1247280SdteskeYou can do network installations over 3 types of communications links: 2247280Sdteske 3247280Sdteske Serial port: SLIP / PPP 4247280Sdteske Parallel port: PLIP (laplink cable) 5247280Sdteske Ethernet: A standard Ethernet controller (includes some 6247280Sdteske PCMCIA networking cards). 7247280Sdteske 8247280SdteskeSLIP support is rather primitive and limited primarily to directly 9247280Sdteskeconnected links, such as a serial cable running between a laptop 10247280Sdteskecomputer and another PC. The link must be hard-wired as the SLIP 11247280Sdteskeinstallation doesn't currently offer a dialing capability (that 12247280Sdteskefacility is offered by the PPP utility, which should be used in 13247280Sdteskepreference to SLIP whenever possible). When you choose the SLIP 14247280Sdteskeoption, you'll be given the option of later editing the slattach 15247280Sdteskecommand before it's run on the serial line. It is expected that 16247280Sdteskeyou'll run slattach (or some equivalent command) on the other end of 17247280Sdteskethe link at that time and bring up the line. FreeBSD will then 18247280Sdteskeinstall itself at serial speeds of up to 115.2K/baud (the recommended 19247280Sdteskespeed for a hardwired cable). 20247280Sdteske 21247280SdteskeIf you're using a modem then PPP is almost certainly your only choice. 22247280SdteskeMake sure that you have your service provider's information handy as 23247280Sdteskeyou'll need to know it fairly early in the installation process. You 24247280Sdteskewill need to know your service provider's IP address, the IP address 25247280Sdteskeof your provider's DNS server, and possibly your own IP address unless 26247280Sdteskeyour ISP supports dynamic negotiation, most do. If you do not choose 27247280Sdteskea PAP or CHAP login you will also need to know how to use the various 28247280Sdteske"AT commands" to dial the ISP with your particular brand of modem as 29247280Sdteskethe PPP dialer provides only a very simple terminal emulator and has no 30247280Sdteske"modem capabilities database". If you choose a PAP or CHAP login you 31247280Sdteskecan simply enter `dial' (without the quotes) at the ppp prompt if your 32247280Sdteskemodem uses the Hayes compatible AT command set. 33247280Sdteske 34247280SdteskeIf a hard-wired connection to another FreeBSD (2.0R or later) machine 35247280Sdteskeis available, you might also consider installing over a "laplink" 36247280Sdteskeparallel port cable. The data rate over the parallel port is much 37247280Sdteskehigher than what is typically possible over a serial line, and speeds 38247280Sdteskeof over 50KB/sec are not uncommon. 39247280Sdteske 40247280SdteskeFinally, for the fastest possible network installation, an Ethernet 41247280Sdteskeadaptor is always a good choice! FreeBSD supports most common PC 42247280SdteskeEthernet cards, a table of which is provided in the FreeBSD Hardware 43247280SdteskeGuide (see the `Documentation' entry in the main menu). If you are 44247280Sdteskeusing one of the supported PCMCIA Ethernet cards, also be sure that 45247280Sdteskeit's plugged in BEFORE the laptop is powered on! Sysinstall does not, 46247280Sdteskeunfortunately, currently support "hot insertion" of PCMCIA cards. 47247280Sdteske 48247280SdteskeYou will also need to know your IP address on the network, the 49247280Sdteske"netmask" value for your address class, and the name of your machine. 50247280SdteskeYour system administrator can tell you which values to use for your 51247280Sdteskeparticular network setup. If you will be referring to other hosts by 52247280Sdteskename rather than IP address, you'll also need a name server and 53247280Sdteskepossibly the address of a gateway (if you're using PPP, it's your 54247280Sdteskeprovider's IP address) to use in talking to it. If you do not know 55247280Sdteskethe answers to all or most of these questions then you should really 56247280Sdteskeprobably talk to your system administrator FIRST before trying this 57247280Sdtesketype of installation! Choosing the wrong IP address on a busy network 58247280Sdteskewill NOT make you popular with your systems administrator! :-) 59