• Find the version you are currently on
  
  

  # uname -a
  FreeBSD xxx.xxx.org 6.2-RELEASE-p11 FreeBSD 6.2-RELEASE-p11 #0: Wed Feb 13 06:44:57 UTC 2008 root@i386-builder.daemonology.net:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC i386

• Create a cvsup file with the following information:
  
  

  *default host=cvsup.freebsd.org
  *default base=/var/db
  *default prefix=/usr
  *default release=cvs
  *default delete use-rel-suffix compress
  src-all tag=RELENG_6_4
  ports-all tag=RELENG_6_4
  doc-all tag=RELENG_6_4

  
  This will update source, ports and docs.

• Clean your source tree
  
  

  cd /usr/src && make cleanworld

• Update your sources, ports and docs.
  
  

  cvsup -L 2 ./cvsupfile

  
  Go get a cup of coffee and relax for awhile. This step takes some time.

• Make world & kernal, then install kernel
  
  

  # cd /usr/src
  # make buildworld
  # make buildkernel
  # make installkernel
  # nextboot -o "-s" -k kernel
  # reboot

• The system will come up in single user mode, check and mount the file system.
  
  

  # fsck -p
  # mount -u /
  # mount -a -t ufs
  # swapon -a

• Finish updating system
  
  

  # cd /usr/src
  # mergemaster -p
  # make installworld
  # mergemaster –Ui
  # reboot

• Check that update worked
  


  # uname -a
# FreeBSD leon.agitators.org 6.4-RELEASE-p1 FreeBSD 6.4-RELEASE-p1 #0: Sat Jan 3 15:31:37 EST 2009 root@xxx.xxx.org:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC i386


Seeing this I also noticed my documentation on updating was out of date, especially in light of a few FreeBSD ports that now make it easier. This is the quick and dirty way of updating a 6.2 FreeBSD System

Dependencies: portmanager, portsnap, pkg_version

Applying Binary Security Patches

1. Grab the latest binary updates
   

   # freebsd-update fetch

2. Install the updates
   

   # freebsd-update install

3. Check OS Level
   

   # uname -a

4. Reboot the System
   

   # shutdown -r now

5. Confirm Update
   

   # uname -a

Updating Software & Applications

1. Update your ports tree
   

   # portsnap fetch

   If you are running Portsnap for the first time, extract the snapshot into /usr/ports:

   # portsnap extract

   If you already have a populated /usr/ports and you are just updating, run the following command instead:

   # portsnap update

2. Display ports that need updating
   

   # pkg_version -vIL=

3. upgrade installed ports:
   

   # portmanager -u