266 lines
7.4 KiB
HTML
266 lines
7.4 KiB
HTML
<HTML
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><HEAD
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><TITLE
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>Introduction</TITLE
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TITLE="Upgrading Your linux Distribution mini-HOWTO"
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TITLE="Changes since version 1.1"
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TITLE="Write down everything you do."
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>Upgrading Your linux Distribution mini-HOWTO</TH
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WIDTH="10%"
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ALIGN="left"
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>Prev</A
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CLASS="SECT1"
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><H1
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CLASS="SECT1"
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><A
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NAME="AEN36">3. Introduction</H1
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><H2
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><A
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NAME="AEN38">3.1. How to slay and reincarnate your linux box!</H2
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><P
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>The purpose of this document is to offer tips to help you through the
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destruction and reinstallation of a linux system. It's not a
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foolproof cookbook by any means, but I hope it will serve as some
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indication of what you need to think about, and of the order in which
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to do things. It would have been a help to me, if someone else had
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written something like this before I did my first upgrade; so I hope
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it will be a help to you, if you have a linux machine to rebuild.
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</P
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><P
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>Don't take it as gospel, though: your mileage will almost certainly
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vary. Even the directory names in this document may be different from
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the ones you need to use; some people have /usr/home instead of /home,
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for example; others call it /u, and some (delicate shudder :) even put
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all their users directly under /usr itself! I can't be specific about
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your system, so I've just used the names the way they are in mine.
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</P
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><P
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>You'll also notice that I use Slackware distributions, and that I
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assume you've enough RAM and hard disk space to install linux kernel
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source and build your own kernel. If your system is different, some
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of my recommendations won't apply; but I hope you'll still find the
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general outline to be of assistance in your rebuild project.
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</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><H2
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><A
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NAME="AEN43">3.2. Why would anyone want to do that?</H2
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><P
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>Good question! If it can possibly be avoided, don't do it! (That's
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the single most important recommendation in this whole guide!!!) When
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this guide was first written, not many people had hard disks big enough
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to accomodate two whole Linux installations; these days, that's by no
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means uncommon. If you possibly can, build your new system in a
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separate partition (or group of partitions), keeping the old one intact
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till you're satisfied that the new one is just the way you want it. If
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you can avoid destroying the old system to make room for the new, by
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all means avoid it! But there are times when you may have no choice.
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</P
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><P
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>(These examples are a bit dated, but they serve to illustrate my
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point:)
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</P
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><P
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>For example, I installed a 4Gb hard disk and then found out that
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Slackware 2.0 vintage linux didn't know a hard disk could have more
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than 2Gb, and it got horribly confused. So I had to upgrade to the
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then-current Slackware 2.3. That upgrade was a gruelling experience,
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and it's part of the reason I'm writing these notes. I did just about
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everything wrong, and only good luck and the fact that I had another
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running linux box beside me saved me from disaster.
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</P
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><P
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>As another example, I found that I just couldn't succeed in building a
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working a.out linux kernel in the 1.3 series, using an out-of-the-box
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Slackware 2.3 installation (another machine, not the one I botched
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before). I took the plunge, bought Slackware 3.0 on CDROM and
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converted to ELF. This time the reinstallation went better, thanks in
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part to the previous bitter experience, and it served as the source of
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most of the ideas I'm offering you here.
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</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><H2
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><A
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NAME="AEN49">3.3. Do you have to ``destroy and reinstall?''</H2
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><P
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>See above. If you can build your new system in otherwise empty disk
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space, do it! For the rest of this document, however, I'll assume that
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this is one of those times when that option isn't available; you either
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have to reinstall "in place," over top of the existing system, or you
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have to bite the bullet and rebuild from scratch.
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</P
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><P
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>The latter is safer, oddly enough. If you install over top of an
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existing linux system, chances are you'll have a mixture of old and new
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binaries, old and new configuration files, and generally a mess to try
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to administer. Wiping the system clean, and then putting back only
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what you know you need, is a drastic but effective way to get a clean
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result. (Of course we're talking about installing a whole new linux
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distribution here, not about upgrading one or two packages! The best
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way to avoid having to do a full reinstallation is, precisely, to keep
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the individual bits -- especially gcc and its libraries, and binutils
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-- current. If the stuff you use is reasonably up-to-date, and you
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can keep it so by bringing in, and if need be compiling, new code from
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time to time, then there's no need for a mass upgrade.)
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</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><H2
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CLASS="SECT2"
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><A
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NAME="AEN53">3.4. How long will it take?</H2
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><P
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>Depends, of course, on how complex your system is. But I figure that,
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for the successful upgrade (the other one? -- don't ask! :) I spent
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about ten hours making backups, six hours rebuilding the system to the
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point where I could enable logins, and another half day or thereabouts
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restoring the less-crucial stuff. As time passes I keep discovering
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little things that still aren't exactly as I want them -- I fix these
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as they're encountered -- but in the main, twenty hours' work should
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suffice for a reasonably complex rebuilding job. Maybe less if you're
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reinstalling from hard disk (I used CDROM) or more if you need to
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install from floppies. Maybe less if you've got a fast Pentium, more
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if it's a 386. You get the idea.
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</P
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><P
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>Those were the bad old days. Now, with faster disks and faster
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machines and CD writers, things go better. My notebook was stolen in
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December, 2002, and when the new one came, I was up and pretty near
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complete -- despite having lost the old system without the chance to
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save the latest changes -- after about seven hours of effort.
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</P
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><P
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>So much for the introduction. Here's how to set about it, once you've
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decided it must be done. Arm yourself with fortitude and Jolt or
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whatever, and:
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</P
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>Home</A
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WIDTH="33%"
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>Changes since version 1.1</TD
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WIDTH="34%"
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="top"
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> </TD
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ALIGN="right"
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VALIGN="top"
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>Write down everything you do.</TD
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