how do others deal with /var during upgrades?

[Christofer C. Bell]

On Thu, 19 Feb 2004, Robert P. J. Day wrote:

> 
> 
> On Thu, 19 Feb 2004, Ian Mortimer wrote:
> 
> > 
> > >   under /var, you'd find things like web and ftp server data that you'd
> > > probably want to carry across to the new install.  on the other hand, 

I tar up /var/spool/mail, /var/spool/cron, /var/www, and /var/ftp and then 
nuke the rest.  When the new system is installed, I just untar that 
content over the new directories.  Yes, /var is a mess.  Personally, I 
feel that when going to a new system, unless you have system logs you want 
to preserve, it should be safe to blow away /var completely.

-- 
Chris

"Build a man a fire and he will be warm for the rest of the night.  Set 
a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life."  -- Unknown