Upgrading or Installing

The Installation Type dialog ( Figure 9-11 ) presents you with five choices, described below.

Figure 9-11. Installation Type Dialog

Install GNOME Workstation -- Install on a system that will be used primarily as a workstation. Load the Gnome GUI and configure the system to start Gnome when the system boots. The installation program deletes all data in any existing Linux partitions, decides how to partition the disk for the new version, and chooses which software packages to load. (Do not choose this method if you're sharing a disk with Windows NT; if you do, you will be unable to boot Windows NT.)
Install KDE Workstation -- Install on a system that will be used primarily as a workstation. Load the KDE GUI and configure the system to start KDE when the system boots. The installation program deletes all data in any existing Linux partitions, decides how to partition the disk for the new version, and chooses which software packages to load. (Do not choose this method if you're sharing a disk with Windows NT; if you do, you will be unable to boot Windows NT.)
Install Server System -- Install on a system that will be used primarily as a server. The X Window system is not configured and no GUI starts when the system boots. The Installation program deletes all data in any existing partitions of any kind, decides how to partition the disk for the new version, and chooses which software packages to load.
Install Custom System -- Perform a custom installation. You make all decisions regarding disk partitioning and initialization, which software packages to install, and how to configure the X Window System and the user interface.
Upgrade Existing System -- Upgrade an earlier version (2.0 or later) of Red Hat Linux without deleting any existing data. The installation program updates the modular 2.2.x kernel and all currently installed software packages.

Upgrading

If you choose to upgrade and the install program detects more than one installed Linux version on the system, you'll be asked which version to upgrade. After you indicate this, or if there's only one installed Linux version on the system, the install program probes your existing system to determine which software packages require updating and presents the Customize Packages to Upgrade dialog ( Figure 9-12 ).

Figure 9-12. Customize Packages to Upgrade Dialog

If you answer No , the install program starts upgrading existing packages. The next dialog you'll see is Figure 9-41 . This dialog remains on the screen until the upgrade is complete.

Answer Yes if you want to add to or remove from the list of individual packages to be upgraded. the section called Selecting Individual Packages shows the dialogs and explains how to use them. The upgrade starts when you finish making your changes.

The upgrade process preserves existing configuration files by renaming them using a .rpmsave extension (e.g., sendmail.cf.rpmsave ) and leaves a log telling what actions it took in /tmp/upgrade.log . As software evolves, configuration file formats can change, so you should carefully compare your original configuration files to the new files before integrating your changes.

Please Note: Some upgraded packages may require that other packages are also installed for proper operation. The upgrade procedure takes care of these dependencies , but it may need to install additional packages which are not on your existing system.

Installing

If you choose a workstation or server install (one of the first three choices), Figure 9-13 appears.

Figure 9-13. Automatic Partitioning Dialog

If you select Continue , the install program partitions your disk and decides which software packages to install. You'll next see the Hostname dialog explained in the section called Naming Your Computer .

If you select Manually partition , the disk partioning dialogs described in the next section will appear showing you how the install program has partitioned your disk. You can inspect the partitions and mount points and make any changes you wish.

If you choose a custom install, the disk partitioning dialogs will appear showing any existing disk partitions. It is up to you to indicate the partitions and mount points to be used for installation of this version of Red Hat Linux.

Caution

Installing Red Hat Linux over another installation of Linux (including Red Hat Linux) does not preserve any information (files or data) from the prior installation. Make sure you save any important files! If you are worried about saving the current data on your existing system (without making a backup on your own), you should consider performing an upgrade instead.