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Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner
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    Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner

    Read this before performing the upgrade to Fedora 17, if possible: it will save you time, frustration, and likely prevent you from committing some blunders that may corrupt your Fedora installation.


    To begin with, this is the first time since preupgrading from F7 to F8 that I encountered any serious issues with preupgrade. There were two common issues, however, when preupgrading to F17 (updated June 5, 2012: the second issue is apparently now fixed, so people preupgrading to Fedora 17 now should not be experiencing it unless they choose upgrading from the DVD):

    Issue I. The anaconda installer may hang during installation of certain packages (one such culprit is the sbcl package which is a dependency of the maxima package)

    See, e.g. https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=822008


    Issue II. (updated June 5, 2012: apparently this issue has been fixed, and one should not be experiencing it any more when preupgrading to Fedora 17; one will encounter it however if deciding to upgrade from the DVD)

    After completing the preupgrade process the computer reboots into kernel-3.3.7-1.fc16.

    Normally that would not be a problem — due to the "/usr move", however, booting into any kernel with extension fc16 will later result in aborted shutdown with error messages thrown by /shutdown about non-existent files, etc. Executing

    Code:
    rpm -qa|grep kernel-
    will likely show kernel-3.3.7-1.fc17 to have been installed too. However, that kernel does not show up in the GRUB menu.

    See, e.g., http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F17_bugs , and https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla....cgi?id=820351


    Numerous 'fixes' were offered in this forum and elsewhere. Unfortunately, it seems that many would cause more problems than they were supposed to solve.

    The purpose of this thread is to offer safe and clean solutions to both issues, especially that the "solution" to the second problem offered at the "Common F17 bugs" page is not specific enough (worse, I find it even misleading when it is talking about enabling the Updates repository: I was using precisely that repo, not the DVD, and the problem was still there).



    I. If you notice that the anaconda installer hangs with a message "installing <the-name-of-a-package>", record the name of that package and open a console (Ctrl-Alt-F2 should work). Next, use, e.g., ps -ef, in order to locate the process that hangs. In my case it was

    Code:
    /usr/bin/sbcl --core /usr/lib/sbcl/sbcl-dist.core --noinform --sysinit /etc/sbcl.rc --userinit /dev/null --load /usr/lib/sbcl/install-clc.lis
    Kill the process using, e.g., killall -KILL sbcl (replace sbcl by the process' name).

    This should allow anaconda to continue the installation process.

    Notes.

    a) Due to an oversight in anaconda, when one returns from the Linux console to the anaconda installer screen (in my case I did this by pressing Ctrl-Alt-F6), one is presented with a blank screen (probably milky-grey in appearance). This is due to anaconda not refreshing the installation screen other than by sending to it a new message. So, be aware of this and do not panic: when anaconda resumes, it will refresh the screen and you will be able to continue monitoring the progress of the installation.

    b) During the final cleanup stage the anaconda installer may appear hanging with a message like

    Code:
    Cleaning up rootfiles
    Just be patient -- on my small Toshiba NB205 netbook it took a long time before the next message appeared on the anaconda installer screen.


    II.

    First solution

    Preupgrade is a process that runs in two stages:

    1) it downloads required packages and verifies them,

    2) after completing stage 1), it presents the user with an option to reboot the machine; after the reboot, if you select the anaconda installer from the GRUB menu, it starts the installer.

    Before executing preupgrade from the command line or, at the very latest, before rebooting the computer after stage 1) of preupgrade, execute

    Code:
    rpm -qa|grep kernel-
    On one of my computers the output was

    Code:
    kernel-3.3.4-1.fc16.x86_64
    kernel-headers-3.3.7-1.fc16.x86_64
    kernel-3.3.5-2.fc16.x86_64
    kernel-3.3.7-1.fc16.x86_64
    Next, remove the latest kernel package. In my case I executed (as root)

    Code:
    yum erase kernel-3.3.7-1.fc16
    Now proceed with preupgrade.


    If you failed to do the above before proceeding to the second stage of preupgrade, then you must use the second solution.


    Second solution

    When the anaconda installer finishes, it restarts the machine, and if everything goes well (in my case it did), you will be presented with a login screen. Log in. Execute yum update (as root), then shut down the system. The shutdown will most likely stall. Use the power button to force shutting the computer.

    On restart, choose from the GRUB menu not the latest kernel. In my case, I had two choices:

    Code:
    3.3.7-1.fc16
    3.3.0-4.fc16
    I selected 3.3.0-4.fc16. After logging in, use rpm -qa|grep kernel- to check which kernels are installed. On one of the computers where I was performing preupgrade, I found I had the following three kernels installed:

    Code:
    kernel-3.3.0-4.fc16.i686
    kernel-3.3.7-1.fc16.i686
    kernel-3.3.7-1.fc17.i686
    Execute (as root)

    Code:
    yum erase kernel-3.3.7-1.fc16
    yum erase kernel-3.3.7-1.fc17
    This removes the last kernel installed before preupgrade, and the same-version kernel installed by the anaconda installer.

    Now, execute

    Code:
    yum install kernel-3.3.7-1.fc17
    This installs kernel-3.3.7-1 from the Fedora 17 repo.


    Note.
    Code:
    yum reinstall kernel-3.3.7-1.fc17
    will not work since that kernel package is tagged as having been installed by anaconda, not from the Fedora 17 repo.


    Restart the computer (when the shutdown stalls as expected throwing up error messages, you will have to resort to the power button again since you booted into a kernel installed before preupgrade). From now on you should be booting into the newly installed kernel.


    Third solution (I didn't have an opportunity to test it myself but I am told it would have worked too)

    When the anaconda installer finishes, it restarts the machine, and if everything goes well (in my case it did), you will be presented with a login screen. Log in, and use rpm -qa|grep kernel- to check which kernels are installed. On one of the computers where I was performing preupgrade, I found I had the following three kernels installed:

    Code:
    kernel-3.3.0-4.fc16.i686
    kernel-3.3.7-1.fc16.i686
    kernel-3.3.7-1.fc17.i686
    Execute (as root)

    Code:
    yum erase kernel-3.3.7-1.fc17
    This removes the last kernel installed before preupgrade, and the same-version kernel installed by the anaconda installer.

    Now, execute

    Code:
    yum install kernel-3.3.7-1.fc17
    This installs kernel-3.3.7-1 from the Fedora 17 repo.


    Note.
    Code:
    yum reinstall kernel-3.3.7-1.fc17
    will not work since that kernel package is tagged as having been installed by anaconda, not from the Fedora 17 repo.


    Restart the computer (when the shutdown stalls as expected throwing up error messages, you will have to resort to the power button since you booted into a kernel installed before preupgrade). From now on you should be booting into the newly installed kernel.


    If you experienced Problem I, now it is time to check that the programs installed by the package whose installation hang, are properly operating. If not, reinstall that package. In my case I verified that maxima seemed to be functional, and had the right version of sbcl package installed, so I did not have to do anything.

    From now on the preupgrade issues addressed in this post should be resolved.
    Last edited by Mariusz W; 5th June 2012 at 10:25 PM.

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    Re: Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner

    Hi,

    I had the, by now, the well flagged problem after an upgrade - using preupgrade - from Fedora 16 i686 to Fedora 17 i686. As already described by Mariusz W above I had Grub booting the Fedora 16 kernel and a kernel panic during shutdown. I took a somewhat lazier approach and downloaded the Fedora 17 net install image, burned it to a CD, and booted from the resulting CD. The net install discovered my Fedora 17 installation and I "upgraded" it. Nothing much, if anything, was downloaded and after the upgrade finished, I had on reboot a fully functional system with Grub properly setup. Running "package-cleanup --orphans" still showed the Fedora 16 kernels present and these were removed in the normal way.

    This worked for me and may save someone some grief.

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    Re: Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner

    Quote Originally Posted by kilkennycat
    Running "package-cleanup --orphans" still showed the Fedora 16 kernels present and these were removed in the normal way
    I would advise against removing older kernels. Having additional kernels available as boot options at the GRUB screen is a safety net, and their presence is harmless anyway: they are there only if something goes terribly wrong with your latest kernel.
    Last edited by Mariusz W; 5th June 2012 at 04:24 AM.

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    Re: Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner

    Hi again,
    With hindsight - a wonderful thing - I agree with Mariusz W that I was over hasty in not keeping, at least, the latest of the older f16 kernels. It was, as it turned out, o'k but was somewhat rash. Thanks Mariuz W.

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    Re: Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner

    I did the same thing as instructed by the preuprage instructions kilkennycat. Now I only have the 3.3.7-1.fc16 and 3.3.6-3.fc16 installed. I tried booting to the old 3.3.6 kernel but experienced a hangup. Not sure if that is the fun Nvidia and kernel issue from not long ago or what as I haven't tried much yet.

    I did find this upon doing some searching right before I found this post and have yet to try it... http://linuxfordummies.org/preupgrad...rnel-issuefix/

    From what I was reading in the bugzilla reports, this should all be fixed upon the next kernel release correct? Not in that it will have the next fc17 kernel installed but that it will also fix/update grub to the 3.3.7-1.fc17 kernel?


    UPDATE: I can confirm that editing my grub.cfg file worked in running the fc17 kernel. My only issue is I forgot to remove my nividia driver prior to rebooting so I had to enter runlevel 3 and remove them then reinstall.
    Last edited by EMGoodyear; 6th June 2012 at 03:19 AM. Reason: update

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    Re: Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner

    Quote Originally Posted by EMGoodyear
    I did the same thing as instructed by the preuprage instructions kilkennycat. Now I only have the 3.3.7-1.fc16 and 3.3.6-3.fc16 installed. I tried booting to the old 3.3.6 kernel but experienced a hangup. Not sure if that is the fun Nvidia and kernel issue from not long ago or what as I haven't tried much yet.
    You don't need to boot to the login screen. If you can open a linux console (try Alt-Ctrl-F2, for example), and you are connected to th einternet, then all you need to do is to use Solution 3 or 2 above).

    I did find this upon doing some searching right before I found this post and have yet to try it... http://linuxfordummies.org/preupgrad...rnel-issuefix/
    That may be a correct solution. A safer, simpler, faster solution is what I proposed above.

    From what I was reading in the bugzilla reports, this should all be fixed upon the next kernel release correct? Not in that it will have the next fc17 kernel installed but that it will also fix/update grub to the 3.3.7-1.fc17 kernel?
    Whether the bug has already been fixed or not -- I don't know. I was told it has been.

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    Re: Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner

    I've read the above, other posts on the forum, as well as the "Common F17 bugs" notice on the Wiki, but can't get preupgrade to work from Fedora 16 to Fedora 17.

    Code:
    $ rpm -qa|grep kernel-
    kernel-3.4.6-1.fc16.x86_64
    kernel-headers-3.4.7-1.fc16.x86_64
    kernel-3.4.4-4.fc16.x86_64
    kernel-3.4.7-1.fc16.x86_64
    Fedora 17 or "Upgrade to Fedora 17" doesn't appear in my boot menu.

    Code:
    $ cat /etc/fedora-release
    Fedora release 16 (Verne)
    On first attempt to run preupgrade, packages were downloaded, then I rebooted. Now when I run preupgrade, the process hangs and then gives the following error:

    Code:
    /boot/upgrade/vmlinuz checksum OK
    /boot/upgrade/initrd.img checksum OK
    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "/usr/share/preupgrade/preupgrade-gtk.py", line 259, in on_assistant_apply
        self._do_main()
      File "/usr/share/preupgrade/preupgrade-gtk.py", line 278, in _do_main
        self.main_preupgrade()
      File "/usr/share/preupgrade/preupgrade-gtk.py", line 503, in main_preupgrade
        stage2file = self.pu.retrieve_non_critical_files()
      File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/preupgrade/__init__.py", line 573, in retrieve_non_critical_files
        self._retrieve_file(self.mainimage, targetdir, reserve_space=extra_space)
      File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/preupgrade/__init__.py", line 480, in _retrieve_file
        self.instrepo._getFile(relative=fileinfo, local=local)
      File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 848, in _getFile
        raise Errors.NoMoreMirrorsRepoError, errstr
    yum.Errors.NoMoreMirrorsRepoError: failure: LiveOS/squashfs.img from preupgrade: [Errno 256] No more mirrors to try.
    Last edited by hunger; 6th August 2012 at 08:20 AM.

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    Re: Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner

    Got it working tonight. Didn't do anything differently, so not sure what went wrong the first few times. Pretty weird.

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    Re: Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner

    I have done several preupgrades to Fedora over the years. Going from F16 to F17 is
    causing a problem which likely has to do with the ethernet cards and network manager.

    Everything went fine in the preupgrade process until I tried to re-boot into the new F17 system.
    The boot process hung up when attempting to run DHCP on my (2) installed
    Ethernet cards. Before it hung up, there was a notice of the Ethernet cards being
    renamed as follows:

    eth0 renamed to p1p1 and eth1 renamed to p4p1

    After that, it tries to start DHCP on p1p1 and hangs up, trying over and over.
    p1p1 (eth0) is not supposed to run DHCP, as it is a fixed (static) address.

    I had nothing but problems with F16 Network Manager (and the ones before that) and
    have always just removed Network Manager completely, relying on simple but reliable
    ifcfg-eth* scripts in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts. Now, it appears that F17 can't read
    those scripts, or is trying to do some kind of other network configuration. Bottom line
    is the machine won't boot.

    Here is what the machine looks like in F16 when it is working. These are both STATIC
    addresses. I do run DHCP on the 192.168 net, but not on the public NIC. F17 is trying
    to start DHCP on all interfaces, and apparently completely ignoring my ifcfg-eth0 and
    ifcfg-eth2 scripts.

    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

    --Pickman


    ifconfig -a

    eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:14:x:x:x:x
    inet addr:173.xx.xx.xx Bcast:173.xx.xx.xx Mask:255.255.xx.xx
    UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
    RX packets:215122 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
    TX packets:229488 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
    collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
    RX bytes:163118830 (155.5 MiB) TX bytes:135156508 (128.8 MiB)

    eth2 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:00:x:x:x:x
    inet addr:192.168.1.1 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
    UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
    RX packets:130586 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
    TX packets:147208 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
    collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
    RX bytes:15944411 (15.2 MiB) TX bytes:131592271 (125.4 MiB)

    lo Link encap:Local Loopback
    inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
    UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
    RX packets:19895 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
    TX packets:19895 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
    collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
    RX bytes:2872066 (2.7 MiB) TX bytes:2872066 (2.7 MiB)

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    Re: Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner

    I just did a straight upgrade from F16 to F17, using YUM.

    Check another post of mine here: http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=282087

    There are links to other threads which worked for me, without using "preupgrade".

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    Re: Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner

    For pickman, include biosdevname=0 on your linux boot line - at the end is fine. You can edit /boot/grub2/grub.cfg and make the change there so it is permanent. This will restore the eth* naming.

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    Re: Preupgrade from Fedora 16 to 17: resolving the issues in a clean and safe manner

    I wish I had seen this thread before I tried the net install upgrade from F16 to F17. Mine failed on eog (eye of gnome). I hacked my way through using the rescue mode on the net install CD, yum erases, rpm rebuilddb , kernel installs and all; ala the thread here.

    However I am stuck with a fall-out to a dracut prompt at boot. See the thread i have already posted here. I am think that the /usr-move never completed successfully. Any thoughts?

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