sysctl kern.version confusion

[bsd007]

When running snapshot

Originally Posted by bsd007

$ sysctl kern.version
kern.version=OpenBSD 6.2 (GENERIC.MP) #134: Tue Oct  3 21:22:29 MDT 2017
    deraadt@amd64.openbsd.org:/usr/src/sys/arch/amd64/compile/GENERIC.MP

Now that command shows this

$ sysctl kern.version
kern.version=OpenBSD 6.2 (GENERIC.MP) #134: Tue Oct  3 21:22:29 MDT 2017
    deraadt@amd64.openbsd.org:/usr/src/sys/arch/amd64/compile/GENERIC.MP

Absolutely the same. Is that okay ?

[jggimi]

It's the same kernel. There is a significant effort in release engineering, which is typically 1-3 days of work, so it is likely there are differences in the userland environment.

[gustaf]

Thanks bsd007 and jggimi for answering the question I was just about to post.

I ran $ sysctl kern.version earlier this evening trying to troubleshoot a possible snapshot-to-snapshot upgrade problem.

My output was exactly the same as bsd007's, even though I upgraded yesterday. I was wondering if I somehow downgraded from -current to -release.

It's good to know that's not the case and thanks for helping me learn something new.

I always thought the date reflected any changes in either the kernel or userland

[jggimi]

The release(8) man page describes the build process. Kernel, userland, and Xenocara are three separate build steps. When you build a release (of any flavor), there are two additional procedural steps.

I'm not a Project member (developer), all I know of the release engineering phase is that it is a significant amount of work because I can see a lot of it in the ChangeLogs. I recall Theo has described it as "simpler" now that CDs are no longer being pressed.

[bsd007]

@jggimi

Thanks.