FreeBSD Kernel Upgrade

Prepare for the worst

(good to do on a regular basis anyway)

Backup /etc
Backup /usr/local/etc
Backup /usr/src/sys/i386/conf/$KERNAL_NAME
Backup patition sizes
Backup installed package names: pkg-info -a
Backup users

The Fixit mode

This is avaliable from the install CDROM. Enter the fixit mode from the Menu and insert the Live/Fixit Disk (be sure to wait until the CD has fully registered before continuing)

Mounting the root partition. This turns out to be a little more complicated than expected:

cp /mnt2/dev/MAKEDEV /dev
vi /dev/MAKDEV, change /sbin/mknod to /mnt2/sbin/mknod
vi /etc/group, and add the lines:

wheel:*:0:root
kmem:*:2:root
operator:*:5:root

cd dev
./MAKEDEV $ROOT_DEV, where ROOT_DEV is probably something like /dev/ad0s1a
mount -t ufs /dev/$ROOT_DEV /mnt

Integrated Configuration tool

The text mode configuration tool is "/stand/sysinstall"