2019-02-14 15:50:27 +00:00
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---
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layout: post
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title: "Running FreeBSD current"
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date: 2019-01-29
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comments: true
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tags: freebsd, x230, infra
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---
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I have been a FreeBSD user for quite sometime now. I run it on my
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[servers](/blog/2019/01/20/experiments-in-owning-data/index.html), and on my
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personal laptop, a Thinkpad x230.
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One of the main reasons I started experimenting with FreeBSD was to get more
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familiar with internals of a modern UNIX. What better way to learn than to poke
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around source? That's how I ended up building FreeBSD.
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__CURRENT__ is the FreeBSD terminology for _"bleeding edge"_ development
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version, [the subversion
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branch](https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/current-stable.html) where
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development happens. All new changes are developed against this branch, so this
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was the target/version that I wanted to build and run.
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## The good - Streamlined build
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The code structure of FreeBSD was a big help in doing this, all base components
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that one would need on a minimal UNIX installation is in [a single
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repo](https://svnweb.freebsd.org/base/head/). The components in this repo is
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enough to boot a computer and start writing (C/C++) code on it. Which made
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[compiling and running the development
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head](https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/makeworld.html) a no brainer-less
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than 10 commands job. Take that [LFS](http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/)!
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(sorry, couldn't resist).
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```
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# svn update /usr/src
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# cd /usr/src
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# make -j4 buildworld
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# make -j4 kernel
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# shutdown -r now
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# cd /usr/src
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# make installworld
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# mergemaster -Ui
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# shutdown -r now
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```
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## The Bad - Takes too long
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However compiling the entire tree is resource intensive, and it takes ~4 hours
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to build on my old Thinkpad, CPU usage will be at 100% and the laptop will be
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more or less unusable while building. This severely limited the frequency of
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updating code on laptop.
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### Mailing list to rescue
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People at the [FreeBSD-Current mailing
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list](https://www.mail-archive.com/freebsd-current@freebsd.org/msg175370.html)
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pointed out that I could just reuse the builds from my server. So that's what I
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have done, I have yet another hetzner box building FreeBSD-CURRENT periodically
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with
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2019-08-03 22:16:12 +00:00
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```bash
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2019-02-14 15:50:27 +00:00
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cd /usr/src && svn update .
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2019-08-03 22:16:12 +00:00
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make -j 4 buildkernel buildworld KERNCONF=GENERIC-LAPTOP | \
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tee /var/log/lastbuild.log
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2019-02-14 15:50:27 +00:00
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```
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and I pull it to my laptop with rsync, with roughly following
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2019-08-03 22:16:12 +00:00
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```bash
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2019-02-14 15:50:27 +00:00
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cd /usr
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rsync -avz builder:/usr/src .
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rsync -avz builder:/usr/obj .
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cd /usr/src
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make -j4 installkernel KERNCONF=GENERIC-LAPTOP
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shutdown -r now
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make -j4 installworld KERNCONF=GENERIC-LAPTOP
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```
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## The Ugly - Nothing yet
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Sorry to disappoint, I haven't come across any really bad things yet `¯\_(ツ)_/¯`.
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There is always risk of really breaking your system with an experimental OS
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version. I am yet to run across into that. That will eventually force me to use
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[ZFS boot environments](https://mwl.io/archives/2363), I guess.
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## That's all folks!
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Except for [some minor hiccups](/blog/2019/01/08/recurse-center-day-%23-2/index.html) the experience running CURRENT have been
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smooth, I will keep this blog updated if it breaks :-)
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