FreeBSD Administration¶

Notes on FreeBSD system administration.

Some assumptions about the system are made. Like running a RELEASE version and using binary packages without anything built locally.

FreeBSD Updating Checklist¶

1. update the base system

   https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/updating-upgrading-freebsdupdate.html

   # freebsd-update fetch
   # freebsd-update install
   

2. Update jails

   https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/jails-ezjail.html

   # ezjail-admin update -u
   # mergemaster -U -D /usr/jails/jailname
   

3. Update packages:

   # pkg update
   # pkg upgrade
   

Updating Major/Minor Version¶

1. Update the base system:

   # freebsd-update -r 12.0-RELEASE upgrade
   # freebsd-update install # install the new kernel
   

   # reboot

   # freebsd-update install # install the rest, yes twice. Not sure why. # freebsd-update install

2. Update jails:

   # ezjail-admin update -U -s 11.0-RELEASE
   # mergemaster -U -D /usr/jails/jailname
   

3. Update pkg

   At this point, pkg may be broken and needs to be updated first:

   # pkg-static install -f pkg
   

4. Update packages:

   # pkg update
   # pkg upgrade
   

Operation not permitted on files¶

Some special files (directories) are marked with system immutable flag.

Remove with:

# chflags -R noschg *