Hello Everyone, for the last 5 years I was using Red Hat and Fedora Core Linuxes. With the beginning of the current year I installed FreeBSD Release 6 on one of my servers. It took me about a week to setup the system but I am very happy with it now. I build most of the stuff from the sources using ports. What I found strange is that the configuration files of different services are located in two different places. Most configuration which was installed from the CD is located at /etc but everything what I built from sources is located at /usr/local/etc. Maybe this is the way it use to be on Unix based systems. In RedHat and Fedora distributions all configuration files are located at /etc. I am very new to FreeBSD but I found it difficult. After installing desired package I have to add it to /etc/rc.conf in order to start it as a service and then I have to look for configuration folder in /usr/local/etc. Is there any reason why the configuration files are placed in those different locations? -- pozdrawiam / best regards Andrzej Cuber +48 504 271-977
On Thu, Mar 23, 2006 at 02:06:07AM +0100, Andrzej Cuber wrote:> Hello Everyone, > > for the last 5 years I was using Red Hat and Fedora Core Linuxes. > With the beginning of the current year I installed FreeBSD Release 6 on one > of my servers. > It took me about a week to setup the system but I am very happy with it now. > > I build most of the stuff from the sources using ports. > What I found strange is that the configuration files of different services > are located in two different places. Most configuration which was installed > from the CD is located at /etc but everything what I built from sources is > located at /usr/local/etc. Maybe this is the way it use to be on Unix > based systems.I think having a /usr/local/etc is "new" (past decade maybe), but the /usr/local directory paradigm is a Berkeley thing. It probably began with the 4.X distribution; I began using Unix with V6 and there was no "local" directory.> > In RedHat and Fedora distributions all configuration files are located at > /etc. > I am very new to FreeBSD but I found it difficult. After installing desired > package I have to add it to /etc/rc.conf in order to start it as a service > and then I have to look for configuration folder in /usr/local/etc. > > Is there any reason why the configuration files are placed in those > different locations?I'd guess just custom/habit/the-way-it's-always-been-done. It makes sense to me to have the etc directories at least symlinked. Or the option-of having it. BUT .... gary> > -- > pozdrawiam / best regards > Andrzej Cuber > +48 504 271-977 > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-stable-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"-- Gary Kline kline@thought.org www.thought.org Public service Unix
On Wed, March 22, 2006 5:06 pm, Andrzej Cuber wrote:> for the last 5 years I was using Red Hat and Fedora Core Linuxes. With > the beginning of the current year I installed FreeBSD Release 6 on > one of my servers. It took me about a week to setup the system but I > am very happy with it now.> I build most of the stuff from the sources using ports. > What I found strange is that the configuration files of different > services are located in two different places. Most configuration which > was installed from the CD is located at /etc but everything what I > built from sources is located at /usr/local/etc. Maybe this is the way > it use to be on Unix based systems.> In RedHat and Fedora distributions all configuration files are > located at /etc. I am very new to FreeBSD but I found it difficult. > After installing desired package I have > to add it to /etc/rc.conf in order to start it as a service and then I > have to look for configuration folder in /usr/local/etc.> Is there any reason why the configuration files are placed in those > different locations?It gives you a very clear delineation between "what is part of the OS" and "what did I install on top of the OS". In FreeBSD, there are two separate mechanisms for upgrades: buildword/freebsd-update for the base OS, and the many methods of doing port/package upgrades. They can be upgraded separately, and all the installed files are put in separate places. It keeps things neat and tidy and separate. Nothing drives me battier than logging onto a Linux station and seeing a thousand entries under /etc, with no clear indication of what is "the base OS" and what are "apps installed on the OS". Everything's a mess, and stored under /etc and /usr. Annoying to say the least. ---- Freddie Cash fcash@ocis.net
Andrzej Cuber wrote:> ... > In RedHat and Fedora distributions all configuration files are located > at /etc. > I am very new to FreeBSD but I found it difficult. After installing > desired package I have to add it to /etc/rc.conf in order to start it as > a service and then I have to look for configuration folder in > /usr/local/etc. > > Is there any reason why the configuration files are placed in those > different locations?If you want to be consistent you could add to /etc/rc.conf rc_conf_files="/etc/rc.conf /etc/rc.conf.local /usr/local/etc/rc.conf" Then your startup variables could go into /usr/local/etc/rc.conf and all your ports config stuff would live in /usr/local/etc hierarchy. There maybe a problem if /usr/local/etc/rc.conf is on another partition not available early enough in startup process. Caveat emptor. -- tonym
On Thu, Mar 23, 2006 at 12:00 , the murky waters churned and seethed, the dark weeds parted and the water took on the sinister, shifting visage we recognize as freebsd-stable-request@freebsd.org. The great maw opened, and the following was heard:> Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 02:06:07 +0100 > From: Andrzej Cuber <poczta@andrzejcuber.pl> > Subject: a place for configuration files > To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org> Hello Everyone,> for the last 5 years I was using Red Hat and Fedora Core > Linuxes. With the beginning of the current year I installed > FreeBSD Release 6 on one of my servers. It took me about a week > to setup the system but I am very happy with it now.> I build most of the stuff from the sources using ports. > What I found strange is that the configuration files of > different services are located in two different places. Most > configuration which was installed from the CD is located at > /etc but everything what I built from sources is located at > /usr/local/etc. Maybe this is the way it use to be on Unix based > systems.> In RedHat and Fedora distributions all configuration files > are located at /etc. I am very new to FreeBSD but I found it > difficult. After installing desired package I have to add it to > /etc/rc.conf in order to start it as a service and then I have > to look for configuration folder in /usr/local/etc.> Is there any reason why the configuration files are placed in > those different locations?> -- > pozdrawiam / best regards > Andrzej Cuber > +48 504 271-977Once you get more familiar with BSD you will begin to appreciate the way it is done on BSD. One really nice thing is that by separating the OS and the user added 'local' programs, you can actually remake the / file system, reinstall the OS, and not lose any of you local applications or data. As another reply indicated rebuiling from sources will also let you reinstall the base OS, and the only thing you would have to do to make sure no drek is left over is to list the base directories by time created to find any old pieces and remove if needed. Another way that BSD differs it to have several file systems to start with while many recent Linux installations [which I've been called in to look at] seem to use the old MS approach of everything in one FS. With over 20 years of Unix experiences so far [on many platforms and at least 6 different CPU bases] I find the multiple FS'es, with each handling only certain functions, makes a recover in case of the rare crashes, much easier, and much faster. And faster means quicker client uptime. As I tell the customers when I get them back up in a hurry, "if you are down you aren't making money and if you aren't making money you can't pay me". They appreciate that approach, and I've changed some commercial OSes to use the FreeBSD approach to great success. Particularly when the data segments accumulated by the customer become quite huge. Bill -- Bill Vermillion - bv @ wjv . com
> Andrzej Cuber wrote: > > > ... > > In RedHat and Fedora distributions all configuration files are located > > at /etc. > > I am very new to FreeBSD but I found it difficult. After installing > > desired package I have to add it to /etc/rc.conf in order to start it as > > a service and then I have to look for configuration folder in > > /usr/local/etc. > > > > Is there any reason why the configuration files are placed in those > > different locations? > > If you want to be consistent you could add to /etc/rc.conf > rc_conf_files="/etc/rc.conf /etc/rc.conf.local /usr/local/etc/rc.conf" > > Then your startup variables could go into /usr/local/etc/rc.conf and > all your ports config stuff would live in /usr/local/etc hierarchy. > > There maybe a problem if /usr/local/etc/rc.conf is on another partition > not available early enough in startup process. Caveat emptor. >and that's where early_late_divider="something" comes in handy (thanks Doug B.) in my case I have early_late_divider="amd" since /usr/local is am-utils mounted. danny