Is it possible to upgrade from MacTeX 2010 to 2011 without downloading the entire package for new?
I’ve tried starting the instructons for upgrading TeXLive at tug.org/texlive/upgrade.html, up to step 3 (so, I’ve duplicated usr/local/texlive/2010 as …/2011), but with the next few steps, I’m worried about confusing the MacTeX “TeX Distibution” system preferences pane, since I don’t know how it finds/builds its list of installed TeX distributions. I had hoped it would find the duplicated copy and allow me to switch to it (which would presumably cover steps 4–6), but it’s not seeing a 2011 distribution.
So… is it safe to proceed with those instructions, without breaking the MacTex preferences pane? Or is there some way one should handle things via that pane? Or is it best to just download MacTeX 2011 afresh?
Best Answer
It's really preferable to download the whole installer, since then it will manage the preference pane stuff for you automatically. (This is quite useful, since if any of your existing documents don't work, you can quickly and painlessly switch between the current and previous distribution.)
If you are really pressed for time, you could install BasicTeX, but then you might need to install any missing packages yourself using TeXLive Utility (or
tlmgr.)I would recommend installing the full package. In either case, be sure to run TeXLive Utility to update everything after you have installed the new distribution.