Problem with Booting to different versions of openSUSE

English Install/Boot/Login
1

A while ago I set up my partitions with three primaries root for different version installations and an extended partition for home as I accepted the received wisdom that a new installation less likely to give problems than an upgrade.

I started with 12.1 on the first partition and in due course installed 12.2 on the second partition when it was released. I recall I had a few problems with 12.2, probably due to my errors when installing but having sorted these problems, with help from this forum, I stayed with 12.2 and never looked back.

Now a couple of years on I wanted to refresh my understanding of the process of a new installation whilst retaining the same root so I tried to go back and boot 12.1. It failed and I do not have time to investigate why as I want to move forward and install 12.3. It does seem though that this precaution of keeping the earlier version is of limited value or becomes so over time.

With regard to the new installation, as I recall one of the problems with this strategy was obtaining a list of all the installed applications and tools so that they could be reinstalled on the new system. I know there are .files in my home directory for many of the applications but is there a way of obtaining a comprehensive list of what has been installed in my 12.2 system which I can use as prompt for the new installation?

Budgie2

2

The short answer is, “kinda.” The realistic answer is “no”, but the
answer that is probably most valid to those of us in the openSUSE realm is
‘yes’. I’ll try to explain.

Comprehensive list of things installed, sure… find all files on your
box, identify of which program they are a part, and then install those
programs on your new system. That only means going through a few
hundred-thousand files on a typical system.

As a result, the realistic answer is ‘no’.

For those of us in openSUSE, though, most programs come from either the
distribution itself, or from OBS (openSUSE Build Service) or from
something else that packages things in RPM format (perhaps the installers
in your user’s home directory are RPMs, or maybe just binaries that
install everything). Very little is compiled by end users from source, so
a lot of guesswork from the “old days” is removed, and you have a nice
comprehensive list from the following command:

Code:

rpm -qa --last

The reason for the --last part is that it will give you installed RPMs in
newest-first order, so you can ignore the things at the end which just
acme as part of the system. Some of the things in between are also
less-useful if they came from patching which happened after the initial
installation.

So in reality, if you installed everything from RPMs, the list of
installed programs is pretty easy to get. The vast majority of stuff
comes from the distribution (there are ways to query the RPM database for
things by vendor, so you can rule out all of the openSUSE-originating
packages) but at the end of the day you’ll probably recognize packages by
their names or install dates. Things installed at the same time are often
dependencies of the program you really want, so you can often ignore those
as well since zypper will re-find those for you when the time comes.

Good luck.

3

Suse has made substantial improvement in its ability to do in place upgrades between release version (dist upgrades). While it may not be bullet proof, if you would just reinstall anyway you might not have much to loose really. My first recommendation then would be to reconsider to pros and cons of upgrading from 12.2 to 12.3.

If you do choose to re-install with 12.3, there are a few ways to get an inventory of packages on your current system and apply that to the new install.

The method I would recommend may sound a bit complicated, but in the end is I believe the best route to take, and you will learn a fantastic tool in the process: autoyast

If you install the autoyast2 package you can run (as root) yast2 clone_system which will create a .xml file of your current installation profile saved to /root/autoinst.xml

Installing autoyast2 also provides a GUI (In Yast => Misc => Autoinstallation) to allow you to create and tailor an install file based on your system, but allowing you to customize each element.
Under Tools you can create reference profile, which does the same as the yast2 clone_system command.

The created profile contains, among a great many other details, a list of all installed packages.

Note the version of Suse is not in this file.

When you install 12.3 you can use this file, or a modified version of it, and the installer will configure the new install as so directed.

Now - since you would be using a 12.2 autoyast file to install a 12.3 system you may of course run into a few issue and need to tweak the file and repeat the install.

Here are some resources on how to use AutoYast

Chapter

The material there covers how to create the profile and the methods of supplying it to the installer.

A guide to the various sections in the autoyast file is at:

openSUSE 12.2: Chapter 4. Configuration and Installation Options

Something to keep in mind is that for section like partitioning, you are not bound to use the same as in your 12.2 reference profile. You may edit this, as long as it adhears to the documentation, and in many cases leave out sections (such as partitioning, networking, etc.) and the installer will ask you to interactively perform those steps.

In fact, using the GUI you could create a very basic reference profile with only the package inventory, and supply that to the 12.3 installer. If you have installed things from many OBS repos, you will need to ensure those are defined as well, but from packages from the standard repos this should get you well on your way.

4

On 2013-08-16 00:26, Budgie2 wrote:
>
> A while ago I set up my partitions with three primaries root for
> different version installations and an extended partition for home as I
> accepted the received wisdom that a new installation less likely to give
> problems than an upgrade.

I gave been doing upgrades of my SuSE install, up to openSUSE, since
1998, till now.

Problems? What problems? >:-)

> Now a couple of years on I wanted to refresh my understanding of the
> process of a new installation whilst retaining the same root so I tried
> to go back and boot 12.1. It failed and I do not have time to
> investigate why as I want to move forward and install 12.3.

As you have 3 primaries for 3 installs, I would make sure that each
distro installs grub only to its own root partition, and leave MBR
generic. Choosing “permanently” a release to boot is done by changing
the boot mark in the partitions.

That’s one of the many ways possible.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)

5

Hi and thanks for both replies. The autoyast process looks like fun. Will study documentation and may give it a try.
May risk upgrade first - nothing to lose!
Thanks again.
Budgie2