centos4: updating vs upgrading
 

Hello?

I have been just applying the released
updates to my CentOS 4 all along and
staying at 4.

However, I came across somewhere that
I should also update/upgrade the core/base.

If I do this, the CentOS 4 will become
CentOS 4.x, where 4.x would be the latest
version at the time of the upgrade.

Now, is this necessary going from 4 to 4.x,
or I should be just fine staying at 4 with
the released updates only?

I notice that going from 4 to 4.x upgrades
the kernel whereas staying at 4 with released
updates only does not actually upgrade the
kernel in CentOS.

Besides this and possibly other application
upgrades, what am I really losing out not
going from 4 to 4.x and just staying at 4?

Thanks.

there really is no difference, if you are up to date then you are on 4.3 or whatever the current is.

Hi acid_kewpie,

Thanks for your feedback.

Well, not really. I have been applying with the
released updates only since I installed 4 and my
version has stayed at 4, not 4.x.

I think if one updates/upgrades the core/base,
then the 4 becomes whichever is the current.

So, the question still is whether updating/upgrading
the core/base in addition to the updates is better,
or this does not really matter as long as I keep up
with the regular updates even though I remain at 4.

in what wqay do you remain at 4? i don't really follow that. i would assume that if you do a full "yum upgrade" then youre centos-release rpm would be upgraded, and that would be what defines the release version you are deemed to be running. if you have applied all the updates then you will be on the latest version of centos available, and subversion numbers merely stand to provide a noted landmark in terms of the base installation level.

did you install the redhat-lsb*CentOS.rpm package or whatever is called? That "updates" you to your good version (i think that is the package you need to clear your confusion...)

correct me if i'm wrong.

To upgrade from one version to the next, you need to install the centos-release rpm of the version you wish to upgrade to.

I'm just confused as to why you'd want to stay on CentOS 4, and not install the kernel updates. I would install all updates, including the kernel updates. I trust RHEL and CentOS, they haven't burned me yet.

Wait a minute folks, we are posting to the enterprise forum where being a day late as long as your not a dollar short is not a big deal. Perhaps if you are upgrading 50 desktops, bleeding edge with some testing is acceptable. However leaving servers a version behind and just patching for security issues makes good sense.