Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:44:46 +1000 From: Aristedes Maniatis <ari@ish.com.au> To: Kip Macy <kmacy@freebsd.org> Cc: freebsd-current@freebsd.org, Jurgen Weber <jurgen@ish.com.au> Subject: Re: Problematic upgrade from 7.2 to 8.0 with ZFS file system Message-ID: <4A64F35E.6070501@ish.com.au> In-Reply-To: <3c1674c90907201501j42f29bfbl987419edf04b1a8b@mail.gmail.com> References: <4A5D4D25.3040908@ish.com.au> <3c1674c90907201501j42f29bfbl987419edf04b1a8b@mail.gmail.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On 21/07/09 8:01 AM, Kip Macy wrote: >> The other solution is to install userland BEFORE you reboot into the new >> > kernel, although that may cause its own set of problems. Whatever the final >> > solution, this needs to be clearly documented and ideally freebsd-update >> > needs to detect the problem and advise the user about what to do. > > > Do to the large version jump (v6 -> v13) the kernel interfaces aren't > backward compatible with the tools. How do you think it could be most > gracefully handled? I honestly don't know how the right way to solve the problem, but here are some ideas: * the kernel ABI *should* be compatible with userland tools at least one major version backward. I understand that this might now be impossible, but it is possible to bring back enough of the old ABI to allow for zfs to mount? * freebsd-update could automatically detect this situation and install the new zfs userland at the same time as the new kernel * lots of of clear documentation about what course of action a user should follow if they are performing a source update. Should the recommendation be changed to install userland *before* rebooting, and then immediately reboot before some of that userland explodes against the old kernel in memory? The existing recommendation is based on the fact that the new kernel will continue to work after reboot with the old userland. If that assumption is not always true then the whole FreeBSD installation process needs rethinking. Ari Maniatis --------------------------> ish http://www.ish.com.au Level 1, 30 Wilson Street Newtown 2042 Australia phone +61 2 9550 5001 fax +61 2 9550 4001 GPG fingerprint CBFB 84B4 738D 4E87 5E5C 5EFA EF6A 7D2E 3E49 102A
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?4A64F35E.6070501>