I ran apt-get update, and apt-get -d dist-upgrade to download the rpms needed to upgrade 8.2 packages to the highest version prior to doing a version upgrade to 9.x. It took a few days via modem, a few hours each day, but I have the packages.

Question: how do I get apt-get to now upgrade the system? Do run apt-get dist-upgrade (without the -d option), or do I run apt-get --reinstall dist-upgrade? I'm not trying to reinstall, just upgrade the installed packages, install any new packages required by the upgrade, and remove old packages no longer needed. Something on the order of rpm -U, but system-wide, not one package at a time (500+ packages).

I've done a few hours of googling, but haven't found anything which specifically deals with using apt-get after-the-fact on a local archive of files to upgrade.

you can try simply changing your souces (in /etc/apt/sources.conf), which you have probably already done, to reflect the desired version of SuSE to upgrade to. then run, apt-get dist-upgrade.

this will almost definately leave package inconsistancies, as older packages rely on other old packages, which when you try and upgrade cause breakages. It would be simply easier to download the net-install cd and run that, and tell it to upgrade your system. only problem is, that it would restart the whole process (of downloading packages) again.

You can attempt to upgrade the pkgs but you can NOT upgrade the system without a CD and/or FTP install. All you'll have at best is an 8.2 system running on some 9.x RPM's. And if you want to also upgrade the kernel then you are really going to need a pick-axe and a scalpel as that will be a whole other battle. In short, I wouldn't advise you even try it unless you are an aspiring mad scientist.

Follow the instructions above. Do the net-install.

Thank you both, net-install it is then. Oh, well. Did the downloads the hard way once. Once more won't hurt any more that the first.