313 lines
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313 lines
12 KiB
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<TITLE>The Answer Gang 92: Redhat 7.2 upgrade to Redhat 9.1 without booting from a disk</TITLE>
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<H3 align="left"><img src="../../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
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height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
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>Redhat 7.2 upgrade to Redhat 9.1 without booting from a disk</H3>
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<p><strong>From Nick Pringle
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</strong></p>
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<p></strong></p>
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<p align="right"><strong>Answered By Thomas Adam, Faber Fedor, Dan Wilder, Heather Stern, Ben Okopnik
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</strong></p>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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Hi
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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I rent a Redhat 7.2 system installed on a host machine 'in a galaxy far,
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far away'. I want to upgrade to Redhat 9.1 but cannot follow the
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prescribe route because I cannot boot from floppy or cd the way Redhat
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say to do the upgrade. I can, however, always boot from an emergency ram
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disk and then mount the real system to work on it. When booted via this
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emergency RAM disk I have full net access and have ftp access to all the
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Redhat CDs etc. Is there any way of running the upgrade procedure
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'manually'?
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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Regards
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Nick Pringle
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Thomas]
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How do you mean by installing it "manually"? The RH installer allows you
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the choice of doing either http/ftp/cdrom install, depending on what you
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choose.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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Are you trying to say then, that you want to only upgrade certain packages
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on your system (N.B. This is not a good idea, since as this is a higher
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version than the version currently on your system, trying to upgrade
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certain packages leads to "dependency hell"). Cf:
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote><BLOCKQuote>
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<A HREF="../..//issue71/tag/3.html"
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>http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue71/tag/3.html</A>
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</BLOCKQuote></blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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Could you try and provide more details.
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Thanks.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Faber]
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That's the problem he has, Thomas. The box is "far far away" and he
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can't just "put in the CD, boot the machine, and choose http/ftp/cdrom"
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after selecting his language mouse and keyboard. He isn't at the
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machine.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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So he ants to know if he can manually start the installation process,
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i.e. not reboot the machine.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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It's a good question and I haven't found a solution yet.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Dan]
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Maybe he shoulda used <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A>.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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I routinely upgrade Debian systems one major release level via
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an ssh login. So far not "far far away", but without touching the
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box being upgraded, yes. At one point I upgraded a running web
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server this way, with only a fifteen minute interruption to
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its services.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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Which proves such a thing can be done. Now whether other
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distributions allow for it ...
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</blockQuote>
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<blockquote><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Heather] I am a lot more careful about letting debian do its automagical thing if
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I know I can't get over to that machine and whack it one. There have
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been a few times in my life, when playing with Debian's idea of the
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leading edge, I took too careless a leap and added that "b" noise to
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the word. Ouchie.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Essentially, I use a curses-mode selector such as aptitude. I update,
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and I pick some very basic stuff to make sure the raw parts are
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<EM>definitely</EM> grabbed first. This generally means dpkg, debconf and its
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related parts - libc and things having to do with login, such as the
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shell, pam, and so on. All in all I've usually done 4 or 5 small sets
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of critical utilities (not always members of "base" - sometimes in
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admin, or related to the actual purpose of the system). Before anything
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whose improper behavior would give me the willies, I use dpkg-repack to
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save an instance of its current bits before I allow it to upgrade. Yeah,
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I bail out of the selector a lot. But when I finally am happy with how
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perl settled in, I won't need to worry about the rest of it.
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</blockquote>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Ben]
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1) Install the system on a local machine; configure and tweak.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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2) Copy everything across (FTP or whatever) to a new partition on the
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remote machine.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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3) Carefully adjust the remote "lilo.conf" to boot the new
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"installation" on the next reboot.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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Anybody see a problem with this scenario? Sure, some stuff is going to
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require tweaking afterwards - but that's true of any new install.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Dan]
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Sure sounds a lot like the safest upgrade procedure for what's still,
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for quirky reasons, my favorite distribution ... <A HREF="http://www.slackware.org/">Slackware</A>.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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It'd be nice if the ever-so-much featureful RH could do better.
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</blockQuote>
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<HR width="10%" align="left"><P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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Hi. Thanks for the prompt reply.
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Thomas]
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All part of the service, sir!
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</blockQuote>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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I recently upgraded the machine in my office from Redhat Linux 7.2 to
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Redhat 9.1. No trouble. I just booted from the CD, click the options in
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graphics mode and did the upgrade.
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":-)"
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height="24" width="20" align="middle"> So I've been through the process
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on a PC I can touch.
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Thomas]
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Yep, installers are becoming easier and easier. I am sure people like Jim
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Dennis and Ben Okopnik (resident on this list) will remember the days of
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black and white, and having to use the "friendly" program fdisk
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
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height="24" width="20" align="middle">
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
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height="24" width="20" align="middle">
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</blockQuote>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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But I am trying out a hosting package provided by a company called
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Oneandone. It's a very attractive solution because they have fast
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access, I won't have to use a machine and UPS of my own and they are
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cheap! It's $50 a month. It's on www.oneandone.co.uk as a Root Server 1.
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I live in Britain,
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Thomas]
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Well, well, well. I live in England too
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
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height="24" width="20" align="middle"> Small world, eh? I have heard
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of oneandone, but never really looked any further, until now
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
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height="24" width="20" align="middle">
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</blockQuote>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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I think the machine might be in Germany but I'm not
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actually sure. I don't know what sort or hardware they run but I am
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simply unable to detect if it is virtual in any way. Even the hardware
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reporting at boot time says it is a real machine. I imagine they have
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racks of tiny machines with only processor, memory, Realtek netcard and
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a hard disk.
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Thomas]
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A reasonable assumption.
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</blockQuote>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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I get Redhat Linux 7.2 installed but very limited support! When I point
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out to them that Redhat 7.2 becomes obsolete in November they agree it
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will but cannot upgrade my Server package. To use the service I really
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need to know I can upgrade at some time.
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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Hmm, I am going to be picky here and say that NO Linux distibution becomes
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obsolete. Yes, some of the programs will be at a lower version number than
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some more recent ones, but as long as it <EM>works</EM> and does what you want it
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to do -- there is no reason to upgrade at all. That is perhaps the selling
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point of Linux for me over Microsoft --- you don't, nor are you forced to
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upgrade. If it works, keep it. Heck, I know some people who are still
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running kernel 1.x.x
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
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height="24" width="20" align="middle">
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</blockQuote>
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<blockquote><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Heather] I'll have to agree; I've safely let systems lay with only the important
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service ever being updated, behind a nice little firewall whose kernel is
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updated more often.
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</blockquote>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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I am truly remote. I ONLY have SSH access. I cannot boot from anything
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other than the hard disk of the remote machine. When I upgraded my local
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machine in the office I booted with the Redhat CD1 on my local CD drive.
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As far as I can see Redhat upgrade requires you to <EM>BOOT</EM> from either a
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floppy or CD. If I could boot from the CD I know I could choose
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ftp/cd/or local hard disk but I cannot do the very first step.
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Thomas]
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I see your problem
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
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height="24" width="20" align="middle"> If you have SSH support, then what I would be
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inclined to do is <EM>try</EM> and run a program called "up2date", like so:
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</blockQuote>
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<blockquote><pre>up2date -u
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</pre></blockquote>
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<blockQuote>
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essentially this locates a RH server and updates old packages that you
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have on your current remote system with newer ones. It does not though
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perform a dist-upgrade. I suppose that you could look at "up2date" as a
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very childlike form of Debian's "apt-get".
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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So, this is a half-way solution to your problem.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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Another, perhaps more direct approach is to use the utility "wget"
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download the ".iso" files, and mount them on a loopback, such that you can
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then issue:
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</blockQuote>
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<blockquote><pre>rpm -ivh *.rpm
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</pre></blockquote>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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Sorry to drag it on a bit but I hope the above clarifies the situation.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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If you haven't lost the will to live by now thank you very much for
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listening.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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Incidentally I agree that partial upgrades and going through each of the
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RPMs one at a time will result in "dependency hell" which is why I need
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a 3rd route.
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockquote><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Heather] There you have it folks; if anyone has had their own successes in such
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distant climes, maybe you'd like to write us an article someday soon?
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</blockquote>
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