Best way to upgrade from Redhat 5.7 + MYSQL to latest CentOS + MariaDB

[jakehan]

Hello CentOS expert!

Forgive me in advance for the silliness, I am pretty new to the Linux world.

I am trying to upgrade the server that we use for FREERadius server running on Redhat 5.7 + MYSQL to new hardware running the latest CentOS + MariaDB.

What could be the best way that we can upgrade this server? As far as, I aware, migration will be dangerous and it is highly recommended to just do the fresh installation when it comes to any upgrade.

So I am thinking of backing up the all on Radius server(RHEL) and install the latest Centos on a new server with Maria DB and put the backup data but I am not too sure if this is actually possible with the version of the RHEL being so outdated?

Should I install the CentOS with the same version as RHEL 5.7 and upgrade it to the newest CentOS with the same backup method?

Or, is there any tools I can use for this scenario to be possible?

Any of you guy's input would be appreciated

Thanks,

[desertcat]

Hello CentOS expert!

Forgive me in advance for the silliness, I am pretty new to the Linux world.

I am trying to upgrade the server that we use for FREERadius server running on Redhat 5.7 + MYSQL to new hardware running the latest CentOS + MariaDB.

What could be the best way that we can upgrade this server? As far as, I aware, migration will be dangerous and it is highly recommended to just do the fresh installation when it comes to any upgrade.

So I am thinking of backing up the all on Radius server(RHEL) and install the latest Centos on a new server with Maria DB and put the backup data but I am not too sure if this is actually possible with the version of the RHEL being so outdated?

Should I install the CentOS with the same version as RHEL 5.7 and upgrade it to the newest CentOS with the same backup method?

Or, is there any tools I can use for this scenario to be possible?

Any of you guy's input would be appreciated

Thanks,

I'm not sure I quite understand the question. IF you are upgrading the server to a NEW server (hardware) then by all means download a copy of CentOS 7.7 (as of a few days ago) and install it on the NEW SERVER.

Now what to do about RHEL 5.7. I am going to assume it is on a OLD server (OLD hardware). IF that is the case simply leave the data on the OLD server, if for any reason you need to reference the data, simply ssh to the OLD server. IF you want to use the MYSQL from the OLD server, you might want to add the latest version of MYSQL to the NEW server, and you could -- in THEORY -- transfer the OLD data to the NEW version of MYSQL and -- in THEORY -- it should be able to read it. With storage being so cheap there is no reason you can't have two DB programs on the same server.

HOWEVER IF your plan is to put CentOS 7.7 on the OLD server, then depending of the nature of the hardware, you might or might not be able to do so, but since you are referencing RHEL 5.7, which was released in 2011, your server is about 8 years old or older, and technology has vastly changed in the past 8 years. Indeed RHEL 5 and CentOS 5 reached their end of life support a long time ago. I would be surprised if CentOS 7.7 would actually run on it, though that is not to say that it won't -- I found an OLD HP WS built in 2010 originally running Windows 7, and dead as a doornail, out by the dumpster, which I "rescued". With some hacking, persistence, research, and some spare parts I brought it back to life, and YES it DOES run CentOS 7.7!! (Just rolled it over yesterday). But I virtually maxed it out to its specs. I use it only as a test bed, and an emergency backup to my WS. Unless you are into hardware hacking, and doing research, in your case it would be simpler to simply buy NEW HARDWARE (ie server) and install CentOS 7.7. right out of the gate. Keep the OLD server on the network, but rotate it into the background, but where the data which is still on it can be accessed from.

[Lazlow]

You might want to consider holding for a week or two. Centos 8 is scheduled for release on the 24th. Switching to a new release has pros and cons. You get the newest stuff but it is also not as thoroughly tested as an older release (as the 7.X series). I am running a xenon 1225V3 without issue. As long as you have a 64bit cpu I doubt you will run into any support issues. Basically if 5.7 supported your hardware, 7.X or 8.X will too.

Whenever you switch across multiple versions (5.7 to 7.X or 8.X) you would be better off doing a clean install. Back up what you can but a lot of the config files will have to be rebuilt. They are usually close but not close enough to work.

[jlehtone]

Should I install the CentOS with the same version as RHEL 5.7 and upgrade it to the newest CentOS with the same backup method?

Definitely not.


1. Install OS to new server
2. Configure it appropriately (what you need, with new OS's methods)
3. Dump database from old server
4. Import database into new server

If the import requires conversion, then that is an issue between versions of SQL.

[desertcat]

You might want to consider holding for a week or two. Centos 8 is scheduled for release on the 24th. Switching to a new release has pros and cons. You get the newest stuff but it is also not as thoroughly tested as an older release (as the 7.X series). I am running a xenon 1225V3 without issue. As long as you have a 64bit cpu I doubt you will run into any support issues. Basically if 5.7 supported your hardware, 7.X or 8.X will too.

Whenever you switch across multiple versions (5.7 to 7.x or 8.x) you would be better off doing a clean install. Back up what you can but a lot of the config files will have to be rebuilt. They are usually close but not close enough to work.

So CentOS 8.0 is due out next week. Normally I would agree to wait, BUT... as I have learned from SAD and PAINFUL experience, NEVER, EVER install a Xyz.0 release -- NEVER!! .0 releases are buggy as hell, and you spend most of your waking hours crushing out yet another BUG!!! If you do install a Xyz.0 release, make sure you have a good supply of Tums, and some good weed on hand -- that or make sure you are up to date on you anti-depressants. I have made a commitment that I will NOT by any means install CentOS 8 until either 8.1 or 8.2 is released -- depending on how much yelling and cursing is going on about 8.0.

When CentOS 7.0 came out I jumped in and installed it, tried it for a month, tried to make it work, but gave up and dropped back to CentOS 6.5. CentOS 7.1 was usable, barely, but usable, but it was not until 7.2 came out did I feel confident enough that I was able to migrate full time to CentOS 7.2 I predict the growing pains of CentOS 8.x is likely to be the same. The only thing 8.0 will be good for is kicking the tires of CentOS 8. I will probably install 8.1 on a separate SSD or HDD just to fool with to see how much still needs to be done before I migrate to it, and by that time it will almost be time to upgrade my WS anyway.

You are lucky you have a server that is based on a Xeon CPU, but many servers are based on low end, off the shelf hardware that does not cost a fortune. In your case your server's useful life is scalable, but for most systems they are already outdated the day they are announced. I would be very surprised if "Jaguar" -- my "Trashcan Monster" because I found it by the dumpster (think of Frankenstein's Monster: "It LIVES!!!!") -- could handle CentOS 8. When I found it, it was DOA. I *was* planning to simply strip it for parts, but decided to see if I could bring it back to life. I literally took it down to the frame, and re-built it with a lot of old parts I had on hand. I hacked a dual core WS with 1GB of RAM, with a 125GB HDD almost to max spec: A quad core CPU, 6 GB of RAM (Max is 8GB) and a 500 GB HDD (No it does not support SSD). I tried, but failed to locate an updated BIOS. CentOS 7 runs on it, but it can be painfully slow at times. I spent $10 on the Intel CPU, found 2GB of RAM floating around in one of my parts drawers, bought 4GB of new RAM for about $30, and $20 on a refurbished 500GB HDD, which is max spec. I was truly stunned that CentOS 7 would even RUN on it, I was figuring that I would max out on CentOS 6.x "Jaguar" is soon (I have been saying this for over a year now) going to replace an even older computer whose sole purpose in life is to act as a gateway server. I *think* -- can't remember -- it is running some form of CentOS 6.x, but it might be even 5.x ie it is very, very, OLD!!! This gentleman's server is at least 8 years old. Depending on the CPU, type of CPU, RAM and Max System RAM, and other hardware, it *might* be able to run CentOS 7.7 (CentOS 8: ????), but the reality is an 8 year old computer is ANCIENT, and without a hardware upgrade at best will run very, very, S-L-O-W. The difference between running "Jaguar" with the stock dual core CPU and the quad core CPU is the difference between night and day. Depending upon if his server is commercial -- ie Dell, HP, et. al -- or it is a scratch built, and if he has no qualms about hacking the hardware, which many, many people do, it might simply be easier to buy a NEW computer and simply install CentOS 7.7 on it. Put CentOS 8.0 on it?!? No way!!!

[Lazlow]

The minimum requirements for 7 were 2Gb ram and 6 Gb of disk. For 8 it is 4 of ram and 20 of disk.

The lead time between RHEL 7 and Centos 7 was a month(?) so there was no time for RH to shake out any of the bugs. RHEL has been out for five months and 8.1 beta has been avail for three. So there has been considerable time for most of the bugs to get worked on before Centos 8 is released. There are occasionally a FEW Centos specific bugs but the vast majority are from upstream (RHEL). The reality is that Centos 8 on release day will be closer to RHEL 8.07 than to RHEL 8.0. That being said, I did mention that there are trade offs.

As far as the speed thing goes, of course newer hardware is going to run circles around older hardware. That does not mean that the older hardware has slowed down or cannot do the job, just that it is slower. As an example I am switching to a raspberry pi 4-4gb for my daily driver from a Xenon. Now for email, web browsing, youtube, etc, can I tell a difference? OF COURSE. But the pi gets the job done fast enough (for me) and uses less than one tenth the electricity to do it. Will I be doing any real video encoding on the PI? NO. For that type of job it is not fast enough(again for me), but it can do it. The pi would probably take days to encode a file that the Xenon could do in a half an hour. As a further example some people are running Centos 7 on Pi 3s.

[hunter86_bg]

I would recommend to postpone the migration for 1 year, if that's possible.
Once 8.1 comes out - yoiu will be able to migrate only once and save trouble for the next 10 years