On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 05:56:17PM -0700, Jeffrey Anderson wrote: > On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 5:45 PM, Nico Kadel-Garcia <[email protected]> wrote: > > > the problem here is the switch from one OS, a CERN release, to an > > actual Scientific Linux release. That..... can be an adventure. I've > > done it for CentOS=>Scientific Linux, and for RHEL=>CentOS and > > CentOS=>RHEL. It's nasty, and I don't recommend it unless you're > > getting paid hourly. > > > > Actually that is not quite the problem I was trying to upgrade from the > CERN SL5 to the CERN SL6, and that apparently is not supported. But > neither is a vanilla SL5 to vanilla SL6. >
One way to think about this: the difference between minor update (5.8->5.9) and major update (5.9->6.x) is one that requires a full reinstall. Why? There are too many incompatible changes and writing an foolproof automated upgrade tool is significantly more difficult compared to a full reinstall. In other words, if "yum update" could handle it, they would have named it "5.10", not "6.x". And of course if you do not require a bulletproof automated tool and if you do not mind ending up with a funny mongrel system, you can do the update/upgrade manually, even live, even successfully - there are enough reports of people who have done exactly that. -- Konstantin Olchanski Data Acquisition Systems: The Bytes Must Flow! Email: olchansk-at-triumf-dot-ca Snail mail: 4004 Wesbrook Mall, TRIUMF, Vancouver, B.C., V6T 2A3, Canada
