[TriLUG] Upgrade Debian 7 to 8

[Scott Chilcote via TriLUG]

One thing worth adding - if you have directories outside of /home that
contain content that needs to be protected, for example /var/www, /opt,
/usr/local, throw those into a protectable partition as well.  The idea
is to make it very easy to leave out of the reinstallation process.


On 09/08/2016 04:29 PM, Scott Chilcote via TriLUG wrote:
> After hundreds of hours lost banging on failed upgrades over the years,
> my #1 best practice is to always put /home on a dedicated partition.  Do
> a custom install and leave that partition exactly as it is (no format). 
> Format all of the others (unless you multi-boot, but then you don't need
> this advice) and fresh install.  I haven't had a problem doing this,
> even when I got sloppy and skipped backing up /home...  Which I'm not
> advising anyone to consider.
>
> In my experience, the upgrade process only works smoothly under clean
> room conditions, such as 1) you haven't side-loaded any applications via
> the package manager, 2) you haven't had any failed app installs that you
> had to unsnarl by hand, and 3) you didn't install any odd developer bits
> of software that overlap the upgrade processes to-do list... There's
> probably more.
>
> This approach won't keep you entirely out of trouble, but it will avoid
> that very un-fun situation that occurs when you upgrade runs off the
> rails 9/10ths of the way through and says "Your system is in unstable
> condition, try running some of these package manager commands to clean
> up."  At which point, the very last thing you want to do is reboot
> before the holes have all been plugged.
>
> Hopefully, not too ranty...
>
>   Scott C.
>
>
> On 09/08/2016 03:56 PM, Ken MacKenzie via TriLUG wrote:
>> Most argue it is safer to take a backup and go with a fresh install.  For a
>> server especially I agree with that.  Desktop/workstations, I have edited
>> apt sources and done an upgrade in place plenty of times without much to
>> deal with.  However either way make sure you try a live CD first to make
>> sure there is no hardware issue that might be an issue for your specific
>> computer.
>>
>> Ken
>>
>> On Thu, Sep 8, 2016 at 3:49 PM, Grawburg via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I understand I can, with care, upgrade my Debian 7 to 8 (Jessie) without a
>>> totally new install. My question is simple: Am I asking for trouble doing
>>> it this way instead of doing a fresh install on a new HD?
>>>
>>> Brian Grawburg
>>> Wilson
>>>
>>> --
>>> [This was sent from a PC running Debian 7, 64-bit Linux. No Microsoft
>>> products were used.]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> This message was sent to: Ken M. <ken at mack-z.com>
>>> To unsubscribe, send a blank message to trilug-leave at trilug.org from that
>>> address.
>>> TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
>>> Unsubscribe or edit options on the web  : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/
>>> options/trilug/ken%40mack-z.com
>>> Welcome to TriLUG: http://trilug.org/welcome
>


-- 
Scott Chilcote
scottchilcote at ncrrbiz.com
Cary, NC USA