Re: upgrading to testing from woody

[Erich.Waelde@t-online.de (Erich Waelde)]

Buenas!

What I used to do while running "stable" plus some packages from
"testing" was this:


1. I installed and _use_ aptitude as frontend. This makes it
   simpler to follow dependencies.

2. In aptitude, I select Options > Dependency Handling and change
   "Install suggested/recommended packages automatically" to
   false. I do this to keep the installation small, however,
   sometimes I find out the hard way, that something is missing.
   This is my personal choice and not a general recommendation.


3. I create the file /etc/apt/apt.conf with this content:

   --------------------------------------------------
   APT::Default-Release "stable";
   --------------------------------------------------

   This will make apt-get select "stable" unless instructed
   otherwise.


4. Add the "testing" branch to /etc/apt/sources.list

   --------------------------------------------------
   # testing
   deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian testing main
   deb http://security.debian.org testing/updates main
   --------------------------------------------------

5. run apt-get update


Now, if you want package X out of testing, then you can

6a. either  

    apt-get -t testing install X

    this will also take care of dependencies and possibly produce
    unwanted upgrades of many more packages ... 


6b. or

    aptitude

    select package X (hit '/' for search)

when the line of package X is selected, hit <Enter> to go
into the package info. At the bottom under Versions, there
will be the stable version, and the testing version if
available.

If you just hit '+' to select the package, "stable" will be
chosen, if you go down to Versions, place the cursor in the
version for testing and hit '+', the testing version will be
selected, with all dependencies being checked.

The dependencies are listed in the package info, so you have a
chance to find out.

if you are set, hit 'g' and a preview is listed, of what is going
to change. Another 'g' will make the thing rock'n'roll ...


Please read the manpage before! This is a mighty tool, and you
can mess up everything as well.


A note of caution: If e.g. glibc ends up selected for an update
(most likely through a dependency), then almost everything will
change. So you may choose not to do the upgrade on package X
after all, but at least you can see, what is involved.

Also watch the "broken Packages" Counter on top of the aptitude
screen. Searching for '~b' will get your cursor to them.

Of course this works with plain apt-get as well, or another front
end like synaptic or ...


Hope this helps.

Erich