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Asked: 2011-10-31 18:07:19 +0800 CST

Will a freebsd installation run on a different system without reinstalling?

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I want to move my freebsd 8.2 installation from a dual-core AMD machine to a quad-core intel machine. Ideally I'd just like it to re-detect all the changed hardware and load whatever drivers it needs in order to boot. Both systems are basically SMP x64-machines, does freebsd care beyond that?

I realise it will break a lot of configs due to new nics etc, but as long as the machine boots I'll be ok.

Will it work, or is there a way to make it work?

hardware freebsd

2 Answers

  1. Probably - And that's the best answer we can provide since we don't know the exact hardware you're talking about. Usually the only things you really need to worry about are having the drivers for the disk controllers, fixing up fstab for any changes in disk ordering, and NIC drivers/order.

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  2. Best Answer

    Assuming that all hardware on the new system is supported, and the kernel you're using is the GENERIC SMP kernel, you should be fine. We don't have the exact hardware, as @ChrisS suggested, but if it's standard issue hardware it's not a major concern.

    I've done the same, moving disks to a new server and only had to serial console in due to a mistake of my own where the drives were no longer detected in the same order, messing up fstab.

    I believe the key is the GENERIC kernel to make sure you boot. If you've made any changes to the kernel no matter how minimal, I'd recommend going back to GENERIC for the move to be sure.

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