It appears that the vast majority of "fresh" installs are going well, which is good. I'm trying to decide between "fresh" and "upgrade". My last upgrade (10.2 -> 11.0) went ok (following the helpful suggestions Pat provided), but since that time I've converted my machine to a "headless" setup (i.e. it now sits in my basement as a file/db/web/development server, without a monitor, keyboard, or mouse attached.) Any opinions or things to be aware of, other than "back that [stuff] up!"? I've got separate /home, /usr, and /opt partitions, though my /etc and /var directories are part of my "/" partition. My primary concern is what a fresh Apache and MySQL install might do to my existing setup. I'm anticipating that fresh or upgrade won't make a difference where that's concerned, but I'd like some confirmation. I'll probably also keep at least the KDE libs and XFCE (for use when I VNC into it) but otherwise I plan on getting rid of alot of the "user-friendly" stuff I set up when it was my primary machine (gui eye-candy, mplayer, fancy fonts, etc.)

Thanks for any suggestions.

IMO if you're planning on cleaning house anyway, you might as well do a fresh install. its easier anyway. I just 'tar -cjf' my etc, src, and home dirs then put things back as they were by doing some diff's on relevant config files.

just my 2c

I did an upgrade last weekend from a local sync of slack-current and it went well. I have 3-4 php apps installed on Apache 1.3. The apps all worked after the upgrade to apache 2 & php 5. I had to modify the new httpd.conf (Pat moved this from /etc/apache to /etc/httpd.) It took me a bit to understand that I needed <Directory> entries for each alias dir I had.

My other problem was with openldap. the berleleydb software is upgraded from 4.2 -> 4.4 so you need to to slapcat the database and rebuild the db using slapadd.

FInally, I had the xorg problem. FOr some reason, I had to backoff the verticle sync for my monitor from 56-76 to 56-75. Very odd.

But, if you have some time and don't mind a few bumps in the road, try the upgrade. It works well.

My single caveat is that the upgrade instructions in CHANGES AND HINTS.TXT are not verbatim instructions. If you aren't sure what command to run to upgrade everything else, take a look at UPGRADE.TXT in the v11 tree. The same process is used there.

Reading some blogs on the matter, it would seem that there are some people, who by following the upgrade instructions, ended up with a very mess up system. This is up to the individual though, and has a lot to do with what kind of a setup and computer you have.

I would recommend a fresh installation, since so much has changed since version 11. It's also easier, faster, and not really that big of a deal if you just backup everything important.

The Slackware MASTER CHIEF not recommend a upgrade, always a fresh installation.


http://mirror.pacific.net.au/linux/s..._AND_HINTS.TXT

I had installed Slack 12 RC1 and now would like to upgrade to the final release. Would using swaret or slap-get be okay to do this? Would I configure it to use current?

Thnx.

Patrick Volkerding 24 August 1995

That quote from Pat is 12 years old! I think a few things have changed in the last decade.......

I just upgraded two computers by following the CHANGES AND HINTS.TXT for upgrading. It went smooooooooth on both. In fact most of the time was spent going back and re-customizing the various config files. The only problems I've run into were some Fluxbox problems on one machine (and since it is a server I really don't care) and a couple of applications that had to be recompiled.

I agree, quoting something that is *THAT* old is hardly useless. Almost akin to spreading FUD about how 'hard' it is to upgrade Slackware. (not to mention that it seems to deal when switching from a.out format to ELF binaries).

Rworkman has poured considerate time into the UPGRADE_AND_HINTS.TXT and having used it a couple of times, it just works.

OK Its old, but it is true.

Ok just like talking about compile your own cutting edge kernel Its the best option for anybody that follow the GNU/Linux but that have software consequences. Just like Upgrade a OLD system through a major changes version like 2.4 to 2.6; YES YOU CAN but... in the balance take your time to backup your data, format to a clean partition, install from zero and fresh Slackware 12, or sit, prepare a coffee and comfortable chair and keyboard and Upgrade your OLD 2.4 ---> 2.6 System, It is just question of TIME.

You can upgrade from Slackware 3.3 to Slackware 12 IT IS PHYSICALLY possible, but.... we do not have enough time

I believe its viable In large Slackware Server Systems the Upgrade, Its the only way. But not in standalone home PC.