upgrading to Slackware 14.2
 

I remember being able to upgrade over the air by switching repo from an old stable to current then jumping to the new stable. I can't find the instruction for some reason. Can somebody kindly point out were these have been placed. I will hightly appreciate it. Thank you.

How to upgrade to 14.2.

http://slackware.osuosl.org/slackwar...nt/UPGRADE.TXT

I tried to do an upgrade once, following the instructions in the file in the install *.iso. I botched it and ended up running Debian on that machine and did so until that machine wore out. (I do quite like Debian; it's also stable. I prefer stable.)

That's one reason I started using --Current. I can put up with the occasional glitches on --Current if it means I don't get the opportunity to botch another upgrade.:)

Thank you for pointing that out, I thought there was a set of instructions from AlienBob and I had used them before. There was not require to download the ISO file and mounting the disk in the computer.

I followed the instructions on the slackdoc and I think there is something missing in there too.

I appreciate your input.

You're probably looking for this on the SlackWiki.

I used slackpkg to update from 14.1 to current.

I used these instructions:
https://slackalaxy.wordpress.com/201...kware-current/
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...5/#post4676576

I normally use the instructions from the SlackWiki as well for over-the-air upgrades. Probably best to jump only one version though - so, for example, from 14.1 I would go to 14.2, and then to -current - although you might be able to do it directly. I think the wiki doesn't mention it directly - but I go to /etc/slackpkg/mirrors - uncomment one mirror, and change the link to point to the next version of Slackware (or -current, if that's what I'm after). Then run "slackpkg update" and "slackpkg upgrade slackpkg" as per the wiki instructions.

That's the way I do it as well even though it isn't the official, recommended method to upgrade from one version to the next. I've been lucky and have not experienced any glitches using this method. That's why I recommend the official document. I've also found slackpkg to be reliable.

I confess that I am a big fan of a clean installation which avoids more than a few issues with upgrading. I run -current but even there I still wipe and reinstall from time to time...

Agreed. I do that on regular basis as well. Also, if you have a separately mounted /home partition you can do a clean install on / without wiping saved stuff (documents, pictures, etc) on /home.

I think the wiki doesn't emphasizes this step quoted here. I will try again once I get home tonight and see how that works.
Thank you.

I have an habit developed over a lifetime long dealing with computers:
multiboot.
And the consequence is I rarely upgrade, but merely switch OS instead:
50G gaming OS ;)
20G linux1
20G linux2
1G swap
100G home
So most of time I do a fresh install:D

also proper (wise?) use of slackpkg+ relives the burden of managing multilib a bit?
This implies using it for mulitlib only and not "spamming" it any further;)

Different people have different needs and preferences. Also, different setups have different requirements. For years I preferred the clean re-install method - but sooner or later I had to upgrade servers - and the ability to upgrade with slackpkg in the background and just do a reboot at the end - crossing fingers that everything will be fine - with minimum of downtime - is a major advantage. The beauty of open source: many ways to achieve the same goal :-)

I concur, updating "on the fly" is a major advantage.
The way it works (and it really works) on Slackware is something I appreciate the most.
Few (most important and fragile) steps to do manually (micro management), and after that the heavy lifting is handled by the automatron (=slackpkg).
I also recommend slackpkg+ (again) for automating an multilib:
My son had an upgrade-all and lost 32bit -compat32 packages to it :rolleyes:, had he installed the "plus" he would just never learned it "hard way" ;)