Up2date newbie; things to look out for

[Jeff Boyce]

Greetings -

I am new to managing a RHEL3 server for a small office and have some 
questions regarding using up2date that I could not find in the RedHat 
Network Reference guide or elsewhere in my search on-line. My Dell PE2600 is 
primarily used as a Samba file server and is running a stock installation of 
RHEL3 ( 2.4.21-4.ELsmp) and all of the associated packages from our original 
installation last year.  RHN shows that our system should have 400+ errata 
and 300+ packages installed to be up to date.  I would like to begin 
maintaining our system in an up2date fashion on a regular basis, but am 
concerned about potential down-time from something going wrong in the 
process of getting my system up to date from this point.  My office-mates 
would not be friendly if our server was down for a day.  Can anyone give me 
some tips on things I should look out for; potential problems to be aware 
of, or preventative measures to ensure continued uptime during the up2date 
process?  I am assuming that I will complete the entire update process in a 
series of steps over a week period, but is there a sequence that I should 
follow.  Should I select certain packages to update first, or last?  When 
should I update the kernel during the process?  Any inside tips that come 
from hands-on experience is greatly appreciated.

Jeff Boyce
www.meridianenv.com