[tex-k] Question on upgrading teTeX

[Thomas Esser]

> I'm running teTeX on a number of machines
> under 3 OS's (Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris),
> which share the same texmf tree.
> 
> I've found upgrading to a newer version of teTeX
> quite complicated, because the format files are in the texmf tree.

Well, the easiest way of installing and testing teTeX in parallel to an
older installation is to choose a new directory for the new installation.
Then, modify the new texmf.cnf file and add your old texmf tree as second
texmf tree.

E.g.
  TEXMF = !!{$TEXMFMAIN,/my/old/texmf}

Both systems will use the right format files and the new system can use
all of the fonts / macros etc. that you have added to your old system.

As long as you keep the directory tree together, you can move the new
system somewhere else after your tests.

Also note that *all*, not just the first, texmf.cnf files are read. You
really do not need to play games with TEXMFCNF. You can just put a small
texmf.cnf file into the directory where the binaries are.

Thomas