Using pkgbasify to repair a broken installation of FreeBSD 14.3-RELEASE

freebsd-installer-pkgbasify.md

Using pkgbasify to repair a broken installation of FreeBSD 14.3-RELEASE

Condensed steps

1. Use a memstick.img file to write a FreeBSD installer to a memory stick
2. boot from the stick in single user mode
3. /bin/csh
4. use gpart(8) to resize things
5. growfs /
6. mount -uw /
7. assuming vt(4)
8. setenv TERM xterm-clear
9. bsdconfig vt_keymap
10. select, and continue with, a keymap that matches your keyboard layout
11. reboot -r
12. live system
13. login as root, no password
14. mount -uw /
15. bsdconfig networking
16. get an Internet connection – for example, enable DHCP for a network interface
17. assuming root-on-ZFS
18. zpool import
19. note the name of the pool that you want to import – for example, damp
20. zpool import -R /tmp/altroot damp
21. zpool get bootfs damp
22. note the value – for example, damp/ROOT/test
23. zfs mount damp/ROOT/test
24. pkg bootstrap
25. add a minimal FreeBSD-base repository configuration to /etc/pkg/FreeBSD.conf – url https://pkg.freebsd.org/FreeBSD:14:amd64/base_release_3
26. pkg --rootdir /tmp/altroot install --repository FreeBSD-base FreeBSD-certctl FreeBSD-pkg-bootstrap FreeBSD-utilities
27. chroot /tmp/altroot
28. cd /root
29. fetch https://tinyurl.com/pkgbasify-foundation -o ./pkgbasify.lua
30. chmod +x ./pkgbasify.lua
31. mkdir -p /var/db/etcupdate/current
32. ./pkgbasify.lua

Origin:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/1mh1ne2/comment/n8f8aah/?context=1 (draft) under rescue system reinstallation and Reinstall the operating system without bsdinstall

Notes:

1. the tiny URL for pkgbasify.lua is not official
2. /var/db/etcupdate features in FreeBSD bug 288295 – bsdinstall does not bootstrap etcupdate database for pkgbase installations
3. https://reviews.freebsd.org/D51916#1186602 wishes for inclusion of a FreeBSD-base repo configuration in the FreeBSD-pkg-bootstrap package.

Tested with:

• FreeBSD-14.3-STABLE-amd64-20250814-7b9f6ebb9268-272178-mini-memstick.img from https://download.freebsd.org/snapshots/ISO-IMAGES/14.3/

Special thanks to:

• Isaac Freund @ifreund for pkgbasify
• the FreeBSD Foundation for funding pkgbase-related work
• Lexi Winter and Mark Millard for answering pkg bootstrap and chroot (2025-08-16)

bsdinstall keymap

Alternatively, whilst in single user mode, for me:

sysrc keymap="uk.kbd"

• works for live system but not for shell
• non-documented bsdinstall startbsdinstall apparently returns from the live system, to the FreeBSD installer welcome dialogue, however:
  • the shell option will have no command prompt at the command line.

use gpart(8) to resize things

#59 - FreeBSD Handbook: installation: memstick.img files are not adequately described - grahamperrin/freebsd-doc - Codeberg.org

• fetch … -o ./pkgbasify.lua
• chmod +x ./pkgbasify.lua

For simplicity, expect pkgbasify to be packaged:

• ⚙ D51594 pkgbasify: Add to the base system
• https://wiki.freebsd.org/WantedPorts#O-P

Repairing an installation of 15.0

Simpler. The FreeBSD-base repo is preconfigured, and pkg is already bootstrapped.

Instead of FreeBSD-certctl, install FreeBSD-caroot.

Tested: FreeBSD-15.0-PRERELEASE-amd64-20250822-027be99b1f33-279771-memstick.img

Backlinks:

1. https://mail-archive.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?18e1a7e9-07d8-43a2-96af-0acdab6c2920 | https://lists.freebsd.org/archives/freebsd-pkgbase/2025-August/000763.html
2. https://www.reddit.com/user/grahamperrin/comments/1msyzfe/using_pkgbasify_to_repair_a_broken_installation/
3. https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/@grahamperrin/115041689025019258
4. https://www.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/1mzlfq0/comment/napu18b/?context=1
5. https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/index.html#192714 | https://mail-archive.freebsd.org/cgi/mid.cgi?babf662e-cded-4a2c-b5e8-c5a7175739f2 | https://lists.freebsd.org/archives/freebsd-current/2025-September/008672.html
6. https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=289414#c2
7. https://www.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/1ngrjc8/comment/ne67eaz/