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Going back from OpenBSD-snapshot

··1674 words·8 mins

The road begins on a currently updated OpenBSD 7.3 release. That means, the following commands have been initiated and completed without errors.

$ doas syspatch
$ doas fw_update
fw_update: added none; updated none; kept intel,inteldrm,iwn,uvideo,vmm
$ doas pkg_add -uU
quirks-6.121 signed on 2023-07-25T19:47:50Z
This article may be hard to follow, because some hints are probably missing. Use your common sense to fill these gaps yourself.

Backups never hurt #

We will save a list of the currently installed packages. Just for the case…

$ pkg_info -mz >package-list.txt

Upgrading to the latest snapshot #

$ doas sysupgrade -s
Fetching from https://ftp.hostserver.de/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/amd64/
SHA256.sig   100% |********************************|  2144       00:00
Signature Verified
INSTALL.amd64 100% |*******************************| 44817       00:00
base73.tgz   100% |********************************|   368 MB    02:56
bsd          100% |********************************| 24714 KB    00:06
bsd.mp       100% |********************************| 24790 KB    00:10
bsd.rd       100% |********************************|  4549 KB    00:01
comp73.tgz   100% |********************************| 75592 KB    00:31
game73.tgz   100% |********************************|  2748 KB    00:01
man73.tgz    100% |********************************|  7822 KB    00:02
xbase73.tgz  100% |********************************| 57148 KB    00:23
xfont73.tgz  100% |********************************| 22968 KB    00:14
xserv73.tgz  100% |********************************| 14950 KB    00:09
xshare73.tgz 100% |********************************|  4578 KB    00:02
Verifying sets.
Fetching updated firmware.
fw_update: added none; updated intel,inteldrm,vmm; kept iwn,uvideo
Upgrading.

The computer reboots automatically at this point. After the reboot, we upgrade all the installed packages.

$ doas pkg_add -D snap -uvi
Update candidates: quirks-6.121 -> quirks-6.135
quirks-6.135 signed on 2023-07-28T05:14:51Z
quirks-6.121->6.135: ok
Update candidates: adwaita-icon-theme-43 -> adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0
Update candidates: librsvg-2.54.5p2 -> librsvg-2.56.3
Update candidates: libxml-2.10.4 -> libxml-2.11.4
Update candidates: libiconv-1.17 -> libiconv-1.17
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:libiconv-1.17->1.17: ok
Update candidates: xz-5.4.1 -> xz-5.4.3
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:xz-5.4.1->5.4.3: ok
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:libxml-2.10.4->2.11.4: ok
Update candidates: pango-1.50.14 -> pango-1.50.14
Update candidates: harfbuzz-7.1.0 -> harfbuzz-8.0.1
Update candidates: graphite2-1.3.14 -> graphite2-1.3.14
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:graphite2-1.3.14->1.3.14: ok
Update candidates: cairo-1.17.8 -> cairo-1.17.8p0
Update candidates: png-1.6.39 -> png-1.6.39
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:png-1.6.39->1.6.39: ok
Update candidates: glib2-2.74.6 -> glib2-2.76.4
Update candidates: libffi-3.4.4 -> libffi-3.4.4
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:libffi-3.4.4->3.4.4: ok
Update candidates: pcre2-10.37p1 -> pcre2-10.37p1
Update candidates: bzip2-1.0.8p0 -> bzip2-1.0.8p0
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:bzip2-1.0.8p0->1.0.8p0: ok
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:pcre2-10.37p1->10.37p1: ok
Update candidates: python-3.10.12 -> python-3.10.12
Update candidates: gettext-runtime-0.21.1 -> gettext-runtime-0.21.1
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:gettext-runtime-0.21.1->0.21.1: ok
Update candidates: sqlite3-3.41.0 -> sqlite3-3.42.0
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:sqlite3-3.41.0->3.42.0: ok
Can't install python-3.10.12 because of libraries
|library crypto.51.0 not found
| /usr/lib/libcrypto.so.50.0 (system): bad major
| /usr/lib/libcrypto.so.50.2 (system): bad major
| /usr/lib/libcrypto.so.52.0 (system): bad major
|library ssl.54.0 not found
| /usr/lib/libssl.so.53.0 (system): bad major
| /usr/lib/libssl.so.53.2 (system): bad major
| /usr/lib/libssl.so.55.0 (system): bad major
Direct dependencies for python-3.10.12->3.10.12 resolve to bzip2-1.0.8p0 xz-5.4.3 libffi-3.4.4 sqlite3-3.42.0 gettext-runtime-0.21.1
Full dependency tree is libiconv-1.17 sqlite3-3.42.0 gettext-runtime-0.21.1 bzip2-1.0.8p0 xz-5.4.3 libffi-3.4.4
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:glib2-2.74.6->2.76.4: ok
Update candidates: lzo2-2.10p2 -> lzo2-2.10p2
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:lzo2-2.10p2->2.10p2: ok
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:cairo-1.17.8->1.17.8p0: ok
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:.libs-harfbuzz-5.2.0+harfbuzz-7.1.0->harfbuzz-8.0.1: ok
Update candidates: fribidi-1.0.12 -> fribidi-1.0.13
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:fribidi-1.0.12->1.0.13: ok
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:pango-1.50.14->1.50.14: ok
Update candidates: gdk-pixbuf-2.42.10 -> gdk-pixbuf-2.42.10
Update candidates: shared-mime-info-2.2 -> shared-mime-info-2.2
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:shared-mime-info-2.2->2.2: ok
Update candidates: tiff-4.5.0p0 -> tiff-4.5.1
Update candidates: jpeg-2.1.4v0 -> jpeg-2.1.5.1v0
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:jpeg-2.1.4v0->2.1.5.1v0: ok
Update candidates: zstd-1.5.5 -> zstd-1.5.5
Update candidates: lz4-1.9.4 -> lz4-1.9.4
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:lz4-1.9.4->1.9.4: ok
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:zstd-1.5.5->1.5.5: ok
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:.libs-tiff-4.4.0p2+tiff-4.5.0p0->tiff-4.5.1: ok
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:gdk-pixbuf-2.42.10->2.42.10: ok
adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0:librsvg-2.54.5p2->2.56.3: ok
Update candidates: hicolor-icon-theme-0.17 -> hicolor-icon-theme-0.17
gtk-update-icon-cache-3.24.37->gtk4-update-icon-cache-4.10.4 forward dependencies:
| Dependency of neovim-0.8.3 on gtk-update-icon-cache-* doesn't match
| Dependency of gtk+3-3.24.37 on gtk-update-icon-cache-* doesn't match
| Dependency of adwaita-icon-theme-43 on gtk-update-icon-cache-* doesn't match
| Dependency of gnome-icon-theme-3.12.0p6 on gtk-update-icon-cache-* doesn't match
| Dependency of nitrogen-1.6.1p2 on gtk-update-icon-cache-* doesn't match
| Dependency of gcr-3.41.1p1 on gtk-update-icon-cache-* doesn't match
| Dependency of chromium-111.0.5563.110 on gtk-update-icon-cache-* doesn't match
| Dependency of gnome-icon-theme-symbolic-3.12.0p4 on gtk-update-icon-cache-* doesn't match
| Dependency of gtk+2-2.24.33p4 on gtk-update-icon-cache-* doesn't match
Update candidates: neovim-0.8.3 -> neovim-0.9.1p0
Merging neovim-0.8.3->0.9.1p0 (ok)

[...]

There are more messages that I found interesting, but I haven’t found much information about these yet.

[...]
Update candidates: drill-1.8.3 -> drill-1.8.3p0
Update candidates: libldns-1.8.3 -> libldns-1.8.3p0
Can't install libldns-1.8.3p0 because of libraries
Can't install drill-1.8.3p0 because of libraries
Direct dependencies for drill-1.8.3->1.8.3p0 resolve to libldns-1.8.3
Full dependency tree is libldns-1.8.3
[...]
[...]
Detected loop, merging sets ok
| gtk+3-cups-3.24.37->3.24.38
| adwaita-icon-theme-43+chromium-111.0.5563.110+gcr-3.41.1p1+gnome-icon-theme-3.12.0p6+gnome-icon-theme-symbolic-3.12.0p4+gtk+2-2.24.33p4+gtk+3-3.24.37+gtk-update-icon-cache-3.24.37+neovim-0.8.3+nitrogen-1.6.1p2->adwaita-icon-theme-44.0p0+chromium-115.0.5790.102+gcr-3.41.1p2+gnome-icon-theme-3.12.0p7+gnome-icon-theme-symbolic-3.12.0p5+gtk+2-2.24.33p5+gtk+3-3.24.38+gtk4-update-icon-cache-4.10.4+neovim-0.9.1p0+nitrogen-1.6.1p3
Update candidates: cups-libs-2.4.2p0 -> cups-libs-2.4.6
Update candidates: avahi-libs-0.8p3 -> avahi-libs-0.8p3
Update candidates: libevent-2.1.12p0 -> libevent-2.1.12p0
Can't install libevent-2.1.12p0 because of libraries
Update candidates: dbus-1.14.6p0v0 -> dbus-1.14.8v0
[...]

At this point I spent a few hours looking for a solution – I haven’t found one yet. I will probably don’t look at current to soon.

Revert back to -release #

Nonetheless, I could not fix this and I wanted to revert my system back to -release. There is no command to downgrade from -snapshot back to -release so we have to re-install the base files of the last -release.

Boot the bsd.rd kernel which will boot up to this prompt:

Welcome to the OpenBSD/amd64 7.3 installation program.
(I)nstall, (U)pgrade, (A)utoinstall or (S)hell? █

Enter u and hit Enter.

At any prompt except password prompts you can escape to a shell by
typing '!'. Default answers are shown in []'s and are selected by
pressing RETURN.  You can exit this program at any time by pressing
Control-C, but this can leave yout system in an inconsistent state.

Choose your keyboard layout ('?' or 'L' for list) [default] de.nodead
Available disks are: sd0.
Which disk is the root disk? ('?' for details) [sd0] sd0
Checking root filesystem (fsck -fp /dev/sd0a)... OK.
Mounting root filesystem (mount -o ro /dev/sd0a /mnt)... OK.
ifconfig: route: bad value
Force checking of clean non-root filesystems? [no] no
fsck -p 888c179eaf1d9c7e.l... OK.
fsck -p 888c179eaf1d9c7e.d... OK.
fsck -p 888c179eaf1d9c7e.f... OK.
fsck -p 888c179eaf1d9c7e.g... OK.
fsck -p 888c179eaf1d9c7e.h... OK.
fsck -p 888c179eaf1d9c7e.k... OK.
fsck -p 888c179eaf1d9c7e.j... OK.
fsck -p 888c179eaf1d9c7e.e... OK.
/dev/sd0a (888c179eaf1d9c7e.a) on /mnt type ffs (rw, local)
/dev/sd0l (888c179eaf1d9c7e.l) on /mnt/home type ffs (rw, local, nodev, nosuid)
/dev/sd0d (888c179eaf1d9c7e.d) on /mnt/tmp type ffs (rw, local, nodev, nosuid)
/dev/sd0f (888c179eaf1d9c7e.f) on /mnt/usr type ffs (rw, local, nodev)
/dev/sd0g (888c179eaf1d9c7e.g) on /mnt/usr/X11R6 type ffs (rw, local, nodev)
/dev/sd0h (888c179eaf1d9c7e.h) on /mnt/usr/local type ffs (rw, local, nodev, wxallowed)
/dev/sd0k (888c179eaf1d9c7e.k) on /mnt/usr/obj type ffs (rw, local, nodev, nosuid)
/dev/sd0j (888c179eaf1d9c7e.j) on /mnt/usr/src type ffs (rw, local, nodev, nosuid)
/dev/sd0e (888c179eaf1d9c7e.e) on /mnt/var type ffs (rw, local, nodev, nosuid)

Let's upgrade the sets!
Location of sets? (disk http nfs or 'done') [http]
HTTP proxy URL? (e.g. 'http://proxy:8080', or 'none') [none]
HTTP Server? (hostname, List#, 'done' or '?') [ftp.hostserver.de]
Server directory? [pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/amd64] pub/OpenBSD/7.3/amd64

Select sets by entering a set name, a file name pattern or 'all'. De-select
sets by prepending a '-', e.g.: '-game*'. Selected sets are labelled '[X]'.
    [X] bsd            [X] base73.tgz     [X] game73.tgz     [X] xfont73.tgz
    [X] bsd.mp         [X] comp73.tgz     [X] xbase73.tgz    [X] xserv73.tgz
    [X] bsd.rd         [X] man73.tgz      [X] xshare73.tgz
Set name(s)? (or 'abort' or 'done') [done] done
Directory does not contain SHA256.sig. Continue without verification? [no] yes
Installing bsd          100% |**************************| 24714 KB    00:00
Installing bsd.mp       100% |**************************| 24790 KB    00:00
Installing bsd.rd       100% |**************************|  4549 KB    00:00
Installing base73.tgz   100% |**************************|   368 MB    00:14
Installing comp73.tgz   100% |**************************| 75592 KB    00:06
Installing man73.tgz    100% |**************************|  7822 KB    00:01
Installing game73.tgz   100% |**************************|  2748 KB    00:00
Installing xbase73.tgz  100% |**************************| 57148 KB    00:03
Installing xshare73.tgz 100% |**************************|  4578 KB    00:02
Installing xfont73.tgz  100% |**************************| 22968 KB    00:01
Installing xserv73.tgz  100% |**************************| 14950 KB    00:00
Location of sets? (disk http nfs or 'done') [done] done
Making all device nodes... done.
Multiprocessor machine; using bsd.mp instead of bsd.
fw_update: added none; updated none; kept intel,inteldrm,iwn,uvideo,vmm
Relinking to create unique kernel... done.

CONGRATULATIONS! Your OpenBSD upgrade has been successfully completed!

Exit to (S)hell, (H)alt or (R)eboot? [reboot] █

When asked for the Server directory change from snapshots to 7.3.

pub/OpenBSD/7.3/amd64
The script/log above has been taken from the email that get sent to root after the upgrade. There might be some typing errors, but the screen output looks generally like that…

Back on release #

But we still run the -snapshot kernel.

$ uname -a
OpenBSD lenovo.lan 7.3 GENERIC.MP#1125 amd64

Installing the latest binary patches will also create an actual kernel.

$ doas syspatch
Get/Verify syspatch73-001_bgpd.tgz 100% |**********|   316 KB    00:00
Installing patch 001_bgpd
Get/Verify syspatch73-002_bgpd.tgz 100% |**********|   288 KB    00:00
Installing patch 002_bgpd
Get/Verify syspatch73-003_rpki.tgz 100% |**********|   104 KB    00:00
Installing patch 003_rpki
Get/Verify syspatch73-004_ssl.tgz 100% |***********|  2570 KB    00:04
Installing patch 004_ssl
Get/Verify syspatch73-005_libx11.tgz 100% |********|  1769 KB    00:01
Installing patch 005_libx11
Get/Verify syspatch73-006_bgpd.tgz 100% |**********|   210 KB    00:00
Installing patch 006_bgpd
Get/Verify syspatch73-007_httpd.tgz 100% |*********| 80314       00:00
Installing patch 007_httpd
Get/Verify syspatch73-008_elf.tgz 100% |***********| 88233       00:00
Installing patch 008_elf
Get/Verify syspatch73-009_bgpd.tgz 100% |**********|   210 KB    00:00
Installing patch 009_bgpd
Get/Verify syspatch73-010_ssh_age... 100% |********|  1898 KB    00:00
Installing patch 010_ssh_agent
Get/Verify syspatch73-011_amdcpu.tgz 100% |********| 70176       00:00
Installing patch 011_amdcpu
Get/Verify syspatch73-012_amdfirm... 100% |********|   364 KB    00:00
Installing patch 012_amdfirmware
Get/Verify syspatch73-013_amdcpuf... 100% |********| 34012       00:00
Installing patch 013_amdcpufirmware
Get/Verify syspatch73-014_wscons.tgz 100% |********| 39732       00:00
Installing patch 014_wscons
Get/Verify syspatch73-015_hvamdcp... 100% |********| 69888       00:00
Installing patch 015_hvamdcpu
Relinking to create unique kernel... done; reboot to load the new kernel
Errata can be reviewed under /var/syspatch

To apply the latest AMD microcode updates, we still have to execute two other commands.

$ doas fw_update
fw_update: added none; updated none; kept intel,inteldrm,iwn,uvideo,vmm
$ doas installboot -v sd0
Using / as root
installing bootstrap on /dev/rsd0c
using first-stage /usr/mdec/biosboot, second-stage /usr/mdec/boot
copying /usr/mdec/BOOTIA32.EFI to /tmp/installboot.gVEta0dehr/efi/BOOT/BOOTIA32.EFI
copying /usr/mdec/BOOTX64.EFI to /tmp/installboot.gVEta0dehr/efi/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI
$ shutdown -r now
Shutdown NOW!
shutdown: [pid 4264]

*** FINAL System shutdown message from dominic@lenovo.lan ***
System going down IMMEDIATELY
$ uname -a
OpenBSD lenovo.lan 7.3 GENERIC.MP#3 amd64

If for any reasons the packages cannot be updated because we still have newer packages installed (from snapshots) than available on release:

Remove them all and re-install them based on the backup (package-list.txt) we did earlier.

$ doas pkg_delete -X
rsync-3.2.7: ok
libiconv-1.17:hydra-9.2: ok
libiconv-1.17:freerdp-2.10.0: ok
libiconv-1.17:chromium-111.0.5563.110: ok
libiconv-1.17:gtk+3-cups-3.24.37: ok
libiconv-1.17:cups-libs-2.4.2p0: ok
libiconv-1.17:pcmanfm-1.3.2p0: ok
[...]

Re-install them based on our backup file.

$ doas pkg_add -z -l package-list.txt
quirks-6.121 signed on 2023-07-25T19:47:50Z
quirks-6.121: ok
aircrack-ng-1.5.2p8:sqlite3-3.41.0: ok
aircrack-ng-1.5.2p8:pcre-8.44: ok
[...]
Can't find uvideo-firmware-1.2p3
Can't find vmm-firmware-1.14.0p4
zsh-5.9: ok
Running tags: ok
Updating font cache: ok
The following new rcscripts were installed: /etc/rc.d/apache2 /etc/rc.d/gitdaemon /etc/rc.d/iperf3 /etc/rc.d/messagebus /etc/rc.d/rsyncd /etc/rc.d/saslauthd
See rcctl(8) for details.
New and changed readme(s):
	[...]
--- +fish-3.6.0p0 -------------------
You may wish to add /usr/local/share/fish/man to /etc/man.conf
--- +i3status-2.14 -------------------
Before running i3status, a configuration file needs to be created.
Copy the provided /usr/local/share/examples/i3status/i3status.conf
to ~/.i3status.conf and modify as necessary.

Output truncated to save some space/words.

Again, a shutdown -r now reboots the computer. Now all should be on an updated OpenBSD 7.3 (release) again.