From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Jun 5 23:11:49 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E0B011065673 for ; Thu, 5 Jun 2008 23:11:49 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from prvs=pschmehl_lists=0350784f4@tx.rr.com) Received: from ip-relay-002.utdallas.edu (ip-relay-002.utdallas.edu [129.110.20.112]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AB1928FC1C for ; Thu, 5 Jun 2008 23:11:49 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from prvs=pschmehl_lists=0350784f4@tx.rr.com) X-IronPort-AV: E=Sophos;i="4.27,598,1204524000"; d="scan'208";a="1015972" Received: from smtp3.utdallas.edu ([129.110.20.110]) by ip-relay-002.utdallas.edu with ESMTP; 05 Jun 2008 18:11:49 -0500 Received: from utd65257.utdallas.edu (utd65257.utdallas.edu [129.110.3.28]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp3.utdallas.edu (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 5CED923DE8; Thu, 5 Jun 2008 18:11:49 -0500 (CDT) Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:11:49 -0500 From: Paul Schmehl To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Message-ID: <549F093490ADB6BC7F6AA5D1@utd65257.utdallas.edu> In-Reply-To: <48486659.6040007@quip.cz> References: <9B7FE91B-9C2E-4732-866C-930AC6022A40@netconsonance.com> <200806051023.56065.jhb@freebsd.org> <200806051910.20319.pieter@degoeje.nl> <3E1DBCBBB1C614B1DBD0F166@utd65257.utdallas.edu> <48486659.6040007@quip.cz> X-Mailer: Mulberry/4.0.6 (Linux/x86) X-Munged-Reply-To: Figure it out MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Cc: Miroslav Lachman <000.fbsd@quip.cz> Subject: Re: challenge: end of life for 6.2 is premature with buggy 6.3 X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: Paul Schmehl List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:11:50 -0000 --On Friday, June 06, 2008 00:19:05 +0200 Miroslav Lachman <000.fbsd@quip.cz> wrote: > Paul Schmehl wrote: > >> --On Thursday, June 05, 2008 19:10:19 +0200 Pieter de Goeje >> wrote: >> >>> >>> There's a really easy way to test this. Build & install a new kernel, but >>> keep the old kernel around (by default it's in /boot/kernel.old). If the >>> problem is gone, do the upgrade as usual. If it's still there, you know >>> upgrading won't fix it and you don't waste time; simply rename >>> kernel.old to >>> kernel. This even works with 7.0 provided that you leave >>> COMPAT_FREEBSD6 in >>> the kernel configuration file. >> >> >> It's not quite that simple. To do that, I have to block out time to >> drive 45 miles during my supposed "off" hours and do the upgrade there. >> Because, if it breaks networking and I'm at home, the server will be >> down for at least an hour until I can drive to the hosting company, get >> access to the server and restore the old kernel. >> >> Again, I'm not complaining. Just sayin' that sometimes stuff ain't >> quite as easy to do as folks who are surrounded by hardware and test >> platforms assume it is. > > I fully understand your situation, but I think there is still way to try... > You can use `nextboot` command. If you install new kernel in to > /boot/kernel.new/ directory, just use: nextboot -k kernel.new and then reboot > the server. New kernel will be used for this (and only this) cycle. So if > something goes wrong and you have any possibility to reboot server again (PDU > or by phone call to collocation), you will be back with old good kernel > without need to travel. > > I did it a few times and it saved me ;) Thank you. I was unaware of the nextboot command. That's a valuable tidbit that I will benefit from. Thank you very much. -- Paul Schmehl As if it wasn't already obvious, my opinions are my own and not those of my employer.