Upgrading to new LTS version - any pitfalls?

Rodrigo · 2018-08-21, 20:11

Over the past year, I've been slowly transitioning my work from Windows over to Linux.

This week, the transition reached a new milestone: Kubuntu is offering to "upgrade" my 16.04 LTS, presumably to the 18.04 LTS.

This is not something that I've ever done before, so before I take the plunge I'd like to get impressions about the version upgrading experience from more knowledgeable Linux users. In particular, I wish to know:

How reliable is the process of upgrading from one version to the other?
What (if any) is the risk to my existing data AND programs (i.e., will I have to reinstall my applications all over again)?
Any other factors/dangers to be aware of before/during/after the upgrading process?

As a fail-safe measure, I created an image of the entire hard drive using Macrium Reflect 7. I have verified that Reflect (which boots from a live CD in a Windows PE environment) does read the Linux "ext" partitions and saves them to an NTFS external HDD, although I have yet to test installing and running that image on a new disk.

I would prefer to avoid having to do a fresh installation of Linux: I spent quite a bit of time tweaking the looks to my satisfaction and adding software suited to the work I do. I am aware that some folks seem to think nothing of nuking their installations to start all over again, but I am not among them.

Thanks!

paulunderwood · 2018-08-21, 20:25

I distro upgraded from debian7 to debian8 and then debian9 without any problems. But in the end I reinstalled deb9 because I had made so many changes to the OS over the years.

You have done the important thing making a backup. Go for it!

EdH · 2018-08-21, 20:31

I usually don't jump to a new release right away. Even though it is proclaimed as stable, I still let the community test it a bit. So, it will still be a while before I move to 18.04.

Backup is always a good idea. The only times I had any negative experiences have been with the OS not wanting to work with an older machine, which was quite some time ago, and the developers seeming to figure out features I like and systematically removing them. I'm not really sure where they find the time to study me that well.

Above said, for any packages such as GMP, ECM-GMP, etc., which are not installed from the repositories, I have always found they survived, but I reinstall them anyway at my leisure.

As to the ease of upgrading, Ubuntu has always been fairly straightforward. You may need to interact partway through, deciding whether to keep or replace existing configuration files. I normally opt to keep.

EdH · 2018-08-21, 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulunderwood

I distro upgraded from debian7 to debian8 and then debian9 without any problems. But in the end I reinstalled deb9 because I had made so many changes to the OS over the years.

You have done the important thing making a backup. Go for it!

I waited to mention this here, as not to scare the OP since he's working with Ubuntu, but I just upgraded several headless Debian machines from 7 to 8 and one is giving me trouble. It sits on the GUI login screen and acts as though it has a stuck Enter key, keeping the prompt from allowing data to be entered. I haven't troubleshot it yet, since that will take a monitor, keyboard and mouse to start with. It is usable via ssh for my needs. The other Debian machines are working just about as they were before the upgrade. An annoying extra step has been added to get out of the screensaver, which isn't supposed to be active anyway, but all else is fine.

xilman · 2018-08-21, 20:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodrigo

Over the past year, I've been slowly transitioning my work from Windows over to Linux.

This week, the transition reached a new milestone: Kubuntu is offering to "upgrade" my 16.04 LTS, presumably to the 18.04 LTS.

This is not something that I've ever done before, so before I take the plunge I'd like to get impressions about the version upgrading experience from more knowledgeable Linux users. In particular, I wish to know:

How reliable is the process of upgrading from one version to the other?
What (if any) is the risk to my existing data AND programs (i.e., will I have to reinstall my applications all over again)?
Any other factors/dangers to be aware of before/during/after the upgrading process?

As a fail-safe measure, I created an image of the entire hard drive using Macrium Reflect 7. I have verified that Reflect (which boots from a live CD in a Windows PE environment) does read the Linux "ext" partitions and saves them to an NTFS external HDD, although I have yet to test installing and running that image on a new disk.

I would prefer to avoid having to do a fresh installation of Linux: I spent quite a bit of time tweaking the looks to my satisfaction and adding software suited to the work I do. I am aware that some folks seem to think nothing of nuking their installations to start all over again, but I am not among them.

Thanks!

I did this update (16.04 to 18.04) two days go. All went very smoothly but it took many hours to download 1.5GB and install 2920 packages. A few questions had to be answered en route and about 5 packages were removed and needed reinstalling afterwards --- Emacs was the principal example.

Go for it.

Rodrigo · 2018-08-22, 02:19

Thanks guys, I think I'll take the plunge.

We're getting fiber optic Internet service

next week, so I'll do that big download then.

ET_ · 2018-08-22, 07:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodrigo

Thanks guys, I think I'll take the plunge.

We're getting fiber optic Internet service

next week, so I'll do that big download then.

Good luck Rodrigo, keep us informed about the migration

ric · 2018-08-22, 10:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodrigo

Thanks guys, I think I'll take the plunge.

Well, I belong to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" line of thought, since Kubuntu 16.04 will be maintained until 2021-04: my overall value is stability, and prefer to let the post-release beta testing to someone else, more skilled than I am. YMMV.

However, while you wait for the download to finish, I'd suggest a couple readings from a grumpy guy who happens to be quite pragmatical in his rants, and has some useful hints:

Once the upgrade has finished, expect to need reinstalling some of your packages outside the base installation, plus any eventual perl/Python/... extra modules you might use (since an OS upgrade usually means a version bump of the language, and those extra modules are usually installed in the /usr folder). Not knowing what's on your box, giving suggestions is somehow shooting in the dark.

Finally, prior mistakes have taught me that:

any upgrade is greatly facilitated if you happen to have a distinct /home partition
you already mentioned having a working backup of your current setup (emphasis mine), should things go weird
Murphy is a female canine ;-)

All the best, let us know how it goes

Rodrigo · 2018-08-22, 15:11

Wow, that Dedoimedo guy does give me pause. Although the upgrade to a more recent version of 18.04 did seem to go much more smoothly for him.

One of the third-party components I was worried about were the Nvidia drivers. I remember having a heck of a time getting the system to work with them (for whatever reason) back in October. But Dedoimedo reports that everything went well with the upgrade on that score.

Major applications on this computer that didn't come with Kubuntu are Master PDF Editor and Softmaker Office, which are essential for the kind of work I do. Then there are the backup applications Systemback and Back In Time, while the paranoid in me also required putting in ESET NOD32 Antivirus (as much to protect the Windows computers on the LAN as to protect this one). Finally, GUFW and Thunderbird Mail were installed separately as well.

Hoping that all of these will make the transition without the need for jumping through hoops...

ric · 2018-08-22, 16:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodrigo

Major applications on this computer that didn't come with Kubuntu <snip>

All of those will most likely need a fresh installation; however, if your /home is in a distinct partition (= remains untouched during your upgrade), you'll maintain your user configuration files (options, preferences, and the like).

Export your GUFW rules prior to upgrading, especially if you have quite a complex set of them, 'cause those will be blanked out in the works.

Finally, as to your nvidia drivers, take note of your present version (on 16.04 and a recent card, that should be 384.130, or similar), so that if during the upgrade something weird happens, you'll be able to get back to a working version. Keep a copy of your CUDA libraries as well, just in case.

hth

Rodrigo · 2018-08-22, 17:10

Thanks for the tips. Upgrading is sounding less and less appealing. I wonder if reinstalling Softmaker will simply accept inputting the license key or if it will require talking to them.

The /home folder is currently in the same partition as the OS. It's not a straightforward matter of creating a new partition for /home and copying everything over, is it?

2018-08-21, 20:11	#1
Rodrigo Jun 2010 Pennsylvania 1646₈ Posts	Upgrading to new LTS version - any pitfalls? Over the past year, I've been slowly transitioning my work from Windows over to Linux. This week, the transition reached a new milestone: Kubuntu is offering to "upgrade" my 16.04 LTS, presumably to the 18.04 LTS. This is not something that I've ever done before, so before I take the plunge I'd like to get impressions about the version upgrading experience from more knowledgeable Linux users. In particular, I wish to know: How reliable is the process of upgrading from one version to the other? What (if any) is the risk to my existing data AND programs (i.e., will I have to reinstall my applications all over again)? Any other factors/dangers to be aware of before/during/after the upgrading process? As a fail-safe measure, I created an image of the entire hard drive using Macrium Reflect 7. I have verified that Reflect (which boots from a live CD in a Windows PE environment) does read the Linux "ext" partitions and saves them to an NTFS external HDD, although I have yet to test installing and running that image on a new disk. I would prefer to avoid having to do a fresh installation of Linux: I spent quite a bit of time tweaking the looks to my satisfaction and adding software suited to the work I do. I am aware that some folks seem to think nothing of nuking their installations to start all over again, but I am not among them. Thanks!

2018-08-21, 20:25	#2
paulunderwood Sep 2002 Database er0rr 3,739 Posts	I distro upgraded from debian7 to debian8 and then debian9 without any problems. But in the end I reinstalled deb9 because I had made so many changes to the OS over the years. You have done the important thing making a backup. Go for it! Last fiddled with by paulunderwood on 2018-08-21 at 20:25

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2018-08-21, 20:31	#3
EdH "Ed Hall" Dec 2009 Adirondack Mtns 11×347 Posts	I usually don't jump to a new release right away. Even though it is proclaimed as stable, I still let the community test it a bit. So, it will still be a while before I move to 18.04. Backup is always a good idea. The only times I had any negative experiences have been with the OS not wanting to work with an older machine, which was quite some time ago, and the developers seeming to figure out features I like and systematically removing them. I'm not really sure where they find the time to study me that well. Above said, for any packages such as GMP, ECM-GMP, etc., which are not installed from the repositories, I have always found they survived, but I reinstall them anyway at my leisure. As to the ease of upgrading, Ubuntu has always been fairly straightforward. You may need to interact partway through, deciding whether to keep or replace existing configuration files. I normally opt to keep.

2018-08-22, 02:19	#6
Rodrigo Jun 2010 Pennsylvania 1646₈ Posts	Thanks guys, I think I'll take the plunge. We're getting fiber optic Internet service next week, so I'll do that big download then.

2018-08-22, 15:11	#9
Rodrigo Jun 2010 Pennsylvania 2×467 Posts	Wow, that Dedoimedo guy does give me pause. Although the upgrade to a more recent version of 18.04 did seem to go much more smoothly for him. One of the third-party components I was worried about were the Nvidia drivers. I remember having a heck of a time getting the system to work with them (for whatever reason) back in October. But Dedoimedo reports that everything went well with the upgrade on that score. Major applications on this computer that didn't come with Kubuntu are Master PDF Editor and Softmaker Office, which are essential for the kind of work I do. Then there are the backup applications Systemback and Back In Time, while the paranoid in me also required putting in ESET NOD32 Antivirus (as much to protect the Windows computers on the LAN as to protect this one). Finally, GUFW and Thunderbird Mail were installed separately as well. Hoping that all of these will make the transition without the need for jumping through hoops...

2018-08-22, 17:10	#11
Rodrigo Jun 2010 Pennsylvania 2·467 Posts	Thanks for the tips. Upgrading is sounding less and less appealing. I wonder if reinstalling Softmaker will simply accept inputting the license key or if it will require talking to them. The /home folder is currently in the same partition as the OS. It's not a straightforward matter of creating a new partition for /home and copying everything over, is it?