OpenBSD 5.1

OpenBSD 5.1 has been released.

For those unfamiliar with it, OpenBSD has a reputation for strong security practices. Version 5.1 follows 5.0 by six months and includes many updates. Several packages were bumped to newer major versions, for example isc-dhcp-server moved from 3.1.3 to 4.2.3.

Upgrading is straightforward:

1. Insert the OpenBSD 5.1 CD and boot from it.
2. Choose U for upgrade when prompted.
3. Answer the network and installation questions.
4. When asked about the main disk, consider forcing an fsck if the system has not been rebooted in a long time.
5. Install needed packages.
6. Reboot.

After the upgrade, update installed packages which may have been broken by library changes (for example, squid may need to be rebuilt).

Set PKG_PATH for your architecture, for example:

export PKG_PATH="http://ftp.fr.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/5.1/packages/amd64/"

Use pkg_info to list installed packages and update each package as needed:

pkg_add -u squid

The upgrade process generally goes smoothly; the OpenBSD team ensures releases remain coherent and usable.