Root partition file system

[Zielonykid123]

Hi. I just wanted to install OpenBSD. It's been a while since 6.9, so many things changed. Last time, when I was installing OpenBSD 6.9 the default root file system was 4.4BSD, now I can see it's 4.2BSD by-default. Why? Can I still use 4.4BSD file system as root?

[jggimi]

You may be misremembering. The disklabel(8) program's default partition type for Fast File System (FFS) partitions has been reporting itself as "4.2BSD" in OpenBSD since 1995. And still does, even though the default filesystem is now FFS2, a modern enhancement based on the original FFS.

[Zielonykid123]

Originally Posted by jggimi

You may be misremembering. The disklabel(8) program's default partition type for Fast File System (FFS) partitions has been reporting itself as "4.2BSD" in OpenBSD since 1995. And still does, even though the default filesystem is now FFS2, a modern enhancement based on the original FFS.

So 4.4BSD is FFS and 4.2BSD is FFS2?

[jggimi]

No. The disklabel(8) report has always shown these partitions as "4.2BSD". Since 1995, which is before OpenBSD was first released. You've either misremembered the report or confused this with something else.

[Zielonykid123]

Originally Posted by jggimi

No. The disklabel(8) report has always shown these partitions as "4.2BSD". Since 1995, which is before OpenBSD was first released. You've either misremembered the report or confused this with something else.

It was 4.4BSD when I were installing OpenBSD 6.9

Alright, I just looked up for some OpenBSD 6.9 installation videos and it really was 4.2BSD. My bad.

[jggimi]

To answer this question, before I replied I went to the source: the source code itself. The OpenBSD source code repository has been both public and openly available since the Project began in 1995. It's the "Open" of OpenBSD.

Here, you can see that the 4.2BSD reference in /usr/src/sys/sys/disklabel.h is line number 248, where FS_BSDFFS is defined. This line was part of revision 1.1, which was the initial import into OpenBSD back in 1995. There are a few more recent updates, with the most recent addition --line number 260, which was added in 2012 with revision 1.54.

I also checked /usr/src/sbin/disklabel/{disklabel.c,editor.c} to confirm that these both still used "4.2BSD" as well. There have been some changes to the output lines themselves in intervening years but the "4.2BSD" references have remained in place since 1995.

[Zielonykid123]

Originally Posted by jggimi

To answer this question, before I replied I went to the source: the source code itself. The OpenBSD source code repository has been both public and openly available since the Project began in 1995. It's the "Open" of OpenBSD.

Here, you can see that the 4.2BSD reference in /usr/src/sys/sys/disklabel.h is line number 248, where FS_BSDFFS is defined. This line was part of revision 1.1, which was the initial import into OpenBSD back in 1995. There are a few more recent updates, with the most recent addition --line number 260, which was added in 2012 with revision 1.54.

I also checked /usr/src/sbin/disklabel/{disklabel.c,editor.c} to confirm that these both still used "4.2BSD" as well. There have been some changes to the output lines themselves in intervening years but the "4.2BSD" references have remained in place since 1995.

So 4.4BSD file system does not exist?

[jggimi]

Not on OpenBSD.