Net installer can't upgrade CentOS 4.x

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tim1mw
Posts: 7
Joined: 2011/07/11 13:32:07

Net installer can't upgrade CentOS 4.x

Post by tim1mw » 2011/07/11 13:42:32

The CentOS 6 net installer CD image doesn't appear to be able to upgrade an existing CentOS 4.x installation (although install/upgrade is the main option on the initial boot screen), there is no further mention of distro upgrade when the installer proper starts and I get invited to wipe/remove/shrink my existing partitions. Is the net installer only for new installs or does it only upgrade from CentOS 5.x?

quantumriff
Posts: 16
Joined: 2011/05/06 15:33:07

Re: Net installer can't upgrade CentOS 4.x

Post by quantumriff » 2011/07/11 18:41:29

[quote]
Updates across major releases are never supported by either TUV or CentOS; however, some people always manage to do anaconda or yum updates anyway. Breakages, package mismatches, and left-over old packages with no new equivalents are almost guaranteed with an update.
[/quote]
[url=https://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=29147&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&start=804]https://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=29147&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&start=804[/url]

There is no upgrade path from 4, besides a re-install. Heck, upgrades from 5 aren't officially supported, and guaranteed to leave orphaned packages and other problems. CentOS 4 is something like 6 years old now!

pschaff
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Net installer can't upgrade CentOS 4.x

Post by pschaff » 2011/07/11 20:31:24

Welcome to the CentOS fora. Please see the recommended reading for new users linked in my signature.

Upgrades across major versions are [b]never[/b] supported for either CentOS or [url=http://wiki.centos.org/FAQ/General?highlight=%28TUV%29#head-d29a2b7e61ffc544973098f9dd49fe4663efba50]TUV[/url]. A fresh install is [b]always[/b] recommended.

OTOH, if you are sufficiently determined (some might say foolish ;-) ), willing to experiment, and have a good backup of everything you care about, you might try booting the installer with "linux upgradeany" and attempting an anaconda upgrade. See the http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/MigrationGuide for tips on cleaning up the resulting guaranteed mess.

Might have better luck with 4->5 and then 5->6.

Remember, this is a case of "If you break it you get to keep all the pieces."

Please post your experiences if you do try.

tim1mw
Posts: 7
Joined: 2011/07/11 13:32:07

Re: Net installer can't upgrade CentOS 4.x

Post by tim1mw » 2011/07/20 15:04:09

I've now successfully upgraded my first system from CentOS 4 to 5 then 6. For both 4>5 and 5>6 (using "linux upgradeany" at the grub prompt). For both 4>5 and 5>6 the installation froze while trying to install selinux-policy-targeted and thrashed the hard disk for hours (until I powered off). Restarting the installation allowed it to continue. I had to use the rescue mode to get the bootloader set up properly for CentoS 6 and then some did manual fiddling about with a mix of manual rpm installs, yum and package-cleanup to ensure that all my packages were fully up to date with no duplicates.

By no means quick, but no worse than any other distro upgrade i've done and far less hassle than re-installing from scratch since all my system configuration was preserved. I've got a second box running CentOS 5 which will probably be upgraded as soon as i've managed to work around a kernel problem with the hardware on that system. If I remember correctly that particular system has gone Redhat 8>RedHat 9>CentOS 4>CentOS 5, with about 4 changes of hardware over 10 years and is still going strong without starting again from scratch.

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