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How to upgrade old debian 5 to latest stable?

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linux_tester
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How to upgrade old debian 5 to latest stable?

#1 Post by linux_tester »

I inherited a very old Debian server running Debian 5.
I want to upgrade to the latest stable but seems it is not going to be smooth because many of the sources do not exist.
I would appreciate if anybody in this forum could give me an idea how I can do the upgrade?

arzgi
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Re: How to upgrade old debian 5 to latest stable?

#2 Post by arzgi »

linux_tester wrote:I inherited a very old Debian server running Debian 5.
I want to upgrade to the latest stable but seems it is not going to be smooth because many of the sources do not exist.
I would appreciate if anybody in this forum could give me an idea how I can do the upgrade?
Debian 5 (lenny) is so old, that I think it is not possible to upgrade to current stable, Debian 9.

New installation is not hard, especially if you have net connection, choose network installation media.
https://www.debian.org/distrib/netinst.en.html

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dilberts_left_nut
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Re: How to upgrade old debian 5 to latest stable?

#3 Post by dilberts_left_nut »

The archived repo's could still be used, but you would have to upgrade through each release sequentially reconfiguring for changed configs and obsoleted software etc each time.

Back up data, install stable, restore data and configure once - much faster and more reliable.
AdrianTM wrote:There's no hacker in my grandma...

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Fernando Negro
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Re: How to upgrade old debian 5 to latest stable?

#4 Post by Fernando Negro »

(From my experience, of using Ubuntu since 2005 and Debian since a few years ago...)

It's not a good idea to use the "upgrade" option. Since, it is often problematic, because it then asks you questions (about which package version should be kept or installed) that only advanced users know how to answer, or leaves your computer badly configured, because the new system is using the old configuration files. (At least, in Ubuntu it did!)

The best option, when wanting to upgrade a GNU/Linux system to a new version (which, in the case of Debian, only happens about once every two years) is to just save all the important files that you have in your /home directory, in a separate partition or medium, and reinstall everything.

(If you have a separate /home partition, just keep the regular folders, and delete the hidden configuration files - by executing "rm .* -r" - so that the new versions of the programs create new configuration files according to the new rules.)

(Beware that such command will also delete things like notes, if you use a notes app, for example. Only what is saved in regular files "survives" this command. So, be careful when using it, and inform yourself about the consequences of such command, before executing it. Inform yourself also about where each of the programs that have been used saves its files, in case you want to keep any important, configuration or not, file.)

Believe me, not only this produces a much more "clean" result, but, at least in the case of regular home computers, it also ends up being simpler and faster (and, anyway, it's always a good idea to learn about your programs' configuration options and files).
I just *love* the stability, much more bug-free nature, and modular installation options of Debian. Apart from the unfortunate adoption of "systemd" (viewtopic.php?f=20&t=129881&start=165#p671030) this distribution is *great*.

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Re: How to upgrade old debian 5 to latest stable?

#5 Post by Bulkley »

dilberts_left_nut wrote:Back up data, install stable, restore data and configure once - much faster and more reliable.
+1

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Re: How to upgrade old debian 5 to latest stable?

#6 Post by kedaha »

I'm curious to know what services are being run on this old, obsolete system assuming it's still being used.
DebianStable

Code: Select all

$ vrms

No non-free or contrib packages installed on debian!  rms would be proud.

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debiman
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Re: How to upgrade old debian 5 to latest stable?

#7 Post by debiman »

dilberts_left_nut wrote:Back up data
take care to add configuration files also.
those under your $HOME, but also maybe the whole /etc directory.

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