Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 07:17:05 +0800 From: "Rafter Man" <rafter@linuxmail.org> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Fw: Re: 3 in 1 Message-ID: <20020512231705.12991.qmail@linuxmail.org>
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----- Original Message ----- From: Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@FreeBSD.ORG> Date: Sun, 12 May 2002 23:58:55 +0300 To: Rafter Man <rafter@linuxmail.org> Subject: Re: 3 in 1 > On 2002-05-13 04:29, Rafter Man wrote: > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Giorgos Keramidas" <keramida@FreeBSD.org> > > > > And just one more question :-), when I upgrade the base system, > > > > don't I have to make world? > > > > > > With CVSup you update the sources of the base system under /usr/src. > > > Your installed files that live in /usr/bin, /usr/lib and other parts > > > of the tree are not touched by CVSup. You would have to rebuild > > > everything from the sources, if that's your preferred method of > > > upgrading. > > > > Ok, if rebuilding means rebooting, then that is not for me. But it is no > > problem patching security bugs manually. I know that sometimes > > there is a bug in the base system and you have to reboot (make world). > > Apart from reading the instructions of the Handbook, especially the > "Cutting Edge" chapter, here's a few things I think you might care to > know. > > The security branch RELENG_4_5 is an easy way to update the sources > with CVSup. You usually have to rebuild the userland (everything > except the kernel, from /usr/src) and the kernel, and then reboot into > the new kernel to install everything. > > Rebooting is not bad, if you know that you have fixed a security > problem that might affect you. Despite the popular belief that > uptimes more than a year are ``elite'', ``cool'' and other funny > things, I tend to believe that an uptime of more than one year for a > machine connected to a network means it's probably open to a dozen or > more attacks. > > > I love FreeBSD, but I find upgrading a little confusing. You can upgrade > > to a Release, Stable or Current and now there is also RELENG_4.5 > > (Release + security fixes). > > Branches are just an artifact of the source control system that > FreeBSD uses. You are interested in a stable version of a UNIX > operating system. This is what you get in your 4.5-RELEASE cdrom. > > There is a documented way to upgrade the sources of the system (which > live under /usr/src) to the latest version of that release, including > any security fixes that might have been added to the source since the > day the CDROM images were cut in stone. This is what RELENG_4_5 means > in the CVSup `*default tag=' line. > > There is also a documented way to use the sources of the system (those > under /usr/src) to rebuild everything from scratch. You are not > required to do this. You can just stick to the -RELEASE version and > never rebuild everything from the sources. In fact, a lot of people > do this. They read the security notifications and when a security > problem seems to not affect them they just ignore it and move on. > > > There is also different parts of the system you can upgrade and > > something forces you to reboot and other works by just downloading > > the upgrade? > > It can actually be summarized to a very short paragraph like this one. > You don't need to reboot unless you do something that changes stuff to > the running kernel or updates the running kernel to a newer version. > > a. Tuning a kernel, might require a reboot > > There are certain kernel options that can be tuned, changed, fiddled > with, that influence the way the kernel works very early during the > process of brinding up your machine. These options have to be set > before the kernel loads, by the kernel loader. See the loader(8) > manpage for more details. > > b. Upgrading a running kernel requires a reboot > > When you want to boot the machine into a new, updated kernel, you need > to reboot. There is no way, right now, to magically 'switch' to a > newer kernel while the machine is running. There are various reasons > why you might want to boot into an updated kernel. For instance, > you might build a kernel other than GENERIC (the one that comes with > the installation CDROMs). Or you might just change an option of the > usual kernel you run, just like add a filesystem, or a driver for a > new network card you got. It is not always required to rebuild > everything when you just change a few minor things in the kernel, but > you'd still have to reboot at least once to fire up the new kernel. > > A reboot once in a while, when a new kernel comes out, is a very cheap > price to pay for a system like FreeBSD where the entire source is > available. You will probably find that having access to the source of > the system is a nice thing. But this is certainly not the place to > advocate Open Source. You just asked about reboots :) > > > I have read the handbook and 3 other books about freebsd, but none > > of them, cover this area to the fullest. > > > > btw thank you very much for your help, it is great you will take the > > time to help me :) > > Yeah, you're welcome. > Giorgos Keramidas - http://www.FreeBSD.org > keramida@FreeBSD.org - The Power to Serve -- Get your free email from www.linuxmail.org Powered by Outblaze To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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