Upgrading 4.x install without doing clean reinstall?

[Matthew Seaman]

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Dr. Jennifer Nussbaum wrote:
| I have a server that was running Free BSD 4.7 for a number of years. I
| DO NOT have easy physical access to it, its in a datacenter and i cant get
| to it myself or at this point rely on anyone there to put in a new install
| disk or anything.
|
| Ive replaced this server with a new one for production use, running
| 7.0, so now that this one is no longer live, id like to update it to 7.x
so i
| can continue to use it as a dev box. However since i dont have direct
| access to it, i need to update it cleanly, so that it doesnt fall off the
| net or otherwise stop working during the process.
|
| Is there any clean way of doing this? If I have to upgrade to 5.x, then
| 6.x, then 7.x it will take forever and probably break something in the
| process. Can i make the jump directly, still keeping everything working?

Given that the machine started life running 4.7 its hard drives are
probably pretty elderly by now.  So why not build a new 7.0 system
off-line on a brand new disk, copying all of the necessary configuration
info from the old machine.  Then send the replacement HDD to your
datacenter and have the hard drive physically swapped out?  If it all goes
horribly wrong then your backout path is simply to replace the original
hard drive.

This will involve perhaps an hours downtime -- less if you have hot-swap
drives.  Given that it's a  development box I'd hope that isn't a
show-stopper.

	Cheers,

	Matthew

- --
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.                       Flat 3
~                                                      7 Priory Courtyard
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey         Ramsgate
~                                                      Kent, CT11 9PW, UK
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