Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2020 22:31:46 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman <matthew@FreeBSD.org> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Updating from 11.3-stable to 12.1-stable? Message-ID: <9945f3b9-0452-721b-e931-816bc7a044ae@FreeBSD.org> In-Reply-To: <20200427200111.GA39823@rancor.immure.com> References: <20200427200111.GA39823@rancor.immure.com>
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This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 4880 and 3156) --cSwEbdRgJY9sLkRBYgTWfkc4uR599Yn2o Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="pRn6IeipCPfPdOklt6fFRvYO9hNQWin7s" --pRn6IeipCPfPdOklt6fFRvYO9hNQWin7s Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Language: en-GB Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On 27/04/2020 21:01, Bob Willcox wrote: > What is the best way to update a system from 11.3-stable to > 12.1-stable? This system is a backup file server that I could > reinstall if necessary, but I'd really like to avoid having to do > that. If you're using ZFS and have sufficient spare space, it should be possible to use boot environments to allow upgrading to 12.1 while still keeping an easy backout path to 11.3. Failing that -- you say that the server is a file server. Do you happen to have a separate set of data disks that you write the file server content to, distinct from your system drives? In that case you could build a new 12.1 system on a spare drive and physically swap it into the machine. Or if you've got a mirrored system drive, you could split the mirror and build an upgraded system on one of the mirrors. Again, this gives you a relatively easy backout path if it all goes pear shaped. Failing either of those, I'd suggest creating a bootable USB stick to which you copy your important data -- passwd file, home directories, anything you've customized on the system and want to be able to re-create -- or just copy all of your root, /usr, /home partitions onto the memory stick if you have space. In principle, even if an attempted update renders your system unbootable, you should have enough on a live-system image to be able to recover. If you're careful, the file server content should be safe enough throughout this whole exercise. Although, obviously, make sure all this is not the only copy of your content, and that it is all duplicated elsewhere -- if this is the backup fileserver, presumably you also have a primary fileserver with the live copies of everything? As for how you do the actual upgrade -- just use whichever of the recognised means of upgrading the system works best for you. freebsd-upgrade(8) is a good choice. Although, if you're going to choose one of the routes that involves swapping HDDs in and out, then installing a brand new system and recreating your local customizations from scratch is quite a good approach. There's quantities of cruft that tends to build up over the years that this method will naturally get rid = of. Cheers, Matthew --pRn6IeipCPfPdOklt6fFRvYO9hNQWin7s-- --cSwEbdRgJY9sLkRBYgTWfkc4uR599Yn2o Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQKTBAEBCgB9FiEEGfFU7L8RLlBUTj8wAFE/EOCp5OcFAl6nT0NfFIAAAAAALgAo aXNzdWVyLWZwckBub3RhdGlvbnMub3BlbnBncC5maWZ0aGhvcnNlbWFuLm5ldDE5 RjE1NEVDQkYxMTJFNTA1NDRFM0YzMDAwNTEzRjEwRTBBOUU0RTcACgkQAFE/EOCp 5OezUxAArZnT1KTcBD8DG4xHYfEDnLPqvNSjmBXGM6IKbiHKTngu6GcVrpkiDuqO Ie5aoO5GbWHDoYGt26QuMLyydArNKbl2F5zOrCQ9ITNNQgesAz8Ejofr+SffMHud iPeeAxacsrxtHCNqh17F3zIU8eC+ZbRfANS8OHoxpvSCiE1eTUmiN8xjL5TMNq8f v9GE72bsUn/tHdJa+N4x+j/L6OYeF/2CXh8LMOqGEMHOglIUkHHuZ7SNjJLxlBfg bIxmhcVe0vHj4tg1VXVU1TtI15LaaZRF0aO8EIz66TgISyDBLjSEG9VMErNhijT/ W7DI6To5ezdPMrPmi2GmMe8LiJtbH0LYFqFJDfh5oTzE8csoAc3FoF449rnkpwlr FConfzSxKFgGn2WIMvzbHbnJUeritOAdYD+hTk9paM8gJ491GpRRlk6h9wx8pW9E alDJh5hSNXJO5PnONZxMvoGqbuBEwzg/c68iTlyLUeyzJwTs4lOXyVp6UJOkXwtR j4VQ4BCLpB3Uryqpo5/MloJ80FC0kOIJZV5+UVwHKXl2FcXZ0RixiJvSyI6RTayl iQjzL00D33aO/MtKl65cYDmwsTjy9ih33pJgDIi7WPlHjraL1+Fe189OLF3DzzpR 80LMe87PB3Zt7ilUKcjty7kawauSxqllbJTTpjwoEKp8DWWUh+c= =2D4j -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --cSwEbdRgJY9sLkRBYgTWfkc4uR599Yn2o--
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