FreeBSD is an operating system created to be fast and secure, powering modern servers, desktops, and embedded systems. This operating system is based on U.C. Berkeley’s “4.4BSD-Lite” release, with some “4.4BSD-Lite2” enhancements. This article will recommend the best available books that will help you learn and understand the key concepts and internals of FreeBSD Unix operating system.
FreeBSD adoption is widely witnessed in these sectors – Internet Service Providers, Private companies, researchers, Computer professionals, Students and among other internet facing solutions that demands for high availability, reliability and top-notch performance. FreeBSD is also used by a number of home users all over the world in their work, education and recreation.
FreeBSD Applications Support
FreeBSD is designed to provide your favorite applications with a robust and full-featured environment. A wide variety of applications are supported on FreeBSD, example: office suites, web browsers, command line administration tools, graphics programs, email readers, programming environments, network servers, and many more.
The standard way of installation Desktop and all other applications on FreeBSD is through Ports Collection.
Versions of FreeBSD
There are two standard release of FreeBSD available to end users:
FreeBSD-STABLE
This is the development branch from which major releases are made. The packages that land here have been thoroughly tested on the CURRENT release and bugs fixed. As of this article update, the latest release form the 12-STABLE branch is version 12.1 , released in November 2019. For the 11-STABLE branch, it is version 11.3 released in July 2019.
FreeBSD-CURRENT
FreeBSD-CURRENT is the “bleeding edge” of FreeBSD development. The users of FreeBSD-CURRENT are expected to have a high degree of technical skill. If you’re a less technical user, consider using the FreeBSD-STABLE instead.
This release contains the latest source code for FreeBSD and includes works in progress, experimental changes, and transitional mechanisms that might or might not be present in the next official release.
How to Learn and Master FreeBSD
To easiest way to learn any technology or system is by consistent experimentation. I recommend you install FreeBSD OS, play with it while building Labs for different use cases. By getting a good book to complement the process, a much shorter time will be required to become a master.
Below is a list of books that I’ll recommend for users who want to master the FreeBSD Operating System.
1. Absolute FreeBSD
The Absolute FreeBSD, 3rd Edition is the latest, updated edition of Michael W. Lucas’ definitive volume on FreeBSD-based systems. This release adds:
- Coverage of modern disks
- The ZFS filesystem
- IPv6
- Redesigned jail and packaging systems
- Virtualization
- Among dozens of new features added in the last 10 years.
In this book you’ll learn:
- How to best install FreeBSD to meet your needs
- Which filesystem to use in your environment
- How to back up and restore critical data
- How to tweak the kernel, and when not to
- Network configuration, from activating interfaces to selecting congestion control algorithms
- How to manage UFS, ZFS, and other critical filesystems
- FreeBSD’s software packaging system, including how to build your own package repository
- How and when to upgrade
- Techniques to build your own FreeBSD
- Advanced security features like blacklistd and packet filtering
- How to monitor and adjust performance
- Container-style virtualization with jails
- Diskless systems
- Panic management and bug reporting
Grab a copy now:
2. The Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD
This is a book offering by Marshall Kirk McKusick. This book covers the new topics in FreeBSD up to 11. You can use this guide as both a working reference and an in-depth study of a leading contemporary, portable, open-source operating system:
- Explains highly scalable and lightweight virtualization using FreeBSD jails, and virtual-machine acceleration with Xen and Virtio device paravirtualization
- Describes new security features such as Capsicum sandboxing and GELI cryptographic disk protection
- Fully covers NFSv4 and Open Solaris ZFS support
- Introduces FreeBSD’s enhanced volume management and new journaled soft updates
- Explains DTrace’s fine-grained process of debugging/profiling
- Reflects major improvements to networking, wireless, and USB support
3. FreeBSD Mastery: Jails (IT Mastery)
Jails is one of the legendary features of FreeBSD. It is known to be a powerful and a bit tricky to master the concept. The skill of deploying Jails is required of every system admin.
This guide will walk you through Jails mastery, disclosing the inner mechanisms and unleashing their power in your service. By reading this guide to the end, you will learn:
- How Jails Achieve Lightweight Virtualization
- Detailed understanding of the base system’s jail tools and the iocage toolkit
- How to configure jail hardware
- How to manage Jails from the host and from within the Jail
- How to work within the limits of jails comfortably
- How to build virtual networks
- Implement fine-grained control of jail features
To get this book, click here
4. FreeBSD Device Drivers: A Guide for the Intrepid
Drivers are very useful for any system as they make it possible for the software to communicate with the hardware components. When developing FreeBSD, it is vital to dig and find the required Kernel content to write the required drivers. Thanks to the author of this handbook Joseph Kong, for eliminating this tussle!
Now you can use this guide to master all that is required from the basics of building and running loadable kernel modules to more complicated topics like thread synchronization. In this guide, the author explains all the basics so well using a simple language before introducing the complex stuff.
In general, this guide will provide:
- Newbus and the infrastructure used to manage the hardware devices on FreeBSD
- Working with PCI, ISA, USB and various other buses
- How to control and communicate with the hardware devices from user space
- How Common Access Method (CAM) can be used to manage host bus adapters (HBAs)
- The deep concepts on how the virtual null modem terminal driver, the USB printer driver, the Intel PCI Gigabit Ethernet adapter driver, and other important drivers work.
- How to use Direct Memory Access (DMA) to improve system performance
To get this guide, click here:
5. The Best of FreeBSD Basics
For the past several years, networking and security instructor Dru Lavigne has constantly been putting down her learning experiences with the FreeBSD system administration and how open-source software can be used in a set of over 110 guides. Many readers around the world have recommended and really praised her work.
The Best of FreeBSD Basics is one of her works that really helps system administrators walk through the basics of FreeBSD, with practical advice for performing common tasks. This is the greatest way to learn FreeBSD and Unix in general. Other Darwin, DragonFly, Linux, Mac OS X, NetBSD, and OpenBSD users will also get some vital information from this guide.
The guide covers a wide range of FreeBSD and open-source topics. The basics include step-by-step instructions, things to watch out for etc. You get to learn how to install an X11 server and set up desktop environment, compare the common tasks with Linux, user administration, how to play video and audio files, managing backups, networking, configuring firewalls, how to improve security, how to filter spam etc.
There is a lot more in the book, get a copy by following this link:
6. FreeBSD Handbook 1/2
This book is there to help those new to FreeBSD walk through the installation process and gently introduce the concepts and conventions that underpin UNIX understanding.
This guide covers all the topics and concepts required for FreeBSD administrators. It can also serve as a reference material for those who work with FreeBSD systems daily.
This project has been split into two separate books. The good thing is that the books can be used together as if they were one book because the references and page numbers treat the physical books as if they were one.
It is recommended that you have both books to be able to master all that is required.
To get the copy, click here:
7. FreeBSD Handbook 2/2
This is the second part of the above book, FreeBSD Handbook. These two books are used together to master the FreeBSD system administration. The books complement each other so well as they are consistent with the digital manual, the references and page numbers cover both physical books as if they were one.
The guide targets FreeBSD enthusiasts who have the ability to take on board new concepts as they are introduced. This second part of the book has references to all the topics of interest to FreeBSD system administrators. You also get recommendations that will help you do some prior reading. All this is noted in the synopsis at the beginning of each chapter.
To get this guide, follow this link:
8. FreeBSD Handbook
FreeBSD beginners and enthusiasts will find this guide very helpful. This guide walks through all the FreeBSD administration corners. It starts by introducing all the concepts before walking you through the FreeBSD installation process. It then goes further to deepen your UNIX® understanding.
This guide requires readers to have more than the desire to explore, and the willingness to absorb new concepts that are introduced.
The second part of the guide acts as a comprehensive reference to all manner of topics of interest to FreeBSD system administrators. This is the larger part of the book and it recommends a lot for the readers to do in the synopsis at the beginning of each chapter.
You can add this book to your collection by visiting the below link:
9. The FreeBSD Handbook 3rd Edition
The FreeBSD Handbook 3rd Edition edited by Murray Stokely and Chern Lee is a perfect tutorial and reference material for FreeBSD. This edition has been expanded into a two-volume guide packed with information about the latest FreeBSD technologies and features.
This first volume has all the basics of FreeBSD, including the steps and instructions to be followed when installing FreeBSD on a physical machine, how to configure the graphical environment, how to install third-party software etc.
This can be the perfect material for system admins and any other IT professionals who want to get started and master all the FreeBSD concepts from installation to administration.
To get this guide, click here:
10. UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook
The UNIX® and Linux® System Administration Handbook, Fifth Edition, is today’s definitive guide to installing, configuring, and maintaining any UNIX or Linux system, including systems that supply core Internet and cloud infrastructure.
The authors of this book are world-class, hands-on technologists who offer indispensable new coverage of cloud platforms, DevOps philosophy, continuous deployment, containerization, monitoring, and many other essential topics.
This comprehensive guide covers best practices for every facet of system administration, including:
- Storage management
- Network design and administration
- Security
- Web hosting
- Automation
- Configuration management
- Performance analysis
- Virtualization
- DNS
- Security
- Management of IT service organizations.
Get a copy today and master the FreeBSD Unix operating system.
Other relevant Books
Below are other FreeBSD mastery books specific to some areas:
