Subject: docs for doing binary upgrade without sysinst?
To: None <netbsd-docs@NetBSD.org>
From: Jeremy C. Reed <reed@reedmedia.net>
List: netbsd-docs
Date: 12/16/2005 15:48:20
The INSTALL docs talk briefly about doing an upgrade using sysinst.

It also says "The upgrade to NetBSD2.1 is a binary upgrade; it can be 
quite difficult to update the system from an earlier version by 
recompiling from source, primarily due to interdependencies in the various 
components."

That doesn't seem true.  I have done many source upgrades (such as using 
src/build.sh). It is normal. Could this sentence (from 
src/distrib/notes/common/upgrade) be made more clear or precise as to when 
the source based upgrade doesn't work??

I am looking for docs for manually doing upgrade via binary sets without 
using sysinst, such as
- retrieve tarballs
- backup kernel
- extract kernel
- extract etc set to somewhere other than etc
- use postinstall
- use etcupdate
- maybe reboot now (maybe single user mode)
- extract libs and other sets
- reboot

I saw basic steps in the "Tracking NetBSD-current" webpage but it is not 
specific to doing an upgrade for official release.

I also didn't see any mention of this is NetBSD Guide nor elsewhere in 
htdocs.

Can someone point me to the docs for this?

(I have done the upgrade many times, but now was loking for docs on 
postinstall in particular and then realized that all the documentation for 
binary upgrades appear to be missing.)

Do we have a "todo" list for the NetBSD Guide?

This reminds me ... probably the Documentation/current parts can be made 
less specific to just -current and this merged into Guide. And point to 
that URL instead of having different docs to maintain.

Same thing for INSTALL documentation. Maybe should simplify this. Take out 
parts and merge into Guide and then point to Guide as needed for more 
details.

  Jeremy C. Reed

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