How to perform a remote upgrade from 10.1?

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

Hi,

My client has a server on SL-10.1, that needs to be upgraded to 11.3. I have done upgrades before (from 11.0), but I need to know if I can upgrade from such an old version as well.

I tried to add the 11.3 repo, but it refused to accept it. Is this already a sign that upgrading won’t work?

Thanks for helping out,
Edwin

#2

On 2011-03-16 20:06, edwinboersma wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> My client has a server on SL-10.1, that needs to be upgraded to 11.3. I
> have done upgrades before (from 11.0), but I need to know if I can
> upgrade from such an old version as well.

By SL you mean the enterprise version? Then you have to ask in the
enterprise version forum, not here.

If you are talking about openSUSE 10.1, that is not upgradeable online to
any version at all, the method was developed and approved later.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” at Telcontar)

#3

As Carlos noted,
If you’re trying to upgrade from either SLES or SLED, you’re mixing apples and oranges, openSUSE is different than the supported Novell products.

If you’re upgrading from an earlier version of openSUSE, you’ll find numerous posts in these Forums archives which describe how to do this but generally recommending incremental upgrades which support various component upgrades which were then deprecated later… eg the disk controller architectural change introduced in 10.3.

So, maybe an upgrade path 10.1 > 10.3 > 11.0 > 11.3(or later).
But, since your specific upgrade path is likely quite rare you likely should

  • Make <verified good> backups before upgrading and possibly at each step
  • Test the upgrade path in a virtual machine (which only addresses software, does not cover all potential hardware issues).

Also, consider how “remote” your upgrade is, you may consider the risks involved too great to proceed and might prefer a new install preserving the /home/ directory instead(inventory your apps and install new).

HTH,
Tony

#4

I might add that be very sure that all important data from all database is backed up. In some cases data is stored on the root partition. All data on root is destroyed in a new install. You can preserve all in the home partition (assuming it is separate) by telling the installer not to reformat it.

IMO it is a very good idea that if important data is to be maintained by a database, VM or what ever that the data should be directed to a separate partition. This makes fresh installs or even distro changes much easier. So it is important to know what data is important and where it is stored.