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Old 01-05-2017, 02:47 PM   #1
mfoley
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Need tips on upgrading distro


I have 14.1 installed on several servers. I would like to upgrade to 14.2. In the past, I've always simply installed a clean new distro from scratch, then added my configs and customizations.

I'd rather not do that this time as one of the servers is a Samba4 domain controller with working .ldb database serving the whole office, including Dovecot mail server. Setup for these things, plus DNS, DHCP, etc. is extensive and fraught with peril. Can I just somehow upgrade to 14.2 in-situ without doing a scratch install? If so, can someone give me tips on what I should and should not do? Yes, I'll do a full backup beforehand.
 
Old 01-05-2017, 02:57 PM   #2
camorri
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There is a How To file on the install dvd called UPGRADE.TXT. Follow those instructions to do an upgrade. I have used them several times without issues.

I copy off all the config files to some safe locations, and then do the upgrade. Once the upgrade is done, ( about 30 minutes ) use slackpkg to bring the new install up to date, copy the config files back.

It takes me more time to install things from SBO than the upgrade, so look into those packages also.
 
Old 01-05-2017, 03:48 PM   #3
kikinovak
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mfoley View Post
I have 14.1 installed on several servers. I would like to upgrade to 14.2. In the past, I've always simply installed a clean new distro from scratch, then added my configs and customizations.

I'd rather not do that this time as one of the servers is a Samba4 domain controller with working .ldb database serving the whole office, including Dovecot mail server. Setup for these things, plus DNS, DHCP, etc. is extensive and fraught with peril. Can I just somehow upgrade to 14.2 in-situ without doing a scratch install? If so, can someone give me tips on what I should and should not do? Yes, I'll do a full backup beforehand.
Yes, you can do a live upgrade. It's not exactly a trivial operation, but it's possible. Here's a link to my own notes.

http://www.microlinux.fr/microlinux/...rade-HOWTO.txt

Cheers,

Niki
 
Old 01-05-2017, 04:40 PM   #4
jailbait
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I always have two Linux systems installed, each in its own partition. I dual boot, usually into the newer system. When I want to install a new upgrade or even a completely different distribution I do so by replacing the older system with my latest install. How I do so varies depending on what the distribution's installer is capable of. I prefer upgrade in place if the distribution can handle it.

By using dual boot I don't have to worry about any instability in the new install causing a lot of down time. More importantly I can make all of my custom settings at a leisurely pace and not be rushed because I have to get the new system working as soon as possible.

If you start maintaining two systems at once then you will have to install 14.2 as a second system with a fresh install. After that, then future upgrades can be done either with a fresh install or an upgrade in place at your leisure.

Another advantage of maintaining two systems is that you have an instantly ready backup system if your production system breaks.

----------------------------
Steve Stites

Last edited by jailbait; 01-05-2017 at 04:42 PM.
 
Old 01-06-2017, 06:26 AM   #5
tdos20
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There is also a file called CHANGES_AND_HINTS.txt which you should follow:
http://mirrors.xmission.com/slackwar..._AND_HINTS.TXT
I would allow for some downtime, and if you have any custom udev rule files in /etc/udev/rules.d/ then I would rename them <filename>_old or you will see alot of errors. I did an upgrade from 14.1 to 14.2 this week and it went smoothly other than the udev files issue, I did mine using the install CD and monting my existing root partition, bind mounting dev, proc and sys, and then following the instructions in UPGRADE.txt, followed by removing the obsolete files (although this was a media pc not a working email/samba server so DO A BACKUP!)
Good luck!
 
Old 01-06-2017, 07:45 AM   #6
willysr
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I once perform a live upgrade from Slackware 12.2 to 14.1 (incremental update, 12.2 -> 13.0 -> 13.1, etc) using slackpkg and everything is working just fine. You just need to make sure to install new packages and remove deprecated packages.
 
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Old 01-06-2017, 07:49 AM   #7
Didier Spaier
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Read Upgrading Slackware to a New Release.

Last edited by Didier Spaier; 01-06-2017 at 08:53 AM. Reason: Link fixed.
 
Old 01-06-2017, 08:41 AM   #8
onebuck
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Member response

Hi,

Didier Spaier your link is broken, opens a new reply window.

Hope this helps.

 
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Old 01-06-2017, 08:53 AM   #9
Didier Spaier
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@onebuck: fixed, thanks.
 
Old 01-07-2017, 10:42 AM   #10
mfoley
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Thanks all. I've got 4 production servers to upgrade. I'm starting on this project NOW! I'll post back results.

Meanwhile, related question: My /etc/slackpkg/mirrors currently points to ftp://ftp.osuosl.org/.2/slackware/slackware64-14.1. My 14.2 systems similarly point to ftp://ftp.osuosl.org/.2/slackware/slackware64-14.2. What exactly is .../slackware64-current? How does it differ from the 14.[12] mirrors?
 
Old 01-07-2017, 10:47 AM   #11
ponce
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http://docs.slackware.com/slackware:current
 
Old 01-08-2017, 11:50 AM   #12
mfoley
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ponce View Post
Basically, 'current' is ongoing experimental, and not recommended for production. Got it.

Meanwhile, I did successfully upgrade 3 servers from 14.1 to 14.2, remotely w/o going to single user mode. The UPGRADE.TXT instructions were all I needed. The only glitch I ran into was that rc.rpc is required to run on the nfsd server now, whereas it was not before. It took me a while to figure out why I couldn't see nfs exports from client hosts. Also, the rc.rpc.new is definitely needed for 14.2 and nfs usage.

Basically, it worked!

I have not yet done the upgrade to the Samba4 server -- ran out of time this weekend. If I have any issues with that, I'll post.
 
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Old 01-08-2017, 12:05 PM   #13
willysr
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You should read the CHANGES_AND_HINTS and also the ChangeLog since not all are listed in the first doc, but it's listed in the ChangeLog.
 
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Old 01-09-2017, 01:04 PM   #14
mfoley
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Quote:
Originally Posted by willysr View Post
You should read the CHANGES_AND_HINTS and also the ChangeLog since not all are listed in the first doc, but it's listed in the ChangeLog.
Yes, I did read the CHANGES_AND_HINTS doc (http://mirrors.xmission.com/slackwar..._AND_HINTS.TXT). I just looked at it again but there was nothing obvious (to me) about the nfs/rpc thing.
 
Old 01-09-2017, 01:24 PM   #15
bassmadrigal
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RPC was required for NFS back in 14.2 as well. The /etc/rc.d/rc.nfsd explicitly called it if it wasn't running.

Code:
  # If basic RPC services are not running, start them:
  if ! ps axc | grep -q rpc.statd ; then
    if [ -r /etc/rc.d/rc.rpc ]; then
      sh /etc/rc.d/rc.rpc start
    else
      # Sure, we tested for rpc.statd, but this is the probable cause:
      echo "FATAL:  Can't start NFS server without portmap package."
      sleep 5
      exit 1
    fi
  fi
This forces /etc/rc.d/rc.rpc to run even if it isn't executable (the -r only tests if it exists and is readable). It is possible that there were changes with rc.rpc and the rc.rpc that was included with 14.1 was no longer compatible in 14.2 (I'm too lazy to diff them).
 
  


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