Upgrade from 11.0 to 11.1

**hgeis** · 18-Dec-2008, 07:35

Hi,

Is it possible to upgrade from 11.0 to 11.1 without installing everything new? That would be using a retail installation DVD.

I couldn't find anything here: Novell Doc: OpenSUSE 11.1 - Table of Contents

and the screenshots of the boot menu shown in these manuals don't show anything like a menu item saying "upgrade OS" etc.

Having to install all applications again, such as moneyplex, bibblelite, LinDVD again would be quite a nuisance.

Is it sufficient to save/restore /etc in order to keep mail files, calendar file etc.?

Thanks and best regards.

H.

**robopensuse** · 18-Dec-2008, 08:20

There will be an upgrade possibility, but it's not been uncommon for such an option to fail in the past, if you've installed software from other sources, that haven't been carefully packaged.

You should make sure you have a backup before trying, and perhaps make disk partitions available to experiment with 11.1 upgrade (or fresh install) before you disturb your working system.

Most user data, is stored under /home by default and having that seperate can make things simpler.

Frankly I wonder what is in 11.1, which makes the upgrade worth the trouble? Updates to important packages, are made available via the build service, and 11.0 is going to be supported for another 18 months.

In general I keep records and means to rapidly re-install and configure applications; experiment for a while with a new version, then build a fresh installation and migrate all the features. Again installing non-rpm 3rd party applications into their own spot, can help later, re-enabling them may be as simple as mounting a partition, or perhaps just rsyncing up the new /usr/local. But I am rather cautious and am used to having to rebuild working systems, from the bare metal, rapidly in face of unplanned events.

**oldcpu** · 18-Dec-2008, 08:23

Originally Posted by hgeis

Is it possible to upgrade from 11.0 to 11.1 without installing everything new? That would be using a retail installation DVD.

Without everything new? I think you will find that most things are installed new. To a large extent, that is the idea behind updating.

Originally Posted by hgeis

Having to install all applications again, such as moneyplex, bibblelite, LinDVD again would be quite a nuisance.

Don't update then. Is there any compelling reason why you must update?

My main PC, my wife's PC, and our old family laptop, are all on openSUSE-10.3. I did not see the requirement to upgrade them to 11.0. My mother's PC is on openSUSE-10.2, and in January I will upgrade her PC to 11.1, ONLY because support has stopped for 10.2.

IMHO if 11.0, and the applications you have installed, works for you, then stay with them. Do NOT upgrade.

Originally Posted by hgeis

Is it sufficient to save/restore /etc in order to keep mail files, calendar file etc.?

I would keep a record of much more ... Please take a look at:
NEWBIES - Suse-11.1 Pre-installation � PLEASE READ - openSUSE Forums

If you decide to update, I recommend you backup ALL of your data. In addition to backing up my /home directory, I typically make copies of my /etc/fstab, /etc/X11/xorg.conf, /etc/cups, /etc/modprobe.d/sound, /boot/grub/menu.lst (in addition to electronic, printed copies in some cases).

**oldcpu** · 18-Dec-2008, 08:31

Originally Posted by robopensuse

Frankly I wonder what is in 11.1, which makes the upgrade worth the trouble? Updates to important packages, are made available via the build service, and 11.0 is going to be supported for another 18 months.

I'm not a big believer in updating unless I have a reason. Sometimes there is not much choice, or the choice when available is not desirable.

My new laptop (a Dell Studio 15) needs the 2.6.27 kernel. I do not like running a non-standard kernel on my openSUSE and hence installing openSUSE-11.1 is for me, the smart thing to do for that new laptop.
My mother's PC (running 10.2) is no longer supported, so updating it to 11.1 is a smart thing for me there (as I provide her support).
My wife's PC has a tablet connected to it, that I never did get configured under 10.3 But 11.0 and 11.1 have improved tablet support in YaST, so rather than spend the time to try and bring 10.3's yast up to that of 11.0/11.1, it may be just as fast for me to upgrade her PC to 11.1.

But having stated that, my view is this can often be a subjective or emotional choice (wanting to have the newest toy on the block) as opposed to a logical one.

Originally Posted by robopensuse

In general I keep records and means to rapidly re-install and configure applications; experiment for a while with a new version, then build a fresh installation and migrate all the features.

Keeping records makes a world of difference (IMHO) in making a new installation much easier.

**colinpendred** · 18-Dec-2008, 08:37

I also need to upgrade to 11.1 on my laptop to get the new kernel to enable the Intel wireless card that currently stubbornly refuses to work even with ndiswrapper.

On my desktop, the reason to upgrade from 11.0 to 11.1 is probably because KDE4.0 is a long way behind the KDE4.1 in 11.1, and I prefer to use the officially supported desktop, rather than the factory version.

The desktop also works as a file server and has had loads of settings changed over time, and so I'll be braving an upgrade rather than a new install to try to keep the settings.

**alexvalentine** · 18-Dec-2008, 08:59

Is there a documented method for upgrading from Opensuse 11 to 11.1? It seems like an obvious omission in the documentation. I attempted to do the method documented here: Updating openSUSE - openSUSE but it just results in a bunch of unmet rpm dependencies.

**robopensuse** · 18-Dec-2008, 09:09

Originally Posted by colinpendred

I also need to upgrade to 11.1 on my laptop to get the new kernel to enable the Intel wireless card that currently stubbornly refuses to work even with ndiswrapper.

On my desktop, the reason to upgrade from 11.0 to 11.1 is probably because KDE4.0 is a long way behind the KDE4.1 in 11.1, and I prefer to use the officially supported desktop, rather than the factory version.

1) You can upgrade the kernel, without re-installing. There might even be something made available via Build Service repository for 11.0, if you can make a good case on these drivers.

Have you tried the Novel Bugzilla?

If there's no joy, then it should be perfectly feasible to build the new kernel 2.6.27.7 from the 11.1 kernel src rpm. The draw back is you would not have this automatically updated, so may lose the wireless when you switch over after security updates, until you can rebuild with patched source.

2) On KDE-4.1.3 + backported 4.2 features

I'm installing 11.1, but will install KDE-3.5.10; whilst KDE-4.0 was perfectly horrid, and 4.1.3-SuSE is usable, it's I don't think really quite there for day to day use. Puzzling things happen when you try to configure it more to your liking.

In past updated KDE versions have been made available to previous releases. I'd be surprised for instance if KDE-4.2 isn't made available in a month or two to 11.0 users, if 11.1 KDE-4.1.3 + backports isn't. This would be a specific KDE-4 repository, and not using Factory.

**robopensuse** · 18-Dec-2008, 09:16

Originally Posted by oldcpu

Keeping records makes a world of difference (IMHO) in making a new installation much easier.

If you plan to upgrade, via a fresh install annually, it does make things much easier.

I've tested 11.1, and I am going to upgrade my 10.3 stuff, but I passed on 11.0 for the reasons you mentioned. There's just not enough improvement in 1 release to make the hassle worthwhile.

The plans are for likely 11.2 release next autumn, with KDE-4.3 and may be GNOME-2.28.

But a significant reason for re-installing, is simply that over a year, my requirements have changed, and it makes sense to re-plan my systems, and configure them better, de-crufted.