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.
--
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