Upgrading server - but keeping user settings

[cardassianscot]

I want to upgrade my server from Mandrake 8.0 (yes I know its old but it was running fine and I didn't need the extra features until now) to 9.2. However, I have over a hundred users with standard linux logins and some with samba logins. What files do I need to keep and copy over from my 8.0 system so that my 9.2 system will have the same users and passwords. (I know I need to keep /home).

 

Thanks

[theYinYeti]

Whatever you do, there will be changes. For example, you'll be using different versions of your usual window managers (KDE, Gnome), and the old config files won't do anymore...

 

What you have to keep depends a lot on the applications you're using, and particularly on what applications you compiled yourself (for which you did not use the RPM).

 

You have to make sure that the applications you need will be available. For example, I used to use Rolodap on Mandrake up to 9.1, but now with 9.2, Rolodap just won't run whatever I do.

 

Besides, many config files are kept in special users' home directories or in /etc.

 

So I think you should add some detail about what exactly you're using.

 

Yves.

[cardassianscot]

BTW, sorry for posting to the wrong forum, if someone wants to move this to the install one please do (I must of clicked on the wrong forum after I logged in or something like that). No, your not hallucinating, I moved it (check your new messages) - scoopy

 

Anyway, I don't run any client software on this machine. I run NIS, Samba, CUPS and an IMAP server on it. I already run the NIS clients on Mandrake 9.2, so all their settings don't need to change, the accounts wouldn't work properly if they actually tried to log in to the server. I basically have one server with 6 scsi hard drives in a RAID system, with about 6 Linux clients and then about 15-20 windows clients. All I need to do is set up the same accounts using the same usernames and passwords for NIS and Samba. The NIS is easy if I can get the standard linux usernames and passwords as I can update NIS from this. However, Samba uses a seperate username and password system and I also need this to be the same.

 

Thanks

[fuzzylizard]

Dumb question, but if this is for a business, would it not make more sense to setup Mandrake 9.2 on a test machine first? Then you can slowly migrate the data from the server over to the test machine and try things out. Once you have everything up and running and stable on the test move it over to be the server and the old server then becomes the new test machine.

 

Personally, I would think it insanity and suicide to migrate a mission critical server to a new OS (or even an upgraded OS) without first testing it out on another comparable computer.

 

At the very least, use partition image (do a search around the forum and you will find a ton of links and threads about this app) and backup the system before you make the change. At least that way, if something doesn't work that you can't fix, at least you have a way of returning back to a system that does work.

 

For Samba, you will need to backup at least the following two files:

 

smb.conf

smbpasswd

 

You may also need to backup smbusers. All of these files are usually stored in /etc/samba/

 

I am not sure what you need to back for the other apps.

Edited December 2, 2003 by fuzzylizard

[Cannonfodder]

That's very good advice!

[DragonMage]

I think at the very least, you should backup the /etc and /var heirarchy. /etc is where most configuration files are located and /var is where some important stuff (like email, html, and logs) are located.

 

Although fuzzylizard's advice is much better. Setup a comparable machine, make it run very nicely, then import your data over. I found out when upgrading RH 7,2 to 9.0 that some settings can change radically between version. A working configuration file in an old version can cause lockups to a newer version.

[cardassianscot]

As much as it is good advice, I simply can't afford it. I run the system for a small Theology College, we can't afford £1000+ just to test a software upgrade. However, the first system I am upgrading is the Student system and it's not really mission critical. The student linux clients are used mainly for web browsing and email, with the occasional user using them for essays. Therefore the most important thing for them is that their /home directories and email are kept. Even if it all goes completely wrong and my backups of /etc and /var don't work we can issue everyone with new passwords at the start of term in January. As for Samba, on this network it's not really used yet. The windows machines are people's own computers that they plug in to our network to access the internet (through a seperate gateway and firewall). However, I would like to enable them to print on our network printer and I need at least Samba 2.2 to force the Windows XP machines to install a postscript driver. (Why? I have some quota software I wrote my self to charge users for printing which parses postscript files.) After I get the student system up and working properly I will then do the same to our faculty and staff server which get's a much higher use and is actually a lot more of a problem if I can't get it working within my allocated upgrade day.

 

I'm not really worried about the config files for any of the software, as I run 9.2 at home and make most of the changes to config files by hand anyway. For example I can run my backup MySQL script at college and then see if I can restore this on my machine at home. Even if I have to scrap my only smb.conf and write a new file, I should be able to do that. However, I would like to keep people's passwords and stuff.

 

So, at the moment I figure I need (although I will back up /etc and /var as well as /home of course)

 

smb.conf

smbpasswd

smbusers

 

for samba but what do I need for normal user names and passwords /etc/passwd obviously and /etc/shadow (?) but what about /etc/gshadow and /etc/group ? Are there any other files I need to copy? Is it possible to copy the files for NIS or is it simpler just to get my normal users and passwords and run /var/yp/make?

 

Thanks