# FreeBSD 8.2-PRERELEASE ?



## ahavatar (Dec 21, 2010)

I've done my monthly 8.1-STABLE FreeBSD upgrade, and my system turns into PRERELEASE instead of STABLE. Is this a correct result?

```
# uname -a
FreeBSD slash 8.2-PRERELEASE FreeBSD 8.2-PRERELEASE #0: Tue Dec 21 10:21:58 KST 2010     ahavatar@slash:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC  amd64
#
```


----------



## wblock@ (Dec 21, 2010)

Sure.  After a while it'll probably turn into 8.2-RC1.


----------



## SirDice (Dec 21, 2010)

Which will, later on, change to 8.2-STABLE.


----------



## overmind (Dec 21, 2010)

```
FreeBSD 8.2-BETA1 FreeBSD 8.2-BETA1 #0: Sun Dec  5 01:46:24 UTC 2010 
    root@mason.cse.buffalo.edu:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC  amd64
```

Quick question: If i cvsup with *default tag=RELENG_8_2 i've noticed it deletes file from /usr/src, so I am doing something wrong. What is the correct cvsup line?


----------



## SirDice (Dec 21, 2010)

RELENG_8_2 (8.2-RELEASE) has already been branched off RELENG_8 (8-STABLE) so that's quite normal behaviour.

On second thought, it hasn't been branched off yet, it was supposed to happen on the 15th.

http://www.freebsd.org/releases/8.2R/schedule.html


----------



## overmind (Dec 21, 2010)

And if I need to fetch sources for kernel and world for 8.2 what *default tag I should use for cvsup? (because sources for world and kernel were deleted).


----------



## SirDice (Dec 21, 2010)

Either use RELENG_8 to get 8-STABLE (which is now 8.2-PRERELEASE) or wait for the branch.


----------



## ckester (Dec 22, 2010)

Re the original question, it might be useful to review the following page from the Handbook:

CVS Tags

Notice that if you're tracking RELENG_8, aka FreeBSD 8-STABLE, the minor version number can and does change.  It's the "line of development for FreeBSD-8.X". 

RELENG_8_1 is *not* STABLE.  It's the 8.1 Release, plus any security advisories and other critical fixes.  STABLE will include many other things that are not in RELENG_8_1.

In summary, it's probably best to ignore the fact that uname reports the installed version as "8.1-STABLE", etc., and instead think of it as simply "8-STABLE".


----------



## kpa (Dec 22, 2010)

It looks like RELENG_8_2 is now available at the mirrors and it's actually 8.2 RC1, not PRERELEASE anymore.


----------



## wblock@ (Dec 22, 2010)

overmind said:
			
		

> And if I need to fetch sources for kernel and world for 8.2 what *default tag I should use for cvsup? (because sources for world and kernel were deleted).



RELENG_8_2 didn't exist at that time.  csup happily removed everything that wasn't a part of RELENG_8_2, i.e., everything.

So RELENG_8_2 is the right tag, you were just ahead of your time.


----------



## ahavatar (Dec 22, 2010)

ckester said:
			
		

> Re the original question, it might be useful to review the following page from the Handbook:
> 
> CVS Tags
> 
> ...



Actually what I've been doing is just to cvsup /usr/share/examples/cvsup/stable-supfile with the host variable changed to a mirror site. Some months ago right after installing my FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE (my first FreeBSD), it became 8-STABLE by doing this and compiling, installing etc. And then sometime later it became 8.1-STABLE, and now it is 8.2-PRERELEASE. 

I thought my system would remain 8-STABLE, but it seems that it's been automagically changing even though my intention is to stay with and trace 8-STABLE. This is a little kind of confusing.


----------



## wblock@ (Dec 22, 2010)

ahavatar said:
			
		

> Actually what I've been doing is just to cvsup /usr/share/examples/cvsup/stable-supfile with the host variable changed to a mirror site. Some months ago right after installing my FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE (my first FreeBSD), it became 8-STABLE by doing this and compiling, installing etc. And then sometime later it became 8.1-STABLE, and now it is 8.2-PRERELEASE.
> 
> I thought my system would remain 8-STABLE, but it seems that it's been automagically changing even though my intention is to stay with and trace 8-STABLE. This is a little kind of confusing.



All of those are just slightly more specific names of 8-STABLE.  8-STABLE is continuously evolving, and those names appear at various stages.  So good news: you're doing it right!

Incidentally, -STABLE does not refer to the robustness of the software, but to the ABI: applications compiled for FreeBSD 8 will continue to run on 8-STABLE.  The ABI is stable, and will not change.


----------



## ckester (Dec 23, 2010)

ahavatar said:
			
		

> I thought my system would remain 8-STABLE, but it seems that it's been automagically changing even though my intention is to stay with and trace 8-STABLE. This is a little kind of confusing.



It has remained 8-STABLE.  Your confusion is the result of misunderstanding what 8-STABLE is.  You mistook it for the 8.1 Release + Security Advisories.

8-STABLE is not tied to any minor version.  It is, however, tied to the major version.  So, although it might someday become "8.3-STABLE", it will never become "9.0-STABLE".

If you want to avoid having your system upgraded to the next minor version, you should use RELENG_8_0, RELENG_8_1, or RELENG_8_2 in your supfile, not RELENG_8.   

I.e., if you want to stay with a specific minor version, the tag you use should include that minor version number.


----------



## ahavatar (Dec 23, 2010)

ckester said:
			
		

> It has remained 8-STABLE.  Your confusion is the result of misunderstanding what 8-STABLE is.  You mistook it for the 8.1 Release + Security Advisories.
> 
> 8-STABLE is not tied to any minor version.  It is, however, tied to the major version.  So, although it might someday become "8.3-STABLE", it will never become "9.0-STABLE".
> 
> ...



My understanding was for tag=RELENG_8, it would stay 8-STABLE. And it is indeed, but as I mentioned above, "uname -a" shows ever-changing results over time, that is a little confusing. 

How do I know that I'm correctly tracing 8-STABLE? How do I make sure that I didn't make a mistake in setting the tag variable if "uname -a" doesn't show 8-STABLE ?


----------



## ckester (Dec 23, 2010)

At this point, I think we're starting to go in circles.

The CVS tags and the uname output have been explained.  What more is there to say?


----------



## Seeker (Dec 23, 2010)

Release notes, for 8.2 beta1 are actually those of 8.1
I.e; It states ZFS is v14, but actually it is v15


----------



## ahavatar (Dec 24, 2010)

ckester said:
			
		

> At this point, I think we're starting to go in circles.
> 
> The CVS tags and the uname output have been explained.  What more is there to say?



It would be great if there's a method to check a running kernel for its CVS tag. The uname output is ever-changing over time, thus after upgrading and booting the new system, I honestly don't know if I've done it correctly. How do you know the kernel you are running is compiled with a specific tag?


----------



## wblock@ (Dec 24, 2010)

The tag is the title of the book, the uname output is the page number.  Don't make me get more cryptic.


----------

