CentOS 6.5 released yesterday

December 1st 2013
The CentOS team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of CentOS 6.5 for i386 and x86_64 architectures.
Time to do a repository cleanup and remove the unneeded packages... :)
Time to download the minimal ISO to configure as an install on my ProxMox server for KVM use.
 
December 1st 2013
The CentOS team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of CentOS 6.5 for i386 and x86_64 architectures.
Time to do a repository cleanup and remove the unneeded packages... :)
Is this one upgradeable?

I ask because I recall there was no upgrade path from v5 to v6. Of course the same is true for most Red Hat type systems. I've read some guides on how to do it in much of "hackish" way, but the official site always tells you basically this

https://access.redhat.com/site/docu...6/html/Installation_Guide/ch-upgrade-x86.html

Another reason why I like Debian / Ubuntu. Not only is it possible, it's supported and designed to do it.
 
6.X --> 6.X easily done via yum update
5.X --> 6.X --> can be done, but the last time I tried, it broke the test server, so I went for a fresh install on the latest version.
 
6.X --> 6.X easily done via yum update
5.X --> 6.X --> can be done, but the last time I tried, it broke the test server, so I went for a fresh install on the latest version.

(y)

I agree with the principle of doing a clean install on a major version change. If an upgrade supported or not, ill still do a clean install.
 
6.X --> 6.X easily done via yum update
5.X --> 6.X --> can be done, but the last time I tried, it broke the test server, so I went for a fresh install on the latest version.
Every documentation, including their own official site says that upgrading is not supported. Even you admit, that it breaks the system trying.

A "fresh install" is not always an option for people who have high traffic sites and don't want to take their site offline in order to start over. Of course you can go around that by getting an extra vsp or dedicated server, but that's going to cost you extra.

Either way, I wish you all luck. :)
 
Every documentation, including their own official site says that upgrading is not supported. Even you admit, that it breaks the system trying.

A "fresh install" is not always an option for people who have high traffic sites and don't want to take their site offline in order to start over. Of course you can go around that by getting an extra vsp or dedicated server, but that's going to cost you extra.

Either way, I wish you all luck. :)
Where have you read that?

Upgrading from says CentOS 5.9 to 6.5 is a big no no, but upgrading from CentOS 6.4 to CentOS 6.5 is a simple "yum update" and reload for a new kernel. This is a minor point release, so upgrading isn't an issue is you are already on the 6.X release. My initial VPS build was on 6.2, and yum update put it onto 6.4.
 
(y)

I agree with the principle of doing a clean install on a major version change. If an upgrade supported or not, ill still do a clean install.
So why is not as simple as doing an upgrade?

I come from a world (Debian) where doing an upgrade is usually as simple as
PHP:
apt-get update
apt-get apt-get dist-upgrade
And you're done. :)

I guess if you want to take a few extra steps for good measure, you can do this
PHP:
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get update
apt-get apt-get dist-upgrade
But you're still done.

I'm just really curious and maybe a little confused as to why people would "put up" with the accepted idea of it being the norm to always do a fresh install in order to upgrade centos?
 
Where have you read that?

Upgrading from says CentOS 5.9 to 6.5 is a big no no, but upgrading from CentOS 6.4 to CentOS 6.5 is a simple "yum update" and reload for a new kernel. This is a minor point release, so upgrading isn't an issue is you are already on the 6.X release. My initial VPS build was on 6.2, and yum update put it onto 6.4.
Well that's what I'm talking about.... 5.x to 6.x. And this isn't the 1st time either, I recall v4 could not be upgraded to v5.

With Debian I can jump from v5 to 6, 7, or even v8.
 
I'm just really curious and maybe a little confused as to why people would "put up" with the accepted idea of it being the norm to always do a fresh install in order to upgrade centos?

Whats to "put up" with?

With a major upgrade I almost certainly expect main opperational items to be upgraded or replaced to the point of breaking backwards compatability. Otherwise, its just another example of poor versioning, why mark something as a "major" update if it isn't *actually* a major update? As an example, do you expect all your current addons to work with XenForo 2.0?
 
Whats to "put up" with?

With a major upgrade I almost certainly expect main opperational items to be upgraded or replaced to the point of breaking backwards compatability. Otherwise, its just another example of poor versioning, why mark something as a "major" update if it isn't *actually* a major update? As an example, do you expect all your current addons to work with XenForo 2.0?
Do I expect all the add-ons to work in XenForo 2.0 upon it's release?
No, but then again I'll be able to upgrade XenForo 1.x to XenForo 2.x without having to start over.
 
Do I expect all the add-ons to work in XenForo 2.0 upon it's release?
No, but then again I'll be able to upgrade XenForo 1.x to XenForo 2.x without having to start over.

You can also upgrade a blank (=empty) CentOS 5.9 server to CentOS 6.5 without problems.
However you have to expect that software and daemons you run at it may break.
 
You can also upgrade a blank (=empty) CentOS 5.9 server to CentOS 6.5 without problems.
However you have to expect that software and daemons you run at it may break.
I expect the same from Microsoft Windows. If I upgrade Windows Vista to Windows 8, I expect some programs to need to be upgraded or replaced. The same can be true for most any OS you upgrade, you're going to need to update the programs you use on it.

I just find it a little more hard to accept never being able to upgrade the OS to the next major version. As it seems to be the case with CentOS (which does not provide an upgrade path).
 
I just find it a little more hard to accept never being able to upgrade the OS to the next major version. As it seems to be the case with CentOS (which does not provide an upgrade path).
There are way to many library changes in between major versions, performing an upgrade will simply break the upgrade process. :)
I understand other distros are able to upgrade easier... I invite you to look at this chart and see which:

distro-stats.png


I personally believe the proper way to upgrade a major version is to do a fresh install, even if the upgrade will "work". I real life is not a "clean" upgrade, even if you think it is. Incidentally, Fedora has the easiest install/upgrade process, yet it always breaks when you perform a major upgrade. :)
 
Yeah i prefer clean reinstalls and use CentOS.. after all major upgrades from 5.8 to 6.5 would of spanned 21+ months between releases and from 5.9 to 6.5 would of spanned ~12 months between releases http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CentOS#CentOS_releases

In that 12-21 months time, web server hosting costs and hardware change. You'd get a better deal or better bang for the buck and less problems just re-installing the OS or moving to a new server (provided you're renting and not colocating your servers).
 
There are way to many library changes in between major versions, performing an upgrade will simply break the upgrade process. :)
I understand other distros are able to upgrade easier... I invite you to look at this chart and see which:

distro-stats.png


I personally believe the proper way to upgrade a major version is to do a fresh install, even if the upgrade will "work". I real life is not a "clean" upgrade, even if you think it is. Incidentally, Fedora has the easiest install/upgrade process, yet it always breaks when you perform a major upgrade. :)

This and systemd are the reasons why I still put in the extra work to use Arch on my servers. I got tired of the stress and risks of major upgrades (Arch updates are always 100% painless assuming all instructions are followed), and systemd is an absolute godsend for servers.

Wouldn't touch Arch for a desktop install though - that's where it gets its unstable reputation from. Once you get into x/gui stuff, things really do start breaking regularly
 
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This and systemd are the reasons why I still put in the extra work to use Arch on my servers. I got tired of the stress and risks of major upgrades (Arch updates are always 100% painless assuming all instructions are followed), and systemd is an absolute godsend for servers.
I always use minimal installs... and always get a kick out of that graphic... All I can assume is that it pertains to a LiveCD or regular FULL install with a graphic front end. I have yet to find a minimal install (or network install) ISO for Fedora (have found EC2 cloud images - but I don't use EC2 and everything I read indicates you have to create your own minimal install). At least with centOS and Debian (the only two distro's I'm playing with currently) you can do minimal installs. Never saw the need for a graphical front end on a dedicated server. :whistle:
 
I always use minimal installs... and always get a kick out of that graphic... All I can assume is that it pertains to a LiveCD or regular FULL install with a graphic front end.
Ya, Fedora have a full Desktop iso. I never use a Desktop version also, all my setups are minimal CentOS installs. The thing is, even if you select the minimal install on a full 4Gb disk, it is not "minimal" CentOS will install a bunch of useless packages, even on minimal. The only way I do it is by using a true minimal .iso. I remember way back I had a Desktop setup on CentOS. When I was compiling certain RPM's, they were adding crazy deps from Desktop, so when you added that package on a minimal setup, it would add extra packages. :)
 
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