OpenBSD: How to follow -current?

Don't build from source. I've been following current for several years. You can do binary upgrades to new snapshots. And you can do a direct binary upgrade from release/stable to current.

Reboot.

At the prompt type:

boot bsd.rd

Go through the motions of upgrading. When it asks for a hostname, I use this one, it's quite fast

mirrors.sonic.net

When it asks for a path, change it to

/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/amd64/

Substitute amd64 for your architecture.

Continue with the upgrade prompts

Reboot after it's done.

Change PKG_PATH

export PKG_PATH=http://mirrors.sonic.net/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/packages/amd64/

Add this to ~/.profile and /root/.profile

PKG_PATH=http://mirrors.sonic.net/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/packages/amd64/

export PKG_PATH

Then run

doas pkg_add -u

In the future, you won't have to change PKG_PATH or the bsd.rd file path. It will remember. Like pepperidge farm.

To update to a new snapshot in the future, just

boot bsd.rd

follow the prompts

reboot

doas pkg_add -u

One thing to note. When the upgrade to a new snapshot will take you to a new version number, like from 6.2 to 6.3 which will happen rather soon, booting bsd.rd and following the prompts will only allow you to download the new bsd.rd ramdisk. You must reboot after it's finished and re-enter bsd.rd to continue with the upgrade. But you'll only have to do this once every six months, and it's automatic. Just don't freak out when it only says it's downloading bsd.rd

If you want to know if you should upgrade, just bookmark:

http://mirrors.sonic.net/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/amd64/

In your browser and visit it to check the dates on the archives.

Don't forget to visit one directory up once in a while:

http://mirrors.sonic.net/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/

To snag ports.tar.gz and update your ports tree