Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 3 - FOR X86-ITANIUMTM-AMD64 AND INTEL EXTENDED MEMORY 64 TECHNOLO, Installation Manual

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Appendix A.
Upgrading Your Current System
This appendix walks you through a typical Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 upgrade.
Note
If you currently use Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 on an x86 system, you can perform an upgrade.
Although upgrades are supported by the Red Hat Enterprise Linux family on x86 processors, you
are likely to have a more consistent experience by backing up your data and then installing this
release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux over your previous Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation. This
recommended reinstallation method helps to ensure the best system stability possible.
To perform an upgrade, type the following command at the boot prompt:
linux upgrade
A.1. What it Means to Upgrade
The installation process for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 includes the ability to upgrade from an earlier
version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (such as from Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 2.1 for x86).
Upgrading your system installs the modular 2.4.
x
kernel as well as updated versions of the packages
which are currently installed on your system.
The upgrade process preserves existing configuration files by renaming them with an
.rpmsave
ex-
tension (for example,
sendmail.cf.rpmsave
). The upgrade process also creates a log of its actions
in
/root/upgrade.log
. As software evolves, configuration file formats can change, so you should
carefully compare your original configuration files to the new files before integrating your changes.
Note
It is always a good idea to back up any data that you have on your systems. For example, if you are
upgrading or creating a dual-boot system, you should back up any data you wish to keep on your
hard drive(s). Mistakes do happen and can result in the loss all of your data.
Some upgraded packages may require the installation of other packages for proper operation. If you
choose to customize your packages to upgrade, you may be required to resolve dependency prob-
lems. Otherwise, the upgrade procedure takes care of these dependencies, but it may need to install
additional packages which are not on your system.
Depending on how you have partitioned your system, the upgrade program may prompt you to add an
additional swap file. If the upgrade program does not detect a swap file that equals twice your RAM,
it asks you if you would like to add a new swap file. If your system does not have a lot of RAM (less
than 128 MB), it is recommended that you add this swap file.