From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Jul 15 13:49:41 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 7C978106564A for ; Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:49:41 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from roberthuff@rcn.com) Received: from ex-vmail03.lnh.mail.rcn.net (vmail03.lnh.mail.rcn.net [207.172.157.113]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 392F08FC13 for ; Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:49:40 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mr16.lnh.mail.rcn.net ([207.172.157.36]) by smtp02.lnh.mail.rcn.net with ESMTP; 15 Jul 2011 09:49:40 -0400 Received: from smtp04.lnh.mail.rcn.net (smtp04.lnh.mail.rcn.net [207.172.157.104]) by mr16.lnh.mail.rcn.net (MOS 4.2.3-GA) with ESMTP id BER40307; Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:49:39 -0400 Received: from 209-6-91-204.c3-0.smr-ubr1.sbo-smr.ma.cable.rcn.com (HELO jerusalem.litteratus.org.litteratus.org) ([209.6.91.204]) by smtp04.lnh.mail.rcn.net with ESMTP; 15 Jul 2011 09:49:39 -0400 From: Robert Huff MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: <20000.17779.415256.829530@jerusalem.litteratus.org> Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:49:39 -0400 To: Jaime Kikpole In-Reply-To: References: X-Mailer: VM 7.17 under 21.5 (beta28) "fuki" XEmacs Lucid X-Junkmail-Whitelist: YES (by domain whitelist at mr16.lnh.mail.rcn.net) Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Upgrading very old installation 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: Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:49:41 -0000 Jaime Kikpole writes: > I'm running a FreeBSD 6.x server that hasn't been updated in > about 1.5 years. > > atlas:~>uname -mprs > FreeBSD 6.4-RELEASE-p8 i386 i386 > > What is the recommended way to upgrade it to something current? > Should I upgrade it to the most recent 6.x and then to 7.x and > then to 8.x? Or should I use a more direct route, upgrading it > straight to the 8-RELEASE branch? There is a strong argument to be made for (re-)installing when moving across a major version boundary. Whan crossing more than one, the case becomes even more formidable. And installing to a new disk allows you to use the old one as a (hardware-enforced) read-only backup. The only two reasons I can think of for upgrading in place are a) you cannot afford or have no access to a new disk or b) you cannot make a reliable backup (which carries its own set of risks). Robert Huff