[ubuntu-uk] Upgrade from 6.06LTS!

[Liam Proven]

On 27 November 2012 14:42, Paul Tansom <paul at aptanet.com> wrote:
> ** Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> [2012-11-27 14:49]:
>> On 27 November 2012 14:13, Paul Tansom <paul at aptanet.com> wrote:
>> > I have a server (i.e. no desktop software, X, or etc. - not that this necessarily follows, but it does with me!)...
>> >
>> > ...anyway, this server is currently running Ubuntu 6.06LTS and I need to upgrade to 12.04LTS. Clearly I have two options, either upgrade or reinstall. Reinstall seems safer, bar the fact that there is some software that I would need to disect the configuration of to reinstate (a backup using BoxBackup to be precise); that points towards a step by step upgrade path (8.04, 10.04 and 12.04), but I'm somewhat nervous of the number of possible gotchas present in this. Has anyone done this and could comment? Did it go smoothly?!
>>
>> As "untouchableangel" said - with so many steps in between, a clean
>> install would be preferable.
>>
>> If you have the means to do a full backup first, though, I'd also
>> agree - for now, go to 8.04 and then 10.04 and leave it at that for
>> now. It's still supported, 12.04 is fairly new, and you could put off
>> the 3rd upgrade until later.
>>
>> Another option along the same lines: run one of the many free P2V
>> tools, get your 6.06 image running inside a VM, then do a test-run
>> upgrade in that "safe" environment.
>>
>> P2V means "physical to virtual". VMware do a free one, I think, which
>> you could run under VMware Player, also free. I am not sure that
>> VirtualBox has a free one but it would probably import the VMware one
>> made with VMware's P2V tool.
>>
>> Once you know exactly what you're doing and that it works in the VM,
>> then (after a full backup!) you could do the "real" machine.
>>
>> Another thought:
>>
>> What used to be called VMware ESXi & is now called vSphere Hypervisor
>> is free. Only restriction: max 32GB server RAM. That's still quite a
>> lot. Snag: you need vSphere to manage it; it's Windows-only.
>>
>> After you've done your P2V conversion, you could bung that on the
>> physical box and run your VM directly on it.
>>
>> I am assuming it's a physical server, [a] because of its age and [b]
>> because if it was already virtualised, a backup and test-upgrade would
>> be fairly trivial.
> ** end quote [Liam Proven]
>
> Yes it is a physical server, and I have the advantage of installing to brand new disks, so backup isn't an issue as I won't be touching the previous install :) I prefer the reinstall, and am familiar with the configuration (fully documented and updated for a 12.04 install). The BoxBackup is the bit that is making me nervous because I don't have access to the server at the other end or accounts/passwords bar what is in the config (which should be all that is needed!). I'm pretty sure rebuilding the config is going to be the preferred option, particularly as I'll have the original install handy - just need to make sure I don't confuse the backups with the different installs trying to update them!!!

Fair enough.

I do know quite a few sysadmins who by default install on top of a
hypervisor, even when it's a single instance on a single box, just
because it makes backup/restore/recovery so much easier.

Inside a VM, the hardware is standard, so if the magic smoke ever
escapes from your server, you can take a totally different box, put
ESXi on it, restore your VM and it will work with no reconfiguration
at all. Worth considering/trying.

Not ideal if you need software RAID or something, though, clearly -
but if it's important, you should have hardware RAID!

Microsoft Hyper-V Server is freeware as well but again you'll need a
Windows 8 box to manage it with the (freeware) RSAT kit.

vSphere Hypervisor can be managed with vSphere Client running on WinXP
inside a Virtualbox VM on Ubuntu - I've done it. It might even work on
WINE.

There are free 3rd party backup/restore programs for ESXi. Ditto,
remote-management tools which might run on Linux.

FWIW, I think it is foolish and even suicidal of VMware to depend upon
Windows for management, but what can you do...


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