File Sets
The release directory for each architecture contains several compressed files with names like comp52.tgz, base52.tgz, and so on. These file sets contain compressed OpenBSD installation files. By choosing to install particular file sets, you can pick how much functionality your OpenBSD system will have out of the box. For example, the documentation is kept in a separate distribution set. If you have documentation elsewhere, you might choose to not install it on a particular system. Also, intruders often make use of compilers, so you might not want them on a system you want to protect. But if this is your experimental “learning OpenBSD” machine, install everything.
Each file set has a name and a version number. For example, one distribution set of OpenBSD in release 5.2 is base52.tgz. These are the base files of release 5.2. In the next release, this same file set will be called base53.tgz.
All architectures include all file sets, unless otherwise noted in the architecture’s release notes. If this is your first OpenBSD installation, take a moment to decide which distribution sets you need. If at all possible, install them all on your test machine. You can always trim them down later for dedicated-purpose machines.
The following file sets are available:
bsd, bsd.mp, and bsd.rdThese file sets contain only OpenBSD kernels. The kernel is the heart of the operating system, containing the device drivers and basic system functions. Without a kernel, the system will not boot. The bsd kernel is for single-processor machines, while the bsd.mp kernel supports multiple processors. The bsd.rd kernel contains the OpenBSD installer, basic userland utilities, and the live system kernel. You can run only one kernel at a time.
baseXX.tgzThis contains OpenBSD’s core programs—all the things that make OpenBSD Unix-like. The contents of /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, and /usr/sbin; the system libraries; and all the miscellaneous programs you expect to find on a minimal Unix-like system are in this file set. You must install this file set.
etcXX.tgzYou might guess that this file set contains the files from /etc, but it also contains other required files and directories, such as /var/log and the root user’s home directory. You must install this file set.
manXX.tgzIf you need the man pages for the programs in the base and etc file sets, install this distribution set. The man pages for other sets are installed with their respective file sets.
compXX.tgzThis file set contains C and C++ compilers, the assembler, libraries, tools, manuals, and the toolchain for each. You need this file set to develop or compile software, or use the ports collection (see Chapter 13). You do not need this file set if you plan to use only precompiled software packages. At roughly 60MB, it is the largest file set for most platforms, but it’s trivial compared to the size of modern hard disks. You might choose to not install it on a secure machine.
gameXX.tgzThis file set contains several simple games, based on games originally distributed in BSD 4.4. Some of these, such as fortune(1), are considered UNIX classics, and old farts won’t be happy unless they’re installed. Others, such as /usr/games/wargames, assume that you’re familiar with early 1980s films. You don’t need the games file set (unless you want to see what passed for “computer games” back when I was in high school).
xbaseXX.tgzThis contains the core of Xenocara, the OpenBSD version of the X Window System. If you want to use X, you need this. Although you might not have a console or monitor on this computer, remember that X allows programs on this server to display remotely.
Most OpenBSD packages assume that you have installed this file set. If you find that a package crashes with errors about missing X libraries, you need this file set.
xetcXX.tgzThis contains the X configuration files. If you’re using X for more than its libraries, you need this file set.
xfontXX.tgzThis contains X fonts. If you plan to use X on this machine’s console, install this file set.
xservXX.tgzThis file set contains all the X video card drivers. If you plan to use X on this machine’s console, install this file set.
xshareXX.tgzThis contains the X documentation. If you plan to use X on this machine’s console, install this file set.