From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Mar 2 18:18:49 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DA974106574A for ; Wed, 2 Mar 2011 18:18:49 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from wonkity.com (wonkity.com [67.158.26.137]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9B01F8FC21 for ; Wed, 2 Mar 2011 18:18:49 +0000 (UTC) Received: from wonkity.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wonkity.com (8.14.4/8.14.4) with ESMTP id p22IIm1A061315; Wed, 2 Mar 2011 11:18:48 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from localhost (wblock@localhost) by wonkity.com (8.14.4/8.14.4/Submit) with ESMTP id p22IImX0061312; Wed, 2 Mar 2011 11:18:48 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2011 11:18:48 -0700 (MST) From: Warren Block To: Damien Fleuriot In-Reply-To: <4D6E6B16.7010508@my.gd> Message-ID: References: <4D6E6B16.7010508@my.gd> User-Agent: Alpine 2.00 (BSF 1167 2008-08-23) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.2.6 (wonkity.com [127.0.0.1]); Wed, 02 Mar 2011 11:18:48 -0700 (MST) Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Finish upgrading remote server without physically being there? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:18:49 -0000 On Wed, 2 Mar 2011, Damien Fleuriot wrote: > Dropping to single user is not strictly necessary, in fact I never do. > > buildworld > buildkernel > installkernel > reboot > mergemaster -p > installworld > mergemaster -F > rebuild your ports > reboot Some of these steps are best practices. If you're lucky and don't have a major change in sources, some can be eliminated or simplified. 'mergemaster -p' I never use, nor the boot to single-user and manually mount filesystems. buildkernel and installkernel can be combined with the "kernel" target. The reboot after an installkernel is optional but needed to test the new kernel before doing an installworld. 'mergemaster -Ui' is what I use after installworld. Rebuilding ports is only necessary when you're changing major versions (FreeBSD 7->8). Summing all that up, it's possible to update in one session, with only one reboot. Whether that's a good idea at any given time depends on a bunch of things.