Evolution of the OpenBSD Installer

OpenBSD has built a reputation for simplicity and security. A masterpiece of honest design, users have always been able to depend on a clean and straightforward approach to building (and upgrading) their OpenBSD systems. So I was utterly dumbfounded when the install script underwent massive changes during the c2k9 hackathon event.

Editor's Note: User sepp0 has pointed us to a similar review of the new installer written in Spanish.

The overall installation process hasn't changed substantially in years. The keystrokes were so ingrained in my muscle memory that I could build a new system in less than three minutes. But knowing these changes weren't going anywhere (and I had new servers to build), I dove in headfirst. I was pleasantly surprised at the results.

erase ^?, werase ^W, kill ^U, intr ^C, status ^T

Welcome to the OpenBSD/i386 4.6 installation program.
(I)nstall, (U)pgrade or (S)hell? i

Cool! Let's get to it.

At any prompt except password prompts you can escape to a shell by
typing '!'. Default answers are shown in []'s and are selected by
pressing RETURN.  You can exit this program at any time by pressing
Control-C, but this can leave your system in an inconsistent state.

Terminal type? [vt220] 
System hostname? (short form, e.g. 'foo') foo

We already notice some of the changes. The hostname question appears right near the start, and there is no longer a fear-inducing message asking IS YOUR DATA BACKED UP. These are tiny changes but they are reassuring nonetheless.

Available network interfaces are: vic0 vlan0.
Which one do you wish to configure? (or 'done') [vic0] 
IPv4 address for vic0? (or 'dhcp' or 'none') [dhcp] 
Issuing hostname-associated DHCP request for vic0.
DHCPDISCOVER on vic0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 2
DHCPOFFER from 192.168.161.254 (00:50:56:f7:f9:ea)
DHCPREQUEST on vic0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67
DHCPACK from 192.168.161.254 (00:50:56:f7:f9:ea)
bound to 192.168.161.146 -- renewal in 900 seconds.
IPv6 address for vic0? (or 'rtsol' or 'none') [none] 
Available network interfaces are: vic0 vlan0.
Which one do you wish to configure? (or 'done') [done] 
Using DNS domainname localdomain
Using DNS nameservers at 192.168.161.2
Do you want to do any manual network configuration? [no] 

Wow, that was cool. All of the networking questions are grouped together nicely and offer sane defaults like we'd expect. There's a vlan0 choice listed, presumably to remind the user that VLAN is now a supported network interface for installations.

Password for root account? (will not echo) 
Password for root account? (again) 
Start sshd(8) by default? [yes] 
Start ntpd(8) by default? [no] yes
NTP server? (hostname or 'default') [default] 
Do you expect to run the X Window System? [yes] no
Change the default console to com0? [no] 
Setup a user? (enter a lower-case loginname, or 'no') [no] 
What timezone are you in? ('?' for list) [Canada/Mountain] 

More sanity here. The developers have smartly pushed all of the questions that might require more interaction up here near the top. As usual, the defaults are wisely selected and considered for the widest audience. A very nice addition is the ability to add a normal user. I get the feeling that we're almost on cruise control from here on out.

Available disks are: wd0.
Which one is the root disk? (or 'done') [wd0] 
Disk: wd0       geometry: 1040/128/63 [8388608 Sectors]
Offset: 0       Signature: 0xAA55
            Starting         Ending         LBA Info:
 #: id      C   H   S -      C   H   S [       start:        size ]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 0: 00      0   0   0 -      0   0   0 [           0:           0 ] unused      
 1: 00      0   0   0 -      0   0   0 [           0:           0 ] unused      
 2: 00      0   0   0 -      0   0   0 [           0:           0 ] unused      
*3: A6      0   1   1 -   1039 127  63 [          63:     8386497 ] OpenBSD     
Use (W)hole disk, use the (O)penBSD area, or (E)dit the MBR? [OpenBSD] 
The auto-allocated layout for wd0 is:
#                size           offset  fstype [fsize bsize  cpg]
  a:           902.9M               63  4.2BSD   2048 16384    1 # /
  b:           256.0M          1849298    swap                   
  c:          4096.0M                0  unused                   
  d:          2506.0M          2373586  4.2BSD   2048 16384    1 # /usr
  e:           430.1M          7505812  4.2BSD   2048 16384    1 # /home
Use (A)uto layout, (E)dit auto layout, or create (C)ustom layout? [a] 
/dev/rwd0a: 902.9MB in 1849232 sectors of 512 bytes
5 cylinder groups of 202.47MB, 12958 blocks, 25984 inodes each
newfs: reduced number of fragments per cylinder group from 55040 to 54824 to enlarge last cylinder group
/dev/rwd0e: 430.1MB in 880748 sectors of 512 bytes
5 cylinder groups of 107.08MB, 6853 blocks, 13824 inodes each
/dev/rwd0d: 2506.0MB in 5132224 sectors of 512 bytes
13 cylinder groups of 202.47MB, 12958 blocks, 25984 inodes each
/dev/wd0a on /mnt type ffs (rw, asynchronous, local)
/dev/wd0e on /mnt/home type ffs (rw, asynchronous, local, nodev, nosuid)
/dev/wd0d on /mnt/usr type ffs (rw, asynchronous, local, nodev)

If you blinked you might have just missed the automatic partitioning and formatting of my new system in just three keystrokes. You read that right. Scroll up again if you missed the new auto-allocating disklabel feature. Based on the size of your disk it will create a suggested layout for your installation. Of course, you're free to edit it to suit your requirements.

Let's install the sets!
Location of sets? (cd disk ftp http or 'done') [cd] 
Available CD-ROMs are: cd0.
Which one contains the install media? (or 'done') [cd0] 
Pathname to the sets? (or 'done') [4.6/i386] 

There is one exciting new feature that this example doesn't illustrate. The installer will use geolocation data to suggest the closest mirror to your system (see startftplist() in install.sub). This information is used solely for the purpose of providing a convenient mirror, but it's expected that some users will ask What else are they using my information for?

I suggest that if you're concerned about your IP address and architecture information getting into unscrupulous hands that you'd be better off compiling your own release or buying a CD set (at which point they have your information anyways).

Select sets by entering a set name, a file name pattern or 'all'. De-select
sets by prepending a '-' to the set name, file name pattern or 'all'. Selected
sets are labelled '[X]'.
    [X] bsd           [X] etc46.tgz     [X] game46.tgz    [X] xfont46.tgz
    [X] bsd.rd        [X] misc46.tgz    [X] xbase46.tgz   [X] xserv46.tgz
    [ ] bsd.mp        [X] comp46.tgz    [X] xetc46.tgz
    [X] base46.tgz    [X] man46.tgz     [X] xshare46.tgz
Set name(s)? (or 'abort' or 'done') [done] 
bsd          100% |*************************************|  7068 KB    00:01    
bsd.rd       100% |*************************************|  5917 KB    00:01    
base46.tgz   100% |*************************************| 47315 KB    00:30    
etc46.tgz    100% |*************************************|   503 KB    00:00    
misc46.tgz   100% |*************************************|  2867 KB    00:01    
comp46.tgz   100% |*************************************| 88555 KB    00:55    
man46.tgz    100% |*************************************|  8047 KB    00:08    
game46.tgz   100% |*************************************|  2558 KB    00:02    
xbase46.tgz  100% |*************************************| 10160 KB    00:10    
xetc46.tgz   100% |*************************************| 69166       00:00    
xshare46.tgz 100% |*************************************|  2861 KB    00:07    
xfont46.tgz  100% |*************************************| 34745 KB    00:15    
xserv46.tgz  100% |*************************************| 19789 KB    00:05    
Location of sets? (cd disk ftp http or 'done') [done] 

A lot of work and attention to detail went into revising the set layout and progress views. Set selections are now ordered horizontally to save on vertical screen space. We see a similar change for the download/extract step, where progress feedback is available on a single line for each set. This is a very welcome change for serial console installations.

At this point we're effectively done. The only thing left to do is issue a quick reboot.

Saving configuration files...done.
Generating initial host.random file...done.
Making all device nodes...done.

CONGRATULATIONS! Your OpenBSD install has been successfully completed!
To boot the new system, enter 'reboot' at the command prompt.
When you login to your new system the first time, please read your mail
using the 'mail' command.

# 

The developers have put an enormous amount of effort into something that until recently, seemed good enough. They have an uncanny ability to recognize the potential in something commonplace and refactor it in such a way that it seems obvious in hindsight. Kudos to all of the developers that worked so hard on the "new installer".