Instructions for upgrading?

[Kevin Kinsey]

Dr. Jennifer Nussbaum wrote:

>where can i find simple instructions for upgrading to
>a new major
>version? im running 4.10 right now and want to change
>to 6.0--why not? heh--but the installation page in the
>handbook just talks about doing it from
>scratch. and the entire "upgrade' section of the 6.0
>release notes just says 
>"Source upgrades to FreeBSD 6.0-RELEASE are only
>supported from FreeBSD 5.3-RELEASE or later. Users of
>older systems wanting to upgrade 6.0-RELEASE will need
>to update to FreeBSD 5.3 or newer first, then to
>FreeBSD 6.0-RELEASE. Important: Upgrading FreeBSD
>should, of course, only be attempted after backing up
>all data and configuration files." but doesnt say how
>to really do it.
>
>same with the 5.x release notes. im willing to do this
>in two step, from 4.10 to 5.4 and then to 6.0, if that
>is neccessary.
>
>my laptop doesnt have a CD drive of a floppy drive, so
>i want to do it over the network but i need simple
>instructions if someone can help.
>
>thank you!
>
>jen
>  
>

In addition to the advice given earlier, you might
read Bruce Mah's "Migration Guide".  The 5.3 version
is here:

http://people.freebsd.org/~bmah/relnotes/5.3-RELEASE/early-adopter.html

        and might be quite applicable to the 4.x > 5.x migration,
as 5.3 was the first "-STABLE" release in the 5.X branch, and
many users were expected to move to it from 4.11, etc.

As mentioned, a recent 5.X to 6.0-RELEASE upgrade is a
relative breeze by comparison, and doesn't require much
"special" at all.  YMMV, of course.  As with all upgrades, be
sure and read /src/UPDATING (and /usr/ports/UPDATING if
you use any "ports".)

Regards,

Kevin Kinsey