OpenBSD network driver fix testing, FreeBSD 14.2 to 14.3 upgrade video and more.
Releases
No releases.
BSDSec
No security announcements.
As always, it’s worth following BSDSec. RSS feed available.
News
Call for Testing: Network Interface Driver Fix for OpenBSD: Stefan Sperling has identified a bug affecting several network interface drivers in OpenBSD, including bge, bnx, iavf, igc, ix, ixl, ngbe, and pcn. The issue involves calling ifq_restart() without making space on a full Tx ring, potentially causing the interface to get stuck. A fix has been proposed, and testing is requested from the community, especially those with hardware for the affected drivers. The fix involves modifying the code to ensure ifq_restart() is only called when space has been made on the ring. Users are encouraged to test the patch and provide feedback to help integrate the fix into the OpenBSD tree.
(Video) Upgrading FreeBSD 14.2 to 14.3: FreeBSD is becoming easier to install, configure and use - but how easy is it to upgrade to a newer version?
Valuable News Summary for 2025/06/23: The Valuable News weekly series provides a summary of news and articles related to UNIX/BSD/Linux systems. This edition includes updates FreeBSD’s new ufshci(4) driver, the release of KDE Plasma 6.4, and various other UNIX-related developments.
BSD Now 616: Insights from FreeBSD Foundation Leaders: In this episode of BSD Now, host Tom Jones interviews Deb Goodkin and Justin Gibbs from the FreeBSD Foundation.
Tutorials
FreeBSD Kernel Modules pkg(8) Repositories: FreeBSD has introduced kernel modules pkg(8) repositories starting with version 14.3-RELEASE to address issues with kernel module compatibility. Previously, packages were built against older FreeBSD versions, causing kernel panics on newer releases. The new repositories, both for ‘quarterly’ and ‘latest’ branches, provide kernel modules built against the correct FreeBSD version. This change is particularly beneficial for desktop/laptop users who experienced issues with graphics drivers. The update process now includes modifying the /etc/pkg/FreeBSD.conf file to use the new repositories, ensuring smoother upgrades and better system stability.
Disaster Recovery with ZFS: A Practical Guide: The article discusses the critical importance of disaster recovery (DR) strategies in modern IT environments, highlighting that traditional backups are insufficient. It emphasizes the necessity of continuous, reliable, secure, and rapid DR solutions to mitigate risks from ransomware, hardware failures, and operational errors. ZFS is presented as an ideal solution due to its features like end-to-end checksumming, atomic snapshots, efficient replication, self-healing capabilities, built-in encryption, and native compression. These features ensure data integrity, minimize downtime, and secure data both at rest and in transit. The article also outlines practical use cases for ZFS in DR environments, such as site-to-site replication, snapshot-based recovery points, disaster simulation testing, encrypted DR replication, and application-specific recovery.
Did we miss anything?
This newsletter is made from your content on DiscoverBSD and BSDSec. Submit the stuff we missed so it can appear next time.
Do you have an OSS BSD-related project that you would like to showcase in BSD Weekly? Reply to sender and we can showcase you as a sponsor of an issue (for free).
Do you know anyone who would like this newsletter? Consider forwarding and tell them to subscribe.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! Stay safe!