OpenBSD: Mergemaster Tutorial

OpenBSD 4.2 is scheduled for release on November 1 and systems running releases prior to 4.2 should be upgraded. Mergemaster is a tool in ports included that minimizes upgrade headaches by merging system configuration files from OpenBSD 4.1 with the new 4.2 /etc and /var files.

Upgrade steps:

1. Buy a CD (EU link).

2. Backup the 4.1 system.

3. Upgrade the system using the "Upgrading a previously-installed OpenBSD System" section of INSTALL.$ARCH in the /4.2/$ARCH directory of the installation CD.

4. Upgrade installed packages with: pkg_add -ui -F update -F updatedepends

5. Use mergemaster (details below).