OpenBSD Following -current and using snapshots [FAQ Index]

Active OpenBSD development is known as the -current branch. These sources are frequently compiled into releases known as snapshots.

Aggressive changes are sometimes pushed in this branch, and complications can arise when building the latest code or upgrading from a previous point in time. Some of the steps for getting over these hurdles are explained on this page. Make sure you've read and understand how to build the system from source before using -current and the instructions below.

In general, it's far easier to use snapshots, as developers will have gone through much of the trouble for you already.

You should always use a snapshot as the starting point for running -current. This process typically consists of downloading (and verifying) the appropriate bsd.rd file from the /snapshots/ directory of your preferred mirror, booting from it, and choosing (U)pgrade at the prompt. Any installed packages should then be upgraded after booting into the new system.

Upgrading to -current by compiling your own source code is discouraged for everyone except for experts, as difficult build-time crossing-points can occur often, and no assistance will be provided. In case of failure, use a snapshot to recover.

Most of these changes will have to be performed as root.

2019/05/29 - vmctl(8): command line syntax changed

The order of the arguments in the create, start, and stop commands of vmctl(8) has been changed to match a commonly expected style. Manual usage or scripting with vmctl must be adjusted to use the new syntax. For example, the old syntax looked like this: 
# vmctl create disk.qcow2 -s 50G
The new syntax specifies the command options before the argument: 
# vmctl create -s 50G disk.qcow2

2019/06/07 - acme-client(1): api url changed

acme-client(1) has been updated to implement the recently published RFC 8555. Users must change the api url in /etc/acme-client.conf from 
https://acme-v01.api.letsencrypt.org/directory
to 
https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory

2019/06/07 - [ports] MariaDB upgrade

MariaDB was upgraded to the 10.3 branch. Due to changes in redo logs, ensure that your previous version was shut down cleanly before upgrading. The /etc/my.cnf option innodb_additional_mem_pool_size, found in some old default configurations, is no longer supported - remove it if present. If the new version fails to start, review /var/mysql/(hostname).err. As usual, run mysql_upgrade(1) after the update.

2019/06/11 - acme-client(1): command line flags retired

The -A and -D flags have been removed from acme-client(1). The private keys are now created automatically if missing. If you were using either of these flags on your regular command lines, remove them.

2019/06/18 - doas(1): altered environment variables

The environment variable handling in doas(1) has been changed. In particular HOME and PATH are now reset to the target user.

2019/06/19 - [ports] courier-imap utf-8 support

In courier-imap full utf-8 support has been enabled, if you are using imap folders with utf8 names you should check and/or convert them using maildirmake(1) --checkutf8 and --convutf8 options.

2019/06/25 - bgpctl(8) removal of irrfilter

The bgpctl(8) irrfilter command has been removed. People interested in generating prefix- and as-sets from IRR data should use bgpq3 from ports.

2019/06/26 - [ports] gzdoom incompatibles with old saves

gzdoom was updated to 4.1.2 which makes it incompatible with previously saved games. There is no upstream solution.

2019/08/07 - Removal of route-collector mode in bgpd(8)

The config keyword route-collector is deprecated and will cause bgpd(8) to fail parsing the config. Instead disable the route evaluation process on the Loc-RIB with rde rib Loc-RIB no evaluate.

2019/08/21 IPv6 link-local address change

It has been discovered that some hosting providers route customer IPv6 prefixes to link-local addresses derived from Ethernet MAC addresses (RFC 2464). This leads to hard to debug IPv6 connectivity issues with the RFC 7217-style random but stable link-local addresses that we used. Link-local addresses are again formed from Ethernet MAC addresses.

2019/08/27 - [ports] Datadir added to default postgres flags

Default rc.d(8) flags for databases/postgresql have been changed from: 
daemon_flags="-w -l /var/postgresql/logfile"
to 
daemon_flags="-D /var/postgresql/data -w -l /var/postgresql/logfile"
if you defined postgresql_flags in /etc/rc.conf.local make sure that your entry includes -D /var/postgresql/data.

2019/09/11 - [ports] rss2email update, save config before updating

rss2email has been updated to a new major version with incompatible configuration. Before updating, save your feed list: 
r2e list > ~/r2e.txt
r2e opmlexport > ~/r2e.opml
After updating, see the notes in /usr/local/share/pkg-readmes/rss2email.
$OpenBSD: current.html,v 1.1010 2019/09/11 00:19:57 sthen Exp $