update/upgrade question

[Ondřej Majerech]

2009/12/8 Alex Huth <a.huth at tmr.net>:
> * Matthew Seaman schrieb:
>> Alex Huth wrote:
>>
>> Yes.  If you want to track one of the development branches (HEAD, RELENG_N)
>> then you have to update sources by csup(1) or various other mechanisms and
>> then compile your kernel+world yourself.
>>
>> Alternatively you can track release branches (RELENG_N_M) in the same way,
>> or so long as the release branch is still in support, you can use
>> freebsd-update(8) to pull down pre-built binary updates.
>>
>>
> thx, this was a good explanation. Maybe one last (hopefully ;) ) question to
> this topic. How can i see if a update has a kernel update, to prevent
> unnessecary reboots?

You can just csup your base system -- csup prints what files are being
patched as it goes, if it doesn't list anything, then you already are
at the latest revision of the branch you chose.

But basically, if you're using -RELEASE, the sources won't change much
-- only when a patch is released (for instance, 8.0-RELEASE-p1, p1
meaning first patch for 8.0-R) or when a new minor or major is
released -- both will be announced on the freebsd-announce mailing
list and usually on the forums as well.  If you're tracking -STABLE or
-CURRENT, the sources are likely to change often, so if you update
after some reasonable time (a few days, perhaps hours -- just don't
expect there to be anything new each five minutes), you'll always get
something new.

~ Ondra