Upgrading from FreeBSD 6.2 to FreeBSD 6.4

I have been slack about keeping my BSD server up to date. I have a replacement box ready to install FreeBSD 7, but I noticed that 7.1 is about ready to move to RELEASE and 8 should be out shortly. Until the I decide which way I want to move, I have decided to update to the latest version of 6.x.

  • 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

This entry was posted in FreeBSD -- Setup and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.