Upgrading Your linux Distribution mini−HOWTO

Greg Louis
[email protected]

Copyright © 1996, 2002 by Dynamicro Consulting Limited

Hints and tips on upgrading from one linux distribution to another. This is version 1.2, 2002−03−09.
 Upgrading Your linux Distribution mini−HOWTO

Table of Contents
1. IMPORTANT!!! Disclaimer and Copyright................................................................................................1

2. Changes since version 1.1...............................................................................................................................2

3. Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................3
3.1. How to slay and reincarnate your linux box!....................................................................................3
3.2. Why would anyone want to do that?.................................................................................................3
3.3. Do you have to ``destroy and reinstall?''...........................................................................................4
3.4. How long will it take?.......................................................................................................................4

4. Write down everything you do.......................................................................................................................5

5. Make a full backup of the existing system....................................................................................................6

6. Back up /etc and its subdirectories on one or more floppies.......................................................................7

7. Make separate backups of each group of files you want to preserve.........................................................8

8. Prepare root and boot floppies for the new installation..............................................................................9

9. Format floppies for the temporary kernel and the final build.................................................................10

10. Inhibit logins and back up the /root and /home trees..............................................................................11

11. Boot from the new installation's boot and root floppies..........................................................................12

12. Delete the linux partitions with fdisk and recreate them........................................................................13

13. Run the new linux installation...................................................................................................................14

14. Restore configuration data to the /etc directory and subdirectories......................................................15

15. Configure and rebuild the linux kernel....................................................................................................16

16. Restore the stuff from the backups you made earlier.............................................................................17

17. Review security............................................................................................................................................18

18. Enable logins................................................................................................................................................19

19. Sorry, but once again: USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK!....................................20

20. Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................................................21

i
1. IMPORTANT!!! Disclaimer and Copyright
The procedure to which this document attempts to be a guide is inherently dangerous to the programs and
data stored in your computer. You carry out any such procedure entirely at your own risk. The steps
described in this document worked for the author; there is no guarantee that they will work for you, nor that
you can attempt to follow them without serious damage to your computer's programs and/or data. You are
entirely on your own in any use you may make of the information presented herein, and the author shall not
be liable in any way whatsoever for any damage or inconvenience of any kind that you may suffer in so doing.

This document is copyright © 1996, 2000 Dynamicro Consulting Limited, and is released under the terms of
the GNU General Public License. This basically means that you may copy and modify it at will, but may not
prevent others from doing likewise.

Comments and questions may be directed to the author. Especially welcome, for use in future revisions, are
accounts of successful upgrades of complex systems.

1. IMPORTANT!!! Disclaimer and Copyright 1

2. Changes since version 1.1
• Converted to docbook
• Corrected some obsolete information
• Added this history section
• Added Zoltán Hidvégi's suggestion re mtime and ctime. Thanks, Zoltán!
• Added an Acknowledgements section

2. Changes since version 1.1 2

3. Introduction
3.1. How to slay and reincarnate your linux box!
The purpose of this document is to offer tips to help you through the destruction and reinstallation of a linux
system. It's not a foolproof cookbook by any means, but I hope it will serve as some indication of what you
need to think about, and of the order in which to do things. It would have been a help to me, if someone else
had written something like this before I did my first upgrade; so I hope it will be a help to you, if you have a
linux machine to rebuild.

Don't take it as gospel, though: your mileage will almost certainly vary. Even the directory names in this
document may be different from the ones you need to use; some people have /usr/home instead of /home, for
example; others call it /u, and some (delicate shudder :) even put all their users directly under /usr itself! I
can't be specific about your system, so I've just used the names the way they are in mine.

You'll also notice that I use Slackware distributions, and that I assume you've enough RAM and hard disk
space to install linux kernel source and build your own kernel. If your system is different, some of my
recommendations won't apply; but I hope you'll still find the general outline to be of assistance in your
rebuild project.

3.2. Why would anyone want to do that?

Good question! If it can possibly be avoided, don't do it! (That's the single most important recommendation
in this whole guide!!!) When this guide was first written, not many people had hard disks big enough to
accomodate two whole Linux installations; these days, that's by no means uncommon. If you possibly can,
build your new system in a separate partition (or group of partitions), keeping the old one intact till you're
satisfied that the new one is just the way you want it. If you can avoid destroying the old system to make
room for the new, by all means avoid it! But there are times when you may have no choice.

(These examples are a bit dated, but they serve to illustrate my point:)

For example, I installed a 4Gb hard disk and then found out that Slackware 2.0 vintage linux didn't know a
hard disk could have more than 2Gb, and it got horribly confused. So I had to upgrade to the then−current
Slackware 2.3. That upgrade was a gruelling experience, and it's part of the reason I'm writing these notes. I
did just about everything wrong, and only good luck and the fact that I had another running linux box beside
me saved me from disaster.

As another example, I found that I just couldn't succeed in building a working a.out linux kernel in the 1.3
series, using an out−of−the−box Slackware 2.3 installation (another machine, not the one I botched before). I
took the plunge, bought Slackware 3.0 on CDROM and converted to ELF. This time the reinstallation went
better, thanks in part to the previous bitter experience, and it served as the source of most of the ideas I'm
offering you here.

3. Introduction 3
 Upgrading Your linux Distribution mini−HOWTO

3.3. Do you have to ``destroy and reinstall?''

See above. If you can build your new system in otherwise empty disk space, do it! For the rest of this
document, however, I'll assume that this is one of those times when that option isn't available; you either have
to reinstall "in place," over top of the existing system, or you have to bite the bullet and rebuild from scratch.

The latter is safer, oddly enough. If you install over top of an existing linux system, chances are you'll have a
mixture of old and new binaries, old and new configuration files, and generally a mess to try to administer.
Wiping the system clean, and then putting back only what you know you need, is a drastic but effective way
to get a clean result. (Of course we're talking about installing a whole new linux distribution here, not about
upgrading one or two packages! The best way to avoid having to do a full reinstallation is, precisely, to keep
the individual bits −− especially gcc and its libraries, and binutils −− current. If the stuff you use is
reasonably up−to−date, and you can keep it so by bringing in, and if need be compiling, new code from time
to time, then there's no need for a mass upgrade.)

3.4. How long will it take?

Depends, of course, on how complex your system is. But I figure that, for the successful upgrade (the other
one? −− don't ask! :) I spent about ten hours making backups, six hours rebuilding the system to the point
where I could enable logins, and another half day or thereabouts restoring the less−crucial stuff. As time
passes I keep discovering little things that still aren't exactly as I want them −− I fix these as they're
encountered −− but in the main, twenty hours' work should suffice for a reasonably complex rebuilding job.
Maybe less if you're reinstalling from hard disk (I used CDROM) or more if you need to install from floppies.
Maybe less if you've got a fast Pentium, more if it's a 386. You get the idea.

Those were the bad old days. Now, with faster disks and faster machines and CD writers, things go better.
My notebook was stolen in December, 2002, and when the new one came, I was up and pretty near complete
−− despite having lost the old system without the chance to save the latest changes −− after about seven hours
of effort.

So much for the introduction. Here's how to set about it, once you've decided it must be done. Arm yourself
with fortitude and Jolt or whatever, and:

3.3. Do you have to ``destroy and reinstall?'' 4

4. Write down everything you do.
It's extremely valuable to have a record of what you've done in the process of preparing for, and carrying out,
the changeover. Especially important is a list of the backups you'll be making in preparation for the
destruction of your existing system.

4. Write down everything you do. 5

5. Make a full backup of the existing system.
Generally speaking, big backups tend to be written on media that are sequentially accessed. That being so,
you won't want to use this complete backup for restoring significant numbers of files; it's got too many files
on it that you don't want. It's better to create small backups of individual segments that you know you're
going to restore in their entirety. I'll list a bunch of examples later.

Why then should you start with a full backup? Two basic reasons: first, in the event of a catastrophic failure
installing the new system, you'll have a way to get back to the starting point with minimum pain. Second, no
matter how carefully you prepare for the new installation, there is a very large chance that one or two
important files will be overlooked. In that case the clumsiness of restoring those one or two files from the full
backup set will be preferable to the inconvenience of doing without them.

To save time and space, if you've still got the distribution medium for your old linux version, you might want
to back up only those files the mtime or ctime of which is more recent than the date of the original
installation.

5. Make a full backup of the existing system. 6

6. Back up /etc and its subdirectories on one or
more floppies.
This is the other extreme: you won't be restoring these files (for the most part, anyway); you'll be comparing
them with the new ones that get created during installation. Why? Because the new ones may have data that
the old ones didn't, or may express the old data in new ways. Changes in protocols, addition of new tools, or
implementation of new features in existing tools may all dictate changes in the formats of the configuration
files and startup scripts that the /etc tree contains, and you'll very likely have to edit your old data into these
files so as to preserve the new formats and take advantage of the improvements.

6. Back up /etc and its subdirectories on one or more floppies. 7

7. Make separate backups of each group of files
you want to preserve.
This is the most variable part of the job, and all I can really do to help is to describe what I did in my system,
in the hope that it will serve as a rough guide. Basically, you want to look at every directory that contains any

• files that aren't part of your standard linux installation, or

• files that are actually newer than the ones you'll install when you do your new linux installation.

and separate out only those files that you want to carry over.

(Another possible strategy is to back up all files with mtime or ctime more recent than the day of the previous
linux installation, as mentioned above, and then restore from that. If you do that, you have to take into
account that the new linux distribution may contain versions of some files that are newer still than the ones
you saved.)

In my case, I ended up making a .tgz file on the backup medium for each of

• /usr/lib/rn
• /usr/lib/smail
• /usr/lib/trn (the rest of /usr/lib would be reinstalled)
• /usr/local/src
• /usr/local/bin
• /usr/local/lib
• /usr/local/lpfont
• /usr/local/man
• /usr/local/sbin
• /usr/local/thot (there were other /usr/local files I didn't need)
• /usr/openwin
• /usr/src/lilo−17 (because my new Slackware still had version 16)
• /usr/src/linux−1.2.13 (because I'd done some customizing)
• /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app−defaults
• /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/initrc (the rest of Xfree86 was to be reinstalled)
• /var/named
• /var/openwin
• /var/texfonts

My machine was relatively easy in that there were no spool files to worry about. I don't run a news spool on
this box, and since there are only two users, it was easiest just to get all the mail read before shutting down.
Otherwise, /var/spool directories would have had to be backed up at the last minute. (And, of course, the
news library and site directories!)

7. Make separate backups of each group of files you want to preserve. 8

8. Prepare root and boot floppies for the new
installation.
If you're lucky, your new package will include a bootable CD and this step won't be needed. If you haven't
got a CDROM drive, or can't boot from it, details of how to make the floppies will be found in the installation
guide for your new distribution.

8. Prepare root and boot floppies for the new installation. 9

9. Format floppies for the temporary kernel and
the final build.
You'll need two, one floppy for each.

After all that's done, you're ready for the Big Moment. The next step removes the system from production.

9. Format floppies for the temporary kernel and the final build. 10
10. Inhibit logins and back up the /root and /home
trees.
This is the last thing to be done on the old system before you destroy it, so as to carry forward the most
current user and root information. To inhibit logins, just echo "getting ready for upgrade" >/etc/nologin (as
root, of course).

10. Inhibit logins and back up the /root and /home trees. 11
11. Boot from the new installation's boot and root
floppies.
Or, if you have that capability, boot the installation CD itself.

11. Boot from the new installation's boot and root floppies. 12
12. Delete the linux partitions with fdisk and
recreate them.
The installation guide will explain how to set about doing this, which will destroy the old system. From now
on you're dependent on the quality of the backups you made in the earlier steps! You have been warned!

12. Delete the linux partitions with fdisk and recreate them. 13
13. Run the new linux installation.
There are already several good documents describing how to do this, so I'm not going into any detail.
Continue from here when the new system can boot from its hard disk.

Along the way, be sure to make a floppy that you can boot as well, since the kernel that the linux setup
installs has to be replaced and accidents can happen during that process. Be sure to install the development
packages and the kernel source.

13. Run the new linux installation. 14

14. Restore configuration data to the /etc directory
and subdirectories.
As described above, you can't just copy all of the old files back into /etc and expect things to work properly
afterward. Some files you can do that with; for example, /etc/XF86Config (as long as you're using the same
version of XFree86 −− and the same video hardware −− in the new installation as you did in the old). For the
most part, though, it's best to use diff to compare the old and new files before doing any copying. Watch out
especially for significant changes in the files in /etc/rc.d and friends, which may require you to reestablish
your old configuration by hand editing, instead of by copying the old rc scripts from your backup. Once it's
all done, reboot.

14. Restore configuration data to the /etc directory and subdirectories. 15

15. Configure and rebuild the linux kernel.
Even if you don't absolutely have to do this in order to get a kernel that supports your hardware, it's worth
doing it in order to get a kernel that doesn't contain masses of drivers for stuff your machine doesn't have −−
and even more so, in order to get a good understanding of how your kernel configuration options affect the
behaviour of your system! As linux grows, the ability of the distribution vendors to configure a
one−size−fits−all kernel has become very limited. For details on how it's done, see the Kernel HOWTO; it
looks complicated at first, but it's not rocket science; just take it a step at a time.

Install the rebuilt kernel on a floppy at first; once that boots ok, install on the hard disk, run lilo if you're
using it, and reboot.

15. Configure and rebuild the linux kernel. 16

16. Restore the stuff from the backups you made
earlier.
Some of the binaries may need to be reinstalled from the source directories; I had to do that with lilo, for
example, since my version was newer than the one on the Slackware installation and I hadn't bothered to save
the binary from /sbin. You'll want to check through your restored programs and confirm the existence and
correctness of configuration files, libraries and so on. In some cases, you may have to restore things in a
specific order; you did make notes during backup, didn't you? ;−)

16. Restore the stuff from the backups you made earlier. 17
17. Review security.
(Sigh...) When I wrote this, this step was important but not crucial; the Internet was a friendlier place even in
1996 than it is today. Now, if your machine has Internet access, this step is utterly vital, and there are whole
books devoted to getting it right; I can do nothing more here than offer a few very basic pointers:

Check file permissions and directory permissions to be sure that access is neither too restricted nor too easy. I
find that Slackware tends to lean toward a more open environment than I like, so I go around changing 755's
to 711's for binaries in the .../bin directories and stuff like that. Or even 700's in the .../sbin ones. Especial
care is needed if you've carried over ftp, telnet or web servers; but then, if you were running those, you
probably thought of that already. :)

Look at /etc/inetd.conf or /etc/xinetd.conf and make sure you're not running any Internet services you don't
need to. Also go through the boot scripts in /etc/rc.d and friends for the same purpose. Check your firewall
rules if your box is an Internet gateway or has Internet access.

17. Review security. 18

18. Enable logins.
You're up and running. Over the next little while, there'll probably be details to clean up; but the bulk of the
work is done. Enjoy!

18. Enable logins. 19

19. Sorry, but once again: USE THIS
INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK!
(See the disclaimer at the start of this document.)

19. Sorry, but once again: USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK! 20
20. Acknowledgements
Thanks for contributing to the content of this mini−HOWTO are gratefully tendered to Zoltán Hidvégi; and
for motivating me to bring it a bit closer to modern practice, to Steve Sanfratello, author of the
rpmupgrade−HOWTO.

20. Acknowledgements 21