Update ubuntu 1010 to 1104 without physical access
 

I have rented a server in a datawarehouse to host my mysql databases, subversion repositories, websites etc.
I don't have physical access to this server (I don't even know the location of the data warehouse).

I connect over SSH (Putty) to this server.

When I login I get the message that new release "natty" is available (1104).
Run "do-release-upgrade" to upgrade to it.
I've never done an upgrade, so I'm afraid there has to be a reset during the upgrade process and a manual action on the machine itself to restart it.

Is it possible to do this upgrade without manual intervention, can somebody give me perhaps a pointer to a location of a good "howto"

For good understanding: I don't have a graphical user interface, just the command line through Putty. I've installed the utility "screen", but I don't know if it can help me in this case.

Thanks,

Rob

Hi Rob,

The Ubuntu upgrade process is well-documented here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NattyUpgrades

The upgrade will require a reboot of your server. It's possible you'll need help from your hosting company to do this.

I strongly recommend that you read the Release Notes before proceeding and that you perform a full backup of your server.

Should you choose not to upgrade at this time, 10.10 will be supported through April 2012. Many server admins choose the "Long Term Support" releases of Ubuntu (currently 10.04) as they are supported 5 years.

Good luck! :)

Thanks for your answer, I believe the hosting company has a procedure to reboot (through a web portal), but I have too much problems (with my clients) if the server doesn't function properly.
I will postpone the upgrade till spring 2012, to be sure I will have a spare server ready at that upgrade.

Backup is allways very important.

Rob

Good idea, also note that in April 2012, the next Long Term Support (12.04) is scheduled to be released. It will have server support through 2017.