mergemaster broken -- take 2

[Mike Lempriere]

Thanks everyone for the advice -- I got it working this time just fine.  
Works much better when one follows the directions accurately instead of 
by memory -- the bottom line is that this time I remembered to jot down 
the commands before heading downtown to the machine rack room where 
there's no browser access...  I started over and followed UPDATING:
  cd /usr/obj
  rm -R *
  cd /usr/src
  rm -R *
  cvsup -g -L 2 -h cvsup10.freebsd.org |& tee /root/cvsup-090108.out
  make buildworld |& tee /root/make-buildworld-090108.out
  make kernel KERNCONF=GENERIC |& tee /root/make-kernel-090108.out
  users
  ps ax | more
  shutdown -r now
  4 (single user)
  fsck -p
  mount -u /
  mount -a
  cd /usr/src
  mergemaster -p
  make installworld |& tee /root/make-installworld-090108.out
  make delete-old (forgot to do tee redirect)
  mergemaster -i (did not do tee redirect)
  shutdown -r now

Oliver Fromme wrote:
> Greg Byshenk wrote:
>  > Andrei Kolu wrote:
>  > > Mike Lempriere wrote:
>  > > > Hi folks -- sorry to be a nag, but my main production system is barely 
>  > > > limping along on an old kernel with mismatched libraries.  I have no 
>  > > > idea what else to do -- please help!
>  > > > ---
>  > > > I'm upgrading 5-stable (was at 5.5) to 6-stable, in preparation for 
>  > > > 6-stable to 7-stable.
>  > > > No problems with cvsup, make buildworld, make installworld, make 
>  > > > buildkernel, mergemaster -p.
>  > > > make installkernel, boot to single user.  Then mergemaster -- blammo:
>
> As others have pointed out, the order is wrong, which caused
> the problem Mike is seeing.
>
> The correct order is listed in /usr/src/UPDATING.
>
>  > The reasons for the other methods being wrong are (as I understand them):
>  > 
>  > - You should build your new world before building your new kernel, as
>  >   it may be the case that some aspects of the new kernel build are
>  >   dependent upon aspects of the new world build.  If you build your
>  >   new kernel before building your new world, you will be building 
>  >   your new kernel against the old world.
>
> In particular, building the kernel uses the new toolchain
> (i.e. compiler, linker, make(1) binary and so on) that was
> built in /usr/obj during buildworld.  That's why you have
> to do buildworld first, then "make kernel".
>
>  > - You should install your new kernel before installing your new world,
>  >   as it can be the case that some aspects of the new world will not be
>  >   understood by your old kernel. A new kernel should always be
>  >   compatible with an old userland/world, but an old kernel may not 
>  >   always be compatible with a new userland/world.
>
> That's correct.  Note that your kernel config should include
> the appropriate "options COMPAT_*" lines if you update across
> a major version boundary, e.g. "options_COMPAT_FREEBSD6" when
> you update from 6.x to 7.x.  The GENERIC kernel already has
> those.
>
>  > > NOTE: I do not reboot my system until everything is updated. Why it is 
>  > > necessary to boot new kernel and then upgrade world is beyound me..YMMW
>  > 
>  > - I suppose that it is not strictly necessary to reboot between 
>  >   installing kernel and world, but I always do so.
>
> It _is_ necessary.  If you don't reboot, you're still running
> the old kernel which might not be able to support new binaries
> and libraries that installworld will install on your system.
>
> For example, there may be new syscalls that the new binaries
> will try to use, but the old kernel doesn't know about them.
> It doesn't happen often, so you can get away without rebooting
> most of the time.  But it's risky, especially when updating
> across major versions.  So the recommendation is to always
> reboot after installing the new kernel and before performing
> the "installworld".
>
> It's also important that "installworld" is the last step
> (except for mergemaster), because this is the point of no
> return.  As long as you still have the old userland (world),
> you can still boot the old kernel and everything is fine.
> You can start all over froms cratch, if necessary.
> But as soon as you have started "installworld", your system
> will not be able to work with the old kernel anymore.
>
> And remember:  Always make a backup before you start to
> update.  And verify that the backup works.  Better safe
> than sorry.
>
> Best regards
>    Oliver
>
>   

-- 
Mike Lempriere- Home: mike at vintners.net  Phone: 206-780-2146
Cellphone: 206-200-5902;  text pager: mikelemp at tmail.com