Hitchhiker's Guide to Openbsd

 on its own partition
If you build often, you may find it faster to put 
/usr/obj
on its own partition. The benefit is simple, it 
is typically faster to: 
# umount /usr/obj
# newfs YourObjPartition
# mount /usr/obj
than to "rm -rf /usr/obj/*". 
5.11.6 - How do I not build parts of the tree?
Sometimes, you may wish to not build certain parts of the tree, typically because you have installed a 
replacement for an included application from packages, or wish to make a "smaller" release for whatever 
reason. The solution to this is to use the SKIPDIR option of 
/etc/mk.conf
. 
Note: it is possible to make a broken system this way. The results of this option are not supported by the 
OpenBSD project. 
5.11.7 - Where can I learn more about the build process?
Here are some other resources: 
●
release(8)
 
●
config(8)
●
mk.conf(5)
 
●
options(4)
●
/usr/src/Makefile
●
Patch Branches
(-stable) 
●
(for X) 
/usr/X11R6/README
on your installed system 
5.11.8 - I didn't see any snapshots on the FTP site. Where did they go?
Snapshots may be removed as they become old (or no longer relevant) or near the time of a new -
release. 
5.11.9 - How do I bootstrap a newer version of the compiler (gcc)?
You should really just 
install the latest snapshot
. 
http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq5.html (24 of 26)9/4/2011 10:02:02 AM

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5 - Building the System from Source
5.11.10 - What is the best way to update 
/etc
, 
/var
, and 
/dev
?
As a policy, software in the OpenBSD tree does not modify files in 
/etc
automatically. This means it is 
always up to the administrator to make the necessary modifications there. Upgrades are no exception. To 
update files in these directories, first determine what changes have occurred to the base (distribution) 
files, and then manually reapply these changes. 
For example, to see the files in the tree that have changed most recently, do a: 
# cd /usr/src/etc
# ls -lt |more
To see all the changes in 
/etc
between arbitrary versions of OpenBSD, you can use 
CVS
. For example, 
to see the changes between 4.8 and 4.9 do a: 
# cd /usr/src/etc
# cvs diff -u -rOPENBSD_4_8 -rOPENBSD_4_9
To see the changes between 4.9 and -current ("HEAD"), use: 
# cd /usr/src/etc
# cvs diff -u -rOPENBSD_4_9 -rHEAD
The 
/dev/MAKEDEV
 script is not updated automatically as part of the make build process, however it is 
installed as part of a 
binary upgrade
. As a general rule, it is a good idea to copy (if needed) and run this 
script from your source tree when performing an upgrade: 
# cd /dev
# cp /usr/src/etc/etc.`machine`/MAKEDEV ./
# ./MAKEDEV all
Once you have identified the changes, reapply them to your local tree, preserving any local 
configuration you may have done. 
Typical 
/etc
changes to watch out for between releases include: 
●
Additions to 
/etc/protocols
and 
/etc/services
●
New sysctls (see 
/etc/sysctl.conf
)
●
Changes to the default cron jobs. See 
/etc/daily
, 
/etc/weekly
, 
/etc/monthly
, and 
/
etc/security
http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq5.html (25 of 26)9/4/2011 10:02:02 AM

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5 - Building the System from Source
●
All rc scripts, including netstart
●
Device changes, see above 
●
File hierarchy changes in 
/etc/mtree
, see 
below
 
●
New users (
/etc/passwd
) and groups (
/etc/group
) 
These changes are summarized in 
upgrade49.html
 (for going to 4.9-release) or 
current.html
(for going to 
-current).