From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Jan 9 04:42:52 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 E1505106566B for ; Sat, 9 Jan 2010 04:42:52 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from roberthuff@rcn.com) Received: from smtp02.lnh.mail.rcn.net (smtp02.lnh.mail.rcn.net [207.172.157.102]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A23C28FC0A for ; Sat, 9 Jan 2010 04:42:52 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mr02.lnh.mail.rcn.net ([207.172.157.22]) by smtp02.lnh.mail.rcn.net with ESMTP; 08 Jan 2010 23:42:51 -0500 Received: from smtp01.lnh.mail.rcn.net (smtp01.lnh.mail.rcn.net [207.172.4.11]) by mr02.lnh.mail.rcn.net (MOS 3.10.7-GA) with ESMTP id QKP64308; Fri, 8 Jan 2010 23:42:24 -0500 (EST) Received: from 209-6-91-204.c3-0.smr-ubr1.sbo-smr.ma.cable.rcn.com (HELO jerusalem.litteratus.org.litteratus.org) ([209.6.91.204]) by smtp01.lnh.mail.rcn.net with ESMTP; 08 Jan 2010 23:42:23 -0500 From: Robert Huff MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: <19272.2351.717096.449820@jerusalem.litteratus.org> Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 23:42:23 -0500 To: Martin McCormick In-Reply-To: <201001082146.o08LkAt5082535@dc.cis.okstate.edu> References: <201001082146.o08LkAt5082535@dc.cis.okstate.edu> X-Mailer: VM 7.17 under 21.5 (beta28) "fuki" XEmacs Lucid X-Junkmail-Whitelist: YES (by domain whitelist at mr02.lnh.mail.rcn.net) Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Upgrading Standing Systems from 6.3 to 8.0 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: Sat, 09 Jan 2010 04:42:53 -0000 Martin McCormick writes: > Can one upgrade a standing system from 6.3 to 8.0? > > We do have a few sacrificial systems to try the big upgrade on, > but the actual systems are scattered through 3 towns over 200 > miles. Not a one is just down the hall so it is all going to have > to be done remotely. Is it possible to have someone swap the hard disks of those machines? Because not only are you going to have to upgrade the OS twice, you're going to have to re-install all the ports. (OK, you may not _have_ to reinstall - compatibility libraries exist - but it is clearly the path of greatest reliability.) It's just as easy to start with a clean installation, which has other benefits as well. Robert Huff