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From: John Nielsen <lists@jnielsen.net>
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Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2009 18:10:23 -0400
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Cc: Simon Griffiths <simon.griffiths@tenenbaum.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Build/Install world via ssh
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On Wednesday 01 April 2009 05:38:47 pm Simon Griffiths wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I tried to get an answer to this via web searches etc.  I have a
> freebsd 7 box that I plan on upgrading remotely via
>
> Make buildworld
> Make buildkernel KERNCONF=xyz
>
> Now im stuck,  I cannot get it down to single user because I only have
> access via ssh.  Would it hurt to
>
> Make installkernel KERNCONF=xyz
> Make installworld
>
> Mergemaster etc.
>
> Reboot

What specific versions are you upgrading to/from?

I personally do upgrades over SSH all the time (by skipping the 
single-user step) but there are reasons it's not recommended. If your new 
kernel doesn't work or play nicely for some reason you don't want to be 
stuck with a world newer than your (reinstalled) old kernel. If the 
system doesn't come back up multi-user for any of a variety of reasons 
then you won't have SSH access, etc.

You should have good backups and a way to get console access if it's 
needed. That said, it usually works--especially for small incremental 
upgrades (7.0 to 7.1 or just different points along the same -STABLE 
branch, etc).

So in a nutshell there are no guarantees but if you have an adequate 
bailout plan it can be a timesaver.

JN