Configuration Tools for BSD?

david@ecsd.com asks: "I've been using Linux for quite some time now and I've been thinking about giving one of the BSD's a whirl on my box at home. I've come to really like Linuxconf and have been wondering if there's anything like that for the BSD's or even if anyone has ported it to BSD. I really, really hate having to delve through 100s configuration text files to find the right one to edit."

Comments

Re:This is Frst - Frozen Karma - Pst

[rjamestaylor]

guess what... "First" and "Post" in the subject line renders posting impossible. Oh well.

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Although it may seem to suck at first...

[Dast]

I highly suggest hitting the conf files by hand--you'll learn a hell of a lot more in the process. Trust me, knowing how to monkey with a system with only vi is a highly useful skill.

For the most part, *bsd systems (freebsd and openbsd anyway) are pretty sane about how they handle configuration (maybe with the exception of the freebsd rc.firewall, which required damn near a total rewrite for easy ipnat over dhcp, while openbsd needed only like 3 lines in two config files). I'll admit they do things differently than most linux distros, slackware being an exception.

Don't let the initial scaryness of *bsd to scare you away; if you've ever installed debian, slackware, or a custom redhat, you should have no problem at all with an install. I installed both openbsd and freebsd via ftp over dhcp without a hitch. Configuring both did require a bit of vi, but nothing terribly difficult. The freebsd manual is well written and helpful (if a bit outdated in a section or two, but still good). I will admit, however, that the bsd community doesn't take well to newbies, and a "dumb" question will get you flamed in a heartbeat. Always make sure to read the manual and faq, and in the case of openbsd, the source as well (especially if you are trying to figure out why your ethernet driver is acting silly and there are no bugs reported on it ;).

But like I said, don't let the scaryness drive you away; once you are comfortable with editing conf files by hand there is little you can't do on any type of system, linux or bsd. While I've used linux for a long time, and will continue to, bsd does rock the house, and should be given a chance. (Sorry to you netbsd folks, I've just never tried it; nothing personal--I'm sure it is great.) Try one out, you won't be disapointed.

Re:Although it may seem to suck at first...

[Jon Shaft]

I highly suggest hitting the conf files by hand--you'll learn a hell of a lot more in the process. Trust me, knowing how to monkey with a system with only vi is a highly useful skill.

What about the people that know how to configure a system fairly well already? There should be something similar to Linuxconf to just make the process much quicker... (Well, depends which way you look at it, some people think the shell is quicker, some think the gui type setting is quciker...) But for those of us that want something like that. :)

I know what your saying. Usually I'm the command line vi guy, but sometimes I wanna use a menu. Oh welpers... I guess to each his own.

Webmin

[Elvii]

While I prefer to edit by hand myself, Webmin says it supports Freebsd, openBSD, BSDI, possibly others, I just took a quick look at their supported os list. Might wanna post a positive/negative review here depending on your opinion of it, so people like me might consider it when needing to admin lots of boxen. :)



bash: ispell: command not found

Re:Webmin

[sjwillis]

I use webmin at several different sites, my experience with it is under RH only, but it is an excellent tool. Most of the machines i admin have no monitor and have telnet disabled. since most windows users don't have an ssh client installed on their machines, it's nice to be able to open up a browser on any winbox and be able to do just about everything linuxconf does.
if it supports bsd as well as it does RH, it would be a great tool for you.
jim
jim

THINGS have CHANGED

[rjamestaylor]

Yep... I've actually lost Karma by this ignoble test.

I'll behave now....

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Re:Moron?

[Almighty Akbar]

Mod this guy UP! He obviously knows what he is talking about!

System install program

[eap]

You probably already know this, but running /stand/sysinstall will let you configure many things, including your network.

Keep *BSD the way it should be

[omission9]

Keep your wretched hands off *BSD. Next you'll wonder where the office suite is. To find out $man vi . Keep BSD the way god intended!!

Webmin, FreeBSD and Samba

[georgeha]

I used Webmin to research/administer my FreeBSD/Samba server, you can do most functions on FreeBSD through Webmin.

To be honest, I didn't use it a lot, since my FeeBSD server only has 16 megs of RAM (a Dell 486/33), Webmin takes 4, and it gets boring listening to my hard drive chugging away swapping memory.

But yeah, give Webmin a try, it's neat.

George

Re:Webmin (Caldera sponsored)

[sid crimson]

Strange...

The webmin page is "sponsored by Caldera" but the software is "best supported (at the moment) by Solaris, RedHat and FreeBSD."

No wonder Caldera is such a small player. Their own admin tools work better on other distros!

-sid

Shouldn't have been moderated down

[bugg]

This shouldn't have been moderated down. Although he ruins it at the end being quite rude, he still has a valid point- someone is asking how to fix a problem that they've never experienced, and have only heard exists.