Edgy upgrade

[jpayne5]

Hi,

I'm fairly new to the Linux system. I took over a machine for my research that uses Linux for a certain program. The machine hasn't been updated in a long time, evidence by this topic subject. When I tried to upgrade using adept and synaptic I ran into problems because the updates could not be fetched since the links for edgy (security, updates, etc) could not be accessed from the security.ubuntu.com site because they are no longer there. There were some broken packages on the system, that I removed and I was hoping to reinstall, but again, they could not be found. Could anyone help me out so that I can move forward with a newer, up-to-date version of Kubuntu (which is what I currently am running), preferably without using a clean install?

Thanks.

[askrieger]

Re: Edgy upgrade

I'm afraid the short answer is that Edgy is no longer supported, because it was an ordinary (18 month support) release. To get from your current Edgy set up to a "modern" Hardy system you will have to (1) upgrade to Feisty, (2) upgrade to Gutsy, and (3) upgrade to Hardy. Each upgrade will (assuming that you have a fast internet connection) take at least two or three hours. The uquestionably easiest way to get from Edgy to Hardy is a fresh install. However, if you want to proceed read on.

To upgrade from one release to the NEXT, you must:
(1) edit your /etc/apt/sources.list file changing the names of all the entries from release X to release X+1, e.g. Edgy to Feisty.
(2)Then using either the GUI (Adept or Synaptic) or the command line (apt-get or aptitiude) reload the cache and upgrade everything. The command line is faster, but the time saving is trivial compared to the download time.
(3) Repeat until you are up to date.
Among other things, the content of some (unpublicized) configuration files change from one release to the next so that by the time you get to the end your system might not work. Forcing you to the alternative approach.

Do a clean install. Download 1 iso. Check the download. Burn 1 CD. Check the burn. Install (and update a few packages). Much less time, much safer. BUT you will have reproduce the configuration of the system. This is not a trivial undertaking either.

Let us know which way you'd like to proceed and someone here will talk you through it.

[jpayne5]

Re: Edgy upgrade

Thanks for your reply. I tried the upgrade method, one at a time, and I successfully changed the sources.list and downloaded feisty, which is further than I've been able to get before. When it restarted, it couldn't find the files and just left me with a prompt that I no idea what to do with. Seems more like the fresh Hardy install from the cd is the best bet I guess? So where do I set the partition size and how do I reproduce the system configuration as you said? Thanks.

[dibl]

Re: Edgy upgrade

If your Edgy system ran satisfactorily, as far as filesystem size and swap utilization, then there is no reason to change the partitioning.

As Al said, download a Hardy Heron CD ISO, check it, and burn it slowly (4X speed) to a blank CD. Then check the CD and proceed with installation. I personally prefer the "Alternate Install" CD, but there's nothing wrong with the Live CD either. 32-bit works on everything, 64-bit works on newer AMDs and Intel Dual Cores.

[askrieger]

Re: Edgy upgrade

Umm, Err, to restore the system configuration, you have to know what it is! The reason I asked you to get back to us before starting was to walk you through the process. Normally what I do BEFORE I attempt an upgrade or a re-installation is to generate (or revise) a file that I keep backed up on a USB drive. It lists the variable parts of things like /etc/X11/xorg.conf, /etc/ and other conf files from /etc/* (like /etc/fstab, /home/myuser/.kde/, and elsewhere. In addition, it lists settings from K>"System Settings" (mostly redundant with ~/.kde files), Firefox settings, my konsole configuration, my personal ~/.bashrc, ~/.profile, ~/.emacs, and about a dozen other things including a list of my favorite audio streams. I also store all my Ff bookmarks on Foxmarks. This way when I install from scratch every two or three releases or when I transfer to a new computer, I know what I've got.

[jpayne5]

Re: Edgy upgrade

I understand what you are speaking of when you say the configuration settings by way of the files you pointed out. I was able to install the Hardy Heron via the cd and the partition allowed me access the old system files. Could you direct me in to how to integrate/transfer the old with the new? Hopefully using the same programs that were used before, command variables, etc... Also, is there are way to then remove/move the partition to free more of the harddrive? Thanks again.

[askrieger]

Re: Edgy upgrade

I'm going to assume that you have your old Edgy system on one partition and your new Hardy system on ONLY ONE OTHER PARTITION, i.e. /home/<your_name> is on the same partition as everything else. Is this the case? If so, can you still boot to Edgy? In other words, at boot time do you get a choice of booting to Hardy or Edgy? If so, I suspect that the easiest thing to do (after retrieving the Edgy configuration), is to the use the partition that currently holds Edgy as a separate /home partition. Transferring data from a /home directory tree to a new partition has been discussed on this site and others. But, before going through the details of duplicating your configuration, wiping Edgy, and making a separate /home, can you confirm that my assumptions regarding your present setup are correct?

BTW: Check out the HowTo's on this site, the Ubuntu Community Help Wiki for additional insights.

[jpayne5]

Re: Edgy upgrade

This is indeed the case that I have the option at boot time of selecting the old edgy or the new hardy system. So yes, your assumption is correct...

[askrieger]

Re: Edgy upgrade

In that case, the easiest way to configure your hardy installation is to start Edgy, then left click K>"System Settings"and go through the myriad pages and options and write down everything. The reason to do it this way is that the form of the configuration files in your /home/<username>/.kde directory tree may have changed. Then look in your /home/<username> directory and copy any config files that YOU have modified to external storage. You'll still miss a lot of settings but you've at least got a start.

Restart Hardy and duplicate the System Settings and install your modified config files. You can check here to see if those files are still relevant. Try to use Hardy. If something crashes you'll know that there's been a change, e.g. /bin/sh is NOT /bin/bash it is /bin/dash (and that MAY matter in some circumstances.

More Later.

[jpayne5]

Re: Edgy upgrade

I cannot get the edgy system to boot up, but I am able to access the files in that partition (.bash_profile, .bash_aliases, etc) that I used before. From here, is there a way to transfer previously installed software (engineering software from outside sources) to the new system? Or will I need to do a fresh install of these? And after I have the software I need, can you point me in the right direction in how to wipe the partitions? Thanks for your help.

[dibl]

Re: Edgy upgrade

I would not recommend attempting to copy software from your Edgy installation (unless it would be the .deb files or tarballs), only copy your data files. Then you'll need to reinstall the software packages, same way you did in in Edgy. Once installed, you should be able to open your data files and work with them just as you did with Edgy.