Upgrading very old installation
Robert Huff
roberthuff at rcn.com
Fri Jul 15 13:49:41 UTC 2011
Jaime Kikpole writes:
> I'm running a FreeBSD 6.x server that hasn't been updated in
> about 1.5 years.
>
> atlas:~>uname -mprs
> FreeBSD 6.4-RELEASE-p8 i386 i386
>
> What is the recommended way to upgrade it to something current?
> Should I upgrade it to the most recent 6.x and then to 7.x and
> then to 8.x? Or should I use a more direct route, upgrading it
> straight to the 8-RELEASE branch?
There is a strong argument to be made for (re-)installing when
moving across a major version boundary. Whan crossing more than
one, the case becomes even more formidable.
And installing to a new disk allows you to use the old one as a
(hardware-enforced) read-only backup.
The only two reasons I can think of for upgrading in place are
a) you cannot afford or have no access to a new disk or b) you
cannot make a reliable backup (which carries its own set of risks).
Robert Huff
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