Wisdom of automating upgrades

[Luke Kearney]

On Tue, 8 Jun 2004 23:02:31 +0800 (CST)
Stephen Liu <satimis at yahoo.com> spake thus:

> Hi folks,
> 
> This is an interesting topic.
> 
> > On Tue, 8 Jun 2004, Peter Risdon wrote:
> > 
> > > The main cost of having computers for most
> > companies lies not in
> > > software or hardware, but in support. I have been
> > pondering the wisdom
> > > of automating the upgrade process, so that sources
> > are cvsup'ed nightly
> > > and make buildworld buildkernel etc and
> > portupgrade happen overnight
> > > maybe once a week or month - and perhaps every day
> > a security fix is
> > > announced.
> > >
> > > Windows and Mac users are accustomed to automatic
> > software updates on
> > > server products as well as desktops, so there is a
> > competitive issue
> > > here. I've persuaded a number of companies to
> > switch to FreeBSD and want
> > > to ensure the commercial logic of doing so is as
> > complete as possible.
> > >
> > > cvsup'ing overnight is routine and fine.
> > >
> > > The make build/install stuff seems a bit more
> > delicate. I'm happy that I
> > > have figured out how to automate this, but not
> > _whether_ I should do so.
> > > I am of course only considering tracking RELENG_4
> > at this stage.
> > >
> > > Ports are perhaps more likely to be problematic
> > (though less likely to
> > > be a blocker to remote fixing than a failure to
> > boot). Having said that,
> > > deprecation of versions and ports is fairly rare
> > and keeping track of a
> > > small group in common use is feasible.
> > >
> > > I'd be grateful for any input on this. I can
> > picture waking up to find
> > > that every machine I administrate is
> > simultaneously *#!$%ed one morning.
> > > On the other hand, I like to provide the best
> > value I can for clients
> > > and at the moment I have to charge for my time
> > whenever an upgrade is
> > > necessary.
> > >
> > You may want to have a look at freebsd-update. Its a
> > binary updater,
> > Client/Server config, the server code and info on
> > what it is, is available
> > from http://www.daemonology.net/freebsd-update/
> > and the client is in ports.
> 
> Is there a way updating all installed ports
> automatically wheneven the server/workstation is
> booted and connected to Internet, similar to ntp
> synchronizing the clock.
> 
> B.R.
> Stephen Liu

in theory it should be possible to write a script that runs portupgrade
and then run it once at boot time from cron but I have never done it
personally. I can see some potential for disaster if it is not done with
extreme care. 

LukeK

-- 
Luke Kearney <lukek at meibin.net>