OpenBSD 7.4 Sysupgrade Guide
This is a quick upgrade guide for OpenBSD 7.4 using sysupgrade.
NOTE: This guide is no substitute for reading the OpenBSD FAQ. In particular, you should read the Upgrade Guide.
First, check to see if you need to upgrade your OS. To find our your operating system version, type: uname -r. If it says 7.3 or earlier, you need to upgrade. If it says 7.4, or 7.4-beta you are on the most recent OS version.
Before you begin, make sure to back up any files. Use dump and restore or rsync.
Performing the Upgrade
$ doas sysupgrade
Running sysupgrade above will automatically download the base sets and reboot the system for installation. The upgrade will begin automatically. You can view it in the serial console? for VMM or in VNC for BuyVM.
$ doas sysupgrade Fetching from https://ftp.usa.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/7.4/amd64/ SHA256.sig 100% |***********************************| 2144 00:00 Signature Verified INSTALL.amd64 100% |**********************************| 43495 00:00 base74.tgz 100% |***********************************| 330 MB 02:18
Once installation begins, you will need serial console access to view
progress. If you're on OpenBSD's VMM, login to the host and use
vmctl console:
host$ vmctl console username syncing disks... done vmmci0: powerdown rebooting... Using drive 0, partition 3. Loading...... probing: pc0 com0 mem[638K 3070M a20=on] disk: hd0+ hd1+ >> OpenBSD/amd64 BOOT 3.53 upgrade detected: switching to /bsd.upgrade
Once complete, it will automatically reboot:
Installing xserv74.tgz 100% |**************************| 20117 KB 00:07 Location of sets? (cd0 disk http nfs or 'done') [done] done Making all device nodes... done. fw_update: firmware.openbsd.org: no address associated with name add none; update none Cannot fetch http://firmware.openbsd.org/firmware/7.4/SHA256.sig Relinking to create unique kernel... done. CONGRATULATIONS! Your OpenBSD upgrade has been successfully completed! syncing disks... done vmmci0: powerdown rebooting...
After installation completes, you should be able to login using ssh:
Last login: Wed Nov 15 18:33:08 2023 OpenBSD 7.4 (GENERIC) #1336: Tue Oct 10 08:52:22 MDT 2023 Welcome to OpenBSD: The proactively secure Unix-like operating system. Please use the sendbug(1) utility to report bugs in the system. Before reporting a bug, please try to reproduce it with the latest version of the code. With bug reports, please try to ensure that enough information to reproduce the problem is enclosed, and if a known fix for it exists, include that as well. $
To check if installation succeeded:
$ uname -a OpenBSD username.host.example.com 7.4 GENERIC#1336 amd64
To check if you have the proper amount of RAM and number of cores, run top?.
load averages: 0.61, 0.48, 0.41 01:49:33 217 processes: 216 idle, 1 on processorup 137 days, 3:21 CPU0: 6.4% user, 0.0% nice, 19.5% sys, 6.9% spin, 1.0% intr, 66.3% idle CPU1: 6.5% user, 0.0% nice, 18.9% sys, 7.1% spin, 0.0% intr, 67.5% idle Memory: Real: 1023M/1775M act/tot Free: 189M Cache: 392M Swap: 993M/2288M
You will want to patch the system:
$ doas syspatch
Then, you'll want to run sysmerge to merge any configuration files:
$ doas sysmerge
Then, make sure to upgrade your packages:
$ doas pkg_add -u
Read and fix any error messages that you may see.
You will want to reboot after some patches:
$ doas shutdown -r now