From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun May 30 20:15:32 2010 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D3DE7106566B for ; Sun, 30 May 2010 20:15:32 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions@m.gmane.org) Received: from lo.gmane.org (lo.gmane.org [80.91.229.12]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 606958FC17 for ; Sun, 30 May 2010 20:15:31 +0000 (UTC) Received: from list by lo.gmane.org with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1OIouw-0006n7-Rx for freebsd-questions@freebsd.org; Sun, 30 May 2010 22:15:30 +0200 Received: from pool-71-166-135-247.washdc.east.verizon.net ([71.166.135.247]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Sun, 30 May 2010 22:15:30 +0200 Received: from nightrecon by pool-71-166-135-247.washdc.east.verizon.net with local (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Sun, 30 May 2010 22:15:30 +0200 X-Injected-Via-Gmane: http://gmane.org/ To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org connect(): No such file or directory From: Michael Powell Followup-To: gmane.os.freebsd.questions Date: Sun, 30 May 2010 16:15:25 -0400 Lines: 37 Message-ID: References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit X-Complaints-To: usenet@dough.gmane.org X-Gmane-NNTP-Posting-Host: pool-71-166-135-247.washdc.east.verizon.net Subject: Re: what would take to allow binary upgrade to amd64? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 30 May 2010 20:15:32 -0000 Rob Farmer wrote: > On Sun, May 30, 2010 at 11:51 AM, Eitan Adler > wrote: >> I know that attempting to change from i386 to amd64 is is not possible > > The proper procedure for such an upgrade is as follows: > > 1) download and burn the relevant amd64 iso > 2) update your backups > 3) reformat and reinstall the OS from the CD > 4) restore your data and system config from the backups > 5) resume normal operation > > If the thought of reformatting your system is scary, because you don't > have backups or aren't sure they are comprehensive or work, then solve > that problem, rather than trying to invent workarounds to cover for > bad system administration. It will serve you much better in the long > run. I agree with this wholeheartedly. I recently posed the question about doing this with a make buildworld/etc dance from i386 to amd64, e.g. if there was a known sane method for accomplishing this. The general consensus was 'well, maybe if you spend enough time mucking with myriad problems as they come up maybe it's possible...'. Basically you will spend less time following the above directions, finish the project and be free to move on to others more quickly. It is easier when dealing with servers as they usually only have a fairly limited number of ports installed. Having the appropriate backups on hand, as if for bare-metal recovery, also allows for rolling it back to the previous state fairly quickly should one get into a stop/no-go/stuck situation. -Mike