I've somewhat less time than I would like to learn about the genius inside NetBSD; but for the past 30 years as a NetBSD luser, I have upgraded a running system exactly ... zero times.
I had a bad experience trying to upgrade NetBSD 5 to 7, and had to fall back to the backups. Once burned, twice shy. I now only upgrade when the HW craps out. The old NetBSD 5 machine crapped out a year ago, now I have an N200 with 10.0_RC6 because that was what was available when I needed to get the new machine up. I used to mess around with RPi4, but for those, it's easy to do a full OS re-install and then copy files. I rely on the N200 machine to provide web, file access, and email. I can't have it down for however long it takes for me to figure out how I've not upgraded some file in /abc/xyz/foo.bar incorrectly. Which I might not notice for weeks / months later. I'm afraid to upgrade. So, I don't. True story. -Mike On Thu, Oct 16, 2025 at 10:37 AM Liam Proven <[email protected]> wrote: > On 13/10/2025 1:28 am, RVP wrote: > > > > I would also add, > > > > 4) Copy the new EFI bootloader files to the NetBSD EFI ESP partition (if > > running EFI). (sysinst(8) updates the BIOS bootloader when you run it > > from an installation medium, but, doesn't for EFI boots.): > > No UEFI here. I avoid it if possible and my test machine is from 2008. > It's too old to have it. > > > I think this is where it all started to fall apart. This should _not_ > take > > hours. This, usually, is a sign that IPv6 isn't working correctly: either > > the ISP doesn't do this right, or their dinky router is mis-configured. > > I'm not using a router from my ISP, but an old one I got for free: it's > a Technicolor DGA0122 with firmware 19.4. > > I do not think my ISP uses IPv6 and I do not have it active as far as I > know. > > Nothing in what minimal documentation I could find mentions any need for > IPv6, as far as I recall. > > > FWIW, I did an upgrade, just now, of 10.0-RELEASE to the latest > 10.1-STABLE > > using the installation media (.iso image in QEMU) and it all went > > smoothly. > > How does one do that on bare metal? Can you point me at any > documentation? I did not know that was an option. > > The docs on this in general are... deeply inadequate. > > > > > The > > only manual step was running `etcupdate' after upgrade. But, this is a > > manual > > step in any case. > > It is? Is that discussed anywhere? > > > > I use this procedure to upgrade my NetBSD (I have a script for this, of > > course): > > > > https://www.unitedbsd.com/d/820-updating-netbsd-too-embaressed-to-ask/4 > > Ye gods! That is _shockingly_ complex. > > I think as far as curious readers who are thinking of exploring NetBSD > go, then I am probably at the stage of telling people: > > "Currently NetBSD is at a comparable level of sophistication to 9front: > upgrading means manually rebuilding your system, and you'll need a > considerable level of proficiency to even try. Until you acquire this, > then for now, the only easy way to upgrade to a new version of NetBSD is > to reinstall it." > > I am, TBH, a bit taken aback that such measures are needed in the 2020s. > I have done manual file-by-file OS upgrades in the past, and written > scripts to automate it, but that was in the early 1990s. > > > > Note that this is for moving along the same branch, 10.0 -> 10.1, etc. > > If you > > go from 10.x to 11.x, then you'll have to: install the kernel, modules, > > gpufw, > > bootloader (ideally); reboot into this; then upgrade the rest of the > > sets when > > running the new kernel. (Of course, you don't need to worry about any of > > this > > if you upgrade using one of the installation media.) > > Gosh. > > I think that at my current level of skill in NetBSD, this is beyond me. > > I have been building, installing and maintaining production Unix boxes > since my first job in 1988, but I was not expecting to have to > re-acquire such skills today. > > I am a bit shocked, TBH. > > A few years ago I wrote an article that did quite well about the most > complex manual upgrade I've read about in decades: of maybe the oldest > running Debian system. > > https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/25/ancient_linux_install_upgraded/ > > > It was based on Ian Jackson's own blog post: > > https://diziet.dreamwidth.org/11840.html > > I just added a lot of explanation of what he was talking about. > > I am taken aback that a manual upgrade from a clean unused install of > NetBSD 10 to 10.1 requires anything in the same ballpark. I was > expecting a single command, TBH. > > > -- > Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven > Email: [email protected] ~ gMail/Twitter/LinkedIn/FB/Bsky: lproven > IoM: (+44) 7624 227612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 > Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 > >
