keeps login locale, console keymap, graphical input, civil time, and clock synchronization separate.

Releases, packages, and settings #

• Update, upgrade, or update packages? separates base-system, release, package, and pkgbase maintenance.
• Upgrade 14.4 or 15.0 to FreeBSD 15.1 provides a release-specific checklist and recovery boundaries.
• Choose the quarterly or latest package branch makes repository cadence an explicit system policy.
• Choose packages, ports, or poudriere selects a coherent third-party software workflow.
• Choose a download or package mirror preserves automatic selection, verification, and fallback.
• Make a system setting persistent distinguishes runtime, loader, and service configuration.
• Choose a custom kernel, module, or loader setting preserves GENERIC unless a narrower mechanism cannot meet a stated requirement.

Desktop, laptop, and multimedia #

• Choose and check a graphics driver starts from the actual GPU and its maintained driver.
• Choose Xorg or Wayland compares application, graphics, remote-access, and maintenance requirements.
• Build a maintainable desktop baseline proves a small session before adding a display manager and applications.
• Install and check a desktop browser separates browser failures from desktop, audio, and camera failures.
• Check laptop Wi-Fi, power, and suspend tests the machine-specific laptop path.
• Check multimedia readiness routes graphics, audio, camera, browser, and USB evidence by workload.
• Run a Linux binary with the compatibility layer explains the Linux ABI and userland boundary.
• Run Windows applications with Wine qualifies executable architecture, prefixes, host graphics and audio, and the VM boundary.
• Choose and configure a printing stack selects base lpd or packaged CUPS from client, protocol, driver, discovery, and exposure needs.

Storage and ZFS #

• Choose a filesystem and storage layout separates storage policy, availability, and backup.
• Operate ZFS without losing the recovery path routes snapshot, restore, replication, integrity, and device tasks.
• Snapshot and replicate a ZFS dataset creates and verifies a point-in-time copy on another pool.
• Restore files from a ZFS snapshot recovers selected files without rolling back a dataset.
• Replicate a ZFS dataset over SSH defines remote authority, incremental state, and resumption boundaries.
• Read pool health and run a scrub distinguishes integrity checks from backups.
• Replace a failed device in a ZFS mirror covers one deliberately narrow replacement topology.

Hosts, isolation, networking, and security #

• Plan a FreeBSD home server starts from storage, service, exposure, and recovery boundaries.
• Publish a network service safely makes software, runtime, listener, firewall, identity, data, update, and restore ownership explicit.
• Configure a serial console for recovery verifies firmware, loader, kernel, single-user, and login access as separate stages.
• Choose native jails or a jail manager decides whether a management layer earns its operational surface.
• Choose a jail network model compares private NAT, shared-address, and VNET paths.
• Choose a jail or a bhyve virtual machine selects the smallest suitable kernel and machine boundary.
• Change PF safely on a remote host plans validation, observation, and rollback before loading rules.
• Configure a narrow WireGuard tunnel avoids silently replacing the default route.
• Choose a mail server or outgoing relay separates local delivery, authenticated relay, and public mail service.
• Establish a security baseline records exposure, privilege, maintenance, recovery, and evidence before optional hardening.
• Choose a MAC policy starts from a testable denial and the narrowest policy that can enforce it.
• Audit security-relevant activity defines attribution, event selection, trail storage, review, privacy, and failure behavior.
• Start a DTrace performance investigation moves from ordinary counters to one bounded traceable question.