To update Gentoo Studio, run the following in a terminal, as root:

> eix-sync && emerge -uDN --keep-going --with-bdeps=y --backtrack=1000 @system @world && smart-live-rebuild && emerge --depclean && revdep-rebuild

Depending on what gets updated and how many updates there are, this could take a while. Plan on running updates when you are not using your system. Do not go without updating for more than 30 days. Gentoo Studio is basically Gentoo, and Gentoo is a rolling-release system. This means it is meant to be updated frequently. However, please observe the Gentoo etiquette of not running sync more than once per day.

Note: You might need to rm -rf /usr/local/portage before running the above command if you see any complaints about git and /usr/local/portage. This is probably not the best solution, and I will look into it as time permits. Suggestions welcome. If you’ve put any custom ebuilds of your own in /usr/local/portage, please back them up so you can replace them.

If there is an update to the kernel (rt-sources), run, as root, after the above command has been run:

> mount /dev/sda2 /boot (mount your boot partition if you've prepared your hard drive otherwise)
> eselect kernel list
> eselect kernel set x
> genkernel --menuconfig all

Where “x” is the number of the latest kernel from eselect kernel list. When you see the kernel menu from –menuconfig, all you have to do is make sure that “fully preemptible” is selected under “processor type and features.” Escape out of menuconfig and genkernel will compile the kernel and modules. When that’s done, run:

> grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Your new kernel will be used the next time you reboot.

If you are low on/out of space on the boot partition, you can manually delete older kernels and re-run grub-mkconfig. The three kernel files for each kernel version are initramfs-genkernel-x86_64-(version), kernel-genkernel-x86_64-(version) and System.map-genkernel-x86_64-(version). Pay attention and don’t delete the wrong kernel or you’ll have to re-run genkernel.