Can I back-up my sources?

[Conrad J. Sabatier]

On 05-Jul-2004 Mark Jayson Alvarez wrote:
> Hi,
>   I only have a 4.9 cd and to upgrade to 4.10 or later
> versions, first, I install the sources from my 4.9 cd
> and then I use cvsup. Same as with FreeBSD Handbook
> and Ports.
> 
> Question:
> 
>  In upgrading to a higher version of FreeBSD(e.g; 4.9
> to 4.10) using cvsup, and I burned the contents of my
> upgraded /usr/src to a cd, if my system crashes, will
> makeworld work if I copy the contents of the cd into a
> fresh /usr/src directory? 
> 
>  Same as with FreeBSD Documentation(/usr/doc/en...)
> and /usr/ports.

Sure, why wouldn't it?

> Or does it always have to be done as is?

If by "as is" you mean with a source tree that matches your currently
installed version, then the answer is no.  Think about it.  How would
you ever be able to upgrade a system via sources if this were the case?

> ...because one time, my freebsd crashed and I really
> had a hard time fixing it and I end up re-installing
> the whole system and running a very long cvsup process
> again.

We all have our share of "war stories", I'm sure.  You make mistakes,
you stumble around a bit, you learn.  Right?

-- 
Conrad J. Sabatier <conrads at cox.net> -- "In Unix veritas"