On 11/7/2013 2:04 AM, Bob Proulx wrote:
Jerry Stuckle wrote:Bob Proulx wrote:Jerry Stuckle wrote:Chris Bannister wrote:Instead it would make more sense to install a fresh Wheezy system and then install the top level packages you require.I would normally do this. I would set up a new machine. Then manually put in the work to move each task over from the old to the new. Been there many times. It is work and effort. But less work in total than trying to avoid the work.And how do you know what "each task" is when you don't have documentation in the complete system? And if you don't know what is required by the tasks?For example if the machine is a web server then I would replicate the web setup on the other machine. If dhcpd then again the same.
This is not just a web server or a dhcp server. It serves multiple functions, most undocumented. And no one at the customer (they are not technical) know what all the server does. They just want a working system.
This is a live server, with all kinds of modifications to the configuration files (unfortunately, many were before my time and are not documented). Due to the mods, upgrading to Squeeze was a messSigh. I am once again dealing with a very similar situation. And I can't really do what I want to do which is to move to a clean system and move tasks over to it. I pretty much need to clean it up in place. Which is a difficult situation. Double sigh. I just need to carefully walk through the minefields there.I can't "clean it up in place" and risk downtime on a live system.Then life is very bad for you. :-(
No worse than any business running production servers. I don't know what it's like where you are, but it's pretty normal here in the U.S. for small/medium businesses without their own IT departments.
But I still would not myself use the strategy of doing the get-selections and set-selections because in my opinion I don't like the direction of that strategy. I would identify the top level packages and install those. It is easy to install missing packages. The problem is that they are initially missing and so you find them by seeing what is broken. That is bad. But I know of no better way.How can you do that when you don't know all of the tasks and what they require?By doing exactly what I just said. I will say it again. The problem is that they are initially missing and so you find them by seeing what is broken. That is bad. But I know of no better way.
That is not a response. You can't find out what is broken if you don't know everything that's going on.
And I know your response will be that you can't do that. The answer is that then you are in a world of serious hurt. Serious, serious hurt.
Once again, it's a pretty normal situation here. The solution is to duplicate the system as closely as possible.
On the same version? Or jumping to a newer version?This whole discussion has been about upgrading to Wheezy.Some of the discussion has been about cloning servers on the same version. Bob
There have been some side comments about cloning on the same version. But if you had read the entire thread, the main thrust (and all of my comments) have been related to upgrading.
It's pretty obvious you're not familiar with production servers for small/medium business. Not a criticism, but an observation. Maintaining one of these is not at all like maintaining your desktop or personal server. Requirements are much different.
Jerry