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FreeBSD in Virtual PC 2004

I finally managed to install FreeBSD 6.1 in Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 with NATted networking behind a firewall. Here's how:
  1. Download the boot ISO image and mount it in the VM.
  2. Reset the VM.
  3. Run the FreeBSD setup until you have to choose the type of installation. Select "Standard".
  4. When asked to slice the disk, type A for "Auto", then Q for "Quit".
  5. When asked about the boot manager, select "Standard". Do not select the boot manager.
  6. When asked to partition the slice, again type A for "Auto", then Q for "Quit".
  7. Select the packages you want.
  8. When prompted for the media type, select "FTP Passive".
  9. When prompted for the download server, select the "Primary" server (not the "Main Site").
  10. When prompted for network configuration, skip IPv6, but do use DHCP.
  11. In the DHCP results dialog, correct the name server entry. It must be 192.168.131.254. (See this article for details.)
  12. Proceed with the installation, until prompted to reboot. Eject CD and reboot.
  13. Boot into your new system.
  14. When it seems to hang at "keymap blanktime", press Ctrl+C to proceed. (This is a DNS and sendmail problem; see this article in german for details.)
  15. Assuming you are connecting to the internet via the LAN, append the following to /etc/dhclient.conf:
    interface "de0" { supersede domain-name-servers 192.168.131.254; }
  16. Then reboot using shutdown -r now.
This worked for me. But I must confess I was quite disappointed to see this base system inflate my VM harddisk file to about 700 KB. And installing the JDK 1.5 on it is another story awaiting - first success, and then - telling.

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