From: Rayne on
Hi all,

I have a server currently running RHEL 5.1, and I would like to
upgrade it to RHEL 5.4. The server is not connected to the Internet,
so I don't think I can use "yum update".

How would I be able to upgrade my server, and is it just a small-scale
upgrade, like Windows patches, leaving everything on the server
intact, or would it delete everything that was on the server?

Thank you.

Regards,
Rayne
From: Chris Cox on
On Tue, 2010-03-16 at 21:46 -0700, Rayne wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have a server currently running RHEL 5.1, and I would like to
> upgrade it to RHEL 5.4. The server is not connected to the Internet,
> so I don't think I can use "yum update".
>
> How would I be able to upgrade my server, and is it just a small-scale
> upgrade, like Windows patches, leaving everything on the server
> intact, or would it delete everything that was on the server?

This could be difficult. You can upgrade using the RHEL 5.4 media or
by doing the network update. But getting media.... usually means
downloading somehow (maybe that's an option you have elsewhere?).

In general, since this is Red Hat's version of a service pack, the
upgrade doesn't damage anything (but no guarantees). I know I've
updated servers from old RHEL 5 versions without issue.


From: Nico Kadel-Garcia on
On Mar 17, 1:16 pm, Chris Cox <chrisnc...(a)endlessnow.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 2010-03-16 at 21:46 -0700, Rayne wrote:
> > Hi all,
>
> > I have a server currently running RHEL 5.1, and I would like to
> > upgrade it to RHEL 5.4. The server is not connected to the Internet,
> > so I don't think I can use "yum update".
>
> > How would I be able to upgrade my server, and is it just a small-scale
> > upgrade, like Windows patches, leaving everything on the server
> > intact, or would it delete everything that was on the server?
>
> This could be difficult.  You can upgrade using the RHEL 5.4 media or
> by doing the network update.  But getting media.... usually means
> downloading somehow (maybe that's an option you have elsewhere?).
>
> In general, since this is Red Hat's version of a service pack, the
> upgrade doesn't damage anything (but no guarantees).  I know I've
> updated servers from old RHEL 5 versions without issue.

It's not hard. A simple "yum update" should work, although you will
see many complaints in the process if you don't update glibc, first.
(This is due to some fascinating issues with RPM software being
updated and requiring the newer glibc.)

Now, if you've building packages on your own or incorporating non-RHEL
packages like Livnia and RPMforge and EPEL, in combination, you may
run into some adventures. I'd urge you to download all the packages,
first: it's quite easy to do with the "reposync" tool, with the "-l"
option to take advantage of RedHat's "yum-rhn-plugin" craziness. I
understand RedHat's desire to control software release to paying
customers, but dear god, that thing is really up2date in grandma's
clothing. It has the big ears and pointy teeth to prove it, since it
has no way to exclude or prefer software on a "repo" basis, and tends
to blow away non-RHEL provided software packages without asking,
first. Don't get me going on the subversion update issues.....
From: Nico Kadel-Garcia on
On Mar 17, 1:16 pm, Chris Cox <chrisnc...(a)endlessnow.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 2010-03-16 at 21:46 -0700, Rayne wrote:
> > Hi all,
>
> > I have a server currently running RHEL 5.1, and I would like to
> > upgrade it to RHEL 5.4. The server is not connected to the Internet,
> > so I don't think I can use "yum update".
>
> > How would I be able to upgrade my server, and is it just a small-scale
> > upgrade, like Windows patches, leaving everything on the server
> > intact, or would it delete everything that was on the server?
>
> This could be difficult.  You can upgrade using the RHEL 5.4 media or
> by doing the network update.  But getting media.... usually means
> downloading somehow (maybe that's an option you have elsewhere?).
>
> In general, since this is Red Hat's version of a service pack, the
> upgrade doesn't damage anything (but no guarantees).  I know I've
> updated servers from old RHEL 5 versions without issue.

Oh, yes: if you want to download the media, it can be handy. RHEL now
publishes installation DVD's, which saves a lot of disk swapping.
Their media does *not* include OpenOffice for their "Server" releases:
you need to subscribe to either their "productivity" or their
"supplements" channel. Don't use their "fasttrack" or "beta" channels
if you do this, unless you really want to be at the bleeding edge of
RHEL packages.
From: Jean-David Beyer on
Chris Cox wrote:
> On Tue, 2010-03-16 at 21:46 -0700, Rayne wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I have a server currently running RHEL 5.1, and I would like to
>> upgrade it to RHEL 5.4. The server is not connected to the Internet,
>> so I don't think I can use "yum update".
>>
>> How would I be able to upgrade my server, and is it just a small-scale
>> upgrade, like Windows patches, leaving everything on the server
>> intact, or would it delete everything that was on the server?
>
> This could be difficult. You can upgrade using the RHEL 5.4 media or
> by doing the network update. But getting media.... usually means
> downloading somehow (maybe that's an option you have elsewhere?).
>
> In general, since this is Red Hat's version of a service pack, the
> upgrade doesn't damage anything (but no guarantees). I know I've
> updated servers from old RHEL 5 versions without issue.
>
>
My machine IS connected on line. I have updated one step at a time from
RHEL 5.0 all the way up to RHEL 5.4, kernel 2.6.18-164.15.1.el5PAE

Before that, I was running RHEL 3, keeping up with the versions of that.
When I make the big steps, I download all the .iso files and burn them
to CD-ROM, and install from them, but the rest of the stuff comes down
on-line, sometimes silently.

If you have another machine, you can download the latest files, burn
them to CD-ROM, and install from them. I would not do a re-install
except when going from one big release to another (e.g., RHEL 4 to RHEL 5).

--
.~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642.
/V\ PGP-Key: 9A2FC99A Registered Machine 241939.
/( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org
^^-^^ 13:25:01 up 1 day, 5:27, 4 users, load average: 4.44, 4.57, 4.47