Upgrading your Linux Distribution mini-HOWTO

Greg Louis, glouis@dynamicro.on.ca

Archived Document Notice: This document has been archived by the LDP because it does not apply to modern Linux systems. It is no longer being actively maintained.

1. IMPORTANT!!! Disclaimer and Copyright

2. Changes since version 1.1

3. Introduction

• 3.1 How to slay and reincarnate your linux box!
• 3.2 Why would anyone want to do that?
• 3.3 Do you have to ``destroy and reinstall?''
• 3.4 How long will it take?

4. Write down everything you do.

5. Make a full backup of the existing system.

6. Back up /etc and its subdirectories on one or more floppies.

7. Make separate backups of each group of files you want to preserve.

8. Prepare root and boot floppies for the new installation.

9. Format floppies for the temporary kernel and the final build.

10. Inhibit logins and back up the /root and /home trees.

11. Boot from the new installation's boot and root floppies.

12. Delete the linux partitions with fdisk and recreate them.

13. Run the new linux installation.

14. With the new linux system booted from the hard disk, edit /etc/fstab

15. Restore configuration data to the /etc directory and subdirectories.

16. Configure and rebuild the linux kernel.

17. Restore the stuff from the backups you made earlier.

18. Review security.

19. Enable logins.

20. Sorry, but once again:

21. Acknowledgements