# Request: Upgrade strategy from 6.0 to 7.2



## jaymax (Jul 19, 2009)

Hello,

I am currently running 
6.0-RELEASE FreeBSD 6.0-RELEASE #0: Tue Oct 17 05:16:31 PDT 2006
on an i386 architecture platform and would like to upgrade to the latest stable release version, which seems to be 7.2.

I would appreciate any feedback and tips as to how I can best achieve this with the minimum of *"chaos and destruction*".

Thanks


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## jaymax (Jul 19, 2009)

Lets see to be a bit more explicit:

Can I go directly from 6.0 to 7.2?

If not what are the steps?

Is there any UPGRADE tool to facilitate the integration or is it a repeat of the sysinstall operation?

I configured my /var to /usr/var via a soft link, will this be maintained or
Would I have to repartition the disk to accommodate the /usr/var directory which has grown considerably?

What about customized config files, do i have to run the mergemaster utility?

and

What about my data and databases MySQL and PostgreSQL ?

Thanks


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## sverreh (Jul 19, 2009)

Chapter 24 of the Handbook should help you: 

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/book.html#UPDATING-UPGRADING-FREEBSDUPDATE


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## jaymax (Jul 19, 2009)

Thanks!

I am looking at Chp 24, I am seeing quite a few statements saying "FreeBSD 6.3 or greater", that has raised a Red Flag in my mindset.
Do I have to upgrade to 6.3 before jumping to 7.x, I am not seeing any mentioninng of this, perhaps I am missing something? 

That is one of the first things I need to clarify!


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## phoenix (Jul 19, 2009)

The recommended method for upgrading between major versions is:

upgrade to the last minor point release (6.0 -> 6.4)
upgrade to the .0 major release (6.4 -> 7.0)

Afterwards, re-install all your ports.

While it's possible to upgrade from any 6.x to any 7.y directly, it's not guaranteed to work without errors.


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## jaymax (Jul 20, 2009)

*Solved*

Thanks everybody


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## Artefact2 (Jul 27, 2009)

phoenix said:
			
		

> Afterwards, re-install all your ports.



Is there a way to do this automatically ? Thanks.


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## kotora (Jul 28, 2009)

Use ports-mgmt/portupgrade for that.


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## Artefact2 (Jul 28, 2009)

kotora said:
			
		

> Use ports-mgmt/portupgrade for that.



Well thanks, I already use portupgrade to keep my ports up to date, but I read the whole manpage and I didn't read anything about a way to force the reinstall all the ports.


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## DutchDaemon (Jul 28, 2009)

[cmd=]portupgrade -af[/cmd] ...


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## Artefact2 (Jul 29, 2009)

DutchDaemon said:
			
		

> [cmd=]portupgrade -af[/cmd] ...



Thank you, mate.  I thought the "-f" option would only set FORCE_PKG_REGISTER to yes.


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