Update Manager provides a graphical interface for updating the version of PC-BSD® and for applying security updates. This utility can be started from Control Panel or by typing pc-updategui. It can also be accessed from its icon in the system tray, if you are logged into a desktop that provides a system tray.
The status of the icon lets you determine at a glance if any of your installed applications are out-of-date, if a system update is available, or if a new version of the operating system is available. Table 7.2a summarizes the possible statuses of this icon.
Table 7.2a: Update Manager Status
your system is up-to-date
the system is currently checking for updates and patches
your operating system is out-of-date and system update(s) or patch(es) are available
newer versions of installed applications are available
the system was unable to check for updates, meaning you should check your Internet connection the system is currently updating
the system needs to restart in order for the newly installed update to take effect
If you right-click the icon, you will see the menu shown in Figure 7.2a. As seen in the menu, Update Manager will automatically track updates to software installed using either the graphical or command line equivalents of AppCafe® and Warden®.
Figure 7.2a: Right-click Menu for Update Manager
By default, updates are checked every 24 hours or whenever you boot the system. You can check for updates now by selecting “Check for updates”. To disable the update check when the system boots, uncheck the “Run at startup” box. To disable the pop-up message over the icon when an update becomes available, uncheck the
“Display notifications” box. To change how often the update check occurs, click “Automatic updates check” and select a schedule from its menu. To remove Update Manager from the system tray, click “Quit”. You can put the icon back into the tray by typing pc-systemupdatertray.
7.2.1 Applying a System Update (GUI Method)
Occasionally, the PC-BSD® project releases a system update which addresses a fixed security vulnerability or a bug which impacts the use of the operating system. If the update is based on a FreeBSD security advisory, the update is usually available within 24 hours of the FreeBSD security announcement. To install a system update, open Update Manager and input your password when prompted. Figure 7.2b shows an example of a system where several updates are available .
Figure 7.2b: Applying a System Update
If your system is fully up-to-date, there will not be any entries in Update Manager.
Depending upon the type of update, an “Update Details” pane may or may not appear when you check the box next to the update.
To update the system, check the boxes to select the updates to install or check the “Select/Deselect All” box.
Once the updates are selected, click the “Install selected updates” button. A progress bar will indicate the progress of the update.
If the update requires a reboot, you will be notified to do so after the update has been installed. If a reboot is needed, clicking the “Close” button at the informational message will not automatically reboot the system.
Finish whatever you are doing and reboot the computer to finish the update process.
NOTE: system updates are one-way, meaning you cannot unapply an update once it is installed. However, PC-BSD® 10.0.2 and higher automatically creates a boot environment before applying each system update. If there is an issue with the update, reboot the system and select the entry that represents the time before that update occurred. This will reboot the version of the operating system before the update was applied. For systems earlier than 10.0.2, create a manual boot environment using Boot Manager before applying any updates
7.2.1.1 Applying a System Update (CLI Method)
TrueOS® users, or those who prefer to use a command-line utility, can use pc-updatemanager, the command line equivalent to Update Manager, to apply system updates. If you type pc-updatemanager, it will show its available options:
To determine if any system updates are available, type the following command:
sudo pc-updatemanager check
NAME: PKG conflict detection bug fixes
This is the command line equivalent of the results seen in Figure 7.2b. Follow the instructions to install each update. For example, this will apply the “Remove fdescfs” patch:
sudo pc-updatemanager install fdesc-rollback-02132014
Note that a boot environment is created before the patch is applied as this system is running 10.1.
7.2.2 Upgrading from 9.x to 10.x
IMPORTANT NOTE--README !
PC-BSD® has switched to ZFS-only. This means that you can not upgrade a system that is either 32-bit or formatted with UFS. If the hardware supports 64-bit, you will need to backup your important data to another system or external drive and then perform a new installation. The new installation will perform a format of the selected disk(s) with ZFS.
The boot loader and default ZFS layout has changed to support boot environments and ZFS snapshot management with Life Preserver. For this reason, we recommend that 9.x users backup their important data to another system or external drive and then perform a new installation which will create the required ZFS layout.
7.2.3 Upgrading from 10.x to 10.1
Upgrading from any 10.x version to 10.1 is the same as applying any system update. This means that the update to 10.1 will either appear in the graphical Update Manager or in the listing for pc-updatemanager check. It will be listed as 10.1-update-11032014-10 with a description of "Update system to 10.1-RELEASE".
NOTE: a fresh install, rather than an update, is required if you wish to either take advantage of UEFI boot or encrypt the disks. This means that you will have to backup your data to an external drive or another system, perform the install, than restore your data from backup.