howto upgrade 4.8 to 4.9 without cdrom or floppy?
Robert Watson
rwatson at freebsd.org
Thu Dec 11 22:39:14 PST 2003
On Fri, 12 Dec 2003, paul van den bergen wrote:
> on freebsd-hackers, Alfred Perlstein posted a method that allows
> boot-disk-less installation... but it requires mdconfig, a 5.1
> utility...
>
> is there a method to do this under 4.8?
>
> it seems to me that the job performed by md0 could be done with vn0 e.g.
If you're willing to build from the source tree, the
buildworld/buildkernel/installkernel/reboot/installworld/mergemaster route
is actually quite reliable. I just upgraded a 4.6 box to 4.9 a couple of
days ago, remotely with no serial console, cdrom, or floppy, without a
hitch.
Robert N M Watson FreeBSD Core Team, TrustedBSD Projects
robert at fledge.watson.org Senior Research Scientist, McAfee Research
>
> do
> # ls /dev/vn*
> if empty do
> # cd /dev
> # ./MAKEDEV vn0
> # ./MAKEDEV vn1
> # vnconfig vn0 /path/to/freebsd/4.9.iso
> # mount_cd9660 /dev/vn0c /path/to/freebsd4.9
>
> or however you access the freebsd install iso disk
> the point being to get access to the /floppies/boot.flp image on the cdrom
>
> # vnconfig vn1 /path/to/freebsd4.9/floppies/boot.flp
> # mkdir /bootfloppy
> # mount_mfs /dev/vn1c /bootfloppy/
> # cp /bootfloppy/kernel.gz /ikernel.gz
> # cp /bootfloppy/mfsroot.gz /mfsroot.gz
>
> then reboot as described...
>
> I am about to try this out... wish me luck!
>
>
> On Mon, 1 Dec 2003 07:18 pm, Alfred Perlstein wrote:
> > I have a mini-HOWTO here that possibly be automated.
> >
> > Basically we're going to install FreeBSD over FreeBSD without
> > a floppy, cdrom or pxe.
> >
> > This depends on a loader that's compatible with your kernel
> > so if really weird lockups happen, you might not be compatible.
> >
> >
> > Anyhow, here we go:
> >
> >
> > Download the boot.flp from the release you want to install.
> >
> > Mount it like so:
> > mdconfig -a -t vnode -f boot.flp
> > # should output something like 'md0'
> > mkdir -p /mnt
> > mount /dev/md0 /mnt
> >
> > Copy the yummy bits from the install image to your root:
> > cp /mnt/kernel.gz /ikernel.gz
> > cp /mnt/mfsroot.gz /mfsroot.gz
> >
> > Now reboot and interrupt the loader when it counts down the boot.
> >
> > Then type these commands into the loader:
> > unload kernel
> > load /ikernel
> > load -t mfs_root /mfsroot
> > set vfs.root.mountfrom
> > boot
> >
> > Now cross your fingers once you wipe the partitions out to reinstall...
> >
> >
> > It would be cool if this could be automated[1], perhaps by setting
> > the boot partition to the swap partition and setting it up temporarily
> > as a ufs filesystem and then... oh... well...
> >
> > [1] http://www.jerkcity.com/jerkcity1426.html
>
>
>
> --
> Dr Paul van den Bergen
> Centre for Advanced Internet Architectures
> caia.swin.edu.au
> pvandenbergen at swin.edu.au
> IM:bulwynkl2002
> "And some run up hill and down dale, knapping the chucky stones
> to pieces wi' hammers, like so many road makers run daft.
> They say it is to see how the world was made."
> Sir Walter Scott, St. Ronan's Well 1824
>
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