[15.0-RELEASE-p1] pkg upgrade stays in loop

bugzeo · Jan 18, 2026

I ran "pkg update" then "pkg upgrade", but this one stays in loop:

Code:

root@freebsd:~ # pkg upgrade
Updating FreeBSD-ports repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD repository catalogue...
FreeBSD repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
New version of pkg detected; it needs to be installed first.
Checking integrity... done (0 conflicting)
Your packages are up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD repository catalogue...
FreeBSD repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
New version of pkg detected; it needs to be installed first.
Checking integrity... done (0 conflicting)
Your packages are up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD repository catalogue...
FreeBSD repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
New version of pkg detected; it needs to be installed first.
Checking integrity... done (0 conflicting)
Your packages are up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD repository catalogue...
FreeBSD repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
New version of pkg detected; it needs to be installed first.
Checking integrity... done (0 conflicting)
Your packages are up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD repository catalogue...
FreeBSD repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
New version of pkg detected; it needs to be installed first.
Checking integrity... done (0 conflicting)
Your packages are up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD repository catalogue...
FreeBSD repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
New version of pkg detected; it needs to be installed first.
Checking integrity... done (0 conflicting)
Your packages are up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports repository catalogue...
^C
root@freebsd:~ # freebsd-version 
15.0-RELEASE-p1

FreeBSD is running inside Virtualbox, in case it's related.

bugzeo · Jan 18, 2026

Fixed it:

Code:

root@freebsd:~ # freebsd-version 
15.0-RELEASE-p1
root@freebsd:~ # pkg -v
2.4.2
root@freebsd:~ # pkg rquery '%v' pkg
2.5.1
2.5.1
root@freebsd:~ # pkg bootstrap -f
The package management tool is not yet installed on your system.
Do you want to fetch and install it now? [y/N]: y
Bootstrapping pkg from pkg+https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/FreeBSD:15:amd64/quarterly, please wait...
Verifying signature with trusted certificate pkg.freebsd.org.2013102301... done
Installing pkg-2.5.1...
package pkg is already installed, forced install
Extracting pkg-2.5.1: 100%
root@freebsd:~ # pkg upgrade
Updating FreeBSD-ports repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD repository catalogue...
FreeBSD repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
Updating database digests format: 100%
Checking for upgrades (166 candidates): 100%
Processing candidates (166 candidates): 100%
The following 195 package(s) will be affected (of 0 checked):
[...]

bugzeo · Jan 18, 2026

Do I need to report this here?
bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/

minWi · Jan 29, 2026

Same here. Did you already reported it bugzeo ?

bugzeo · Jan 29, 2026

minWi said:
Same here. Did you already reported it bugzeo ?

Not reported yet, will do later.

bugzeo · Jan 29, 2026

Reported: https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=292810

bugzeo · Jul 18, 2026

The recommendation to update a FreeBSD system, without upgrading the operating system version, is:

Code:

# pkg update
# pkg bootstrap -f
# pkg upgrade

USerID · 2026-09-26T14:18:50+0100

How do I update these 142 packages?
The command output is identical. How can I force the installation of these 142 packages? I’ve never seen anything like this before. The repositories are standard; I haven't changed anything.
$ doas pkg upgrade
$ doas pkg upgrade -n

Code:

Updating FreeBSD-ports repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository is up to date.
Updating FreeBSD-base repository catalogue...
FreeBSD-base repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
Checking for upgrades (142 candidates): 100%
Processing candidates (142 candidates): 100%
Checking integrity... done (0 conflicting)
Your packages are up to date.

$ uname -aKU

Code:

FreeBSD hkpc 15.1-RELEASE-p3 FreeBSD 15.1-RELEASE-p3 releng/15.1-n283611-88e7371d9dc2 GENERIC amd64 1501000 1501000

$ doas pkg repos

Code:

FreeBSD-ports: {
    url             : "pkg+https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/FreeBSD:15:amd64/quarterly",
    enabled         : yes,
    priority        : 0,
    mirror_type     : "SRV",
    signature_type  : "FINGERPRINTS",
    fingerprints    : "/usr/share/keys/pkg"
  }
FreeBSD-ports-kmods: {
    url             : "pkg+https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/FreeBSD:15:amd64/kmods_quarterly_1",
    enabled         : yes,
    priority        : 0,
    mirror_type     : "SRV",
    signature_type  : "FINGERPRINTS",
    fingerprints    : "/usr/share/keys/pkg"
  }
FreeBSD-base: {
    url             : "pkg+https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/FreeBSD:15:amd64/base_release_1",
    enabled         : yes,
    priority        : 0,
    mirror_type     : "SRV",
    signature_type  : "FINGERPRINTS",
    fingerprints    : "/usr/share/keys/pkgbase-15"
  }

fernandel · 2026-09-26T18:18:58+0100

Did you try pkg -dd upgrade and find which packages are those 142?

bugzeo · 2026-09-26T19:56:56+0100

fernandel said:
Did you try pkg -dd upgrade and find which packages are those 142?

No didn't try, but if the issue happens again will do.

Alain De Vos · 2026-09-26T20:25:54+0100

some scripts :

root@myfreebsd:~/Scripts # cat _list_packages_category

Code:

pkg query -e '%a = 0' '%o' | sort

Code:

# _list_packages_category > packagelist.txt

Once you have a packagelist, force re-installation.

Code:

cat packagelist.txt| xargs -I {} pkg install -f -y {}

Erichans · 2026-09-26T22:16:43+0100

USerID said:
How do I update these 142 packages?
The command output is identical. How can I force the installation of these 142 packages? I’ve never seen anything like this before. The repositories are standard; I haven't changed anything.
$ doas pkg upgrade

Please provide more context. This reads as "all packages are up to date"; you say they aren't because you expect various packages have an upgrade available. Given the thread title and OP's problem of pkg looping when updating doesn't seem to be happening in your case. Please clarify your problem and give one or two examples with specific packages that fail to upgrade; provide details of these packages that you have currently installed, as in: pkg query '%R %n %v' <package_1> <package_2>

What is the history? Have you just upgraded your OS, from what?