Call for testing: pkgbase support in 15.0

No way they make a major ZFS update past a RC stage.

It wouldn't be a new change:
Code:
root@freebsd15:~ # freebsd-version -kru
15.0-RC1
15.0-RC1
15.0-RC1
root@freebsd15:~ # zfs --version
zfs-2.4.0-rc3-FreeBSD_g814f9afba
zfs-kmod-2.4.0-rc3-FreeBSD_g814f9afba
 
Two presentations of the 2025 FreeBSD Vendor Summit wrt FreeBSD 15 seem particularly relevant:

1- New in 15.0 DemoJohn Baldwin (FreeBSD Project) & Ed Maste (FreeBSD Foundation)
Start at ca. 4:11 hrs - end at ca. 4:59 hrs
After the higlights of what's new in 15 by John Baldwin, Ed Maste continues with a live Sylve and Package Base Demo. Within a Sylve environment a plain vanilla 14.2-RELEASE is installed, pkgbasify is applied to convert it into a packaged base and, by using pkg(8) the OS is upgraded to (a packaged base) 14.3-RELEASE.

2 - 15.0-RELEASE and pkgbaseColin Percival (FreeBSD Project)
Start at ca. 1:42 hr - end at ca. 2:24 hrs. Notable quotes:
Also, I want package [pkg] in the base system because package being in ports is a problem.
[...] Yes, freebsd-update works and will continu to work for the extent of the 15, FreeBSD-15 release.
[...] 15.0 is a big release, much more than a regular major release. A lot of people have been saying, and I agree with this, 15.0 is really the most major FreeBSD release since 5.0, since when SMP landed.
In the course of the presentation, Colin Percival compares data points between 15.0 and previous major releases during their pre-release periods.

I scanned through day1 (first presentation) and day2 (second presentation); the sound of day1 is "challenging" to say the least. Day2 audio has been improved substantially.
 
Last edited:
Is the ZFS version bump the only change in 15.0-RC3? I blindly updgraded my throwaway laptop to RC3 today... I don't notice anything different. The machine still boots and runs fine.

RC3.png
 
Code:
A summary of changes since RC3 includes:

o Updates to several man pages.
o Adding a "backup" pkgbase signing key.
* Slightly adjusting the package set on DVDs to fit within the 4.7 GB limit.
o Adding the allow_kdc_spoof option to pam_krb5.
o Fixing bugs in cp and inotify.
The next one might be RC5.
 
Code:
A summary of changes since RC3 includes:

o Updates to several man pages.
o Adding a "backup" pkgbase signing key.
* Slightly adjusting the package set on DVDs to fit within the 4.7 GB limit.
o Adding the allow_kdc_spoof option to pam_krb5.
o Fixing bugs in cp and inotify.
The next one might be RC5.
I think it will be a -RELEASE, as per the schedule... It will probably take a showstopper bug to have RC5 instead of a -RELEASE... I'm frankly looking forward to it.
 
Code:
Due to recent changes in FreeBSD.org infrastructure, systems still running
15.0-{PRERELEASE,ALPHA*,BETA*} (aka anything running 15.0 which hasn't
upgraded to -RC* yet) will find that 'pkg upgrade -r FreeBSD-base' fails
Read the complete e-mail message as it contains instructions as to what to do where applicable. I hope and expect this will also be mentioned in the official announcement details and/or the final Release Notes for 15.0-RELEASE.
 
Changing the subject, for what it's worth, I have a VM that was running 15.0-RC4. This morning I ran an update (using pkgbase, as this is a VM to test such things on), and got 15.0-RELEASE. Last night, an update left it at RC4.

As it was already at RC, I didn't run into the pkgbase update issues. This is a pretty simple VM, with openbox. The most esoteric thing it has is possibly mpv or fcitx5-anthy for Japanese input. In the VM, everything went quite smoothly, nothing affected by the update.
 
Just so you know 15.0-RELEASE is available to download.

New VM, I didn't do much with it yet, fresh install, it went fine:
Code:
root@fbsd15:~ # freebsd-version -kru ; uname -rms ; uname -UK
15.0-RELEASE
15.0-RELEASE
15.0-RELEASE
FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE amd64
1500068 1500068
root@fbsd15:~ # head -n2 /etc/motd
FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE (GENERIC) releng/15.0-n280995-7aedc8de6446

root@fbsd15:~ # pkg repos
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_0",
    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_0",
    enabled         : yes,
    priority        : 0,
    mirror_type     : "SRV",
    signature_type  : "FINGERPRINTS",
    fingerprints    : "/usr/share/keys/pkgbase-15"
  }
root@fbsd15:~ # cat /etc/os-release 
NAME=FreeBSD
VERSION="15.0-RELEASE"
VERSION_ID="15.0"
ID=freebsd
ANSI_COLOR="0;31"
PRETTY_NAME="FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:freebsd:freebsd:15.0"
HOME_URL="https://FreeBSD.org/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.FreeBSD.org/"


I also have a VM installed since 15_alplha3 that I successfully upgraded to RC4, but the next upgrade went wrong.
TBH I didn't even try to troubleshoot it, because I did lot of tests and tweaks with it, so for me it's basically just a throw away VM, but I think it worth to mention it.
This the error message:
Code:
root@fbsd ~ > 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-base repository catalogue...
Fetching data.pkg: 100%   80 KiB  81.6kB/s    00:01   
pkg: No trusted public keys found
FreeBSD-base repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
Checking for upgrades (339 candidates): 100%
Processing candidates (339 candidates): 100%
The following 9 package(s) will be affected (of 0 checked):

Installed packages to be UPGRADED:
    FreeBSD-clibs-dev: 15.0.rc2.20251119215629 -> 15.0.rc4.20251126000054 [FreeBSD-base]
    FreeBSD-kernel-generic: 15.0.rc4.20251124184226 -> 15.0.rc4.20251126000054 [FreeBSD-base]

Installed packages to be REINSTALLED:
    FreeBSD-clibs-15.0.rc1.20251116042758 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')
    FreeBSD-runtime-15.0.rc4.20251124184226 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')
    FreeBSD-set-base-15.0.rc1.20251116042758 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')
    FreeBSD-set-devel-15.0.rc1.20251116042758 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')
    FreeBSD-set-lib32-15.0.rc1.20251116042758 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')
    FreeBSD-set-minimal-15.0.rc1.20251116042758 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')
    FreeBSD-set-optional-15.0.rc1.20251116042758 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')

Number of packages to be upgraded: 2
Number of packages to be reinstalled: 7

62 MiB to be downloaded.

Proceed with this action? [y/N]: y
pkg: Failed to fetch https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/FreeBSD:15:amd64/base_release_0/FreeBSD-kernel-generic-15.0.rc4.20251126000054.pkg: Unknown error
pkg: Failed to fetch https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/FreeBSD:15:amd64/base_release_0/FreeBSD-kernel-generic-15.0.rc4.20251126000054.pkg: Unknown error
 
Just so you know 15.0-RELEASE is available to download.

New VM, I didn't do much with it yet, fresh install, it went fine:
Code:
root@fbsd15:~ # freebsd-version -kru ; uname -rms ; uname -UK
15.0-RELEASE
15.0-RELEASE
15.0-RELEASE
FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE amd64
1500068 1500068
root@fbsd15:~ # head -n2 /etc/motd
FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE (GENERIC) releng/15.0-n280995-7aedc8de6446

root@fbsd15:~ # pkg repos
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_0",
    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_0",
    enabled         : yes,
    priority        : 0,
    mirror_type     : "SRV",
    signature_type  : "FINGERPRINTS",
    fingerprints    : "/usr/share/keys/pkgbase-15"
  }
root@fbsd15:~ # cat /etc/os-release
NAME=FreeBSD
VERSION="15.0-RELEASE"
VERSION_ID="15.0"
ID=freebsd
ANSI_COLOR="0;31"
PRETTY_NAME="FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:freebsd:freebsd:15.0"
HOME_URL="https://FreeBSD.org/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.FreeBSD.org/"


I also have a VM installed since 15_alplha3 that I successfully upgraded to RC4, but the next upgrade went wrong.
TBH I didn't even try to troubleshoot it, because I did lot of tests and tweaks with it, so for me it's basically just a throw away VM, but I think it worth to mention it.
This the error message:
Code:
root@fbsd ~ > 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-base repository catalogue...
Fetching data.pkg: 100%   80 KiB  81.6kB/s    00:01  
pkg: No trusted public keys found
FreeBSD-base repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
Checking for upgrades (339 candidates): 100%
Processing candidates (339 candidates): 100%
The following 9 package(s) will be affected (of 0 checked):

Installed packages to be UPGRADED:
    FreeBSD-clibs-dev: 15.0.rc2.20251119215629 -> 15.0.rc4.20251126000054 [FreeBSD-base]
    FreeBSD-kernel-generic: 15.0.rc4.20251124184226 -> 15.0.rc4.20251126000054 [FreeBSD-base]

Installed packages to be REINSTALLED:
    FreeBSD-clibs-15.0.rc1.20251116042758 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')
    FreeBSD-runtime-15.0.rc4.20251124184226 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')
    FreeBSD-set-base-15.0.rc1.20251116042758 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')
    FreeBSD-set-devel-15.0.rc1.20251116042758 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')
    FreeBSD-set-lib32-15.0.rc1.20251116042758 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')
    FreeBSD-set-minimal-15.0.rc1.20251116042758 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')
    FreeBSD-set-optional-15.0.rc1.20251116042758 [FreeBSD-base] (Vital flag changed: 'true' -> 'false')

Number of packages to be upgraded: 2
Number of packages to be reinstalled: 7

62 MiB to be downloaded.

Proceed with this action? [y/N]: y
pkg: Failed to fetch https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/FreeBSD:15:amd64/base_release_0/FreeBSD-kernel-generic-15.0.rc4.20251126000054.pkg: Unknown error
pkg: Failed to fetch https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/FreeBSD:15:amd64/base_release_0/FreeBSD-kernel-generic-15.0.rc4.20251126000054.pkg: Unknown error
Isn’t the URL supposed to be ://pkgbase.FreeBSD…….?
 

Why are the dist sets still available?

I thought they weren’t going to be available in 16.
My understanding is that it would dissapperar sometime BEFORE 16.0-Release IS RELEASED IN THE FUTURE. Not right now.

Maybe unlikely, but it may usually because it could be still needed if pkgbase doesn't become as rock-solid as legacy distribution sets when 16.0-Release.
This case, the removal would slipped into 17.0 or later.
 
Hi Folks,

I am back on track, I installed FreeBSD 15 on my main computers!!!

Could anyone, please, redirect me to some pkgbase documentation?
I need to learn how to update the system with the new package management!

Thanks... 🙏
 
One thing I noticed that has me concerned - I installed 15.0-BETA4 on a spare laptop and upgraded to BETA5 and all the RCs using pkg. bectl list shows that the system NEVER automatically created a boot environment when upgrading. freebsd-update does this, so I assumed the pkgbase upgrade method would also create boot environments. Is there a config flag somewhere that needs to be set to enable auto-BEs, or have we taken a step back and now have to do it manually?
 
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