Re: Old mixed distro machine upgrade to stable: possible? worth it?
On 10/26/2007 01:44 PM, Owen Heisler wrote:
> On Fri, 2007.10.26 09:26, Jaime Herazo B. wrote:
>> I'm inclined to just format it and be done with that mess, but he doesn't
>> want to go that route since he'd have to reconfigure it all (i'd personally
>> be willing to pay that price to be able to have the comfort of trusting the
>> contents of the machine). Do you think it'd be good to give it a shot anyway?
>> or would it just be a complicated way of delaying the unavoidable?
>
> _I_ would probably reinstall just to be sure I had a pure Debian system, but if
> it was someone else's system and they wanted to try upgrading, I would try it!
>
> Back up stuff (do whether upgrading or reinstalling, of course!). I would
> probably just get /etc and /home.
>
> I find aptitude to be quite helpful with upgrading, especially with
> complications like this:
> Fix sources.list to what you want, run 'aptitude update', and run 'aptitude
> keep-all'. Set all unofficial packages to automatically installed (uppercase
> "M"), and then all dependencies/libraries. For the latter, I would open a flat
> package list, limiting the displayed packages to those that are installed but
> not auto-installed (using "~i!~M"). Then mark anything there that you don't
> explicitly want installed as auto-installed. Aptitude should delete a bunch of
> unnecessary stuff. Don't upgrade anything yet, just get rid of junk. Be sure
> to preview everything before applying. Next start upgrading, and do just small
> chunks of packages at a time. (This helps me keep things straight when using
> aptitude.) If you have to use the dependency resolver, remember the reject
> option ("r").
>
> Hope this helps.
Upgrading is /far/ more complicated than that. The debian upgrade cycle
for stable requires upgrading from a /current/ release to the new
release; sarge to etch, for example.
Must read: http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/releasenotes
Especially section 4. Upgrades from previous releases
and section 5. Issues to be aware of for etch
Sarge2EtchUpgrade http://wiki.debian.org/Sarge2EtchUpgrade
Recommended: Browse this list's archives to learn from others'
experiences and mistakes, including mine! Much of the pain you'll face
upgrading from such a mish-mash could be avoided by a fresh install
after saving /home and /etc for reference purposes.
I'm no expert, but have the scars from upgrading.
Have fun!
Ralph
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