I want to thank one of the readers who left a comment recently regarding the use of cvsup.  Apparently, some time ago, cvsup was replaced with a smaller, faster utility which comes included in the base OS.  This tool is simply: csup.

Some of the benefits of using csup instead of cvsup are:

1. It comes preinstalled in the base OS.
2. No need to build cvsup and all its dependencies.
3. No need to install base ports in order to build cvsup in order to update your ports.

I tried csup and noticed that it should be a drop-in replacement for those that still use cvsup.  You should be able to use the same options and command arguments that you did previously.

Here is an example of something I’ve setup which allows me to update my base OS + ports using csup and one command:

/etc/make.conf

## csup config (just use 'make update' in /usr/ports or /usr/src)<br /> SUP_UPDATE=yes<br /> SUP= /usr/bin/csup<br /> SUPFLAGS= -g -L2<br /> SUPHOST= cvsup.freebsd.org<br /> SUPFILE= /usr/share/examples/cvsup/standard-supfile<br /> PORTSSUPFILE= /usr/share/examples/cvsup/ports-supfile

After adding those lines to your /etc/make.conf you can update your base OS and ports tree using ‘make update’ within the /usr/src directory.

For more info on using either of these tools see the CVSup Handbook page.