How To Upgrade FreeBSD 6.3 to 7.0 Stable Release
Q. FreeBSD 7.0-RELEASE is now available for the 64 and 32 bit computer architectures. How do I upgrade FreeBSD version 6.3-pX 64 bit to latest 7.0 64 bit system?
A. FreeBSD 6.3 allows upgrade of existing installation to FreeBSD 7.0-RELEASE. Since this is a major version upgrade, it is recommended that you backup existing data, database and config files. You also need to reinstall all ports.
Step # 1: Upgrade ports
Type the following command, enter:
# portupgrade -faP
WARNING! This procedure might not work for you as upgrading system is complex procedure. This may result into data loos. Please backup all important data and configuration files before executing any commands. All instructions are tested on FreeBSD 6.3pX 32/64 bit computers.Step # 2: Download updated freebsd-update-upgrade tool
Type the following command:
# fetch http://people.freebsd.org/~cperciva/freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz
# fetch http://people.freebsd.org/~cperciva/freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz.asc
# gpg --verify freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz.asc freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz
# tar -xf freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz
Step # 3: Start upgrade procedure
Type the following command to install new kernel and reboot the system, enter:
# sh freebsd-update.sh -f freebsd-update.conf -r 7.0-RELEASE upgrade
# sh freebsd-update.sh -f freebsd-update.conf install
# reboot
Step # 4: Install updated userland tools
Install the new userland components, after which all ports should be recompiled to link to new libraries:
# sh freebsd-update.sh -f freebsd-update.conf install
# portupgrade -faP
Step # 5: Remove all old libraries
Finally, freebsd-update.sh needs to be run one last time to remove old system libraries, after which the system should be rebooted in order that the updated userland and ports will be running:
# sh freebsd-update.sh -f freebsd-update.conf install
# reboot
Step # 6: Verify FreeBSD 7.0
Run following command to verify that everything is running smoothly, enter:
# uname -a
# tail -f /var/log/messages
# tail -f /path/to/other/log/files
# egrep -i 'error|warning' /path/to/log/files
# sockstat -4 -l
References:
- For more information, see the man pages - portupgrade, ports,sockstat and freebsd-update
- FreeBSD source code based update CVSup and rebuilding world
- FreeBSD major version upgrades
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Related Linux / UNIX FAQ:
- How To Upgrade FreeBSD 6.2 to FreeBSD 6.3 ( Minor Update ) using freebsd-update utility
- FreeBSD admin book / handbook
- How do I update Ubuntu Linux softwares?
- Linux or FreeBSD command to display system time and date
- FreeBSD Hardware compatibility List (HCL)
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Tags: FreeBSD, freebsd 6.3 to 7.0 upgrade, freebsd upgrade, freebsd version upgrade, kernel, log messages, upgrade freebsd to latest version, version upgrade ~ Last updated on: March 20, 2008
March 13th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Can this upgrade be done over SSH, or will there be issues with getting back into the system after the reboot?
March 17th, 2008 at 12:51 am
Will this work for 6.2 to 7.0?
March 17th, 2008 at 7:04 am
First, upgrade 6.2 to 6.3 and then switch to 7.0
March 17th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Hello,,
When i will upgrade to 7.0 lost my users and my files? or when upgrade is finished return my files and users or not ?
April 4th, 2008 at 10:09 am
I was trying to do this upgrade from official freebsd website and it failed. When I’ve done it from your website it all worked thanks very much!:)
April 9th, 2008 (5 weeks ago) at 2:50 pm
For testing purposes, I installed a minimal install of FreeBSD 6.3-RELEASE and wanted to upgrade to 7.0-RELEASE via SSH only. I installed 6.3 locally via CD-ROM. The only thing i did after was to enable SSH and changed the port to 300. I did not need to download a newer freebsd-update since 6.3-RELEASE has the correct version.
I logged into this computer remotely via SSH and followed the steps mentioned in this article (obviously I didn’t have to upgrade any ports since I had 0 of them installed). Everything went smoothly, including using port 300 for SSH THE ENTIRE TIME even after the reboots. Don’t blame me though if it doesn’t work for you via SSH
TIP: Currently MOST FreeBSD dedicated server hosting companies are only advertising 6.3. As of today, http://www.aplus.net/ will only install 6.3 and charge you $150 to upgrade to 7.0. THUS, I suggest if you’re getting a new dedicated server, have them install 6.3 with minimal install and no ports or changes. This way the upgrade to 7.0 will be smooth via SSH and will save you possibly $150 (: