Can Upgrade FC2 -> FC3 While Live?

[Fred Whipple]

Hi,

I'm wondering if it's possible to just upgrade directly from FC2 to
FC3 with, for example, up2date rather than booting from special
installation media.  Obviously I'm not saying while a server is
completely open and live, but while the machine is still booted such
that the only reboot is to boot into the new OS.

For the multi-distribution savvy, what I'm asking is if you can
upgrade the OS the same way you can with Debian :-)

TIA,

-Fred

[Joel Jaeggli]

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004, Fred Whipple wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm wondering if it's possible to just upgrade directly from FC2 to
> FC3 with, for example, up2date rather than booting from special
> installation media.  Obviously I'm not saying while a server is
> completely open and live, but while the machine is still booted such
> that the only reboot is to boot into the new OS.
>
> For the multi-distribution savvy, what I'm asking is if you can
> upgrade the OS the same way you can with Debian :-)

or like freebsd...

It was done by a few people (myself included although only for one 
machine) from fc1 to fc2, there is a fair amount of magic stuff that gets 
done by anaconda when you upgrades between version of fc or redhat, so 
there's considerable peril involved in doing it, if you want to do it, I'd 
recomdn trying on a machine you don't need or a clone of the one that you 
really to upgrade.

seth's notes on fc1 to fc2 are here:

http://linux.duke.edu/~skvidal/misc/fc1-fc2-yum-hints.txt

I generally do trial runs before I roll out a major change because some 
of the machines I control are in colo on different continents than the one 
I reside, in so screwing it up can be an expensive mistake.
> TIA,
>
> -Fred

[Tom Mitchell]

On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 07:11:26AM -0800, Joel Jaeggli wrote:
> On Wed, 10 Nov 2004, Fred Whipple wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm wondering if it's possible to just upgrade directly from FC2 to
> > FC3 with, for example, up2date rather than booting from special
> > installation media.
>
> or like freebsd...
>
> It was done by a few people (myself included although only for one
> machine) from fc1 to fc2, there is a fair amount of magic stuff that
> gets done by anaconda when you upgrades between version of fc or
> redhat, so there's considerable peril involved in doing it, if you
> want to do it, I'd recomdn trying on a machine you don't need or a
> clone of the one that you really to upgrade.

While it is possible the words "fair amount of magic stuff"
should give one pause.

Since an update from local NFS or local files (see "askmethod" in
release notes) takes less than an hour I would ask why a live install
in required.  And also tell us why there is a desire to do it now so
early after FC3 has been released.

If you have a test box, try it work through the upgrade and share the
problems you encounter.

Above I asked why a live install was desired.

If we understand your constraints we have a better chance of
understanding your 'real' question and options.  Recovery options will
be important in all this.   Sometimes people ask the wrong question...

For example do you have a box hosted in a remote rack?  Perhaps the
question is, what does the hosting service need to help you.  What do
they need to help you should you get in a bind.

Since FC3 is new please expose your constraints and give the
community some time to build a body of knowledge on the topic.

The good news is that those that work in the development process 'live
update' almost all components.  There are rare situations where a
rescue CD or other serious surgery was needed.  Given that experience
I believe that it is possible but no one who has worked through the
process will tell you how.... They understand how screwed up things
can get.

Also your constraints will help the tool builders understand your
needs and in some cases address the problem in future work.

Bottom line is that FC2 will be well supported for a long enough 
length of time that you can hold off for a bit.

[jeff lee]

On Wednesday 10 November 2004 09:59, Fred Whipple wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm wondering if it's possible to just upgrade directly from FC2 to
> FC3 with, for example, up2date rather than booting from special
> installation media.  Obviously I'm not saying while a server is
> completely open and live, but while the machine is still booted such
> that the only reboot is to boot into the new OS.

I did it and everything is working just fine.  Follow the instructions in the 
release notes regarding udev and with the fedora-release package and yum.  
You can then use yum.  If you like apt, change the version numbers in the 
config file for the repos.

I've got mad-wifi installed, so I didn't want to do a clean install because it 
would get rid of my drivers.  Anaconda might have messed something up.  I 
really didn't want to have to lug my desktop upstairs to plug it into the 
router.

YMMV

Jeff Lee