/var/log disappeared after upgrade

[acampbell]

I upgraded -current today (base system and packages) and I ran sysmerge as usual without problems. But after a second reboot X wouldn't start; the reason, I found, was that /var/log had disappeared. I remade the /var/log directory and things were back to normal.

Can anyone explain why this would have happened? I haven't seen this before in many upgrades. I didn't find a mention on google.

[jggimi]

An upgrade issues a series of tar(1) commands. It doesn't rm(1) anything. I suspect operator error of some kind, but I do have enough information to help you discern possibilities.

I upgraded an amd64 system to -current yesterday, using a snapshot that had been built on Saturday, and did not experience any problems.

[acampbell]

I wondered if sysmerge might do this? The only other thing I can think of is that when I followed the instructions to delete various files after the package upgrade I might have accidentally deleted /var/log, although I use cut and paste for this so it seems unlikely.

[jggimi]

It's unlikely to have been sysmerge(8). I'll guess it was an ingredient in your dish of copy pasta.

[acampbell]

Thanks for your comments. I'll just put it down as another mystery (one of many).

[jggimi]

You do realize that when you pkg_add -u or -r, it does a delete/install?

The messages produced during the delete phase are for post-delete cleanup. They can usually be ignored unless the application's infrastructure is changing due to a significant upgrade.

[acampbell]

Thanks, yes.