Upgrade from AS 2.1 to AS 3.0

[Rick Stevens]

Cindy H. Wang wrote:
> */Rick Stevens <rstevens at vitalstream.com>/* wrote:
> 
>     Cindy H. Wang wrote:
>      > */Rick Stevens /* wrote:
>      >
>      > Cindy H. Wang wrote:
>      > > Hi all,
>      > >
>      > > I have a system that I want to upgrade to AS 3.0. Is it possible
>      > to do
>      > > an upgrade from AS 2.1 to AS 3.0? Or do I need to do a brand new
>      > > install on the system? If upgrade is possible, what will be the
>      > > safest/best way?
>      >
>      > Upgrading OS versions is always risky. They're usually
>     successful, but
>      > there are times when bad things happen.
>      >
>      > The most important thing is to have a backup of your data BEFORE
>     you try
>      > the upgrade. The most important things to back up are the users' home
>      > directories and any additional software you may have installed (e.g.
>      > Oracle and that sort of thing).
>      >
>      > It doesn't matter what the backup media is, as long as it's reliable.
>      > I use both tape and a second hard drive. ! The hard drive makes
>     it easier
>      > to get at the backup data directly rather than having to restore from
>      > the sequential-access tape. I often do both (back up to tape, then
>      > back up t! o hard drive), then archive the tape.
>      >
>     ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>      > - Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer rstevens at vitalstream.com -
>      > - VitalStream, Inc. http://www.vitalstream.com -
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>      >
>      >
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>      > Rick,
>      >
>     &g! t; Thanks for the quick reply.
>      >
>      > For some reasons, I have the assumptions that the packages for AS
>      > 2.1 is different from packages in AS 3.0. I have once tried to use
>      > rpm -Fvh from AS 2.1 packages with AS 3.0 packages and got errors
>      > while doing so. That's when I have the assumption that some
>      > packages use for AS 3.0 are different from packages for AS 2.1 and
>      > they are not compatible. Is that assumption incorrect?
> 
>     Oh, you want to upgrade specific packages from those in 2.1 to those
>     used in 3.0? Yes, you'll have some major problems--mostly having to do
>     with needed prerequisites. If you are going to update 2.1, you need to
>     get an update entitlement from Red Hat (they're not free), then you can
>     use up2date to keep the machine current with the latest 2.1 stuff.
> 
>      >> I do want to upgrade the whole OS from AS 2.1 to AS 3.0.  I was
>     just trying to see if I can "upgrade" to AS 3.0 by updating all the
>     RPM's.  Apparently, that did not work too well.  With this saying,
>     does it mean that installing a AS 3.0 package (or any packages) to
>     AS 2.1 can be done if I can resolve the dependencies?

Well, yes, for the most part.  There are some incompatibilities you may
run into.  For example, I think the DHCP servers provided with 2.1 and
3.0 are different (I know the DHCP clients are).  There are probably
others.

>     If you want to upgrade from 2.1 to 3.0, do what I said above. Remember,
>     NONE of Red Hat's "Enterprise" Linux releases (ES, AS, EL, WS) are free.
>     You get 1 year of free updates when you buy, but after that, you must
>     renew the update entitlement.
> 
>     If you want free Linux, you have a number of choices. The closest to
>     Red Hat Linux are Fedora Core 1 (FC1) and Fedora Core 2 (FC2). FC1 was
>     _going_ to be Red Hat Linux 10 before they decided to go the "pay to
>     play" route. FC2 is the latest release (using the 2.6 kernel and
>     X-Org's X Windows implementation rather than XFree86). I use it a lot.
>     Due to the 2.6 kernel, there are fewer drivers available for oddball
>     hardware but this should improve over time. It doesn't bother me as
>     I'm considered to be something of a geek.
> 
>      >> Thanks for the explanation.  I was wondering what FC1/FC2 are?
>     (heard it a lot, thought this verison is more of a "developer"
>     verison of Redhat).    If being a "geek" can be as knowledge as you
>     are, I sure hope I can be a "geek" one day....   :)

Heheheh!  Geekism is as much a state of mind as it is knowledge.  You
really don't want to be a geek.  A nerd is OK.  Nerds are essentially
geeks in training, but with some social skills remaining.  "Once you
start down the dark path (of geekism), forever will it shape your 
destiny." (with appologies to George Lucas).

FC1 and FC2 replace the old Red Hat Linux releases.  They are more
bleeding edge than the old Red Hat releases, and CERTAINLY more so than
Red Hat Enterprise Linux, but I have a bunch of clients up on FC1 with
good results.  I've been a bit reticent to put them up on FC2, but it
seems pretty stable now as well so I wouldn't worry about using it for
them at this point.

As I said, there may be some drivers missing for weirdo hardware under
FC2 and the 2.6 kernel, but I've had very few problems with it.  Whether
third party vendors like Oracle will support Fedora Core remains to be
seen.

>     There are other free ones such as Mandrake (more geek-oriented), Debian,
>     GenToo and a whole bunch of others. There is a free version of AS3 out
>     there called "WhiteBox" which is built from Red Hat's AS/ES3 source
>     RPMs. I've never used it and don't know how easy it is to install or
>     upgrade from AS2.1 to it, but once it's up, it's essentially ES/AS 3.0.
> 
>      >> Thanks, Rick.  You have always been a great help in answering
>     all the quesitons I have. 

Glad to help, Cindy.
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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-   Never test for an error condition you don't know how to handle.  -
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