I started with Suse 11.1. So I have not experienced a Suse upgrade. When is the next up
grade and how is it done?
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Probably two weeks to public:
http://en.opensuse.org/Roadmap/11.2
Good luck.
rosswmcgee wrote:
> I started with Suse 11.1. So I have not experienced a Suse upgrade. When
> is the next up
> grade and how is it done?
>
>
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There are various ways to upgrade. In my case I have a separate / and /home partition. I always do a “CLEAN” install reformatting / (in the case of 11.1 to 11.2 going from ext3 to ext4) and I typically keep /home (and do not reformat my old /home but instead ensure it is mounted). It means I have to pay close attention in the installation partitioner proposal to ensure it does exactly what I want, and if it does not I edit the settings.
Before I update, I follow the guidance here: NEW Users - Suse-11.1 Pre-installation – PLEASE READ - openSUSE Forums
… of course with a clean install this means I need to re-install my various Packman packaged applications, codecs, etc … but I’ve done this so often the past number of years it is second nature and very fast. Within 2 to 3 hours I typically have a CLEAN install setup the way I want. It will likely take new users longer.
Thanks for the info. It does seem to be a bit harder
than say an Ubuntu upgrade, though I hope I am wrong
as I am very happy with 11.1
You don’t have to Upgrade. Though in the case of 11.1 I would say most users will, especially kde users.
In 11.2 there should be little need to add to and customise from the default install, making it a good prospect for a lifetime use.
I am using 11.1 Gnome. Any change in thoughts?
You could stick with 11.1 until end of life which is around end 2010
SUSE Linux Lifetime - openSUSE
Trying to make it simple to add to oldcpu’s suggestion.
Do the backup as stated. You have to have a copy of your existing partitions (/etc/fstab) printed to know where they are located/mounted/used. Have a copy of /boot/grub/menu.lst printed for comparison.
During installation in the partition part suse will automatically look and offer where it is going to install. Read it carefully and compare it to your printed copy. If you see that it is not what you want click the modify option and do the editing. Example, it wants to create a new partition for /home and root, delete it. Then look for your existing / partition edit it to be reformatted and set the mount point to /. Look for your existing /home partition and choose to not reformat and set the mount point to /home. Retain the existing swap partition. If you have a separate /boot partition reformat it and set the mount point to /boot.
This procedure will ensure you that the partitioning scheme in your drive will remain intact and if you examine the boot loader and compare it to your existing /boot/grub/menu.lst it will be similar only that it will have a different kernel version.
Note that the only partition to be formatted is the / partition and /boot.
/home should not be formatted. Additionally keep your current user name to be the name of your user in the installation to not mess-up with your existing /home that will remain unformatted.
Hope my grammar is right please do edit if my english is bad.
My grandpa was German and always worried about his grammar, which was just fine, as yours is. From the look of it perhaps a clean install might be best after
all. I did get plenty of good support as a new Suse user, though it took a lot of work. I guess there is no hurry. When winter sets in it might be time for such a project. Thank you very much.
I have already updated to 11.2 - now at RC2
I backed up all my personal stuff
I formatted all my Partitions. Mostly this was to set them all to ext4 and have a squeaky clean system. Normally I would keep /home during a New Install
Not sure I have the expertise to do it. Where is R2, and a reminder I am 64 gnome
I don’t recommend RC2 for less experienced users. And certainly not if you need a stable system.
I need a stable system, but I feel fairly confident I can get myself out of any hole a RC throws me. But so far RC1 and RC2 are rock solid.
11.2 is released very soon. I would wait. In the mean time you could look at how to back up your data
In the past all I have done with other distros is put my files on a Sandisk then do a clean install and put the files back in. You spent a great deal of time with me on my first Suse venture and all is working well now. So I get you are saying an upgrade is easier
if you back up your personal data. Will the upgrade disturb the codecs etc. ?
Effectively it’s not really an Upgrade, but more or less just like a New Install. Yes, the codecs all go, all your installed applications go. But you can preserve all your personal files and important settings from /home
Some of these settings are in the /. (hidden section)
eg: /home/ross/.mozilla
From 11.2 you should be able to do a live upgrade which will keep all your applications and user data in place. It may even be possible from 11.1 but as I understand things ATM it’s not plain sailing.
OK so then a clean install is probably the way to go,I will make the disc when the release comes out and see how it goes. Note you helped me put in different way of looking at files in Yast but forgot
what its called. I sure like it. I guess I have a lot of work ahead.
Not sure what you mean by this?
I may have shown you a way of viewing files in Software Management and then selecting the view by Repository and or the version tab.
Anyway, whatever you need to do, try and explain and we can advise. Or try anyway.
QT YaST interface?
Could be. But isn’t that default in 11.2, even in gnome?
Would make sense - I thought it mildly patronising that it was different in the first place. 
Still could be what rosswmcgee refers to - if so good news he doesn’t have to worry about it.
I can’t find the link… (not that it matters to me, I’m on KDE and 11.2 these days…)
If you check here
Factory/News - openSUSE
See the Bullet points, 8th down