messed up upgrade 7.0 & 7.1 to 7.2

[PJ]

PJ wrote:
> Roland Smith wrote:
>   
>> On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 01:33:50PM -0400, PJ wrote:
>>   
>>     
>>> I have been struggling for about 4 days trying to prepare 2 computers to
>>> update to 7.2 with no success whatsoever.
>>> The more I read the instructions, the less I understand.
>>> And almost nothing works as it should
>>> Some background:
>>> I have been using FreeBSD as a LAN server (for files storage & web
>>> development/backup etc. and part desktop for more than 10 years. I have
>>> never had great success when it comes to installation but have managed
>>> to get it running and have even kept on v. 4.10 for archiving older
>>> sites I have had.
>>> The older methods of upgrading worked well enough even though they were
>>> somewhat lengthy.
>>> Last week I finally managed to set up an Acer Travelmate 4400 amd64 with
>>> FreeBSD 7.2 and even got everything right. For the first time I was able
>>> to get Flash & Shockwave to work on a FreeBSD installation.
>>> With a bit of help from this list. Thanks, guys.
>>> However, I have not been able to figure out how a custom kernel could be
>>> set up nor how the new modular system works. Haven't found any coherent
>>> explanations.
>>>
>>> But now I have the following problems:
>>> PROBLEM 1. I freebsd-update fetch did not get the security patches or
>>> whatever else it should - all I got was error: configuration file not found
>>>     
>>>       
>> Does /etc/freebsd-update.conf exist?
>>  
>>   
>>     
>>> PROBLEM 2. There seems to be some confusion about how to update and keep
>>> current the ports - portsnap seems to work in concert with portversion;
>>> there are some problems when one uses portsnap as there are with cvsup.
>>> The two seem necessary since some errors inn installing cannot be
>>> handled by both...
>>> If, for example, it is necessary to delete the port completely and
>>> reinstall it, portsnap just does not do it. I does not see that the port
>>> direcotry is empty; cvsup does and fills it in so the error can be
>>> correcte and the port properly installed.
>>>     
>>>       
>> Portsnap only updates the ports tree (the directories under /usr/ports),
>> not the installed ports themselves. You'll need either
>> /usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portupgrade or /usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portmaster to
>> keep installed ports up to date. I prefer portmaster since it doesn't
>> depend on a separate database as portupgrade does. Depending on how long
>> it has been since you've updated your ports and the speed of your
>> machine, updates can indeed take a long time. You could choose to use
>> pre-built packages instead of compiling from source, to speed things up.
>>
>>   
>>     
>>> PROBLEM 3. I always have been running with a custom kernel. So, to
>>> upgrade I am supposed to provide the GENERIC kernel in /boot. Ok, I went
>>> through that process as per manual instructions. 
>>>     
>>>       
>> Did you check that the GENERIC kernel that you built was installed as
>> /boot/kernel/kernel?
>>
>>   
>>     
>>> Had to reboot as I needed to transfer some downloaded files from the
>>> 7.1 box to the 7.0 box for port upgrading.
>>>     
>>>       
>> It is unclear to me why you should have to reboot to transfer
>> files... If you want to e.g. connect two machines with an ethernet
>> cable, are you aware that you can use the scripts in /etc/rc.d to stop
>> and restart networking?
>>
>> And why not just transfer files with a USB thumbdrive?
>>
>>   
>>     
>>> That was a mistake. Nothing indicated that I could
>>> not reboot without screwing things up... of course, I should have known
>>> better; but I'm prone to that kind of error. But I'm pretty sure that
>>> the automatic upgrade would not have worked anyway as it doesn't work on
>>> the machine with 7.0 installed.
>>>     
>>>       
>> Without a more thorough description of the steps that you followed,
>> there is not really a lot others can do to help you. From your
>> description it is totally unclear what has gone wrong.
>>
>>   
>>     
>>> Booting on this 7.1 machine is now impossible. I tried to boot from the
>>> install CD but that only made it worse. As I understood the instruction
>>> it would upgrade the machine, but I understand now that it just doesn't
>>> work that way... it has to be upgraded from a 7.2 CD. That I don't have
>>> at the moment.
>>> So the boot now just says:
>>> Invalid format
>>> FreeBSD/i386 boot
>>> Default: 0:ad(0,a)/boot/kernel/kernel
>>> boot:
>>> -
>>>     
>>>       
>> Type ? at the boot prompt to see a list of files in the root directory
>> of the default boot device. Read the boot(8) manual page.
>>
>> It could be that something went wrong with your disk. Mabye the slices
>> or partitions were deleted.
>>
>>   
>>     
>>> PROBLEM 4. The machine with 7.1 - after a complete ports upgrade, I tried
>>> # freebsd-update -r 7.2-RELEASE upgrade
>>> and I get the famous no configuration file found.
>>>     
>>>       
>> Does this configuration file (see above) exist? 
>>
>>   
>>     
>>> Somehow, I don't recall that being indicated anywhere in the manual. Oh,
>>> I did read it... several times... and the more I read it, the more I
>>> didn't understand anything - from mergemaster to the configuration file
>>> to the modular kernels ...
>>> Maybe someone could explain to me just exaclty how is one supposed to
>>> deal with the upgrading and customizing the kernel. Should one (I) be
>>> simply using the GENERIC kernel and then expect the upgrading to be as
>>> simple as it seems to sound?
>>>     
>>>       
>> If you want a custom kernel, I find it more convenient to upgrade from
>> source. 
>>
>>   
>>     
>>> And just what advantage (speed wise I suppose) is there to use the
>>> custom kernel?
>>>     
>>>       
>> A custom kernel will save some boot time because it doesn't probe for
>> devices that aren't built-in or loaded as modules.
>>
>> There are some things (options) in the kernel that you cannot load as modules,
>> they need to be compiled in. E.g. the scheduler, or if you want to use
>> device polling instead of interrupts. See e.g. /sys/i386/conf/NOTES for
>> options and devices that are not part of the GENERIC kernel.
>>
>>   
>>     
>>> Maybe the easiest is to just install the 7.2 fresh; but that would take
>>> the fun out of beating my head against an already cracked wall for
>>> upgrading and would take probably as long to reinstall all the 644 or so
>>> programs.
>>>     
>>>       
>> I don't think you have to reinstall all programs. Just restore
>> /usr/local and /var/db/pkg from backup. You did make a full backup
>> before trying to upgrade, I hope? If not, I trust you remember to do so
>> in the future...
>>
>> Contrary to what the handbook says, you do not always have to reinstall
>> all ports when updating the system. It is definitely necessary when
>> updating to another major version (6.x -> 7.x), but when updating to
>> another minor version (7.1 -> 7.2) it is usually not necessary (unless
>> /usr/src/UPDATING says differently). 
>>
>>   
>>     
>>> On the 7.1 machine, I don't really want to lose all the files I have on
>>> there... most have been saved and none are really that important... but
>>> "just in case".
>>>     
>>>       
>> Not to put too fine a point on it, but that is why you should make
>> regular backups of all your important data. 
>>
>> Roland
>>   
>>     
> Thanks for the response, Rolland,
> I think I have unraveled this stuff a bit.
> I haven't checked for the config file yet as I am using the MS portion
> of this machine.
> I think I can fix the 7.1 machine with a boot disk for 7.2.
> That is what is not very clear in the manual. I now see that before you
> do the upgrade (that is, BEFORE) you have to cvsup the 7.2 release ports
> and sources. I tried to upgrade the 7.1 from a 7.1 disk... so now, I'll
> try with the 7.2. I generally lilke to do my updates over the net and
> not from the disk and I assume (falsely, I see now) that the idea of
> upgrade is not programmed into the manual or the files to mean from a
> lower branch to a higher one... :'(
> Anyway, I think I'll be allright...
> Will repost if I solve this thing.
> PJ
>
>   
Well, I finally found a site where things were pretty clear:
http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/upgrade-freebsd-to-72/
Now, why couldn't the Fbsd manual be that simple and clear? I would
suppose that if it were, then there wouldn't be so many different post
regarding the updating/upgrading processes on the net...

This worked perfectly and served as a reminder to me that that was
exactly how I had done it before; looks like I got sidetracked by the
purported "new and easy" upgrade. Really, it doesn't make sense and just
caused me to screw up my other installation of 7.1.

That said, is there some utility or way to boot up the 7.1 machine and
look at all the files that should still be there (at least that's what I
understood from the upgrade nonsense on the sysinstall bootup from the iso)?
TIA,
PJ

-- 
Hervé Kempf: "Pour sauver la planète, sortez du capitalisme."
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