Upgrade 11.4 to 12.1 with " zypper dup " will this work?

cmcgrath5035 · March 10, 2012, 3:18pm

I have a “mature”, up-to-date 11.4_64/KDE 4.8.1 desktop installation, working great but time to move on to 12.1.
/ and /home are separate partitions.

My test installs of 12.1 have been via DVD, but I would prefer to bypass downgrading to KDE 4.7 then coming back.

Is the following a viable upgrade procesdure?

Remove 11.4 repos
Add 12.1 repos ((ignore the # column, this is a copy/paste/edit from zypper lr on another machine))

#  | Alias                              | Name                               | Enabled | Refresh
---+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+---------+--------
 5 | KDE48_Core                         | KDE48 Core                         | Yes     | Yes    
 6 | KDE48_Extra                        | KDE48 Extra                        | Yes     | Yes    
12 | Updates-for-openSUSE-12.1-12.1-1.4 | Updates for openSUSE 12.1 12.1-1.4 | Yes     | Yes    
18 | packman.inode.at-suse              | Packman Repository                 | Yes     | Yes    
21 | repo-non-oss                       | openSUSE-12.1-Non-Oss              | Yes     | No     
22 | repo-oss                           | openSUSE-12.1-Oss                  | Yes     | No

run as root: “zypper dup”
reboot
Install and update other application repos I use

Thanks for comments

stakanov · March 10, 2012, 3:29pm

If you have the desktop you claim, I suggest that you stay with what you have unless you have hardware that depends on the new kernel. I have now seen the difference of a machine with an update and with a clean install. In all aspects (usability, speed, reliability, functionality of the kde-pim environment, the new install widely outperforms the update. There is AFAICS no reason to change your install. The proposed repos should be fine. Hold in mine to drop to nouveau drivers if you have currently proprietary Nvidia driver installed. Read also carefully the release notes (as the KDE temporary files can be a problem and deserve maybe a manual deletion/renaming once logged out, via a life CD to get speedy to a working desktop. NOTE: hold in mind that the url of the 4.8 repos MUST be changed to the 12.1 once prior to the update. I would then also rebuild the database, once done this. Good luck (and do not expect …wonders).

martin_helm · March 10, 2012, 3:40pm

This way to do the update is not officially supported. But I did exactly
that with two systems, in both cases it worked.
You probably will have to answer some question which zypper asks you
about resolving conflicts, read them with care - if in doubt keep
obsolete packages and look at them again after the update.
In any case make a full backup before you go ahead and update - just in
case something goes wrong.

I did the update (11.4 -> 12.1 with both KDE 4.8) from the command line
in run level 3 NOT from within KDE, the danger that KDE breaks while it
is at the same time fully replaced with new libraries is just too big
and can leave you with a non working system. I tested that in a virtual
machine which was completely inconsistent after the update process
killed the running KDE session, be aware of that.

–
PC: oS 11.4 x86_64 | Intel Core i7-2600@3.40GHz | 16GB | KDE 4.6.0 |
GeForce GT 420
Eee PC 1201n: oS 12.1 x86_64 | Intel Atom 330@1.60GHz | 3GB | KDE 4.8.1
| nVidia ION
eCAFE 800: oS 12.1 i586 | AMD Geode LX 800@500MHz | 512MB | KDE 3.5.10 |
xf86-video-geode

robin_listas · March 10, 2012, 3:43pm

On 2012-03-10 15:26, cmcgrath5035 wrote:
> Is the following a viable upgrade procesdure?

The procedure is documented on the wiki, please read it.

http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:System_upgrade

http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Offline_upgrade

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

cmcgrath5035 · March 10, 2012, 4:07pm

Thanks for all the comments.

I searched about for a while (using “search” on forum) but Carlos’ references did not pop up.

I am off to read SDB:System upgrade - openSUSE

robin_listas · March 10, 2012, 5:08pm

On 2012-03-10 16:16, cmcgrath5035 wrote:
>
> Thanks for all the comments.
>
> I searched about for a while (using “search” on forum) but Carlos’
> references did not pop up.
>
> I am off to read ‘SDB:System upgrade - openSUSE’
> (http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:System_upgrade)

That’s one of the references I gave. I don’t understand you saying you
could not find them. Both links work, even if the forum software changed
one with a silly smiley.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

cmcgrath5035 · March 10, 2012, 6:57pm

Misunderstanding - I had used the Forum Search tool looking for “zypper 11.4 to 12.1” and similar terms, found plenty of hits but nothing as definitive as the SDB: items you reference. That forum search was BEFORE I created this post.

I of course was able to navigate to them directly with your embedded URLs, smileys and all. Thanks.

One question: SDB:System upgrade - openSUSE describes the procedure I was asking about, but does not address upgrading directly from 11.4/KDE4.8.1 to 12.1/KDE4.8.1.

Will including the 12.1/KDE48 repo achieve this goal, or must I start with 12.1/KDE4.7, then add the KDE48 repos after 12.1 boot?

martin_helm · March 10, 2012, 7:11pm

Am 10.03.2012 19:06, schrieb cmcgrath5035:
> Will including the 12.1/KDE48 repo achieve this goal, or must I start
> with 12.1/KDE4.7, then add the KDE48 repos after 12.1 boot?
>
As I trid to say I did that upgrade directly with the two KDE 4.8
repositories for 12.1 enabled (and of course all for 11.4 disabled) on
two machines. If it does not work for you don’t sue me
So I think it is more safe (because it is the supported way) if you
first upgrade to 12.1 with the standard repos only and accept the
downgrade to kde 4.7 then add the extra repos and upgrade to kde 4.8 again.

–
PC: oS 11.4 x86_64 | Intel Core i7-2600@3.40GHz | 16GB | KDE 4.6.0 |
GeForce GT 420
Eee PC 1201n: oS 12.1 x86_64 | Intel Atom 330@1.60GHz | 3GB | KDE 4.8.1
| nVidia ION
eCAFE 800: oS 12.1 i586 | AMD Geode LX 800@500MHz | 512MB | KDE 3.5.10 |
xf86-video-geode

robin_listas · March 10, 2012, 9:23pm

On 2012-03-10 19:06, cmcgrath5035 wrote:

> One question: ‘SDB:System upgrade - openSUSE’
> (http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:System_upgrade) describes the procedure I
> was asking about, but does not address upgrading directly from
> 11.4/KDE4.8.1 to 12.1/KDE4.8.1.
>
> Will including the 12.1/KDE48 repo achieve this goal, or must I start
> with 12.1/KDE4.7, then add the KDE48 repos after 12.1 boot?

Forget about kde. Do the upgrade to the plain 12.1 with its default kde.
After everything is working, you can consider adding repos and upgrade
parts of it, like kde.

A dup is a non trivial operation, the less repos active, the better.

This said, you can attempt what you describe. It might work, or it might
destroy your system, who knows. Make a backup first.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

tsu2 · March 10, 2012, 9:49pm

Recommend you follow the steps I posted when I upgraded 11.3 > 12.1

http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/how-faq-forums/unreviewed-how-faq/472361-upgrading-nvidia-driver-includes-useful-info-new-installs.html

Although the one step jump from 11.3 > 12.1 is not officially supported, the steps are exactly identical for your supported upgrade from 11.4 > 12.1. Note that if you have an nVidia GPU, my additional contributions are important. Note also that if you run into a systemd problem, I also describe how to address that issue.

You’ll also note that comparing your proposed steps, you’re missing a few steps recommended by the SDB (official recommended steps) which I’ve included in mine.

Last note: If you’re particularly wary of a dup upgrade, note that there is a dry run option… see the zypper MAN pages for details.

HTH,
TS

cmcgrath5035 · March 13, 2012, 6:44pm

Thanks all for your input, much appreciated.

Understanding Carlos’ “conservative” recommendation but encouraged by Martin’s results, I opted for adding the three 12.1 repos (OSS, non-OSS, Updates) per the thread in SDB:System upgrade - openSUSE, plus the KDE 48 core and KDE48 extras repos for 12.1 and ran zypper ref then zypper dup.

The results were very good, rebooted to 12.1/KDE4.8.1 with systemd on the first try.

I did have one self inflicted issue.
In the past (since early 11.x) I have used the r8168 NIC driver for my hardware, back then it made something work better than the default r8169 driver. On first boot, there was no r8168 driver so network failed to start. I switched to the r8169 and was on the air.

Otherwise, My 12.1 is up and running very well, with all my tweaks and settings migrated forward and so far are working.

Total effort much less than my typical DVD upgrade.