We are going to do a simple install of DirectAdmin on a FreeBSD 4.x, 5.x system. You MUST make sure your install is fresh don't try to install DirectAdmin on top of previous install. It can be done but it causes all kinds of problems and its easier to just start from scratch.
So here is a basic run down of what we will do:
1) Install FreeBSD
2) Update with cvsup
3) Install ipfw firewall
4) Install DirectAdmin
We are going to assume you have some BSD or Linux background, you will also need a FreeBSD Mini CD (or equivalent).
1) Get your machine up and running from the CD. You will now be in sysinstall the installer program for FreeBSD. Lets start with the Standard install.
The next screen is FDISK the partition program. In our install we are going to use the entire disk do use the D key to delete all your partitions and then use the A to let it use the entire disk. Q to quit and now you will be prompted to Install the Boot Manager. You can select the Standard since this is a server.
The next screen will ask you to create the slices (partitions). You should never partition your FreeBSD system with one just a /swap and a /(root) partition for security and performance reasons. So we recommend the following partition scheme:
/ #1G
/swap #2x the installed RAM
/var #10G
/usr #remaining available space
Now you will be asked for Choose the Distributions and we will just choose Minimal. You can go through the install process. You can choose to install Linux binary compatible if you wish. The only thing you should to install as Packages is compat4x. This is the FreeBSD 4 compatibility software which you probably will need later.
You will get to a screen to create users and groups. You should select User create a new user. The only box you need to pay attention to is group, add this user to the wheel group. This will allow you to change to the root user from ssh.
You can continue through the install we are skipping some steps which I feel you can understand for yourself. Reboot the box and lets move on.
The following steps are NOT necessary but I strongly urge you to complete them before installing DirectAdmin. This is a server you want the highest security and stability!
2) Now it is time to update your system to the latest code for your version of FreeBSD. Because of the nature of the OS it is updated frequently.
Click here for the CVSup how to
3) If this is a server you will want to install a firewall. FreeBSD comes with a firewall built-in called ipfw. It is easiest to install this now since you will need to compile the kernel and would result in unnecessary downtime.
Click here for the ipfw Firewall how to
4) Now it is time to install DirectAdmin. You can do this by ssh'ing into your server as the user you created above, then su to root. Download the setup file:
The only trick to remember is know what NIC card you have. It is possible to have more than one NIC card. You will be asked which card you are using during the install. Because FreeBSD names the device by the manufacture it could be confusing.
host# ifconfig
After you see inet you should see the ip you setup during the install. Just remember the card that goes along with that.
host# fetch http://www.directadmin.com/setup.sh
host# chmod 755 setup.sh
host# ./setup.sh
You should be able to continue though the install and be able to login with the username and password.
Thanks for rhoekman, Xuru for also lending their help with this.
So here is a basic run down of what we will do:
1) Install FreeBSD
2) Update with cvsup
3) Install ipfw firewall
4) Install DirectAdmin
We are going to assume you have some BSD or Linux background, you will also need a FreeBSD Mini CD (or equivalent).
1) Get your machine up and running from the CD. You will now be in sysinstall the installer program for FreeBSD. Lets start with the Standard install.
The next screen is FDISK the partition program. In our install we are going to use the entire disk do use the D key to delete all your partitions and then use the A to let it use the entire disk. Q to quit and now you will be prompted to Install the Boot Manager. You can select the Standard since this is a server.
The next screen will ask you to create the slices (partitions). You should never partition your FreeBSD system with one just a /swap and a /(root) partition for security and performance reasons. So we recommend the following partition scheme:
/ #1G
/swap #2x the installed RAM
/var #10G
/usr #remaining available space
Now you will be asked for Choose the Distributions and we will just choose Minimal. You can go through the install process. You can choose to install Linux binary compatible if you wish. The only thing you should to install as Packages is compat4x. This is the FreeBSD 4 compatibility software which you probably will need later.
You will get to a screen to create users and groups. You should select User create a new user. The only box you need to pay attention to is group, add this user to the wheel group. This will allow you to change to the root user from ssh.
You can continue through the install we are skipping some steps which I feel you can understand for yourself. Reboot the box and lets move on.
The following steps are NOT necessary but I strongly urge you to complete them before installing DirectAdmin. This is a server you want the highest security and stability!
2) Now it is time to update your system to the latest code for your version of FreeBSD. Because of the nature of the OS it is updated frequently.
Click here for the CVSup how to
3) If this is a server you will want to install a firewall. FreeBSD comes with a firewall built-in called ipfw. It is easiest to install this now since you will need to compile the kernel and would result in unnecessary downtime.
Click here for the ipfw Firewall how to
4) Now it is time to install DirectAdmin. You can do this by ssh'ing into your server as the user you created above, then su to root. Download the setup file:
The only trick to remember is know what NIC card you have. It is possible to have more than one NIC card. You will be asked which card you are using during the install. Because FreeBSD names the device by the manufacture it could be confusing.
host# ifconfig
After you see inet you should see the ip you setup during the install. Just remember the card that goes along with that.
host# fetch http://www.directadmin.com/setup.sh
host# chmod 755 setup.sh
host# ./setup.sh
You should be able to continue though the install and be able to login with the username and password.
Thanks for rhoekman, Xuru for also lending their help with this.
Last edited: