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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

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Discussion on This FAQ

  1. Titus Barik Says:

    Can this upgrade be done over SSH, or will there be issues with getting back into the system after the reboot?

  2. Pinoy Compuworld Says:

    Will this work for 6.2 to 7.0?

  3. vivek Says:

    First, upgrade 6.2 to 6.3 and then switch to 7.0

  4. Yasser Says:

    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 ?

  5. Andrew Says:

    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!:)

  6. coolbeans Says:

    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 :P

    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 (:

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