Upgrade RHEL AS3 to AS4

Rick Stevens rstevens at vitalstream.com
Mon Feb 28 20:55:33 UTC 2005


Vikram Kalsi wrote:
> Thanks Rick,
> 
> I actually need the newer 2.6 version of the kernel more than other
> things. Would you suggest upgrading just the kernel from  2.4.21-15.EL
> to 2.6.9-5.0.3.EL on a RHEL AS3 install? This is a Itanium2 machine
> from IBM.

Upgrading the kernel to 2.6 requires other upgrades as well (modutils,
kernel utils, rpm to mention a few).  I started playing with 2.6 back
when I still had RH9 on my laptop and I'm a geek, so I was comfortable
with "playing" with it until it worked well.

I can't recommend it to any tyros out there, however.  There were
several "What the f***?!" moments during the transition--some from
ignorance, some from stupidity, some from not quite understanding just
how intimate some of the stuff was with other bits.  This was in the
early days of 2.6, where there wasn't much of a safety net or a lot of
people to ask for help.  I was pretty much on my own.  As an
intellectual exercise, you learn a lot but it can be bloody frustrating.

Since I don't know your skill level, I can only say that unless you're
geeky and are willing to sort out the various incompatibilities and
upgrades yourself, I'd suggest either a fresh install or an upgrade.
Make sure you back up your user data and any "special" stuff you have
before you do either.

Wish I could be more helpful, but I won't suggest something that may
make you tear your hair out or make your system unstable--and sorting
out kernel issues can make a bishop kick out a stained-glass window!

> Thanks again,

No problem.

> On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 11:50:53 -0800, Rick Stevens
> <rstevens at vitalstream.com> wrote:
> 
>>Vikram Kalsi wrote:
>>
>>>Hi Everyone,
>>>
>>>Does anyone know of all the ways in which we can upgrade from RHEL AS3 to AS4?
>>
>>There's two I know of:
>>
>>1. Back up everything you need and do a fresh install, then restore your
>>data.  This is the safest way because there are massive differences
>>between AS3 and AS4.
>>
>>2. Do an "upgrade" install.  There are dangers in that, but it works
>>most of the time.  AS4 is so new that I haven't personally seen such
>>an upgrade.
>>
>>I did upgrade from FC1 to FC2 (2.4 kernel to 2.6 kernel) when FC2 came
>>out (similar to an upgrade from AS3 to AS4).  I had to do some tweaking,
>>but I'm a geek and I got it to work fine.  Your mileage may vary.
>>
>>Remember, AS3 uses a 2.4 kernel and AS4 uses a 2.6 kernel.  The
>>internals between the two kernels are RADICALLY different as well as
>>the device handling (udev/devfs is standard in 2.6 kernels) and other
>>things.  You'll get used to it.
>>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
>>- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
>>-                                                                    -
>>-      A day for firm decisions!!!   Well, then again, maybe not!    -
>>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
> 
> 
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-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
- Millihelen, adj: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. -
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