Upgrading from RHEL v3 to v5


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Thread: Upgrading from RHEL v3 to v5

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Keller, TX
    Posts
    4

    Upgrading from RHEL v3 to v5

    Hello all. I’m running Redhat Enterprise Linux version 3.0 with an active RHN subscription. I want to upgrade to version 5.0. I’m a bit anxious though. I only have a few users, but have spent a lot of time getting everything running well. My question: If I install Red Hat Enterprise V5 using the upgrade option via the anaconda installer, will I loose any of my data or applications? I know that doing a clean wipe and reinstall is the BEST solution, but if possible I would like to upgrade.

    Here is what I’m specifically concerned about loosing:
    Apache, MySql, PHP, Qmail, Vpopmail, and various other small applications (Webalizer, etc…). All of the above have been compiled from source. I’m also concerned about stuff in /usr /usr/home /etc and /var

    The Red Hat manual section on upgrading speaks to the preservation of RPMs and packages and fails to address the above mentioned in any detail.

    Thanks in advance for any info you may have. --Jesse

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Keller, TX
    Posts
    4

    A bit more info...

    Yall... Here's a bit more info on my box.

    Linux 2.4.21-47.EL #1 SMP Wed Jul 5 20:30:36 EDT 2006 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux


    partition information...

    /etc/fstab
    LABEL=/ / ext3 defaults 1 1
    LABEL=/boot /boot ext3 defaults 1 2
    none /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
    none /proc proc defaults 0 0
    none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
    /dev/sda3 swap swap defaults 0 0
    /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,ro 0 0

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Harlow, UK
    Posts
    1,788
    Hi,

    The main problem with choosing upgrade options is that it's possible that the newer version of the distro has something like SELinux enabled while the older version doesn't, but then again I'm sure you already know this, which is why your concerned

    The short answer to your question, is you shouldn't.

    A longer answer: If there aren't any major changes between the two version your update should go along without any problems. However with all things related to computers something may possibly go wrong, because of this make sure you do a backup of all your users data and important config files. If the upgrade goes smoothly you won't loose any of your data or applications.

    I would highly recommend you back up the configs, and relevant data files htdocs or a dump of your database etc, for the applications you listed regularly anyway, especially if they're being used by your users, MySQL etc.

    Can I ask why you've installed some of the applications via source? Not that it matters when it comes to the upgrade, because AFAIK, Anaconda won't know about them, so it won't attempt to upgrade them...

    HTH

    [EDIT]
    I just had a quick google to see if there was any more relevant information I could give you, most of the threads on forums I found ended with, do a fresh install

    But there was one bit of helpful information:
    http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/24538/

    Generally speaking, it's a bad idea to skip versions in upgrades. You try to minimize the number of things that can go wrong. Consider what it would be like upgrading from MS Windows 3.1 --> Vista. How sucessful do you think that would be?
    Last edited by deathadder; 03-26-2007 at 09:27 AM.
    If you have to ask why you want to install Linux, then perhaps you shouldn't.
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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Oulu, Finland
    Posts
    492

    Active subscription?

    Hi
    Just a thought...
    If it's an active description, shouldn't you be giving Red Hat a call first?
    That's what you're paying for.
    -Andy

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