Hello all, I’m a newcomer and I’m enjoying OpenSUSE 13.1 so much! I have a few questions that are disturbing me:
1. What’s going to happen when OpenSUSE 13.2 is released? Will it update automatically? Do I have to do something?
**2. **What’s going to happen when OpenSUSE 14 is released? Will I have to format and install the new version all from the start? Or can I upgrade it as it’s done in distros like Debian, in which you do “apt-get dist-upgrade” and your package versions are upgraded but everything else is preserved?
**3. **When OpenSUSE 14 is release, can I choose to not immediately upgrade? Could I stay a little longer in OpenSUSE 13?
**4. **When OpenSUSE 14 is release, will OpenSUSE 13 still be supported (receiving updates)? Or will it be automatically deprecated and unsupported?
Yes, you will have to do something. You can either upgrade with the install DVD, or you can change the repos to those for 13.2, and use the command:
zypper dup
for a distribution upgrade.
I guess if you go with tumbleweed, then it will auto-upgrade to 13.2 tumbleweed.
It’s pretty much the same method as upgrading to 13.2.
Yes, of course.
Perhaps you don’t understand opensuse versions. There are no minor and major versions. There are just version. There isn’t a version 13. There is 13.1, and presumably there will be 13.2 and 13.3. Then, the next one ofter that will be 14.1
I think the current practice is support for two versions plus two months. Perhaps someone will correct me if I have that wrong.
Hi
Yes you can upgrade to the next release as it becomes available. It requires user action as it’s not automatic. You would need to add the new repositories, disable the old ones and then zypper dup. This is also dependent on if you have additional repositories enabled not in the standard oss, non-oss and updates. There is no requirement to format etc, but as always you should ensure you have a backup (and a tested restore?) of your data before commencing an upgrade.
Here is the Lifetime information https://en.opensuse.org/Lifetime so you can see the overlap on how long you can be on the previous release, for example today openSUSE 12.3 has 203 days left…
If you have a large (more than 1500 packages) installation of opensuse, then the upgrade to new version is problematic.
While an upgrade may go smoothly, there are numerous problems that will show up later. Most of them are related to imperfect package management. Some are related to improperly handled configuration files.
In this case, it is better to do a fresh install. Repartitioning is often not required, but a reinstall is an opportunity to change the partitioning if it was desired.
I have 2 partitions for root partition I alternate them with versions so I can always fall back. I also recommend a fresh install because config files get old ie new versions of apps may have new config requirements and an upgrade generally leave the old configs. Also it clean out all the fluff that accumulates ie app viewed once but never run again . I it does not take long to get a new version up. I do keep my home partition and thus my data. Though I don’t mount the home partition on the new OS until I’m happy with it. Then I rename the home folder and mount the home partition and that then completes the transition
If I should have some problem I will delay the fianl step until either the problems are resolved or the next version appears. Have not had any serious problems yet.
> Oh, another question. Do I have to do something to update my 13.1 when
> new updates are released or the system updates itself?
You have to apply the updates.
You can set the system to apply them automatically, but this is not recommended. There is by default
an applet that tells you when there are updates available, though.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from oS 12.3 “Dartmouth” GM (rescate 1))
Oh, I forgot to ask. I installed a lot of one click install packages, like this one. Also, I manually installed some RPM files using zypper, like Virtual Box. At last, I compiled some source codes, but all sources and RPM files are in my /usr/src for backup. Will these things mess up my upgrade? Will I have to uninstall “one click install”, RPM or compiled packages before upgrading?
On 2014-02-26 16:16, renatov wrote:
>
> Oh, I forgot to ask. I installed a lot of one click install packages,
> like ‘this one’
> (http://software.opensuse.org/package/php5-xdebug?search_term=xdebug).
> Also, I manually installed some RPM files using zypper, like Virtual
> Box. At last, I compiled some source codes, but all sources and RPM
> files are in my -/usr/src- for backup. Will these things mess up my
> upgrade? Will I have to uninstall “one click install”, RPM or compiled
> packages before upgrading?
Of course, all those are a complication⁽¹⁾. The upgrader will try to
upgrade to whatever version it has available during the upgrade. If
there is none, it will either leave there as they are, and some times
remove them.
After you perform the upgrade and the system is working again, you can
add the appropriate repos and upgrade from there if you wish. If you
built those packages yourself, you will have to repeat the operation.
This is absolutely the same if you do a fresh install.
(1) Remember that the recommended system upgrade procedures are done
with ONLY the official repos: oss, non-oss, update-oss, update-non-oss.
Nothing else.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” at Telcontar)
On 2014-02-27 00:36, renatov wrote:
>
> So do I have to remove all my “one click installs” packages? RPM
> installed packages? Compiled packages?
I did not say that.
I said that you will have to upgrade them.
And as the system upgrade will, obviously, not use your extra
repositories, you will probably have to add those repos again, and
upgrade all of those things separately from the main system upgrade.
> ps: I think it’s better to upgrade because I can preserve my
> configuration files and the customizations I made
Well, I’m using upgrades since 1998. You don’t have to convince me.
However.
Your users configuration are on your home directory. If you have the
typical openSUSE config with a separate home partition, you can do a
fresh install preserving your users config simply by not formatting home.
If you have system wide configs, those are destroyed with a fresh
install and preserved with a system upgrade.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” at Telcontar)
Oh, I see. Thanks for the explanation. Is it possible and/or recommended to add these extras repositories (from one click install) for the new OpenSUSE version before the upgrade so all my extra packages are upgrade together with the rest of the distro? Or should I do it separately, after the installation?
On 2014-02-27 04:06, renatov wrote:
>
> Oh, I see. Thanks for the explanation. Is it possible and/or recommended
> to add these extras repositories (from one click install) for the new
> OpenSUSE version before the upgrade so all my extra packages are upgrade
> together with the rest of the distro? Or should I do it separately,
> after the installation?
Why do you not read the documentation I told you to read?
It tells there that you have to remove all repos except the official
ones. You can try with more repos, but then results become unpredictable.
> Do you upgrade OpenSUSE since 1998?
Yes.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” at Telcontar)
I’m sorry, I’ll read the full doc now and not only part of it. Thanks for your attention again! I’m glad to hear that you’ve been upgrading OpenSUSE for the past 13 years
I see that many old packages, which should be deleted or updated, are kept after an opensuse upgrade. A new installation does not resolve all issues with packages. After an upgrade, I go to package management in Yast and there I see lots of manual work to do: delete orphaned packages, manually update, delete 32 bit versions which I don’t use, delete dev packages which I don’t use, guess that some package is not used and delete it. Takes hours and hours to accomplish. And add to this non-opensuse packages. Particularly difficult is handling the dozens of gstreamer packages. Sometimes links to .so libraries are not created correctly, which again requires manual intervention.
Meanwhile, there are much less packages requiring manual intervention when I do a fresh install.
Maybe, if one doesn’t care about having many useless packages, an upgrade would be of more help.
It is difficult to decide who is to blame: Yast’s coders, package coders, packagers, user, or maybe others, but in my experience, it is simpler to do a fresh install. I do a fresh install every or every second release.
