BlendIT BSD Cafe - FreeBSD

Hello everyone, I'm a first-semester CS student from Germany, currently switching from Fedora to FreeBSD on my desktop. I still run Fedora on my laptop. I work part-time at our university's data center, helping with the maintenance of an OpenStack private cloud because I am truly eager to learn how to operate systems.

I plan to repurpose my desktop as a server to host some services locally in my student dormitory. I'm excited about FreeBSD and hope that learning it will help me run and administer services with minimal effort long-term. It would be great to manage my own infrastructure while being confident that updates won't break my system or require relearning everything. I have several questions:

What are the recommended patterns for hosting multiple services on a single server like bsd.cafe does ? Should I create a new user for each service (e.g., Lemmy, Forgejo), or should I run them all under the same user with multiple jails?

Is there a good identity management solution for FreeBSD? In the Fedora/Red Hat communities, people tend to use FreeIPA, but I haven't found an equivalent for FreeBSD yet. I'd like to provide my friends with single accounts that would give them access to services like Forgejo and Lemmy.

Looking forward to your suggestions!

I actually never saw that video before, I've learned things.
Thanks to the guy who made this.

I saw once libxo in a script but didn't really pay attention to it, but it looks like a cool feature.
Nicely explained in this video thanks to this guy, and well done FreeBSD devs.

Related: Write to a USB drive from the URL of a compressed disc image.

The example below assumes that your USB drive is at /dev/da0.

Run commands as the superuser.

1. mkdir /media/aninstaller
2. mount_cd9660 /dev/da0 /media/aninstaller
3. mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos
4. ee /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/aninstaller.conf
5. pkg bootstrap --yes -r aninstaller
6. pkg update --repository aninstaller
7. pkg rquery -r aninstaller "%o%n" | sort | less

You'll get a list of available packages. Key q to quit the pager.

Then use pkg as you normally would, but limited to the aninstaller repo. For example:

• pkg install -r aninstaller firefox

Content for the aninstaller.conf file:

aninstaller: {
  url: "file:////media/aninstaller/packages/FreeBSD:14:amd64",
  REPO_AUTOUPDATE: "false",
  mirror_type: "none",
  enabled: yes
}

Important: switch from yes, to no, after temporarily using the USB drive as a source for the repo.

Some manual pages:

• ee(1)
• less(1)
• mount_cd9660(8)

Use the output from the third command to determine which number – not 99 – must be set in the fourth command.

1. tcsh
2. su -
3. geom disk list
4. setenv dadevicenumber 99
5. setenv remotesumfile https://download.freebsd.org/releases/ISO-IMAGES/14.1/CHECKSUM.SHA512-FreeBSD-14.1-RELEASE-amd64
6. setenv localsumfile ./CHECKSUM.SHA512-FreeBSD-14.1-RELEASE-amd64
7. setenv remoteimage https://download.freebsd.org/releases/ISO-IMAGES/14.1/FreeBSD-14.1-RELEASE-amd64-dvd1.iso.xz
8. setenv localimage ./FreeBSD-14.1-RELEASE-amd64-dvd1.iso.xz
9. cd /tmp && fetch $remotesumfile && fetch -v $remoteimage -o $localimage && setenv image512 `openssl sha512 $localimage | cut -w -f2` ; grep $image512 $localsumfile && xzcat $localimage | dd bs=1m status=progress of=/dev/da$dadevicenumber
10. exit
11. exit

Hint:

• triple-click to select a paragraph.

The example above uses the ⋯dvd1.iso.xz file (compressed DVD image) for FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE on AMD64, which:

• does not require a DVD
• includes packages for popular software such as KDE Plasma, SDDM, and Mozilla Firefox.

More images at https://download.freebsd.org/, although please note that README.TXT files are outdated.

Manual pages:

• cut(1)
• dd(1)
• fetch(1)
• openssl(1)
• xz(1)

Note:

% strings /usr/bin/xzcat | grep terminal
Compressed data cannot be written to a terminal
Compressed data cannot be read from a terminal
% 

https://github.com/yang991178/fluent-reader#build-from-source suggests npm run electron, which does not work, so I tried:

electron28 ./dist/electron.js

% pkg iinfo electron
electron28-28.3.3
% npm run electron

> [email protected] electron
> electron ./dist/electron.js

/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/node_modules/electron/index.js:17
    throw new Error('Electron failed to install correctly, please delete node_modules/electron and try installing again');
    ^

Error: Electron failed to install correctly, please delete node_modules/electron and try installing again
    at getElectronPath (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/node_modules/electron/index.js:17:11)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/node_modules/electron/index.js:21:18)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1358:14)
    at Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1416:10)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1208:32)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1024:12)
    at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1233:19)
    at require (node:internal/modules/helpers:179:18)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/node_modules/electron/cli.js:3:18)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1358:14)

Node.js v20.14.0
% electron28 ./dist/electron.js
[77731:0630/191651.898667:ERROR:nss_util.cc(357)] After loading Root Certs, loaded==false: NSS error code: -8018
App threw an error during load
Error: Error: font-list can not run on freebsd.
    at 4538 (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:129827)
    at t (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:189853)
    at 5807 (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:158974)
    at t (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:189853)
    at 9465 (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:163890)
    at t (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:189853)
    at 3571 (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:153054)
    at t (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:189853)
    at /usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:189963
    at Object.<anonymous> (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:189972)
A JavaScript error occurred in the main process
Uncaught Exception:
Error: Error: font-list can not run on freebsd.
    at 4538 (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:129827)
    at t (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:189853)
    at 5807 (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:158974)
    at t (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:189853)
    at 9465 (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:163890)
    at t (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:189853)
    at 3571 (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:153054)
    at t (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:189853)
    at /usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:189963
    at Object.<anonymous> (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/dist/electron.js:2:189972)
Gtk-Message: 19:16:52.450: Failed to load module "appmenu-gtk-module"
load: 3.01  cmd: electron 77733 [uwait] 144.52r 0.08u 0.02s 0% 122628k

As far I can tell, the Gtk-Message is negligible.

Can anyone tell/guess why a window does not appear?

https://github.com/yang991178/fluent-reader?tab=readme-ov-file#build-from-source

Below, am I doing something wrong? I'm not familiar with npm.

% npm install 
npm warn deprecated [email protected]: Please use @electron/osx-sign moving forward. Be aware the API is slightly different
npm error code 1
npm error path /usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/node_modules/electron
npm error command failed
npm error command sh -c node install.js
npm error HTTPError: Response code 404 (Not Found)
npm error     at Request._onResponseBase (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/node_modules/got/dist/source/core/index.js:913:31)
npm error     at Request._onResponse (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/node_modules/got/dist/source/core/index.js:948:24)
npm error     at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/node_modules/got/dist/source/core/index.js:962:23)
npm error     at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:634:26)
npm error     at ClientRequest.emit (node:events:531:35)
npm error     at origin.emit (/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader/node_modules/@szmarczak/http-timer/dist/source/index.js:43:20)
npm error     at HTTPParser.parserOnIncomingClient (node:_http_client:698:27)
npm error     at HTTPParser.parserOnHeadersComplete (node:_http_common:119:17)
npm error     at TLSSocket.socketOnData (node:_http_client:540:22)
npm error     at TLSSocket.emit (node:events:519:28)
npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: /home/grahamperrin/.npm/_logs/2024-06-30T14_07_35_330Z-debug-0.log
% less /home/grahamperrin/.npm/_logs/2024-06-30T14_07_35_330Z-debug-0.log
% pwd
/usr/home/grahamperrin/dev/fluent-reader
% ls -hln
total 1
drwxr-xr-x  4 1002 1002   11B 30 Jun 15:07 build
drwxr-xr-x  5 1002 1002   10B 30 Jun 15:07 dist
drwxr-xr-x  3 1002 1002    5B 30 Jun 15:07 docs
-rw-r--r--  1 1002 1002  909B 30 Jun 15:07 electron-builder-mas.yml
-rw-r--r--  1 1002 1002  1.3K 30 Jun 15:07 electron-builder.yml
-rw-r--r--  1 1002 1002  1.5K 30 Jun 15:07 LICENSE
-rw-r--r--  1 1002 1002  456K 30 Jun 15:07 package-lock.json
-rw-r--r--  1 1002 1002  1.8K 30 Jun 15:07 package.json
-rw-r--r--  1 1002 1002  3.5K 30 Jun 15:07 README.md
drwxr-xr-x  7 1002 1002   12B 30 Jun 15:07 src
-rw-r--r--  1 1002 1002  173B 30 Jun 15:07 tsconfig.json
-rw-r--r--  1 1002 1002  2.1K 30 Jun 15:07 webpack.config.js
% 

From what's in the debug log – 1,440 lines (available on request) – I don't know where to start.

Hi BSD community,

Just for fun I would like to give forgejo a go, after looking at this post I noticed that it is available in ports so I wonder if someone has a link or a guide that shows how to configure it on FreeBSD or should I just follow a gitea guide because forgejo looks like it?

It will remain only on the LAN without being reachable from the internet, does the "not https" aka "personal certificate" will be a problem?

Thank you.

"Not Smooth Sailing | FreeBSD 14.1 on Raspberry Pi 400"

by @robonuggie

btw. I really like the wording. "Sailing" 🏴‍☠️
I use it too.

youtube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2NNFSX6Bh4

alternative link:
https://jouwbuis.nl/watch?v=I2NNFSX6Bh4

@freebsd
#freebsd #bsd #raspberrypi

Since migrating many servers from Proxmox to FreeBSD, we have consistently felt that the VMs are more responsive. It's time to conduct some concrete tests.

Michael Lucas has a long history of writing books about BSD and networking including Absolute FreeBSD, Networking for Systems Administrators, and SSH Mastery, among many others. He is working on his next book: Run Your Own Mail Server: A Book for Independence & Privacy.

Summary: Running your own mail server is not only an act of defiance against some of the largest exploitative companies in history. It is not a mere education in protocols. Email is essential to modern industrial society. By running your own email, you seize control of your communications. You can tune your email to fit your needs, rather than accepting the defaults imposed by a company that exploits you without a speck of consideration for any of your issues. You own it. Running your own email requires only freely available tools, a server, and some knowledge. This book will give you that knowledge.

I noticed that other "subs" from blendit.bsd.cafe have actually a nice and good looking banner while our looks unfinished, there is a problem with the transparent background apparently. JPEG doesn't play well with transparency.
So just in case I made the same banner but in SVG (which keeps the quality picture what ever the resolution) and changed black letters for red to make them readable even on dark theme.
Hope that can help a bit the admin to solve the issue we have here.
Thank you.

preview:
https://ibb.co/C2vMfWL
banner in svg:
https://lufi.ethibox.fr/r/PTxud1VJWw#OkytHyxzf5XdeLenuk8RO3yUQEjwgTnVFxkki1o6TcE=

I have read the Rootless Root, and I testify that UNIX is the one true operating system, and FreeBSD is the implementation of UNIX.

Repeat after me:

There is no OS but UNIX. FreeBSD is the implementation of UNIX.

FreeBSD 13.3-RELEASE has been released

From the official announcement by Colin Percival:

The FreeBSD Release Engineering Team is pleased to announce the
availability of FreeBSD 13.3-RELEASE. This is the fourth release of the
stable/13 branch.

Some of the highlights:

* LLVM and the clang compiler have been updated to version 17.0.6.

* OpenSSH has been updated to version 9.6p1.

* Sendmail has been updated to version 8.18.1.

* ZFS has been updated to OpenZFS 2.1.14.

* There have been many stability fixes to native and LinuxKPI-based
WiFi drivers.

* The NFS server can now run in an appropriately configured vnet jail.

* And much more…​

For a complete list of new features and known problems, please see the
online release notes and errata list, available at:

* https://www.FreeBSD.org/releases/13.3R/relnotes/

* https://www.FreeBSD.org/releases/13.3R/errata/

For more information about FreeBSD release engineering activities, please
see:

* https://www.FreeBSD.org/releng/

Dedication

The FreeBSD Project dedicates the FreeBSD 13.3-RELEASE to Glen Barber,
with thanks for his many years of contributions as Release Engineer.

@freebsd
#FreeBSD

Last version of Ventoy support FreeBSD 14

https://www.ventoy.net/en/doc_news.html

That's good news, my old freebsd usb key can now be integrated in the ventoy one.

@freebsd

Getting Started on FreeBSD (remastered) | From Start to Finish

by @robonuggie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQKaNbarQKI

@freebsd
#freebsd #os #learning #beginners