From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Nov 4 02:08:04 2007 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 46C5016A46E for ; Sun, 4 Nov 2007 02:08:04 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions-local@be-well.ilk.org) Received: from be-well.ilk.org (dsl092-078-145.bos1.dsl.speakeasy.net [66.92.78.145]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0C91913C4C2 for ; Sun, 4 Nov 2007 02:08:03 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions-local@be-well.ilk.org) Received: from Lowell-Desk.lan (Lowell-Desk.lan [172.30.250.6]) by be-well.ilk.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3530B28459; Sat, 3 Nov 2007 22:07:41 -0400 (EDT) Received: by Lowell-Desk.lan (Postfix, from userid 1147) id 8DB9E1CD69; Sat, 3 Nov 2007 22:07:40 -0400 (EDT) To: Kevin Kinsey References: <011e01c81e3a$82335dc0$6501a8c0@GRANT> <6FC9F9894A9F8C49A722CF9F2132FC220F34B2E6@ms05.mailstreet2003.net> <44640jrpsp.fsf@Lowell-Desk.lan> <472D002F.10603@daleco.biz> From: Lowell Gilbert Date: Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:07:40 -0400 In-Reply-To: <472D002F.10603@daleco.biz> (Kevin Kinsey's message of "Sat\, 03 Nov 2007 18\:11\:43 -0500") Message-ID: <44sl3m7ogj.fsf@Lowell-Desk.lan> User-Agent: Gnus/5.11 (Gnus v5.11) Emacs/22.0.99 (berkeley-unix) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Cc: Grant Peel , Chris Haulmark , Lowell Gilbert , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: 5.2.1 to 6.2 Migration. 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: Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:08:04 -0000 Kevin Kinsey writes: > Lowell Gilbert wrote: >> "Chris Haulmark" writes: >> >>> Grant Peel wrote: > >>>> I thought I would ask the question before I do it the hard way .... >>>> >>>> 1. Can FreeBSD be upgraded from 5.2.1 to 6.2 ? > >>> Yes. > >>>> 2. Can it be done through an ssh connection, or MUST I make the trip >>>> to the farm and do it from the console? > >>> I've done 5.x to 6.x upgrades via ssh. It is possible. >>> >>> In the handbook, you will see mentions of booting into single user mode >>> and I can tell you that it is not required. >> >> It's a good safety precaution; if your updated kernel won't boot, you >> will need to reinstall most of the system. > > That sounds a tad alarmist; if the new kernel won't boot, you'll > have to be at (or have someone at) the console who can boot > "kernel.old" (I stand open for correction, but last time I did > it, 'twas that way). And, possibly, that person (you?) will > also have to be able to do some other magic. > > But the phrase "reinstall most of the system" doesn't, at > the very least, *sound* like the BSD Way(tm). Granted, > sometimes it's quicker --- I know that's why it's used so > often on that "Other System" .... ;-) If you have reinstalled a userland that depends on a kernel that doesn't boot, you are quite likely to be in trouble. The "BSD way" does not necessarily involve easy recovery from making up procedures that haven't been worked out or tested by the release engineers. In fact, I don't think any operating system guarantees that you will have an easy time after making up your own upgrade procedures.