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Date:      Thu, 31 Aug 2006 08:24:45 -0700 (PDT)
From:      backyard <backyard1454-bsd@yahoo.com>
To:        Ruslan Ermilov <ru@FreeBSD.org>, backyard <backyard1454-bsd@yahoo.com>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org
Subject:   Re: who do you install freebsd without sysinstall?
Message-ID:  <20060831152445.21661.qmail@web83105.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
In-Reply-To: <20060831151823.GE56996@rambler-co.ru>

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--- Ruslan Ermilov <ru@FreeBSD.org> wrote:

> On Thu, Aug 31, 2006 at 07:53:28AM -0700, backyard
> wrote:
> > Out of curiosity...
> > 
> > So If I made a custom boot cd I could boot a dead
> box,
> > setup the drives and slices, CVSUP the system I
> want
> > to build, tweak the build environment for the
> proper
> > temporary build locations and build a system from
> > source and install that system to the now live
> box,
> > boot it and be done?
> > 
> Basically yes.  When booting from CD though, I'll
> have
> to mdconfig(8) and re-mount at least /tmp, maybe
> /var
> as well.
> 
> > also along these lines how do I make the system
> allow
> > me to seed the entropy engine? Usually after an
> > install it asks to fill in a screen full of junk,
> but
> > with a custom install it doesn't do this for me,
> at
> > least not the last time I tried. Just curious,
> > especially if I attempt the above procedure.
> > 
> Well, it does this only if the below conditions are
> met:
> 
> 1) You have enabled sshd(8) in sysinstall(8), so
> it's
>    enabled in /etc/rc.conf.
> 
> 2) This is the first boot, /etc/rc.d/sshd needs to
>    generate new SSH keys but random(4) hasn't been
>    seeded yet.   (random(4) is seeded by the /random
>    and /var/db/random/* files.)
> 
> So, if you did a custom install and then rebooted
> for
> the first time, but did not yet enable sshd(8), the
> cron(8) will save some entropy, so the time you need
> it to generate SSH keys there will already be some
> entropy available.
> 
> But if you absolutely need to reseed manually, boot
> into single-user mode, and type
> 
> 	rm /entropy /var/db/entropy/*
> 
> Then proceed with normal booting.  If sshd(8) is
> enabled, it will ask you to enter some entropy.
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> -- 
> Ruslan Ermilov
> ru@FreeBSD.org
> FreeBSD committer
> 

ok, I figured it was something simple enough like
that...

how does cron save entropy??? I've noticed "saving
entropy files" at shutdown but have always wondered
what it is using. or does it just read from
/dev/random?

-brian



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