old fc5 need to upgrade. need help

hubiedo · #1 29th August 2011, 07:14 PM

on one of my clients systems they are still using fc5 and we need to upgrade. can anyone give me an outline of the steps to get it done. can i possibly use the "new" preupgrade procedure to jump all the way to fc15. we have a server also that is set up an run 10-15 positions. the current system is very stable but totally out of date. could there be a simple way to get this done? has anyone even tried to make the big jump or is it even possible. i would like to avoid the intermediate steps or would i be better to make a fresh install of fc15 and just fix everything?? I think this would be a train wreck waiting to happen though.

any and all thoughts, ideas, experiences or things to do or not do i.e. what to watch for would really be appreciated.

we would build a new server to do this or we could do it on the current system then "move the whole thing to a new server etc. w/ better hardware.

leigh123linux · #2 29th August 2011, 07:26 PM

Moved to EOL (End Of Life) Versions

assen · #3 29th August 2011, 08:52 PM

Hi,

If this is a server and if you care about your customer, don't even think about upgrading. Find a suitable moment for a 2-hour downtime; back up all data; make a clean install of F15 and then restore your data.

If will be even better if you have a spare machine (even virtual one) - then you can make a dry run of the whole process . This will allow you to better estimate the downtime and also to check all services and configuration for their compatibility with F15 (FC5 was 5 years ago, so you can well expect some issues, e.g., PHP and MySQL versions have changed which might break a web application etc. )

WWell,

jpollard · #4 29th August 2011, 09:13 PM

And the security design is massively expanded with SELinux.

leigh123linux · #5 29th August 2011, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by assen

Hi,

If this is a server and if you care about your customer, don't even think about upgrading. Find a suitable moment for a 2-hour downtime; back up all data; make a clean install of F15 and then restore your data.

If will be even better if you have a spare machine (even virtual one) - then you can make a dry run of the whole process . This will allow you to better estimate the downtime and also to check all services and configuration for their compatibility with F15 (FC5 was 5 years ago, so you can well expect some issues, e.g., PHP and MySQL versions have changed which might break a web application etc. )

WWell,

Time for new hardware as well.

jpollard · #6 30th August 2011, 01:20 AM

All depends on what the hardware is. If you are running a server, I think you would do better with Fedora 14. It will be MUCH more familiar than the wonkyness of F15.

Some changes between 5 and 14 for servers is that upstart takes over the boot, and the support of sysVinit (which really works). With F15, you loose the SysVinit levels entirely, for a thing that doesn't work as easily, and is MUCH less documented. It does boot faster, but a server needs things to be reliable, and consistent - which F15 isn't.

One thing you can do if you are getting new hardware (and have to discontinue the old) is to run F5 in a VM while setting up another VM for your new server.

hubiedo · #7 30th August 2011, 03:12 AM

thanks for all the help and comments. i realize it is way past time but it is ultra reliable now. besides the client just wanted to keep it going til they change over to windoze. am trying to get them to upgrade it and keep my job too. they want to use some win software etc. and is a large business operation etc.

i think that new hardware would be the only way to go and then just use fc14 and run side by side so to speak til i have all the kinks worked out.

thanks for the input. you guys and gals are a great help and i am not an expert on this.

leigh123linux · #8 30th August 2011, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hubiedo

thanks for all the help and comments. i realize it is way past time but it is ultra reliable now. besides the client just wanted to keep it going til they change over to windoze. am trying to get them to upgrade it and keep my job too. they want to use some win software etc. and is a large business operation etc.

i think that new hardware would be the only way to go and then just use fc14 and run side by side so to speak til i have all the kinks worked out.

thanks for the input. you guys and gals are a great help and i am not an expert on this.

F14 is EOL by the end of this year, I believe CentOS6 would be a better choice.

JohnVV · #9 31st August 2011, 01:25 AM

to continue the "if you care about your customers ..."
do NOT put fedora on a server .
It sort of works but NOT well .fedora was not designed for a server , but for a testing desktop .It is ALWAYS in a PERMANENT "Beta" state .

install RHEL 6.1 or CentOS 6 ( if you do not want to pay for the red hat support)
Debian is a better choice than fedora for a server .

hubiedo · #10 31st August 2011, 10:40 AM

thanks again.

personally i have had good luck w/ ubuntu but i thought if i could upgrade the fc5 it would be easier. it is sooooo
difficult to get all of their stuff set up right. even a small change has a lot of ripples in the pond. this would be a major task i think.