Remote Upgrade of OpenBSD 4.1 to 4.2

The first assumption is that you have a remote OpenBSD server running 4.1 with a serial port console.

Before you start, read the OpenBSD 4.2 upgrade faq here . For the most part, you will be following that faq. This is simply a supplemental guide to get things rolling…

I’m upgrading a i386 system. bsd.rd is the install/upgrade kernel. If we already have a remote system running, we can upgrade bsd.rd first, then boot from it and upgrade the rest of the system.

ftp ftp://ftp2.usa.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/4.2/i386/bsd.rd
sudo cp /bsd.rd /bsd.rd-4.1
sudo cp bsd.rd /bsd.rd
sudo shutdown -h now "Upgrading to 4.2"  # if you don't get a boot prompt, read the NOTE below

Now get on the serial console. You should see that the os is halted and Please press any key to reboot.. When you see the boot prompt type:

boot bsd.rd