The VPS host I am going to move to only offers opensuse 11.4, and I would like to upgrade it to 12.2 since 11.4 is EOL’ed, or soon to be?
Should I go 11.4->12.1->12.2 or can I just go straight to 12.2?
Personally, I’ve experienced nothing but problems when trying to upgrade distros between versions, from Fedora to CentOS to Ubuntu to, yes, openSUSE. I have successfully upgraded several systems, openSUSE included, but it has always introduced problems that then need to be tracked down. Every single time, without fail, it has been faster to simply back up the important directories (/home, /etc, etc) and re-install from scratch. It usually only takes an hour or two to get everything back up and running like normal, compared to the 6+ hours it usually takes to track down and fix the bugs introduced during an in-place upgrade.
Last time I tried to upgrade openSUSE it was 12.1 to 12.2. Halfway through the upgrade “konsole” was updated and it literally crashed every konsole I had open, including the one that was doing the upgrade. Talk about a royal PITA to try to recover from…and even once I got 12.2 installed completely, I still had endless driver problems. I ended up just wiping it any installing 12.2 from scratch in the end.
Just my opinion.
11.4 has already reached EOL
but you may opt to use it until July 2014
checkout :- https://en.opensuse.org/Evergreen
On 2/17/2013 7:56 PM, vilanye wrote:
>
> The VPS host I am going to move to only offers opensuse 11.4, and I
> would like to upgrade it to 12.2 since 11.4 is EOL’ed, or soon to be?
>
> Should I go 11.4->12.1->12.2 or can I just go straight to 12.2?
>
>
vilanye;
Just for your information, openSUSE 11.4 will be supported by the Evergreen
project until Juy 2014. See:
http://en.opensuse.org/Evergreen
AFAIK, Evergreen provides only security updates, not new applications.
–
P.V. only
“We’re all in this together, I’m pulling for you” Red Green
Should I go 11.4->12.1->12.2 or can I just go straight to 12.2?
The first one is the way to go
Every single time, without fail, it has been faster to simply back up the important directories (/home, /etc, etc) and re-install from scratch
This probably would be the best approach for you because you need to jump multiple version.
You may need to be careful as there are changes related to
==>systemd
https://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Systemd_tips
https://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Systemd_status
https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Systemd
==> /usr merge
https://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Usr_merge
==>grub 2
https://en.opensuse.org/GRUB
On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 01:56:01 +0000, vilanye wrote:
> Should I go 11.4->12.1->12.2 or can I just go straight to 12.2?
I did the first on my systems here; if you have just the standard repos
set up, then that’s pretty painless. If you’ve added a bunch of stuff
from other repos, that can lead to trouble.
Evergreen or Tumbleweed might be an option for you to look at.
But before doing anything as major as an upgrade, back up your critical
data and configuration information. Just in case. 
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C
On 02/18/2013 02:56 AM, vilanye wrote:
> The VPS host
others here may correct me if i’m wrong, but i kinda doubt if your
host will have put in place the tools/permissions needed to allow you
to upgrade the system from 11.4 to anything else.
have you asked the host if that is even possible?
if it is possible they could try following one of these recommended
paths:
http://tinyurl.com/35p966c
http://tinyurl.com/93uemsr
both of which would require you to first fully update 11.4, then
upgrade to 12.1, fully update it and finally upgrade to 12.2
but, sure and read the parts like:
-
If for any reason the upgrade is interrupted (e.g: power outages,
network disconnect) and the process can’t continue, you could be left
with a broken system -
Be aware that in principle, this upgrade process is considered
“best effort” only. This means that due to some third-party packages
and the myriad of possible configurations, it is possible for some
combinations to cause failure upon upgrade. -
It is very important that all important data is backed up prior to
beginning the upgrade process. -
Before upgrading, copy the old configuration files to a separate
medium (such as removable hard disk or USB flash drive) to secure the
data [as a VPS user i doubt you have any access to the config files,
so ??] -
Depending on your customizations, some steps (or the entire upgrade
procedure) may fail and you must resort to copying back your backup data.
personally, i think you are better off either finding a host offering
a supported version of Linux or do as i have done for over 10
years: just use the operating system and user tools that the VPS
hosting service offers…
and, that generally will not be full root access to the OS…which is
a hard requirement to update or upgrade…
This is what I would prefer.
Do a fresh installation of 12.2 while of course keeping those partitions, where application/users data is on, untouched. This last is often to be found here on the forums as the advice “while keeping the /home partition untouched”. But for a system that has “serving” as it’s main task, there are of course separate partitions for the “serving part” (web sites, mail boxes, centraly located files, … whatever the “server” is serving").
To be able to test things, I would prefer to have a seperate partitiion where I can install the new openSUSE version on in a multi-boot situation with the existing version. Cross booting with all data in place (you could even mount all data partitions ro to protect it in the first tests) is then possible. Fall back is easy. Of course a full backup of the data before you start every test is a must.
Ann extra bonus of this is then when you, during a test, mount the “other” system partition read-only, you can very easily check how configuration file in e.g. /etc look like on the “other” system.
On 2013-02-18 02:56, vilanye wrote:
>
> The VPS host I am going to move to only offers opensuse 11.4, and I
> would like to upgrade it to 12.2 since 11.4 is EOL’ed, or soon to be?
>
> Should I go 11.4->12.1->12.2 or can I just go straight to 12.2?
On normal machines, the available procedures are these:
Online upgrade
method
Offline upgrade
method
Chapter 16. Upgrading the System and System Changes
On a hosted environment, I don’t know that you can upgrade the “machine”.
However, you also have Evergreen support for 11.4.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)
On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 08:49:12 +0000, dd wrote:
> others here may correct me if i’m wrong, but i kinda doubt if your host
> will have put in place the tools/permissions needed to allow you to
> upgrade the system from 11.4 to anything else.
>
> have you asked the host if that is even possible?
With root permissions, a distro-upgrade would/should be possible.
Jim
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C
On 02/18/2013 07:45 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> With root permissions, a distro-upgrade would/should be possible.
really, do host’s normally furnish customers the root password? i
guess i need to move my account (from dotster) to somewhere else!
–
dd
On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 19:09:52 +0000, dd wrote:
> On 02/18/2013 07:45 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> With root permissions, a distro-upgrade would/should be possible.
>
> really, do host’s normally furnish customers the root password? i guess
> i need to move my account (from dotster) to somewhere else!
Depends on what’s paid for - if he’s got a virtual host to himself, they
might.
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C
On 2013-02-18 21:07, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 19:09:52 +0000, dd wrote:
>> really, do host’s normally furnish customers the root password? i guess
>> i need to move my account (from dotster) to somewhere else!
>
> Depends on what’s paid for - if he’s got a virtual host to himself, they
> might.
What if they provided a customized kernel? One of those with some
functionality removed?
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)
On a VPS (Virtual Private Server), yes. This is different from renting some webspace on a shared server. You rent a virtual machine with a chosen amount of RAM, diskspace, # of processor cores. Mariadb instead of Mysql, all your own choice.
On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:43:06 +0000, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> On 2013-02-18 21:07, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 19:09:52 +0000, dd wrote:
>
>
>>> really, do host’s normally furnish customers the root password? i
>>> guess i need to move my account (from dotster) to somewhere else!
>>
>> Depends on what’s paid for - if he’s got a virtual host to himself,
>> they might.
>
> What if they provided a customized kernel? One of those with some
> functionality removed?
Obviously they’ll get a stock kernel.
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C
On 2013-02-19 02:34, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:43:06 +0000, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> What if they provided a customized kernel? One of those with some
>> functionality removed?
>
> Obviously they’ll get a stock kernel.
But will that work? Is not a breach of contract?
I assume that if they provide a Linux version with a modified kernel it
is for a reason.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)
On Tue, 19 Feb 2013 03:18:06 +0000, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> On 2013-02-19 02:34, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:43:06 +0000, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>
>>> What if they provided a customized kernel? One of those with some
>>> functionality removed?
>>
>> Obviously they’ll get a stock kernel.
>
> But will that work? Is not a breach of contract?
That’s for the provider to determine. I’m not qualified to comment on
what is legally allowed under the OP’s agreement. I can only comment on
the technical aspect, as you (I hope) are aware.
> I assume that if they provide a Linux version with a modified kernel it
> is for a reason.
Maybe, I dunno. The OP asked if he could upgrade it, and if he has root
access, technically, he can. Anything else is between the OP and his
provider.
We’re not here to provide legal assistance or to interpret contracts for
people. We’re here to answer technical questions, and from a
technological standpoint, YES, if he has root, he can.
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C
On 02/18/2013 10:16 PM, Knurpht wrote:
> On a VPS (Virtual Private Server), yes. This is different from renting
> some webspace on a shared server. You rent a virtual machine with a
> chosen amount of RAM, diskspace, # of processor cores. Mariadb instead
> of Mysql, all your own choice.
ah! i didn’t understand the difference between what i have and what a
VPS is…thanks for the clarity…
and, vilanye may ignore my concerns about whether s/he can upgrade or
not…but, don’t ignore the requirement to step through 12.1 to get
to 12.2 (and BACKUP first)…
–
dd
openSUSE®, the “German Engineered Automobile” of operating systems!
http://tinyurl.com/DD-Caveat
To expand a bit more on VPS / Cloud servers, I have/manage three for various purposes, all three with different providers.
The VPS is a virtual machine, where the # of CPU cores, RAM, disksize can be set by the provider, like we do in Vbox.
Then there’s a webbased management tool, that allows you to
- shutdown / start / reboot
- have terminal access (horribly slow, I always use ssh)
- reinstall the chosen OS
- install another OS that’s available for the type of contract. In my case Centos 5 & 6, Ubuntu server
this can be a tool within the provider’s website, or things like Web Host Manager.
Next there are tools available to manage the accounts on the VPS, like directAdmin, cpanel. These tools allow you to be a provider to your customers. Here’s where you setup the accounts like you’re getting if you just rent a traditional webspace account.
All three providers have this the same way.
In the end it’s just as if you have a server like any real server.
A VPS gives you full control, yet not having to worry about hardware, a scalable environment, and in my case the total costs are about 1/5 of renting individual space for customers.
On 2013-02-19 05:36, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> I assume that if they provide a Linux version with a modified kernel it
>> > is for a reason.
> Maybe, I dunno. The OP asked if he could upgrade it, and if he has root
> access, technically, he can. Anything else is between the OP and his
> provider.
Ok, technically only. But that’s where I have doubts, if they provide a
special kernel, for reasons I don’t know; I thought that in those cases
you simply could not upgrade to a version the provider does not directly
supply, because it doesn’t work (or somethings do not work). Like
hooking to their control interface.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)