Slackware 12.0 to 12.1 Upgrade HOWTO  <volkerdi@slackware.com>

This document explains how to upgrade from Slackware 12.0 to Slackware 12.1.

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For details of important changes from Slackware 12.0 to 12.1, see the file
'CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT'.  Thanks to Robby Workman for help with this.

Before you begin, I would strongly recommend making a backup of your
system, or, if not the entire system, at least the /etc directory.  You
might find that you need to refer to a few things after the upgrade
process is complete. Back it up, or take your chances.

OK, now that everything is safely backed up, let's proceed. :-)

To do this, you'll need the Slackware 12.1 packages.  If these are on a CD,
create a new directory to mount the CD on so that it doesn't get in the way
during the upgrade:

mkdir /packages
mount /dev/cdrom /packages

The packages don't have to be on a CD-ROM, as an alternative you could
copy the slackware directory (the one with the various package
subdirectories in it, basically the "slackware" directory from the install
CD) to someplace like /root/slackware/.  The important thing is that you
know where the slackware packages directory is.  We'll use /root/slackware
in the following examples.


0.  Put your machine in single-user mode:
    telinit 1


1.  Upgrade your glibc shared libraries.  This is important, or things
    might go haywire during the first part of the upgrade:

    upgradepkg /root/slackware/a/glibc-solibs-*.tgz


2.  Upgrade your package utilities:

    upgradepkg /root/slackware/a/pkgtools-*.tgz


3.  Upgrade everything else (and install new packages):

    upgradepkg --install-new /root/slackware/*/*.tgz

    If you wish to upgrade everything except for the KDEI language
    packs for KDE (these take a lot of space and can be dealt with
    after the main upgrade more quickly and easily), running this
    script in the "slackware" directory will do the trick:

    #!/bin/sh
    for dir in a ap d e f k kde l n t tcl x xap y ; do
      ( cd $dir ; upgradepkg --install-new *.tgz )
    done


4.  Make sure your system will boot.  First, be sure your initrd is up
    to date (if you use one).  If you use LILO, make sure the paths in
    /etc/lilo.conf point to a valid kernel and then type 'lilo' to
    reinstall LILO.  If you use a USB memory stick to boot, be sure to
    copy the new kernel to it in place of the old one.

5.  Remove obsolete packages.  The CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT file should have a
    list of these.  You may also wish to go into /var/log/packages and take
    a look at the package list:

    ls -lt | less

    You may spot some old, obsolete, or discontinued packages.  If so,
    you can remove these using 'removepkg'.


6.  Fix your config files.  Some of the config files in /etc are going to 
    need your attention.  You'll find the new incoming config files on 
    your system with the ".new" extension.  You may need to fill these in 
    with information from your old config files and then move them over.

    Feel brave?  You can use this little script to install all of the
    .new config files in /etc.  If you've made any local changes you'll
    need to add them to the newly installed files.  Your old config files
    will be copied to *.bak.  Anyway, it might be an easier starting
    point.  Here it is:

     #!/bin/sh
     cd /etc
     find . -name "*.new" | while read configfile ; do
       if [ ! "$configfile" = "./rc.d/rc.inet1.conf.new" \
         -a ! "$configfile" = "./group.new" \
         -a ! "$configfile" = "./passwd.new" \
         -a ! "$configfile" = "./shadow.new" ]; then
         cp -a $(echo $configfile | rev | cut -f 2- -d . | rev) \
           $(echo $configfile | rev | cut -f 2- -d . | rev).bak 2> /dev/null
         mv $configfile $(echo $configfile | rev | cut -f 2- -d . | rev)
       fi
     done


7.  If you use a non-en_US language pack for KDE and you already have it
    installed, then you may upgrade it by moving into the slackware/kdei
    directory and using this command:

    upgradepkg --install-new k*<your KDE locale>*tgz

    To have upgradepkg cycle through all of the available packages, and
    see which ones need to be upgraded, use this in slakckare/kdei:

    upgradepkg *tgz

    If your language has been added to KDE since Slackware 12.0, you'll
    need to install it using installpkg, or upgradepkg --install-new.
   
    Typically you'll need to make sure that you have installed the
    slackware/kdei packages for kde, koffice, and k3b (if you use those).


8.  Return to multi-user mode:
    telinit 3


At this point you should be running Slackware 12.1.  :-)

I wish everyone good luck with this!

---
Patrick Volkerding
volkerdi@slackware.com