Follow these instructions to install FreeBSD on a dedicated server, from a Linux rescue environment

1. Boot into the rescue console for your dedicated server

SSH into the rescue control as root. Prepare file path or URL of SSH public key.

2. Download and run the installer script

Download and run the mfsBSD-based installer for FreeBSD, with root-on-ZFS.

wget [--no-check-certificate] https://depenguin.me/run.sh \
&& chmod +x run.sh \
&& ./run.sh [ -d ] [ -r ram ] [ -m (url of own mfsbsd image) ] authorized_keys ...

Parameters in [ square brackets ] are optional.

The wget command may require the parameter "--no-check-certificate" if SSL validation fails on some rescue systems.

You must specify at least one authorized_keys source. URL and local file is supported.

Example invocations

./run.sh https://example.org/mypubkey
./run.sh /tmp/my_public_key

The default installer is currently version 14.1. You can also pass in a parameter and URL to use a specific version of the installer.

./run.sh -m https://depenguin.me/files/mfsbsd-13.4-RELEASE-amd64.iso https://example.org/mypubkey

3. Connect via SSH

Wait until the script reports SSH to be available (takes a few minutes) then connect.

ssh -p 1022 mfsbsd@your-host-ip

Once logged in, you can sudo su - to root without a password. You cannot login as root.

If you have trouble with the connection, wait 2 minutes and try again.

4. Install FreeBSD or rescue your system

Choose your own adventure

🐇 Install using bsdinstall or use the unattended bsdinstall process (includes root on ZFS)

🐡 Install using zfsinstall

Rescue tools

👀 IPv6-only hosts: refer to this comment for more info.
bsdinstall unattended script to be updated, or a page on this site to be added.