Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 23:02:31 +0800 (CST) From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Stephen=20Liu?= <satimis@yahoo.com> To: Vince Hoffman <jhary@unsane.co.uk>, Peter Risdon <peter@circlesquared.com> Cc: FreeBSD Question List <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Wisdom of automating upgrades Message-ID: <20040608150231.84715.qmail@web40304.mail.yahoo.com> In-Reply-To: <20040608144433.D31793@unsane.co.uk>
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Hi folks, This is an interesting topic. > On Tue, 8 Jun 2004, Peter Risdon wrote: > > > The main cost of having computers for most > companies lies not in > > software or hardware, but in support. I have been > pondering the wisdom > > of automating the upgrade process, so that sources > are cvsup'ed nightly > > and make buildworld buildkernel etc and > portupgrade happen overnight > > maybe once a week or month - and perhaps every day > a security fix is > > announced. > > > > Windows and Mac users are accustomed to automatic > software updates on > > server products as well as desktops, so there is a > competitive issue > > here. I've persuaded a number of companies to > switch to FreeBSD and want > > to ensure the commercial logic of doing so is as > complete as possible. > > > > cvsup'ing overnight is routine and fine. > > > > The make build/install stuff seems a bit more > delicate. I'm happy that I > > have figured out how to automate this, but not > _whether_ I should do so. > > I am of course only considering tracking RELENG_4 > at this stage. > > > > Ports are perhaps more likely to be problematic > (though less likely to > > be a blocker to remote fixing than a failure to > boot). Having said that, > > deprecation of versions and ports is fairly rare > and keeping track of a > > small group in common use is feasible. > > > > I'd be grateful for any input on this. I can > picture waking up to find > > that every machine I administrate is > simultaneously *#!$%ed one morning. > > On the other hand, I like to provide the best > value I can for clients > > and at the moment I have to charge for my time > whenever an upgrade is > > necessary. > > > You may want to have a look at freebsd-update. Its a > binary updater, > Client/Server config, the server code and info on > what it is, is available > from http://www.daemonology.net/freebsd-update/ > and the client is in ports. Is there a way updating all installed ports automatically wheneven the server/workstation is booted and connected to Internet, similar to ntp synchronizing the clock. B.R. Stephen Liu _______________________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com.hk address at http://mail.english.yahoo.com.hk
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