# easy package update?



## yapphdorlw (Mar 7, 2012)

Hello guys,

I'm pretty new to *Free*BSD, and there is a question still concerning me: is there an easy way for keeping your system up do date?

(The handbook tells me how to upGRADE, but not how to upDATE)

I'm mean is there something like:

```
yum update
emerge world
```
(Sorry my head is still in the Linux world)

What I figured out so far is:


```
cd /usr/ports
make fetchindex
pkg_version -vIL=
pkg_delete -f foo-123
pkg_add -r foo
```

That might be working, but what if I had to update many packages?

Wouldn't that be too much work?

Of course I could just write a bash script (I already hate tcsh, sorry) but a built-in mechanism would be better!

Other questions bugging me are:
-How do you decide when to compile a port
 or installing it by binary package?
-I'm confused by the version numbering.
 How could the current version be 9.0, when 8.3 is upcoming?

I hope I'm not annoying too much, but in BSD everything is so .. different


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## ahavatar (Mar 7, 2012)

The easiest way is not to upgrade at all, except security holes. And like every 10 months, a new version of FreeBSD release will be introduced, then upgrade the whole system.

I use portupgrade to compile ports myself. I once tried to use only pre-compiled binary packages, but they are not available all the time and sometimes that leaves my FreeBSD system half-broken. So if you want an easy way, just stick to FreeBSD RELEASE and upgrade only when a new version is out.


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## DutchDaemon (Mar 7, 2012)

Asking multiple questions in one topic is not productive, it leads to chaotic replies, if there are any replies at all. Moreover, you appear to have overlooked The FreeBSD Handbook, which contains most of the information you are looking for in great detail; these questions have also been asked and answered in these forums dozens of times (and that's a conservative estimate, so check the 'Search' function). Reading is a big part of the FreeBSD learning curve. Don't skip FreeBSD? So, what is it?, which should cure you of too many Linuxisms getting in the way. FreeBSD's architecture is very different, and without understanding that difference you're bound to give up.


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## yapphdorlw (Mar 9, 2012)

*That easy?*

I guess there was a big mess inside of my head!
I have re-read the appropriate handbook parts, and might be understanding it now.
(At least I hope so)

What confused me most was the mixture of ports and packages.
Let's see if I understood it this time:

First of all, your best friend is
[CMD=]freebsd-update fetch install[/CMD]
which will keep your base system up-to-date.

Since we also might have ports to update, we first update the ports-tree with
[CMD=]portsnap fetch update[/CMD]
Then I can recompile the outdated ports with
[CMD=]portupgrade -ai[/CMD]
I might want to check the system before with
[CMD=]pkgdb -F[/CMD]

Could this be correct so far?

Now my question would be, can I fuse the *freebsd-update* step and the *portupgrade* part?
Perhaps with the *-P* flag?

Concerning the upgrade part, I was confused about the version numbering. Could I compare a minor upgrade to a service pack?

As far as I observed it there isn't much of an update mayhem in FreeBSD, isn't it?

Did I understand the BSD way a little more?

Thanks in advance


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## SirDice (Mar 9, 2012)

yapphdorlw said:
			
		

> Now my question would be, can I fuse the freebsd-update step and the portupgrade part?


No, keep in mind the base OS and the ports/packages are basically two separate entities.



> Concerning the upgrade part, I was confused about the version numbering. Could I compare a minor upgrade to a service pack?


Yeah, you could view it that way. Some service packs, besides security updates, also introduced new features. 



> As far as I observed it there isn't much of an update mayhem in FreeBSD, isn't it?


If you track a -RELEASE branch updates are far and few in between. The only updates you'll receive are security fixes.



> Did I understand the BSD way a little more?


You're getting there


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## paulw (Mar 9, 2012)

You might find this thread helpful:

http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=26140


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## yapphdorlw (Mar 9, 2012)

Great! I finally figured the updating process out!

A small summary:
For keeping your system safe you will not need more than these

freebsd-update
portaudit
portsnap
make or your favourite utility (portupgrade, portmaster, ...)

Thank your for this small enlightenment :stud

-
Since I can't edit my post yet, I would like to ask a moderator/admin if you could mark this thread solved and correct the small mistake in my last post


> freebsd-update [...] will keep your system including installed packages up-to-date.


Which is not true! (excluding would be better)


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