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FREEBSD-UPDATE(8)	FreeBSD	System Manager's Manual	     FREEBSD-UPDATE(8)

NAME
     freebsd-update -- fetch and install binary	updates	to FreeBSD

SYNOPSIS
     freebsd-update [-F] [-b basedir] [--currently-running release]
		    [-d	workdir] [-f conffile] [-j jail] [-k KEY]
		    [--not-running-from-cron] [-r newrelease] [-s server]
		    [-t	address] command ...

DESCRIPTION
     The freebsd-update	tool is	used to	fetch, install,	and rollback binary
     updates to	the FreeBSD base system.

BINARY UPDATES AVAILABILITY
     Binary updates are	not available for every	single FreeBSD version and ar-
     chitecture.

     In	general, binary	updates	are available for ALPHA, BETA, RC, and RELEASE
     versions of FreeBSD, e.g.:
	   FreeBSD 13.1-ALPHA3
	   FreeBSD 13.1-BETA2
	   FreeBSD 13.1-RC1
	   FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE
     They are not available for	branches such as PRERELEASE, STABLE, and CUR-
     RENT, e.g.:
	   FreeBSD 13.0-PRERELEASE
	   FreeBSD 13.1-STABLE
	   FreeBSD 14.0-CURRENT

     In	particular, the	FreeBSD	Security Team only builds updates for releases
     shipped in	binary form by the FreeBSD Release Engineering Team.

OPTIONS
     The following options are supported:

     -b	basedir	    Operate on a system	mounted	at basedir.  (default: /, or
		    as given in	the configuration file.)

     -d	workdir	    Store working files	in workdir.  (default:
		    /var/db/freebsd-update/, or	as given in the	configuration
		    file.)

     -f	conffile    Read configuration options from conffile.  (default:
		    /etc/freebsd-update.conf)

     -F		    Force freebsd-update fetch to proceed in the case of an
		    unfinished upgrade.

     -j	jail	    Operate on the given jail specified	by jid or name.	 (The
		    version of the installed userland is detected and the
		    --currently-running	option is no more required.)

     -k	KEY	    Trust an RSA key with SHA256 of KEY.  (default: read value
		    from configuration file.)

     -r	newrelease  Specify the	new release (e.g., 11.2-RELEASE) to which
		    freebsd-update should upgrade (upgrade command only).

     -s	server	    Fetch files	from the specified server or server pool.
		    (default: read value from configuration file.)

     -t	address	    Mail output	of cron	command, if any, to address.  (de-
		    fault: root, or as given in	the configuration file.)

     --not-running-from-cron
		    Force freebsd-update fetch to proceed when there is	no
		    controlling	tty(4).	 This is for use by automated scripts
		    and	orchestration tools.  Please do	not run	freebsd-update
		    fetch from crontab(5) or similar using this	flag, see:
		    freebsd-update cron

     --currently-running release
		    Do not detect the currently-running	release; instead, as-
		    sume that the system is running the	specified release.
		    This is most likely	to be useful when upgrading jails.

COMMANDS
     The command can be	any one	of the following:

     fetch     Based on	the currently installed	world and the configuration
	       options set, fetch all available	binary updates.

     cron      Sleep a random amount of	time between 1 and 3600	seconds, then
	       download	updates	as if the fetch	command	was used.  If updates
	       are downloaded, an email	will be	sent (to root or a different
	       address if specified via	the -t option or in the	configuration
	       file).  As the name suggests, this command is designed for run-
	       ning from cron(8); the random delay serves to minimize the
	       probability that	a large	number of machines will	simultaneously
	       attempt to fetch	updates.

     upgrade   Fetch files necessary for upgrading to a	new release.  Before
	       using this command, make	sure that you read the announcement
	       and release notes for the new release in	case there are any
	       special steps needed for	upgrading.  Note that this command may
	       require up to 500 MB of space in	workdir	depending on which
	       components of the FreeBSD base system are installed.

     updatesready
	       Check if	there are fetched updates ready	to install.  Returns
	       exit code 2 if there are	no updates to install.

     install   Install the most	recently fetched updates or upgrade.  Returns
	       exit code 2 if there are	no updates to install and the fetch
	       command wasn't passed as	an earlier argument in the same	invo-
	       cation.

     rollback  Uninstall the most recently installed updates.

     IDS       Compare the system against a "known good" index of the in-
	       stalled release.

     showconfig
	       Show configuration options after	parsing	conffile and command
	       line options.

TIPS
     o	 If your clock is set to local time, adding the	line

	       0 3 * * * root /usr/sbin/freebsd-update cron

	 to /etc/crontab will check for	updates	every night.  If your clock is
	 set to	UTC, please pick a random time other than 3AM, to avoid	overly
	 imposing an uneven load on the	server(s) hosting the updates.

     o	 In spite of its name, freebsd-update IDS should not be	relied upon as
	 an "Intrusion Detection System", since	if the system has been tam-
	 pered with it cannot be trusted to operate correctly.	If you intend
	 to use	this command for intrusion-detection purposes, make sure you
	 boot from a secure disk (e.g.,	a CD).

ENVIRONMENT
     PAGER  The	pager program used to present various reports during the exe-
	    cution.  (Default: "/usr/bin/less".)

	    PAGER can be set to	"cat" when a non-interactive pager is desired.

FILES
     /etc/freebsd-update.conf  Default location	of the freebsd-update configu-
			       ration file.

     /var/db/freebsd-update/   Default location	where freebsd-update stores
			       temporary files and downloaded updates.

SEE ALSO
     freebsd-version(1), uname(1), freebsd-update.conf(5), nextboot(8)

AUTHORS
     Colin Percival <cperciva@FreeBSD.org>

FreeBSD	13.0		      September	10, 2022		  FreeBSD 13.0

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | BINARY UPDATES AVAILABILITY | OPTIONS | COMMANDS | TIPS | ENVIRONMENT | FILES | SEE ALSO | AUTHORS

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=freebsd-update&manpath=FreeBSD+13.2-RELEASE+and+Ports>

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