Re: upgrading an old system

[Brett Lymn <blymn%internode.on.net@localhost>]

On Mon, Aug 15, 2016 at 07:15:01PM +0100, Steve Blinkhorn wrote:
> 
> I have both the machines running normally, and I've backed up everything I
> need to keep.   Is there a way of upgrading these machines by placing
> initial installation files on their hard drives, say in a /altboot
> directory, bootin from there and doing the rest over NFS or FTP?   I
> have to do an install because I think both machines need new boot
> blocks to even boot newer releases.   I also need to change the disk
> layout to add more swap space and create /tmp on disk rather than in an
> MFS.
> 

You could consider doing a netboot (if that works) and doing the install
that way.

If you weren't wanting to change the disk about then I would suggest
copying all the install sets into a convenient location on the machine,
copying the kernel to / with a different name.  Then try a single user
mode boot from the new kernel.  If that boots then you should just be
able to unpack the install sets using tar (tar zxpf ... ) with / as your
current working directory.

Have you considered putting a second disk into the machine?  You could
partition it, unpack the sets, install the new kernel, install the boot
blocks (using installboot being VERY VERY careful you get the correct
disk).  Then remove the old hard disk and (hopefully) boot from the new
one.

-- 
Brett Lymn