Before upgrading your system, it is strongly recommended that you make a full backup, or at least, backup any data or configuration information you can't afford to lose. The upgrade tools and process are quite reliable, but a hardware failure during an upgrade could be catastrophic.
If your i386 system has not yet been upgraded to Debian 2.0 (hamm), you should first upgrade to libc6, as described in autoup.README found at `http://www.debian.org/2.0/autoup/'. In addition to the README, you should download autoup.sh and all files in the debfiles directory.
Regardless of the method used for upgrading, it is recommended that
you check the status of all packages first. This can be done by
dpkg -l | less or dpkg --get-selections > filename,
or it can be done in dselect. It is desirable to remove
any holds before upgrading. If any package that is essential for the
upgrade is on hold, the upgrade will fail. Holds can be removed in
dselect, or by editing the file produced by dpkg --get-selections
> filename to change "hold" to "install". Then, with root
permissions, do dpkg --set-selections < filename.
Any package installation operation must be run with superuser
privileges, so either login as root or use su or
sudo to gain these privileges.
It is strongly recommended that you use /usr/bin/script
to record a transcript of the upgrade session -- in fact, it is a good
idea to use script to record any dselect session (and
anything else you do that it is desirable to record). Then if any
problems develop, you can see what happened. script will
write this transcript to the file specified as an argument (script
filename) or to the default filename,
typescript.
There are two methods of upgrading to slink -- using
apt-get directly, or using dselect.
apt-get
If you have not already installed apt, we suggest
you download and install it, from ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/slink/main/upgrade-2.0-i386/apt_0.1.8_i386.deb.
Depending on your browser you may need to take special action to
download directly to a file, in raw binary mode. For example, in
Netscape you need to hold the shift key when clicking on the URL to
retrieve the file. Install the downloaded package as root with the
command dpkg -i apt*.deb.
If you are installing from CD-ROM, you can install it directly from the CD-ROM. As root, run
dpkg -i cd_mount_point/upgrade-2.0-i386/apt_0.1.8_i386.deb
It is recommended that you read the apt-get(8) and the sources.list(5) man
pages at this time. Before beginning the upgrade you must set up
apt's configuration file,
/etc/apt/sources.list. The default configuration is
suitable for installation from the Internet, but you may wish to
modify /etc/apt/sources.list to use other mirrors or your
local mirror. If you are installing from a CD-ROM, see Upgrading from CD-ROMs:, Section 3.2.
Once you have configured apt, run (as root):
apt-get update
apt-get -f dist-upgrade
Some people prefer to run apt-get -f --dry-run dist-upgrade | less prior to apt-get -f dist-upgrade in order to see what will happen. While this may be somewhat time consuming, it may avoid some surprises.
If new versions of packages currently installed are available,
apt-get dist-upgrade and apt-get upgrade retrieve and
upgrade them; under no circumstances are currently installed packages
removed, or packages not already installed retrieved and
installed. New versions of currently installed packages that cannot be
upgraded without changing the install status of another package will
be left at their current version. Therefore, it may be necessary to
use dpkg or dselect to remove and reinstall
some broken packages or dependencies. Alternatively, apt-get
dselect-upgrade may be used after apt-get -f
dist-upgrade. (See the apt-get(8)man
page.)
The -f (fix) option causes apt
to attempt to correct a system with broken dependencies in
place. apt does not allow broken package
dependencies to exist on a system. It is possible that a system's
dependency structure can be so corrupt as to require manual
intervention (which usually means using dselect or
dpkg --remove package to eliminate some of the
offending packages).
If apt-get reports some broken packages after these two
commands, try to repair the system (perhaps removing the broken
packages or installing missing dependencies). If you can not repair
the system to apt-get's satisfaction, you must use the
dselect method (with a non-apt
backend) to upgrade.
The apt code for handling multiple CD-ROMs was not
completed in time for the slink release, but there is a workaround
available. In /etc/apt/sources.list, add as the first
line after the instructional comments:
deb file:cd_mount_point/debian stable main
The other `deb' lines should be commented out by placing a # before them.
Then insert the first Binary CD, mount it, and, as root, run
apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade
As mentioned above, apt-get -f --dry-run dist-upgrade | less may be used before apt-get dist-upgrade to avoid surprises.
While the first CD is still mounted, it would be a good idea to run apt-get install dpkg-multicd
Unmount the first Binary CD, replace it with the second Binary CD, and
mount that one. Then change the line in
/etc/apt/sources.list to
deb file:cd_mount_point/debian stable main contrib
and repeat the update and dist-upgrade steps, as shown above.
After upgrading, unmount the last cdrom but leave it in the CDROM
drive. Then start dselect. [A]ccess, choose the new
multi_cd install method, give the correct /dev-name and
Enter on all following questions (the second Binary CDROM should be in
the drive when doing this!). [U]pdate. Then [S]elect; press Space to
leave the help screen. In the package selection screen, press Shift-D
followed by Enter immediately. It is very likely that there will be
some dependency conflicts, in which case you will see a help screen.
Exit the help screen by pressing space, and inspect the list of
packages that is presented. You may change the calculated states, but
this is not recommended; just pressing Enter should solve all
dependencies/conflicts satisfactorily.
Then [I]nstall. After [I]nstall, another [C]onfigure is usually needed.
Then insert the first Binary CD and repeat the process. (This
dselect procedure is necessary because
xbase is on the second CD, but some of its
dependencies are on the first CD.)
The Official Debian CD Set has two Binary CDs. Some vendors produce a set
with three Binary CDs, including all or part of non-free and/or
non-US. If you have a third Binary CD, unmount the second CD and
insert and mount the third one. Change the line in
/etc/apt/sources.list to
deb file:cd_mount_point/debian stable non-free non-US
(Omit non-free or non-US if your CD doesn't include them.)
Then repeat the update and dist-upgrade steps as
above. Note that you have to rerun [A]ccess and [U]pdate in
dselect after this step, as described above. A few
versions of such unofficial third Binary CDs have a structure that
makes it possible to have them inserted while performing the [A]ccess
and [U]pdate steps; if you have such a CD, packages from all three CDs
will be accessible from dselect simultaneously.
An ``unofficial alternative'' using the potato version of
apt, version 0.3.x, is available. Keep in mind
that the 0.3.x apt is still in beta, so bugs are
probably still present. Jason Gunthorpe, one of the
principal authors of apt, writes:
The real solution is to install `apt' 0.3 from potato and use it's
built-in CD handling through `apt-cdrom'. I have made a special
source specifically for this, which can be accessed by putting the
line ``deb http://www.debian.org/~jgg apt/'' in `sources.list', and
then running `apt-get update; apt-get install apt'.
This version contains the latest glibc 2.0 linked `apt v 3.x.'
Install whatever `apt' you can, add the above to your
`sources.list' (and maybe a temporary ``file:'' uri for the first
CD-ROM) and then do `apt-get install apt'.
Next, insert the first disc, run `apt-cdrom add', then insert
the second disc and run `apt-cdrom add' then run `apt-get
dist-upgrade -u' twice (or is it 3 times?)
dselect
This section assumes that you have some knowledge of
dselect. After all, you did install the system you are
trying to upgrade, didn't you? There is a beginner's tutorial for
dselect in http://www.debian.org/releases/2.1/i386/dselect-beginner,
in case you need to refresh your memory.
The first step in using dselect is to choose an
``Access'' method. More information about the access methods, and
which one you should choose, can be found in the dselect
Tutorial referred to above.
The apt access method for dselect is
the fastest one presently available. It installs and configures the
packages in the proper sequence, so all dependencies are resolved when
the packages are unpacked, making a second pass unnecessary. However,
the apt access method is not yet able to handle
multiple CDs correctly. If any packages on your system are so broken
that apt-get upgrade cannot be used, the
apt access method will also fail.
The `mounted' access method for dselect installs and configures any
pre-depends first, which reduces the number of install passes
necessary. The `mountable' access method also attempts to install and
configure pre-depends first, and is relatively fast. (There are some
known problems with the pre-dependency handling of these access
methods; in case of problems, try to use the apt
method as described above.)
The recommended access method for use with multiple CDs is the multi_cd
method. To use this method, first install dpkg-multicd using:
dpkg -i cd_mount_point/dists/slink/main/binary-i386/base/dpkg-multicd
or
apt-get install dpkg-multicd
Refer to README.multicd on the first CD and, after installing it,
/usr/doc/dpkg-multicd/readme.txt.gz for using this method.
The hamm version of the `http' access method does not handle
pre-Depends properly; it is not recommended. If this version of
dpkg-http is used to upgrade there will be a prompt Abort
automatic installation (Y/n)? for every Pre-Depends. Due to a
bug in hamm's dpkg-http the user should hit Ctrl-C instead of
Y at this point and manually install (dpkg -i) the
requested package. dselect should then be restarted to
find the next pre-Dependency. To save time the user may wish to
manually install all of the following slink packages:
libc6, libncurses4,
libreadlineg2, libstdc++2.9,
slang1, and libhtml-parser-perl.
Regardless of the access method used, it is recommended that you first
upgrade your existing packages before adding any new ones. Run the
[A]ccess, [Update], and [S]elect steps of dselect
initially. As soon as you enter ``Select'' you should press `D'
(shift-D) then
Enter immediately. A conflict/depends resolution screen will
probably be presented. After resolving the conflicts (usually you can
just press Enter), run [I]nstall, and then [C]onfigure to
simply upgrade all installed packages. After that you may use the
[Select] and [I]nstall modules to install additional packages, if
desired.
When dpkg or dselect upgrade many packages,
it is usually necessary to repeat the install and configure steps
several times before the whole system is configured. Depending on the
access method chosen, it may be necessary to repeat the [U]pdate
step between install passes. It may be helpful to exit
dselect and restart it immediately before the [U]pdate
step.
You should not run the upgrade from any X session managed by
xdm on the machine you are upgrading. xdm and
xfs are stopped on upgrade, so you would end up with a
half-upgraded machine when X suddenly shuts down. If the machine is
configured to start X automatically on boot, it may be difficult to fix.
If the X server you are using refers to the upgrading host for
xfs font services, it will lose its connection to the font
server when xfs is stopped. This is not fatal but can be
annoying. If in doubt about whether your X session is handled by
xdm or not, upgrade your machine from the Linux virtual
console.
You should not do the upgrade over a remote telnet connection, unless
you install the netstd and telnetd
packages from slink first. When the old netstd
package is removed, the telnet connection will be broken, and you
won't be able to reconnect until the telnetd
package is installed.
hilliard@debian.org