https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=292778
Bug ID: 292778
Summary: SA & EN - 15.0 Security and Errata: no pkgbase upgrade
information
Product: Base System
Version: 15.0-RELEASE
Hardware: Any
OS: Any
Status: New
Severity: Affects Some People
Priority: ---
Component: misc
Assignee: [email protected]
Reporter: [email protected]
A "SA-EN-pkgbase" binary upgrade procedure/option is not documented in:
(1) the SA-s and EN-s themselves
(2) the FreeBSD Handbook
(3) the pkgbase wiki
(4) freebsd-update(8)
Since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE, a package based OS (i.e. pkgbase),
is officially supported. However, the missing "pkgbase" upgrade
procedure might suggest otherwise. AFAIK, only freebsd-base(7)
mentions it briefly in its description.
- ad (1)
2025-12-17 the first EN and SA series were announced[*],
2026-01-27 the second EN and SA series were announced;
here, users are offered only the binary upgrade path through
using freebsd-update(8).
- ad (2)
The Handbook does not suggest otherwise, the appropriate section:
https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/book/#freebsdupdate-security-patches
does not mention it. In
https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/book/#_upgrading_a_host_using_freebsd_base
SA-s and ER-s are not mentioned and the user is left only to deduce
that this is to be used for the "Tech Preview"; something FreeBSD users
new to pkgbase are likely to overlook.
- ad (3) and (4)
The only "official" reference from an unsuccessful attempt of using
freebsd-update fetch
is in its error output message:
https://wiki.freebsd.org/PkgBase
that, wrt Security Advisories and Errata Notices, contains only:
"
Goals, and additional unresolved issues
[...]
- A strategy must be well thought out and implemented on how to handle Security
Advisories and Errata Notices, from when a change gets committed to a releng
branch to how updated packages are made available on mirrors
"
That doesn't seem all that helpful to me.
While the freebsd-update(8) cannot be used in a pkgbase OS, I suggest:
- change to output of
freebsd-update fetch
referencing valid documentation wrt to binary upgrade in general and
SA-s and EN-s in particular.
- extend its DESCRIPTION in that it is only suited for a non-pkgbase
system, i.e. based on traditional distribution sets
- mention the binary upgrade & patch procedure with a valid reference
___
[*] see also:
https://lists.freebsd.org/archives/freebsd-pkgbase/2025-December/001162.html
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