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  • upgrade query

    From Mike Scott@21:1/5 to All on Tue Nov 10 14:43:54 2020
    Hi all.

    I've just upgraded a machine from 11.3 to 11.4.

    It runs a custom kernel, and I followed the steps in the handbook using "freebsd-update -r 11.4". However, the GENERIC kernel was not upgraded,
    and remains at 11.3.

    This is unexpected - I expected GENERIC would be updated as part of the process. I've rebuilt the custom kernel, and all seems well after
    booting that.

    But:
    * should GENERIC have updated? Why might it not have done so?
    * will this cause possible problems when/if I upgrade to 12.x?

    Thanks.

    --
    Mike Scott
    Harlow, England

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  • From Bob Eager@21:1/5 to Mike Scott on Tue Nov 10 15:21:18 2020
    On Tue, 10 Nov 2020 14:43:54 +0000, Mike Scott wrote:

    Hi all.

    I've just upgraded a machine from 11.3 to 11.4.

    It runs a custom kernel, and I followed the steps in the handbook using "freebsd-update -r 11.4". However, the GENERIC kernel was not upgraded,
    and remains at 11.3.

    This is unexpected - I expected GENERIC would be updated as part of the process. I've rebuilt the custom kernel, and all seems well after
    booting that.

    But:
    * should GENERIC have updated? Why might it not have done so?
    * will this cause possible problems when/if I upgrade to 12.x?

    It would have updated /boot/kernel/kernel to the new generic kernel.
    Which is probably where your old custom kernel was.

    I suspect you built your new custom kernel in the same place.

    freebsd-update won't randomly update other kernels, even if they in a
    directiry (presumably created by you as a backup, just like I do) in / boot/GENERIC.



    --
    Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

    Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
    http://www.mirrorservice.org

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  • From Mike Scott@21:1/5 to Bob Eager on Wed Nov 11 08:15:13 2020
    On 10/11/2020 15:21, Bob Eager wrote:
    On Tue, 10 Nov 2020 14:43:54 +0000, Mike Scott wrote:

    Hi all.

    I've just upgraded a machine from 11.3 to 11.4.

    It runs a custom kernel, and I followed the steps in the handbook using
    "freebsd-update -r 11.4". However, the GENERIC kernel was not upgraded,
    and remains at 11.3.

    This is unexpected - I expected GENERIC would be updated as part of the
    process. I've rebuilt the custom kernel, and all seems well after
    booting that.

    But:
    * should GENERIC have updated? Why might it not have done so?
    * will this cause possible problems when/if I upgrade to 12.x?

    It would have updated /boot/kernel/kernel to the new generic kernel.
    Which is probably where your old custom kernel was.

    I suspect you built your new custom kernel in the same place.

    freebsd-update won't randomly update other kernels, even if they in a directiry (presumably created by you as a backup, just like I do) in / boot/GENERIC.




    Thanks for the comment, and I take your point.

    But now I'm extremely confused, and thinking the handbook is misleading.

    The handbook (https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/updating-upgrading-freebsdupdate.html)
    seems pretty clear that a GENERIC kernel must exist in /boot/GENERIC:

    "If the system is running a custom kernel, make sure that a copy of the
    GENERIC kernel exists in /boot/GENERIC before starting the upgrade."

    and heavily implies one is running the custom kernel at the start of the upgrade:

    "If the system is running with a custom kernel, use nextboot(8) to set
    the kernel for the next boot to the updated /boot/GENERIC:"

    and that GENERIC will have been updated:

    "Before rebooting with the GENERIC kernel, ..... The machine should now
    be restarted with the updated kernel:"

    Also (for >=9.x)
    "Rebooting into the GENERIC kernel is not required as freebsd-update
    only needs /boot/GENERIC to exist."


    So my understanding of the handbook was that GENERIC would be updated,
    and a manual rebuild (fair enough!) of any custom kernel is necessary.

    From what you're saying, I should have renamed after the upgrade
    /boot/kernel => /boot/GENERIC and then built the custom /boot/kernel.

    Looks like I ought to fish out an 11.4 GENERIC from a dvd. Mind you, I'm seriously albeit reluctantly considering ditching fbsd (which has served
    me well for many years) - I'm pondering on replacing my small home
    server with a pi4, and fbsd support for the pi's seems very tardy :-{ So
    this might just be the last upgrade anyway; I'd rather it weren't.


    Sorry that's a bit long.


    --
    Mike Scott
    Harlow, England

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