Upgrading 4.x install without doing clean reinstall?

[Dr. Jennifer Nussbaum]

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?

Thanks!

Jen