I have been doing in place upgrades of Debian (and later Ubuntu) since the '90s. This almost always works as long as you stick to installing packages from apt and not custom building anything. On Ubuntu PPAs can also seriously complicate an upgrade (well any third party repository can cause issues with major version upgrades).
Of course always back up your important data. The method Simon outlined will allow you to quickly install all of the packages. If you want configurations backed up then this can get a little tricky. Most system applications store their configs in /etc (which I always keep backed up), but a lot of user applications keep their configurations in dot files in your home directory (.kde, .mozilla, and so on). On Fri, May 17, 2013 at 12:04 PM, Mel Walters <[email protected]> wrote: > Its up to you. > I am starting my trials in virtualbox now. > I think the upgrade will be very easy. The biggest problems may be with > some specific programs and not the distribution. > I am looking at evolution - backup data, upgrade system and restore > data. It should be doable but we will see if version 7.0.0 has any > issues. > > Mel > -----Original Message----- > From: Joe S <[email protected]> > Reply-to: CLUG General <[email protected]> > To: CLUG General <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [clug-talk] The release of Debian 7.0 Wheezy > Date: Fri, 17 May 2013 11:10:19 -0600 > Mailer: KMail/1.13.5 (Linux/2.6.32-5-686; KDE/4.4.5; i686; ; ) > > Thanks for the reply. I think I will probably do a fresh install. > It's what I usually do. I just hate having to set all my > configurations on my programs again, and figure out what programs > I need to reinstall again. > > I have never tried Crunchbang. How would this compare with > Debian? Do you like Openbox? > > On Friday 17 May 2013 1:27:08 am Mel Walters wrote: > > Hope this will help > > > > Let me explain it a bit better. I have not yet tried a squeeze > > to wheezy distribution upgrade. I think it will work but I > > have not tried it yet. To try this out, I may install squeeze > > on a virtualbox and try the upgrade there. After I try this I > > can forward specific instructions on the distribution upgrade > > and do my friends two machines. > > > > My workstation was Wheezy, but a cruchbang version of wheezy > > to help stop it from breaking. Since it was already pointing > > to Wheezy it did not have much to do > > So besides peer1 mirror wheezy, after 7.0 came out I turned > > off CRUCHBANG. Then my son corrected our local debian mirror > > to use wheezy for stable and point to the new testing. You > > will not have a local mirror, so I may suggest another > > mirror. Again, actual details to follow. > > mirror.peer1.net worked for me on a telus network. > > mirror.cpsc.ucalgary.ca also works fairly well but peer1 has > > more updates. > > > > /etc/apt/sources.list included: > > > > ## CRUNCHBANG > > ## Compatible with Debian Wheezy, but use at your own risk. > > ### deb http://packages.crunchbang.org/waldorf waldorf main > > # deb-src http://packages.crunchbang.org/waldorf waldorf main > > > > ## DEBIAN > > # deb http://http.debian.net/debian wheezy main contrib > > non-free deb http://mirror.calgary.lan/debian/ wheezy main > > contrib non-free ## (my sons local debian mirror) > > > > deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian wheezy > > contrib > > > > deb http://www.deb-multimedia.org wheezy main non-free > > # deb ftp://ftp.deb-multimedia.org wheezy main non-free > > > > ## DEBIAN SECURITY > > # deb http://mirror.calgary.lan/security/ wheezy/updates main > > deb http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main > > # deb-src http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main > > > > deb http://downloads.makerbot.com/makerware/ubuntu oneiric > > main # deb-src http://downloads.makerbot.com/makerware/ubuntu > > oneiric main deb http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/ debian extra > > ## The Samsung Unified Linux Driver Repository > > > > === > > My netbook was a fresh install from a DVD iso on a USB drive > > This was because I had no data or programs to transfer > > After the install I commented out the usb DVD and added the > > other lines to /etc/apt/sources.list > > > > How I made the install stick (usb drive) > > as root on my workstation > > dd if=debian-7.0.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=2048k > > sync > > > > Using dmesg to determine where my usb drive was (of=/dev/sdd > > in MY CASE) If you get the wrong drive you will loose the > > data! > > the DVD was 4.4MB in size so my 8GB usb drive was big enough > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Joe S <[email protected]> > > Reply-to: CLUG General <[email protected]> > > To: CLUG General <[email protected]> > > Subject: Re: [clug-talk] The release of Debian 7.0 Wheezy > > Date: Thu, 16 May 2013 20:04:00 -0600 > > Mailer: KMail/1.13.5 (Linux/2.6.32-5-686; KDE/4.4.5; i686; ; ) > > > > Did you make a fresh install or will it work with an upgrade > > from Squeeze. I couldn't find info on this on Debian's site. > > > > If I do a fresh install is there a way to save a list of > > packages that I have installed so I can have them > > reinstalled, also configurations so I don't have to spend the > > time to set up everything again? > > > > Thanks > > > > On Wednesday 15 May 2013 11:11:05 am Mel Walters wrote: > > > This is old news (Debian 7.0 Wheezy Stable on May 4, 2013) > > > > > > I not even notice this till about a week ago (my upgrades > > > all worked and nothing broke). > > > > > > Time marches on, and it is great to have all the latest and > > > greatest program features as part of Debian Stable. > > > > > > Anyone else have different or similar experiences? > > > > > > Mel > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > clug-talk mailing list > > > [email protected] > > > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > > > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > > > **Please remove these lines when replying > > > > _______________________________________________ > > clug-talk mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > > **Please remove these lines when replying > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > clug-talk mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > > **Please remove these lines when replying > > _______________________________________________ > clug-talk mailing list > [email protected] > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > **Please remove these lines when replying > > > > _______________________________________________ > clug-talk mailing list > [email protected] > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > **Please remove these lines when replying >
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