I want to upgrade from OpenBSD 4.2 to 4.3, but I'm wary

There's an option on the install disc to upgrade, and there are even upgrade instructions on the OpenBSD site.

I have two OpenBSD 4.2 installations: one on my VIA C3 Samuel test box (where OpenBSD is the only BSD that will install), the other on the $15 Laptop (Compaq Armada 7770dmt).

Neither of the installations is intensively customized, but I did do enough configuration that I need to document and preserve it before either an upgrade or full reinstall.

Actually, if I could manage to preserve my user files, I'd prefer a reinstall, since I wouldn't have to worry about all the little changes required with a version upgrade.

On the VIA box, I have 256 MB of RAM, and OpenBSD with X is very comfortable on it. On the Compaq, however, I only have 64 MB of RAM, and X runs well, but apps like Firefox send me into swapping hell. I'm in the process of upgrading the memory to the maximum of 144 MB for that laptop, which needed the Compaq memory fix in OpenBSD to recognize the full 64 MB in the first place. Hopefully I can get the fix to work for an additional 128 MB as easily as I did for the currently added 48 MB.

Of course, with the added memory for the Compaq, I might be able to comfortably run Debian on it. The thing about Debian is that it's easy to maintain with apt. Curiously, I could even run OpenOffice with 64 MB of RAM, but again, Firefox poses problems. In that amount of memory, the Dillo browser runs great, but there are many, many Web sites for which I need Firefox.

So to do the upgrade (or reinstall), there's the matter of preserving my configuration. I've learned since I began using OpenBSD that the /etc/rc.conf file is supposed to remain in its original state, with user-set configuration options living in /etc/rc.conf.local. I can live with that. Just about all I've changed is turning on things like Apache, sshd and ftpd. And I had to call CUPS in order for it to run. That line of code is in /etc/rc.local. I have my PKG_PATH in the .profile for both my user account and root; that I imagine would stick around in an upgrade. I'd just have to change it from 4.2 to 4.3.

The most essential thing to preserve is my xorg.conf. I remember needing to steal lines from the now-defunct Anonym.OS live CD, which configured perfectly on the VIA box. I think I got the Compaq's xorg.conf to work with info stolen from Puppy and/or Debian.

Especially when it comes to xorg.conf, it pays to archive each and every configuration on a given platform so you'll have something to work with when you install a new OS.

Anyhow, the Via box is a test box with good reason: it's made to be broken, so I'll try the upgrade.