[clue-tech] Upgrading

[Jeff Schroeder]

Roy asked:

> Got some CDs on the way,  and it's time to start thinking about it. 
> You guys have any thoughts on the matter?

I'm sure methods of upgrading are as various as distros, so I don't 
pretend to think my way is the best way, but you asked... :)

I keep all of my user data in /home, on a separate partition from 
root, /usr, /var, and whatever else.  Then, when I need to do an 
upgrade I actually re-format all partitions *except* the /home one and 
possibly /var (to preserve log files).  That way I'm sure I don't get 
residual effects from old packages, and at the same time I'm preserving 
my data files.

Note that many files in /etc are useful to keep, too.  The 
password/shadow files are important, as are things like network 
interface definitions (if you're not using DHCP) or the hosts file.  
Other system configuration things vary depending on what your box is 
running.  Typically I copy the entire /etc directory temporarily 
into /home before an install (cp -a /etc /home) and then just compare 
the new post-install file with the pre-install one to make appropriate 
changes.

This may not be the best/most efficient way to go about it, but I find 
that it works well for me.  YMMV.

Jeff