From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Fri Jul 10 02:06:36 2015 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B39243B40 for ; Fri, 10 Jul 2015 02:06:36 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from mx02.qsc.de (mx02.qsc.de [213.148.130.14]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 77C7A330 for ; Fri, 10 Jul 2015 02:06:36 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from r56.edvax.de (port-92-195-74-114.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.74.114]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx02.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 556F724C70; Fri, 10 Jul 2015 04:06:27 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r56.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r56.edvax.de (8.14.5/8.14.5) with SMTP id t6A26QhX005955; Fri, 10 Jul 2015 04:06:26 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 04:06:26 +0200 From: Polytropon To: Quartz Cc: FreeBSD questions Subject: Re: Questions about freebsd-update Message-Id: <20150710040626.6cdf28d2.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <559F25F8.1030508@sneakertech.com> References: <559C6B73.8050509@sneakertech.com> <559EA8B8.8080701@sneakertech.com> <559ED47E.8050905@hiwaay.net> <559F25F8.1030508@sneakertech.com> Reply-To: Polytropon Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 3.1.1 (GTK+ 2.24.5; i386-portbld-freebsd8.2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.20 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 02:06:36 -0000 On Thu, 09 Jul 2015 21:55:04 -0400, Quartz wrote: > >>> 2) How do I get freebsd-update to install only specific patches or > >>> updates instead of everything? > > > > Given the integration of base system packages & kernel, I don't think > > you would want to do this. This actually sounds kinda .... dare I say it > > (?) .... *linuxy* .... ick > > The main rationale here is that updates can occasionally cause behavior > changes which can negatively interact with 3rd party software. This is correct, but so can selectively applying updates... While updates to the operating system are usually tested before they are released, there _might_ be side effects on software which will show up due to an update of the OS. This is not very common, but possible. That's why it's important to also update /usr/src so you can read the UPDATING file which usually covers potential problems. > If we're > trying to test new patches for compatibility issues or we're seeing a > bug that seems dependent on patch level, it's kind of a requirement to > be able to step though the updates one by one. In this case, you need to be able to observe a difference between a problem caused by a particular update and a problem caused by an incomplete update. The key is to understand the order and the interconnections of updates involved in a freebsd-update step. But in general your idea and approach is correct. It's just the question if freebsd-update is the right tool to solve this problem, or if working with source patches is more efficient here. This of course depends on your requirements and workflow. -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...