How to Install FreeBSD on ARM Devices – A Quick Guide for Power Users

FreeBSD on ARM: Lightweight, Powerful, and Your New Obsession

FreeBSD runs beautifully on ARM devices (Raspberry Pi, Pine64, AWS Graviton, etc.). Here’s how to install it like a pro.

What You’ll Need

1. ARM Device (RPi 4/5, Rock64, etc.)
2. MicroSD Card (16GB+ recommended)
3. FreeBSD-ARM Image (Download from official site)
4. dd or balenaEtcher (to flash the image)

Installation Steps

1. Download the Correct Image

Choose UEFI or non-UEFI depending on your board:

wget https://download.freebsd.org/ftp/releases/arm64/13.2-RELEASE/FreeBSD-13.2-RELEASE-arm64-aarch64.img.xz

2. Flash the Image

Linux/macOS:

xzcat FreeBSD-*.img.xz | sudo dd of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M status=progress

Windows: Use balenaEtcher (GUI).

3. Boot & Configure

• Insert the microSD, power on.
• Log in as root (no password by default).
• Run first-time setup:

bsdinstall

Set hostname, partitions, users, etc.

4. Post-Install Tweaks

Enable SSH:

echo 'sshd_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf
service sshd start

Update Packages:

pkg update && pkg upgrade -y

Pro Tips for Your ARM BSD Adventure

✔ Overclock? Edit /boot/loader.conf (carefully!).
✔ ZFS on ARM? Possible but needs testing.
✔ WiFi Issues? Check ifconfig wlan0 up + manual DHCP.