On 6/4/2011 4:14 AM, Thor Lancelot Simon wrote:
On Fri, Jun 03, 2011 at 08:31:13PM -0400, Al Zick wrote:
I want to install NetBSD on a FreeBSD 7 (intel dual-core) system
without physical access to the server. At one time, I though that
FreeBSD used the same filesystem as NetBSD. Can someone tell me if
that is still true or is there away to create a NetBSD filesystem
from FreeBSD? Also, is there a how to on this kind of install
somewhere?
Do you have any unpartitioned or spare space on your FreeBSD
system? If so, I can guide you through a procedure that is
far from simple, but will work. If not, I think you will need
to find a way to boot from the network or from installation media
to get your install going.
Even if there isn't "spare" space, (since you have root) you can
possibly clear off *one* "partition"/slice (e.g., if there is a
separate /var, unmount it and let writes to /var go to /var's
mount point, instead (on the root filesystem) while you create
a NetBSD root using the disk real estate that the FBSD /var
had preciously used.
Ditto for other "unmountable" file systems (e.g., rtar them
onto some other machine and then reclaim them for use by NetBSD).
But, as Thor said, "Here, There be Dragons"... plenty of
opportunities to shoot oneself in *both* feet -- in less than
an ohnosecond!