[RFC] Q&A propose to add into FAQ

[Eitan Adler]

On 17 December 2012 11:23, Edward <edward at rdtan.net> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I wish to submit the below list of Q&A (Question & Answer) for addition
> to current FreeBSD FAQ book. Before this can happen, I would like to
> seek your comments & suggestion whether these Q&A are in correct facts,
> writing style and/or suitable. These Q&A are :

Lets focus on content and language first.  The next step is turning
this into docbook.  I'll be happy to do that once we nail the
language.

> Q1: Boot up messages are missing from /var/log files. Where can I find them?
> A1: Kernel log messages are recorded in /var/log/messages,
> /var/log/dmesg.yesterday, and /var/log/dmesg.today. But boot time
> messages can be found at /var/run/dmesg.boot.

I might write these like.  I'm largely basing the content on what you
wrote with some editorial changes.

Q1: Boot messages are missing from dmesg. Where can I find them?
A1: Kernel log messages are recorded in /var/log/messages,
/var/log/dmesg.yesterday, and /var/log/dmesg.today. Boot time
messages are recorded in /var/run/dmesg.boot.

Q2: I have some software which only works on very old versions of FreeBSD
 "some old version" of FreeBSD, where can I get these?
A2: Older versions of FreeBSD can be obtained from
ftp://ftp-archive.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD-Archive/old-releases/.
Most of these versions are past End of Life and
can be extremely buggy or insecure, use at your own risk.

Q3: I have a piece of software that runs only on 64 bit processor. How
do I know my current processor is capable of 64 bit processing?
A3: Look at /var/run/dmesg.boot, search for the line with "AMD
Features". If CPU features flag "LM" is present, the processor
supports 64 bit processing. Otherwise, it is likely to be a 32 bit
processor.

Here is an example of a 64 bit processor:
AMD Features=0x28100000<NX,RDTSCP,LM>

Q4: I just started a service, how do I figure out what TCP/UDP port it
is listening on?
A4: Use the utility "sockstat". Usage example,
"sockstat -Ptcp"
"sockstat -Pudp"

** maybe expand a bit more on this


 Q5: My time is wrong, how can I change the timezone?
 A5: Use "tzsetup" utility.

Q6: I'm troubleshooting a network link issue, how can I generate big
size file to test network transfer speed?
A6: Use the utility "dd". For example, "dd if=/dev/random
 of=hugefile.txt bs=1m count=1k"  creates a file called hugefile.txt
 with the size of 1GB.

Q7: My server performance seems to be slow. How can I find out what
the bottleneck is?
 A7: Use iostat(1).   For example, "iostat -dw2" displays
device (-d) statistic refreshing the output every 2 second (-w2).
"iostat -Cw2" displaya CPU (-C) statistic.

** also mention sysstat here?

Q8: FreeBSD seems to be rejecting connections because
of too many TCP connections in the "TIME_WAIT" state.
How can I reduce the timeout?

** I can't comment on the answer specifics here.  Seems okay though
can do with a bit of English editing

Q9: I just changed /etc/newsyslog.conf. How can I check if it does
what I expect?
...

Q10: The output of "ps" is truncated to the end of my terminal width and
I can't see the program name.

** I'm not sure I'd make this an FAQ. Is this commonly asked?

> By the way, do you guys think is there any chance that this Q&A can
> squeeze into the FAQ?

I have no objections...

Q: My this colleague/friend sits at the computer too much me, how
can I punk him?
A: Install "games/sl" and then wait for her to mistype "sl" for "ls".


-- 
Eitan Adler