Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:47:25 -0400 From: John Baldwin <jhb@freebsd.org> To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Cc: Thomas Mueller <mueller6727@bellsouth.net> Subject: Re: Upgrade from source to RC1: problems with /etc : lost users and dbus Message-ID: <201110280747.25746.jhb@freebsd.org> In-Reply-To: <20111028084329.134A0106566C@hub.freebsd.org> References: <CAFHbX1%2BWPM0E%2BUGpKKVb8WoNyeYBOp5GdrF59E3sgRp1TM8VRg@mail.gmail.com> <20111027102208.88BFB106564A@hub.freebsd.org> <20111028084329.134A0106566C@hub.freebsd.org>
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On Friday, October 28, 2011 4:43:28 am Thomas Mueller wrote: > from Tom Evans <tevans.uk@googlemail.com>: > > I have had this happen before, the PEBKAC. When running mergemaster, > > it will prompt you to install new passwd, master.passwd and group > > files - if you have added local users you must not say yes to this, > > you must either merge the changes in or keep your local one. > > > If you still have a backup, you are probably missing just master.passwd. > > > hald, dbus would fail to start since their users are no longer there. > > > Once you've done this to your system once, you never want to do it again! > > When I had this problem, I was itching to get to bed. But since then, I checked /etc and the backup, and found master.passwd, copied it back, still have to boot into RC1 to see if the fix works. > > How does one run mergemaster without running roughshod over existing configuration? > > I did hit d (delete) on some files I didn't want to trash, such as mail.rc and the ports directory configuration. > > I wish there were a way to do a practice run with mergemaster without destroying anything, just as a medical student may practice on human cadavers, or flying in a flight simulator, where the consequences of doing the wrong thing are not disastrous. That way, I'd know what to do for next time. > > I could make one backup at the beginning, before the first mergemaster -p, and then another after that, before the second mergemaster. > > I remember etcupdate from NetBSD, see it in FreeBSD ports/sysutils, but not in FreeBSD base system. Hmm, I did not know NetBSD had a util called etcupdate. However, the etcupdate in ports will work fine for FreeBSD. You do need to bootstrap it (see the notes in the manpage) once before you do a cvsup or svn up, but after that it should do 3-way merges to files rather easily. You can also see your local customizations via 'etcupdate diff'. -- John Baldwin
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