A good administrator will update a server only if there's specific reason to do so (i.e. security or bug fixes or certain programs not in the
Sean Akers@ROMAX 16/02/2000 10:47 previous
release). At least in a production environment it's 'never change a running system', as stability is by far more important than features.
We only update (ie complete 100% new install) a server when we install a new one. We have one running kernel 2.0.29 still. It is stable and run specfic things that we don't want to mess with.
The other one runs SuSE 6.1 and the new one coming online will have 6.3 or 6.?? when we get there.
I found a solution to the upgrade blues. I bought myself a spare 8.4Gb HD and a couple of removable HD caddies. I run the current stable version off SuSE in my machine and when a new release comes out, I install it onto the spare HD by just powering down and swapping the caddies over. I can bring up the working system at any time just by swapping the original caddy back in. When I'm happy with the new installation, that stays in the machine as the working system and the old version becomes available for new installs when the next release comes out. I forgot to mention. All my user data (in /home) and my mail/news spools (in /var/spool/mail and /var/spool/news) are stored on another permanently installed drive so I don't have to backup and copy data about when I'm in the upgrade process. I Also tend to make a backup of the working /etc directory so I can use that to help configure the new system. Sean Akers. -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/