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Date:      Wed, 25 Jul 2001 19:12:44 -0400 (EDT)
From:      Jim Durham <durham@w2xo.pgh.pa.us>
To:        Kevin Golding <kevin@caomhin.demon.co.uk>
Cc:        <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   Re: make world from across the globe
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.33.0107251905030.438-100000@jimslaptop.int>
In-Reply-To: <KvQQHNBk7aX7Ewvw@caomhin.demon.co.uk>

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On Tue, 24 Jul 2001, Kevin Golding wrote:

> I'm planning an upgrade from 4.2 -> 4.3 release but there's a couple of
> things I'm a bit uncertain about.
>
> The problem is that I have no direct access to the machine in question,
> I usually just connect with ssh and for day to day stuff that serves me
> just fine, but from the stuff I've read about upgrades I should drop
> down to single user mode for the final stages like make installworld.
>
> Now to my knowledge this makes remote logins a problem.
>
> I've thought about setting /etc/ttys to insecure and then just dropping
> down but I'm not exactly confident that'll work.
>
> I've also read <URL: http://www.nothing-going-
> on.demon.co.uk/FreeBSD/make-world/make-world.html > which looks like I
> might be able to avoid dropping to single user if I'm *very* careful,
> prepared and desperate.
>
> I'm therefore hoping someone can point me in the direction of either i)
> a way to login across the Internet or ii) a way to do a source upgrade
> without dropping to single user
>

What I do is make a boot.config file in / containing just "-h" (no
quotes). This causes the system to boot on the 1st serial port as
the console.

I have an old Portmaster in the rack. I set up an unused port to
allow telnet to it and run a null modem cable to the serial port.
Works like a champ. You can do upgrades in single-user. That's
not really necessary, but the big win is that you can fool with the
firewall and routing without locking yourself out! (Did you ever try
to fix ipfw by coaxing a non-unix person on the other end of a 3000
mile phone line? Naw....not a pretty sight...

If you don't have a Portmaster, you can use a Shiva box, or an
Equinox MDS-10 or whatever.. or, any old 486 with an ethernet card.

Of course, you need at least 2 IPs! (Well... there are ways... but..)

Jim Durham



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