Converting from Scientific Linux to Cent OS

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SurfCity101
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Joined: 2021/06/17 22:54:20

Converting from Scientific Linux to Cent OS

Post by SurfCity101 » 2021/06/17 23:28:30

Hello
I hope that someone could give me some advice or might recommend a company who could help me.

I have some corporate software that is running on Scientific Linux version 6. In a perfect world I would like to upgrade or migrate to Cent OS7 or 8. RH might be an alternative if less of a 'lift' was involved.

Our IT team have tried in vain (to get from SL6 to RH7) but they seem to be having a problem with significant changes in library locations and content.

I would be grateful for suggestions on how to make the transition from SL6 to RH/COS 7 and/or 8. In a perfect world an in-situ upgrade would be desirable

Thanks in advance for your help.

scottro
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Re: Converting from Scientific Linux to Cent OS

Post by scottro » 2021/06/18 00:04:48

Unfortunately, there is really no way, (even if it was CentOS-6 to 7, or RHEL6 to 7) for an in place upgrade. The only way to do it is to back up your data and reinstall.
New users should check the FAQ and Read Me First pages

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jlehtone
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Re: Converting from Scientific Linux to Cent OS

Post by jlehtone » 2021/06/18 06:28:00

SurfCity101 wrote:
2021/06/17 23:28:30
In a perfect world an in-situ upgrade would be desirable
Yes, but in this world the best we can do is an install from scratch in minutes, if we are prepared for it.

How do I prepare?
* I have left unallocated space on disk for "the next /", if I want to keep the current OS details as backup
* User data is so separate that OS install will not touch it
* I have logical config outside of the machine, to be applied with config management (e.g. ansible, chef, puppet, etc)
Obviously, exact same config probably does not apply to all OS versions
SurfCity101 wrote:
2021/06/17 23:28:30
I have some corporate software that is running on Scientific Linux version 6.
This is the major issue. There are plenty of applications that are not installable via package management.
Whether they are source code distributions or binary blobs, the installation is either laborious or impossible.
If you have an executable that links to specific version of dynamic library or calls specific system scripts,
then RH/COS/SL 7 might supply those dependencies as "compat" packages, but 8 most likely does not.

Overall, one should have a test platform where one can install new OS from scratch, create&test configuration
and installation of unmanaged applications. If/when everything passes tests, then deploy to production.

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