ArchLinux: Keeping it Current

A "normal" system update.

NOTICE: This is an example only. These changes may or may not be real.

Upgrade the System

Run pacman to sync the local repository database and then upgrade the system.

NOTE: Watch the messages as they scroll by looking for warnings or errors or other messages. If you missed something, you can look at the pacman log file at /var/log/pacman.log.

pacman -Syu

When this was run on November 23, 2012, these were some (the important ones) of the messages that were displayed:

(15/56) upgrading filesystem                                                                   [#######################################################] 100%
warning: /etc/shadow installed as /etc/shadow.pacnew
warning: /etc/group installed as /etc/group.pacnew
warning: /etc/passwd installed as /etc/passwd.pacnew
warning: /etc/gshadow installed as /etc/gshadow.pacnew


(20/56) upgrading systemd                                                                      [#######################################################] 100%
==> journald now writes to /var/log/journal by default. This can be
    controlled with the Storage setting in /etc/systemd/journald.conf
New optional dependencies for systemd
    python: systemd library bindings
    quota-tools: kernel-level quota management

(36/56) upgrading linux-raspberrypi                                                            [#######################################################] 100%
>>> Updating module dependencies. Please wait ...
>>>Edit /boot/cmdline.txt and add sdhci-bcm2708.cycle_delay=1000


(49/56) upgrading procps-ng                                                                    [#######################################################] 100%
warning: /etc/sysctl.conf installed as /etc/sysctl.conf.pacnew
(50/56) upgrading raspberrypi-firmware                                                         [#######################################################] 100%
>>see http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=20255&start=25#p198247
>>on how to configure gpu/ram split
(51/56) upgrading syslog-ng                                                                    [#######################################################] 100%
==> syslog-ng now reads from /run/systemd/journal/syslog in the
    default config. If you still use sysvinit/initscripts, this
    must be /dev/log in /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf

So, there are a number of pacnew files, a file needs to be edited, some information that the location of the log for journald and syslog-ng is in a different place and there is a website to look at to see how to configure the gpu/ram split.

Add the information to the file /boot/cmdline.txt

vim /boot/cmdline.txt

and add the new parameter.

Review and update the configuration files using yaourt -C. This was installed in the first tutorial but now, don't just select R (for Replace), use E (for Edit) to actually see what the changes are and decide what to do. Here is what it looked like when this update was done:

[root@alarmpi ~]# yaourt -C
0 .pacorig found
5 .pacnew found
0 .pacsave found
0 files are orphans




1 10/26/12 14:35:09  /etc/group.pacnew
2 10/26/12 14:35:09  /etc/gshadow.pacnew
3 10/26/12 14:35:09  /etc/passwd.pacnew
4 10/26/12 14:35:09  /etc/shadow.pacnew
5 11/02/12 12:45:33  /etc/sysctl.conf.pacnew

==> Enter n° :

At the new prompt, which looks like "==> Enter n :" type 1 and press [Enter].

There are five "Actions" that you can do: Edit, Replace, Suppress, Continue or Abort.

- Edit - This will bring up both the original and .pacnew files in vimdiff
- Replace - This will replace the original with the .pacnew file
- Suppress - This will leave the original as is and delete the .pacnew file
- Continue - This will ignore the file and continue to the next file on the list
- Abort - This will stop yaourt -C and return to the normal command prompt

Do this for each of the files:

Type "E" and view the files in vimdiff. Look at the differences and determine if a change needs to be made to your system. Only you can decide as only you know what is installed on your computer.

If you update the orginal file in vimdiff, save it and when you return to the prompt, choose "S" to remove the .pacnew file.

If you decide the .pacnew file is fine and that's what you want the orginal file to look like, choose "R" to replace the original file with the pacnew file and delete the .pacnew file.

If you decide you need to research this more, choose "C" for continue and no changes will take place.

If you don't have time right now to finish this process, choose "A" to abort, no changes will take place and you will be returned to the normal command prompt.