Sunday 18 August 2024


Upgrading jails to FreeBSD-14.1
===============================

Today I've been upgrading my llttle FreeBSD jail- and bhyve server.
This server runs several FreeBSD jails and some virtual machines,
using the great and easy vm-bhyve management system created for bhyve
virtual machines.

The server is installed using the wonderful ZFS file system. 

Upgrading the server
--------------------
Upgrading the server was a simple process, just following the
friendly manual [1].

Upgrading the jails
-------------------
FreeBSD jails are light weight containers, running on the FreeBSD
kernel of the host. Therefor, they should use the same version of the
system as the host.

Upgrading jails is not much different from upgrading the host.
Again, I followed the friendly manual [2].

Fat jails
---------
At the time I installed this machine I made the choice to use
fat jails. Because the server runs ZFS, the creation of a new
jail is practically instantaneous.

As always, convenience comes with a price, in this case that each of
the fat jails needs to be upgraded individually. Upgrading the jails
is not difficult, but it takes some time.

IMAP/SMTP server
----------------
My mail server is also a jail, it runs the Dovecot IMAP server and the
sendmail smtp server together with OpenDKIM. The creation of this
system took some time. Compared to the other jails, the configuration
of this mail server is a bit more complex and upgrading it is a bit
scary. All went well, and after the upgrade it got the new incoming
mail using the good old trusty Fetchmail/Procmail combination. Sending
a test message also worked fine, including the DKIM signature.

Smooth upgrade
--------------
All went file, all jails are up and running. Starting a virtual
machine also went smooth. The jails and the virtual machine are
accessible from the LAN.

So, mission accomplished :)

[1]: https://www.freebsd.org/releases/14.1R/installation/#upgrade-binary
[2]: https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/jails/#jails-updating


Last edited: $Date: 2024/08/18 18:07:25 $