Upgrading via slackpkg

mattca · 11-08-2013, 09:11 AM

Hi all, like the rest of us I'm looking forward to updating to the new release. I have a few questions about the process though. UPGRADE.TXT has instructions that involve the use of a CD, or otherwise having the packages local on your system. I would prefer to use slackpkg if possible, and I feel like I've upgraded this way in the past... I think from 13.0 to 13.37. However, when I upgraded from 13.37 to 14.0 this way my machine wouldn't boot afterward, and I ended up doing a fresh install.

I'm also multilib, and the instructions in UPGRADE.TXT don't seem to account for that. I seem to recall reading that upgrading multilib systems needs to be done with care.

I think there are instructions for this on doc.slackware.com, but it seems to be either down or very slow right now.

So, can I upgrade via slackpkg by simply changing the mirror from 14.0 to 14.1? If so, why doesn't UPGRADE.TXT say so? It seems to be a lot more convenient to upgrade this way, rather than using a CD.

Thanks!

Stuferus · 11-08-2013, 09:14 AM

also one should think about people how simply dont have a cd/dvd/bd drive and cant get one too.

just for the record.

samac · 11-08-2013, 09:30 AM

I upgraded using the dvd (minus KDE) by following the upgrade.txt, then updated multi-lib and KDE using slackpkg+ and modifying the mirror in /etc/slackpkg/mirrors.conf and the repos in
/etc/slackpkg/slackpkgplus.conf to 14.1 for most of them but current for ktown and then left the machine running overnight. All I had to do was install the new version of the nvidia driver and tweak a bit.

samac

willysr · 11-08-2013, 10:51 AM

You can use slackpkg to upgrade between versions
I upgraded my server from 12.2 incrementally to 14.0 using slackpkg and i'm planning to upgrade to slackware 14.1 soon

I personally use these common steps
Point to slackware 14.1 mirror
slackpkg update
slackpkg install-new (look at CHANGES_AND_HINTS)
slackpkg upgrade-all
slackpkg clean-system

It would be better if you have a local repository

dive · 11-08-2013, 12:09 PM

In addition to Willysr's way I usually upgrade slackpkg itself before those steps. That will stop slackpkg stopping in the middle and asking you to run slackpkg update again. So my steps + Willysr's:

Edit mirrors file.
slackpkg update
slackpkg upgrade slackpkg
slackpkg update
slackpkg install-new
slackpkg upgrade-all
slackpkg clean-system

I have so far done 4 chroots like this. I have two multilib hosts to do yet though (probably saturday) and this will be the first time I've had to do this on a multilib system so I've no real plan in mind yet. What I will probably do is backup my slackpkg blacklist file and remove all the multilib/sbo stuff on it ([0-9]+_SBo and [0-9]+alien) and anything else that needs taking out. Then I will follow the steps above to install the pure 64bit system, then run my multilib script to install alienBob's multilib stuff (script below) and then add back in the blacklisted stuff from above. Hopefully, that should work ok.

My multilib rsync/install script:

Code:

#!/bin/sh

set -e 

URL=rsync://taper.alienbase.nl/mirrors/people/alien/multilib/14.1/

rsync -ruhv --progress --exclude=debug/ --include=*/ --include=*t?z \
--delete --exclude=* $URL ./

upgradepkg --reinstall --install-new *.t?z
upgradepkg --install-new slackware64-compat32/*-compat32/*.t?z

WARNING! Create a multilib directory for this to run in first and run the script inside it or you'll kill your $HOME.

TobiSGD · 11-08-2013, 12:16 PM

It is indeed recommended to upgrade slackpkg first, since there were changes made in the default options. Without the changed options (in this case the important one is "DOWNLOAD_ALL", which is now set to on by default) your wget will break during the upgrade process, making it impossible to do further upgrades without having a local package repository (or the DVD, which is basically the same).
Don't forget that you have to upgrade your multilib, too. It is, thanks to zerouno and phenixia2003, exceptionally easy to install and maintain multilib (and other repositories) with the slackpkg+ plugin.

mattca · 11-08-2013, 12:29 PM

Thanks for the tips everyone, I'll likely start updating my machines over the weekend. What about the kernel? Step 7 of UPGRADE.TXT seems pretty important...

dive · 11-08-2013, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattca

What about the kernel? Step 7 of UPGRADE.TXT seems pretty important...

Edit your lilo config (/etc/lilo.conf) to point to the new kernel (check /boot to find the new version) before running lilo.

The first 5 paragraphs of step 7 are for people using an initrd. More info here:

http://mirror.bytemark.co.uk/slackwa..._AND_HINTS.TXT

glorsplitz · 11-10-2013, 12:09 PM

upgraded 32/64 following mentioned suggestions, everything is working good, thank you

hitest · 11-10-2013, 12:16 PM

Further to willysr's excellent post I also run slackpkg update gpg just prior to running slackpkg update.