upgrade question

[Peter Horst]

I'm looking for opinions/feedback: I've got a CLI-only fc5 machine 
sitting here.  I would like to use it for two things - serving simple 
webpages (no scripts, no nothing); and running sshd.

Would it be more or less arduous/dangerous/unwise to:

1. upgrade the whole thing to the current fc release OR
2. upgrade manually the:
    a. webserver
    b. kernel
    c. sshd server

Opinions?  Any feedback gratefully received.

[Kam Leo]

On Feb 8, 2008 5:13 PM, Peter Horst <phorst(a)speakeasy.net&gt; wrote:
>  I'm looking for opinions/feedback: I've got a CLI-only fc5
> machine
>  sitting here.  I would like to use it for two things - serving simple
>  webpages (no scripts, no nothing); and running sshd.
>
>  Would it be more or less arduous/dangerous/unwise to:
>
>  1. upgrade the whole thing to the current fc release OR
>  2. upgrade manually the:
>      a. webserver
>      b. kernel
>      c. sshd server
>
>  Opinions?  Any feedback gratefully received. 
If you don't have much CPU power or RAM go CentOS. You'll get less
churn and more stability which is what I believe is desirable for a
server.

[Michael A. Peters]

Peter Horst wrote:
>  I'm looking for opinions/feedback: I've got a CLI-only fc5
> machine 
>  sitting here.  I would like to use it for two things - serving simple 
>  webpages (no scripts, no nothing); and running sshd.
>  
>  Would it be more or less arduous/dangerous/unwise to:
>  
>  1. upgrade the whole thing to the current fc release OR
>  2. upgrade manually the:
>     a. webserver
>     b. kernel
>     c. sshd server
>  
>  Opinions?  Any feedback gratefully received.
>   
Backup your data and install CentOS - it has a much longer support span, 
and being cli only - you don't need the fancy graphical apps of a Fedora 
release.

Install CentOS 5.1 and you can leave it alone for a very long time, it 
will take care of updates for years.

Given that you only want cli stuff - unless you are on dialup I'd 
recommend just downloading the CentOS 5.1 boot.iso and do a http 
install, so you don't have to download several gigs worth of bits on a 
DVD iso that you'll never use.

If you are on dialup, find someone nice to send you the DVD (or CD set).

[Peter Horst]

Michael A. Peters wrote:
>  Peter Horst wrote:
>  > I'm looking for opinions/feedback: I've got a CLI-only fc5 machine 
>  > sitting here. [snip]
>
>  Backup your data and install CentOS - it has a much longer support span, 
>  and being cli only - you don't need the fancy graphical apps of a Fedora 
>  release.
>
>  Install CentOS 5.1 and you can leave it alone for a very long time, it 
>  will take care of updates for years.
>
>  Given that you only want cli stuff - unless you are on dialup I'd 
>  recommend just downloading the CentOS 5.1 boot.iso and do a http 
>  install, so you don't have to download several gigs worth of bits on a 
>  DVD iso that you'll never use.
>
>  If you are on dialup, find someone nice to send you the DVD (or CD set).
>     
Great, thanks you guys. Dumb question: this would be a destructive 
"upgrade," right - meaning I would have to dump my data somewhere 
temporarily, install CentOS, and then re-import my data into a brand new 
filesystem/partition?  Sorry, this is probably super-basic...

[Peter Horst]

Peter Horst wrote:
>  Michael A. Peters wrote:
>  >[snip] 
>
>  Great, thanks you guys. Dumb question: this would be a destructive 
>  "upgrade," right - meaning I would have to dump my data somewhere 
>  temporarily, install CentOS, and then re-import my data into a brand new 
>  filesystem/partition?  Sorry, this is probably super-basic...
>     
[self-reply] - never mind - sorry for the uninspired followup question - 
I am over on the CentOS site right now figuring it out for myself, as is 
proper - thanks again for the feedback - this sounds like a great solution -

Peter

[Michael A. Peters]

Peter Horst wrote:

> >   
>  
>  Great, thanks you guys. Dumb question: this would be a destructive 
>  "upgrade," right - meaning I would have to dump my data somewhere 
>  temporarily, install CentOS, and then re-import my data into a brand new 
>  filesystem/partition?  Sorry, this is probably super-basic...
>   
Yes - this is why I always make /home and /srv be separate partitions. I 
change the apache root to somewhere in /srv

With /home and /srv as separate partitions - I always do destructive 
upgrades and start with a fresh clean /

Make sure to save the contents of /etc/sshd so you can restore your 
existing ssh keys if other people connect via ssh.