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Expertise: Beginner
Language: command line

April 16, 2004

Install CVsup to Stay Current with FreeBSD

If you have just installed FreeBSD's ports collection using a CD-ROM, you must upgrade to the latest releases of the ported software you need. If you have just installed FreeBSD and the ports collection via FTP, you are already current.

Fortunately, FreeBSD makes staying current extremely easy:

    TYPE cd /usr/ports/net/cvsup-without-gui
    TYPE make
    TYPE make install
    TYPE make clean

As root, copy /usr/share/examples/cvsup/ports-supfile to a new location. In this case, copy to /root on your home directory:

    TYPE cp /usr/share/examples/cvsup/ports-supfile /root/ports-supfile

* Notice the space between ports-supfile and /root/ports-supfile. Edit ports-supfile with your favorite editor:

    TYPE ee /root/ports-supfile

Change the ports-supfile (line 50 or so) to look something like the following:

#*********************************************************************
*default host=cvsup.ca.FreeBSD.org.
*default base=/usr
*default prefix=/usr
*default release=cvs
*default delete use-rel-suffix
*default tag=.
src-all
#**********************************************************************

Pay particular attention to the first and last lines. Choosing a CVsup mirror that is located near you will save a lot of time. At the very least, download one from the country where you live. Click here for a list of mirrors. After you've done this, press Escape and then Return to leave editor. Press Return to save your changes. Before running CVsup, you have to reboot your system:

    TYPE  shutdown -r now

Once you have once again logged in as root: Now it's time to run CVsup:

    TYPE cvsup -g -L 2 /root/ports-supfile

This command upgrades all the skeletons in your ports collection. Depending on your Internet connection speed, the upgrade can take an hour or longer.