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Date: Tue, 29 Jul 1997 11:13:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: REDTHUNDER <Rthunder@cris.com>
To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject: can the freebsd install be run from a remote terminal?
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Hello.

Please forgive this post if it is very simpley answered, however, my
situation is a somewhat unique one, and I need to see if there is a
solution..
I am a totally blind system administrator, and we have been running linux
for a time.  I keep hearing about the advantages of freebsd for internet
applications, and I would now like to take advantage of what it has to
offer.

As you may know if you have run linux, there is a way to make the linux
rootdisk expect logins from remote terminals by changing a line in
/inittab.  To a totally blind user, this is very important, because it
when logins can be accomplished from a remote serial terminal, the
installation process can be routed to a serial DOS machine equipt with
speech software, running a terminal emulator such as commo or procomm.
This allows a totally blind administrator to perform the installation of
the operating system without the use of sighted assistance.

I can see from reading some of the documents on freebsd, that after the
system has been installed, this remote terminal concept can be
accomplished.  What I would like to know is can the boot floppy be
programmed to expect remote logins from a serial terminal, much the same
as the linux rootdisk?

My thanks to anyone who can shead a little light on this for me.

Jeremy Hartley
System Administrator
Digital Community Online