Topic: Upgrade HW / SME version at the same time..?!

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I am currently running SME 6.0 with a number of additional packages and custom-installed web ibays (e.g. arkeia, awstats, movable type etc.)

I have new server hardware - AMD64, SATA etc. and ideally I want to run SME on this box. I installed SME7.0a7 (nice one Charlie!) which worked like a breeze - had to compile and add a module for my gigabit ethenet but everything else worked out of the box.

The question is how to get my old setup on to this box? I tried doing a full restore of my tape backup onto the new server, but it seems to have caused all sorts of issues. The box boots but seems to just grind to a halt during startup / post configuration.

I know 7.0 is only in alpha, but I'd be happy to use it for this home setup after a play with so far.

I'm not sure on the best path forwards. The options I'm considering are:

1) Manually recreate all users / ibays and other config (port forwarding etc.) then copy old ibay and user folder contents over, including re-install and configure movable type and add-on rpms.

2) Upgrade old server to 7.0, then backup to tape. Restore this setup to new hardware.

3) Install 6.01 on the new hardware, then upgrade kernel / drivers / modules to support SATA etc. Then restore the 6.0 backup on this hardware.

Any suggestions?

Also, in general, should I be restoring a full backup of the system onto new hardware (essentially "/", but excluding /dev and /mnt and kernel stuff)

Thanks,

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[CharlieBrady]

I have new server hardware - AMD64, SATA etc.

Drool. Why didn't Santa give me one of those?

.. and ideally I want to run SME on this box. I installed SME7.0a7 (nice one Charlie!) which worked like a breeze - had to compile and add a module for my gigabit ethenet but everything else worked out of the box.

Please file a bug report via smeserver.sourceforge.net. Specify details of you hardware, including output of "lspci -vxx" and contents of "/etc/sysconfig/hwconf".

The question is how to get my old setup on to this box? I tried doing a full restore of my tape backup onto the new server, but it seems to have caused all sorts of issues. The box boots but seems to just grind to a halt during startup / post configuration.

A "full" restore, should only be contents of /home/e-smith and selected configuration files within /etc. Otherwise you're certain to have problems such as you have seen.

2) Upgrade old server to 7.0, then backup to tape. Restore this setup to new hardware.
...
Any suggestions?

The above should work, using the built-in backup to tape capability.

Also, in general, should I be restoring a full backup of the system onto new hardware (essentially "/", but excluding /dev and /mnt and kernel stuff)

Never. If you restore any of /lib, /bin etc onto a running SME server, you are almost certain to have problems. The only time you'd want to do a full restore is if you are using the "bare metal  restore" feature of some third party backup solution. As the name suggests, you'd be restoring to "bare metal", not a system which has already had SME installed.

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Thanks for the quick reply Charlie.

Please file a bug report via smeserver.sourceforge.net. Specify details of you hardware, including output of "lspci -vxx" and contents of "/etc/sysconfig/hwconf".

I will do, no probs. It was a Marvell gigabit built-in chipset, FYI.

A "full" restore, should only be contents of /home/e-smith and selected configuration files within /etc. Otherwise you're certain to have problems such as you have seen.

Where can I find the backup scripts to have a look at the precise /etc files that are backed-up? I wonder if the arkeia plugin (I use this for periodic backups, primarily) backs up the exact same files...

Is it generally possible to restore the backup from a previous version of SME onto a newer release or should it always be the same version?

Thanks for the assistance so far, and another thanks for the great work on SME7.0!

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[CharlieBrady]

Where can I find the backup scripts to have a look at the precise /etc files that are backed-up?

rpm -ql e-smith-backup

 I wonder if the arkeia plugin (I use this for periodic backups, primarily) backs up the exact same files...

If it's been done well it will.

Is it generally possible to restore the backup from a previous version of SME onto a newer release ...

Yes.

Thanks for the assistance so far, and another thanks for the great work on SME7.0!

Thanks for taking the trouble to mention it.