Re: [ccp4bb] CentOS 7 end of life (july 2024)

2023-08-30 Thread Frederic Vellieux

Hi and thanks for the reply.

In case others on the bb face the same problem before july 2024, this is 
what I can write about the process of migrating to a more recent Linux 
distro:


"elevate-release", not "elevate-linux"... Poor memory of mine.

The debtakeover and debootstrap route failed with a cryptic message.

The btrfs partition is really preventing direct upgrade to more recent 
RHEL-based distributions (Alma-Linux for example). In the end I 
installed a Debian 12 distribution (the home directory partition was on 
another physical "disk" so it was easy to mount). The root partition fs 
was changed to ext4 in the process.


The one problem I have is that Dassault Systemes' BIOVIA Discovery 
Studio cannot be installed on Debian boxes. Apparently some people 
manage to install it on Ubuntu.


I may try to install Alma-Linux in the end. Just so that I don't need to 
use a Windows PC when Discovery Studio is needed.


Cheers,

Fred.

On 2023-08-30 13:57, Guillaume Gaullier wrote:

Hello,

I have never tried any of the migration tools you listed, so can't
advise on their use.

But regarding your first option of doing a backup, reformatting from
btrfs to a different filesystem, restoring the backup and proceeding
with the upgrade with a non-official tool: you might as well do a
clean install of the new OS (whichever you choose) instead, then
restore your backup.

From my understanding, RHEL derivatives are not designed for automatic
upgrade between major versions, they expect you to backup your /home
and do a clean install. The justification is that they have very long
support (the earlier-than-originally-planned end of life of CentOS is
a consequence of recent policy changes since IBM bought Red Hat, and
hopefully only an outlier), so you only rarely need to do this tedious
clean install and porting of your old configuration.

Debian, on the other hand, is designed to handle upgrades between
major versions (I would still do a backup before attempting this) and
smoothly migrate configuration, so maybe this is the OS you want from
now on.

Backing up data is not too difficult (but check your backups).
Configuration is more difficult, especially because defaults change
between versions, so the configuration files you back up are not
guaranteed to play well with the new system. It is tedious to have to
configure a freshly installed OS, but on the other hand the really
critical pieces of configuration are often not that many, and you
might be better off porting them to a freshly installed system than
trying to keep your old configuration files in place during an
upgrade.

I hope this helps,

Guillaume

-

From: CCP4 bulletin board  on behalf of Fred
Vellieux 
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2023 10:43:34 AM
To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK
Subject: [ccp4bb] CentOS 7 end of life (july 2024)

Hi,

Other people on this BB may run into the same problem.

CentOS 7 end of life is announced to happen in July 2024.

I have to migrate my Linux box to another Linux "flavour".

I've had a look at the possibilities:

- migrate to another RHEL (rpm-based) Linux, with "elevate-linux" and
"leapp".
Here on this Linux box the problem I have is that the disk partition
mounted as / uses btrfs. btrfs has been deprecated starting at
versions
8 (RHEL8, CentOS 8, Alma etc). This means first to copy all that is
present on / somewhere, change the file system (for example to ext4)
and
restore everything.

- migrate to Debian, that supports btrfs. There are utilities,
"debtakeover" and "debootstrap" that are supposed to install Debian
8.11
(jessie).

Has anyone performed such a migration without data loss (files,
pathways, configurations)? If so I'd like to know what was successful.

Thank you.

Fred.

--
MedChem, 1st F. Medicine, Charles University
BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic



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Re: [ccp4bb] CentOS 7 end of life (july 2024)

2023-08-30 Thread Guillaume Gaullier

Hello,


I have never tried any of the migration tools you listed, so can't advise on 
their use.


But regarding your first option of doing a backup, reformatting from btrfs to a 
different filesystem, restoring the backup and proceeding with the upgrade with 
a non-official tool: you might as well do a clean install of the new OS 
(whichever you choose) instead, then restore your backup.


>From my understanding, RHEL derivatives are not designed for automatic upgrade 
>between major versions, they expect you to backup your /home and do a clean 
>install. The justification is that they have very long support (the 
>earlier-than-originally-planned end of life of CentOS is a consequence of 
>recent policy changes since IBM bought Red Hat, and hopefully only an 
>outlier), so you only rarely need to do this tedious clean install and porting 
>of your old configuration.

Debian, on the other hand, is designed to handle upgrades between major 
versions (I would still do a backup before attempting this) and smoothly 
migrate configuration, so maybe this is the OS you want from now on.


Backing up data is not too difficult (but check your backups). Configuration is 
more difficult, especially because defaults change between versions, so the 
configuration files you back up are not guaranteed to play well with the new 
system. It is tedious to have to configure a freshly installed OS, but on the 
other hand the really critical pieces of configuration are often not that many, 
and you might be better off porting them to a freshly installed system than 
trying to keep your old configuration files in place during an upgrade.


I hope this helps,


Guillaume



From: CCP4 bulletin board  on behalf of Fred Vellieux 

Sent: Friday, August 18, 2023 10:43:34 AM
To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK
Subject: [ccp4bb] CentOS 7 end of life (july 2024)

Hi,

Other people on this BB may run into the same problem.

CentOS 7 end of life is announced to happen in July 2024.

I have to migrate my Linux box to another Linux "flavour".

I've had a look at the possibilities:

- migrate to another RHEL (rpm-based) Linux, with "elevate-linux" and
"leapp".
Here on this Linux box the problem I have is that the disk partition
mounted as / uses btrfs. btrfs has been deprecated starting at versions
8 (RHEL8, CentOS 8, Alma etc). This means first to copy all that is
present on / somewhere, change the file system (for example to ext4) and
restore everything.

- migrate to Debian, that supports btrfs. There are utilities,
"debtakeover" and "debootstrap" that are supposed to install Debian 8.11
(jessie).

Has anyone performed such a migration without data loss (files,
pathways, configurations)? If so I'd like to know what was successful.

Thank you.

Fred.

--
MedChem, 1st F. Medicine, Charles University
BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic



To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link:
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CAUTION: Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognise the 
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När du har kontakt med oss på Uppsala universitet med e-post så innebär det att 
vi behandlar dina personuppgifter. För att läsa mer om hur vi gör det kan du 
läsa här: http://www.uu.se/om-uu/dataskydd-personuppgifter/

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[ccp4bb] CentOS 7 end of life (july 2024)

2023-08-18 Thread Fred Vellieux

Hi,

Other people on this BB may run into the same problem.

CentOS 7 end of life is announced to happen in July 2024.

I have to migrate my Linux box to another Linux "flavour".

I've had a look at the possibilities:

- migrate to another RHEL (rpm-based) Linux, with "elevate-linux" and 
"leapp".
Here on this Linux box the problem I have is that the disk partition 
mounted as / uses btrfs. btrfs has been deprecated starting at versions 
8 (RHEL8, CentOS 8, Alma etc). This means first to copy all that is 
present on / somewhere, change the file system (for example to ext4) and 
restore everything.


- migrate to Debian, that supports btrfs. There are utilities, 
"debtakeover" and "debootstrap" that are supposed to install Debian 8.11 
(jessie).


Has anyone performed such a migration without data loss (files, 
pathways, configurations)? If so I'd like to know what was successful.


Thank you.

Fred.

--
MedChem, 1st F. Medicine, Charles University
BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic



To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link:
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB=1

This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a mailing list 
hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at 
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