Get locked out after server version (ubuntu) upgrade
 

I have just setup a new server whith a host who only provide the hardy distro of ubuntu. I want to upgrade it to at least jaunty, however after upgrading from 8.04 to 9.04, it requires a restart and after it restarts i can no longer connect to it at all. I'm fairly certain it must be reconfiguring the firewall to prevent all access on reboot.

Can anyone please provide some insight on how to prevent this from happening???

Many thanks, Adam

I think you'll have to speak to your hosting provider for an answer to this Q.
It is possible they want to keep you on 8.04 because this was/is a LTS release.
Welcome to LQ though.

I have the most unhelpful hosts in the world (1and1), they dont mind me upgrading the versions but if I do get locked out they have now refused to login at their end and unlock the ports for me so now im on my own.

I have had a break-through though, I can now upgrade to any version upto karmic, the important thing to note is that when you are offered to keep existing config files or replace with new ALWAYS keep existing. its the only way to prevent yourself from being locked out.

The problem now is that I actually want to go to Lucid and for some reason even if I keep the configs I still get locked out on reboot. What has changed in the Lucid startup process which is different from earlier versions and what could I do to get around this?

Lots of things have changed since 8.04, the last LTS release, and I am still getting to grips with them.

As a general rule, fresh installs go better than "Upgrades", but I appreciate that this is difficult when you do not have physical access to your server.

I can understand your provider's reluctance to login and "fix" things for you - too many distros and configurations out there for this to be a commercially viable option.

I'd change my hosting provider to someone more flexible. Ideally one who could offer you the options to:

- View and alter your server's filesystem whilst it was not running. (The equivalent of booting from a live CD and mounting your server's HDD so you can fix the configuration).
- Reboot your server (The equivalent of pressing the power button, or typing reboot and then removing the live CD).

I am not familiar with hosting services, or running VMs, but I am sure this simple functionality must be available in the commercial world.

Maybe 1&1 already offer this, but you are not aware of it?

Im not entirely sure what I would ask or do with the information you have provided, so i would ask "can i view the file system while it is turned off?"

If they say yes and I do it, then what would I do?

Have you run your own server (perhaps just on your home LAN), to get the general idea of how things work?

If not, I suggest you try this as an experiment. It'll give you a feel for what you can and cannot do under different circumstances. And you'll learn how to recover from "disasters".

Examples:

1] I got a new laptop last week. Pre-installed Win7 went straight out of the window. I made a new installation of ubuntu 10.04 (I am used to 8.04). Minor problems with the graphics which I (stupidly) messed up badly at my first (lazy - clicky-clicky GUI-do) attempt, so eventually I could not even login.

So I reinstalled and then enabled ssh on the new install (with clunky horrible mismatched graphics), before I messed with anything else. Then I tried different GUI configurations. But I now had a "backdoor": No login screen to the laptop? That's now easy to fix: just ssh in from another PC on my LAN so I get a terminal talking to the new laptop and fix the problem(s), reboot from my ssh login, and laptop restarts remotely (well, it's really 3 feet away, so I could watch it restart) with GUI working. All is happy :)

2] Sometimes I play with my (LAN) server too much, and break it.

So I boot it from a live CD (So the server is "turned off" in the sense that it is not running, but the live CD is), mount the server's filesystem, so I can access its quiescent files, and fix the configuration. Logout from the live CD, and reboot: It works again :)

Or, as above, I can ssh into it, fix the problem, reboot it, and I don't even have to walk upstairs.

I encourage you to experiment with your LAN before you try esoteric remote server administration.

Hope this helps.