A Two-Step FreeBSD Installer: Current Status and Future Plans
Parthenope is a modular, two-step installer for the FreeBSD operating system, written primarily in Lua. The installation process is divided into two phases:
In the first step, configuration files and installation commands are generated using a variety of interactive interfaces.
In the second step, the actual system installation is executed based on the previously created files.
The project is simple, extensible, and designed to be flexible. It currently supports multiple frontends, languages, installation modes ("Auto", "Easy", and "Expert"), interactive levels, and logging options.
Parthenope began as a personal project to answer a simple question: "What features would I want when installing FreeBSD on my laptop?" It has since evolved into an open source tool that anyone can use, adapt, or extend to meet their own requirements.
The installer was presented at EuroBSDCon 2025, specifically:
The motivation behind the two-step installation approach.
The internal design and architecture of Parthenope.
This talk will feature numerous screenshots and practical examples, covering:
Progress since the last conference.
Real-world use cases for end users, system administrators, and developers.
The current state of the project.
Future development plans and ideas for improvement.
Attendees will gain insight into how Parthenope aims to enhance the FreeBSD installation experience by combining simplicity, flexibility, and user control.