Upgrading to *8

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MartinR
Posts: 714
Joined: 2015/05/11 07:53:27
Location: UK

Upgrading to *8

Post by MartinR » 2021/10/28 11:03:15

I'm well aware of the past position that a major upgrade has to be a reinstall, but have you folks seen https://almalinux.org/elevate? It claims:
Currently ELevate provides Leapp data for migration from CentOS 7 to the following OS:
AlmaLinux OS 8
CentOS Stream 8
Oracle Linux 8
Rocky Linux 8
I've not used it myself, so you're on your own! However, it is from Alma Linux, not from some random internet site.

tunk
Posts: 1205
Joined: 2017/02/22 15:08:17

Re: Upgrading to *8

Post by tunk » 2021/10/28 12:05:48

From the same page:
Is this ready for production?
YMMV. Every environment is different and unique based on applications and configurations. Since this is still under development, to avoid any surprises, we highly recommend that you test migrations scenarios in a VM or sandbox before running a migration in production.

MartinR
Posts: 714
Joined: 2015/05/11 07:53:27
Location: UK

Re: Upgrading to *8

Post by MartinR » 2021/10/28 12:58:58

Isn't that true of any major change though? As I said, I haven't done it and I'm not intending to do it; I just thought it might be of interest.

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jlehtone
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Location: Finland

Re: Upgrading to *8

Post by jlehtone » 2021/10/28 14:27:54

It is based on Red Hat's tool for migrating between RHEL major versions and RH does list many cases, where their tool is not appropriate.

Differences between major versions tend to be mind-boggling. Automation of the transcription of logic of configuration from one to another sounds nice, but could also mean duct tape on duct tape; the same result that we humans are adept (or notorious) at creating. "Press a button sans comprehension".

Furthermore, when something goes wrong (say, volcano erupts under datacenter) duct tape runs out and real reinstall&restore from (tape?) backups is still a must. If you are not ready for it, then you are not. I can install in a blink; won't migrate.


Summary: Sounds nice. Probably works in trivial cases, but the rest will cry. Whether lamentation is more or less than without migration tool ... there is always wailing.

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