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Release Documentation

BSD daemon reading documentation

Each distribution of FreeBSD includes several documentation files describing the particular distribution (RELEASE, SNAPSHOTs, etc.). These files typically include:

  • README: General introduction.
  • Release Notes: Information about changes from the previous release of FreeBSD.
  • Hardware Notes: A list of hardware devices known to work with FreeBSD.
  • Installation Instructions: A brief guide to installing FreeBSD.
  • Errata: Late-breaking news, including corrections, security advisories, and potential problems found after each release.

Of the files listed above, the release notes, hardware notes, and installation instructions are customized for each architecture supported by FreeBSD.

RELEASE versions of FreeBSD

The release documentation for each -RELEASE version of FreeBSD (for example, 6.1-RELEASE) can be found on the releases page of the FreeBSD Web site, as well as its mirrors.

These files (usually in both HTML and text forms) can be found in the top-level directory of each distribution (whether on CD-ROM, an FTP site, or the install floppy disks).

Snapshot versions of FreeBSD

The release documentation files for snapshots can generally be found in the top-level directory of each snapshot.

Documentation for -CURRENT and -STABLE

Automatically-generated HTML versions of the release documentation for FreeBSD -CURRENT and FreeBSD -STABLE are available on the FreeBSD Web site. These documents are continually changing; the versions on the Web site are rebuilt at the same time that the rest of the Web site is updated.

FreeBSD -CURRENT Release Documentation

FreeBSD 6-STABLE Release Documentation

FreeBSD 5-STABLE Release Documentation

FreeBSD 4-STABLE Release Documentation

Other Sites

Single-file HTML, PDF, and text renderings of the release documentation for FreeBSD -CURRENT, -STABLE, and recent -RELEASE versions can be found at the Release Documentation Snapshot Site. The renderings on this page are updated at irregular, but frequent intervals.