Setup

To install the current official release, get ports or packages.

To install the bleeding edge, get area51.

Once you have installed whichever version of KDE you like (official ports of KDE4, or KDE Frameworks, Plasma Workspace and Applications from area51, as of early 2017), there are a few more steps to get it running, which we try to list here.

X Window System

To use KDE Software Compilation on FreeBSD, X.Org is required. If you still dont't have it, you'll need to install and configure it properly.

Other Dependencies

You should have the following packages installed and configured:

DBus

service dbus start

HAL

service hald onestart

procfs

FreeBSD Handbook (Article):FreeBSD Quickstart Guide for Linux® Users/procfs: Gone But Not Forgotten

Without them, either KDE software won't run, or you won't have a keyboard and mouse in the X Window System, which reduces its usefulness considerably.

Starting KDE4

After installing KDE workspace (`x11/kde4-workspace`) either via ports or packages, you can add `kdm4_enable="YES"` to `/etc/rc.conf` to boot into KDE Plasma Desktop via KDM, the KDE Display Manager.

Starting KDE Plasma 5 Workspace

After installing KDE Plasma 5 Workspace (`x11/plasma5-plasma-workspace`) either via ports or packages, you must also install SDDM.

rewrite

by Vater (talk) 18:02, 3 January 2019 (UTC)

Installing

The easiest way to get KDE running (on nearly every FreeBSD box) is to install the KDE binary packages from the standard FreeBSD repository.

#Installing by using the Binary Package Management

An other way to install the KDE is to compile it from (FreeBSD) ports.

#Installing by using the FreeBSD Ports Collection

And you can also install by cloning and compiling sources directly like for Area 51.

#Installing by using the sources for the FreeBSD Port

Installing by using the Binary Package Management

FreeBSD Handbook:Installing Applications: Packages and Ports/Using pkg for Binary Package Management

The default repository for binary packages on FreeBSD is quarterly. An alternate repository for FreeBSD is latest provided from FreeBSD as well.

It is recommended to install and use #SDDM.

Changing the binary packages repository

Checking the binary packages repository

Optional printing the standard configuration file for the pkg binary package management (to the standard output) cat /etc/pkg/FreeBSD.conf On a default FreeBSD you should get the following.

FreeBSD: {
  url: "pkg+http://pkg.FreeBSD.org/${ABI}/quarterly",
  mirror_type: "srv",
  signature_type: "fingerprints",
  fingerprints: "/usr/share/keys/pkg",
  enabled: yes
}

Optional checking the standard directory for custom configurations of the pkg binary package management and printing all configuration files in the standard directory for custom repositories of the pkg binary package management (to the standard output) ls /local/etc/pkg/ && cat /local/etc/pkg/repos/* On a default FreeBSD you should get the following.

ls: /local/etc/pkg/: No such file or directory

Changing the binary packages repository quick & dirty

sudo sed -i -e 's/pkg.FreeBSD.org\/\${ABI}\/quarterly/pkg.FreeBSD.org\/\${ABI}\/latest/g' /etc/pkg/FreeBSD.conf

Checking the binary packages repository the exemplary FreeBSD way

Installing by using the FreeBSD Ports Collection

FreeBSD Handbook:Installing Applications: Packages and Ports/Using the Ports Collection

Installing by using the sources for the FreeBSD Port

Dependencies

SDDM

SDDM is highly recommended to get KDE running easily. (So you can avoid same problems. SDDM helps to choose the right Screen for example.)

Installing SDDM by using the Binary Package Management

Installing the binary package x11/sddm

pkg ins -y sddm

Installing the (recommended) binary package x11/xorg-minimal

pkg ins -y xorg-minimal

Starting the service sddm once

service sddm onestart

Stopping the service sddm once

service sddm onestop

Enabling the service sddm for system starts

sysrc sddm_enable=yes

Starting the (enabled) service sddm now

service sddm start

additional packages

Installing the binary package deskutils/plasma5-sddm-kcm

pkg ins -y plasma5-sddm-kcm

Installing the binary package x11-themes/sddm-freebsd-black-theme

pkg ins -y sddm-freebsd-black-theme

FreeBSD/Setup