FreeBSD 9.1 to 9.2 Upgrade with freebsd-update

FreeBSD 9.2 brings a very nice update to ZFS : LZ4 compression.  Upgrading from 9.1 to 9.2 is quite easy if you have a standard install (no customization of the code).


The basic process, which should work for other versions as well is this:

1) Get your system up-to-date with the latest patches for your version of FreeBSD. This isn't necessary, but I think may avoid some problems.

freebsd-update fetch
freebsd-update install
reboot

2) Upgrade the kernel

freebsd-update upgrade -r 9.2-RELEASE
freebsd-update install
reboot

3) Update userland (finishes off the 2 part install)

freebsd-update install
reboot

4) Update pkg if needed

pkg update

5) Enjoy

With my 9.1 -> 9.2 update, I didn't have any messy mergemaster conf files to pour through, nor did my packages notify me that I needed to upgrade them - One of the more painless upgrades I've made.

pkg - FreeBSD's new Package Manager is Finally Working

I was about to write a small entry about how to hook up FreeBSD's next-generation package manager (pkg) to PC-BSD's repository, as FreeBSD wasn't supplying package updates due to the security incident that occurred in Nov 2012.

However, pkg is now able to pull properly from FreeBSD sources, and it's a nice little program.

For all those still using the old pkg_* type tools, just type pkg and follow the prompts.

So far I am finding it easier to upgrade and maintain my packages with pkg, which is always a good thing.