I am a linux user that wants to switch to freebsd... I am a bit confused
about applying updates etc..
I installed a box for trial it was 5.1, I wanted to see if I could use ports to update openssh for a test examp. After the port installed I noticed that another version of openssh was installed on the system. I talked with a friend and he said that it was part of usr/src and I could update it by compiling the usr.bin version.. which was fine and worked. Here are my questions:
1) if there are two trees(lack of better words) why would ssh exist in both the system tree and the ports tree ? Wouldnt it be better to have it in the ports tree ?
Well, it IS in the ports tree, but bear a few things in mind:
1. Everything in /usr/src is considered part of the base system, equivalent to 'system' in GenToo (unsurprisingly, as GenToo Portage/emerge is based heavily on bsd ports...but see below)
2. The ports tree is optional, but where you can track system source updates to a given CVS label, eg STABLE (recommended for production/stability), the ports tree isn't versioned, it's the equivalent of current. When you build from a port, it essentially builds the package and does a pkg_add, so it's still tracked by the bsd package system.
This combination allows you to keep the base system at a stable level, and then either NOT update your ports tree to get the equivalent ports from the particular label you're tracking on a given system, or to selectivly update single ports software, or all of the ports collection.
2) I have used gentoo in the past and am curious if there is something simular to emerge -up world/system -- I would like to cvs the ports/sys and then be able to see if anything need upgrading .. is this possible ?
Yep, install portupgrade and cvsup. If it's on a slower system, highly recommend doing it via pkg_add -r portupgrade or pkg_add -r cvsup
to avoid having to compile ruby, perl and possibly other dependencies from scratch. Once you become familiar with the way ports/portupgrade and cvsup work (Note- sections on all 3 in the handbook, should be installed under /usr/share/doc/handbook on your system), you can then if you decide to, use portupgrade and the buildworld target to effectively rebuild your entire system from source.
The quickest equivalent to emerge -pUD world is using pkg_version
3) Say there was a update to openssh .. which would be the proper way to
update .. sync the sys tree and then just update ssh .. or sync the tree and recompile the system ? or remove the sys version and install the port version and update the port ?
Set up cvsup properly (handbook + example file in /usr/share/examples) to the label you want to track to, cron it, and have it mail you output, and subscribe to the freebsd security mailing list. Either should be enough to give you some indication by itself..
I am very happy with freebsd .. Im still in the exploring stage .. The reasons for my questions is that I am a little weary of using freebsd in
production if I dont easily know when updates are avail, having to recompile the system everytime I need a patch for a service.
You don't nescessarily need to recompile the entire base system, let alone the equivalent of 'world,' for an update. portupgrade and pkg_version will help out here...
Scott
Thanks for helping me convert, rottie
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