ramesh@cbnewsl.att.com (nallepilli.s.ramesh) (12/31/90)
Hi! I have a very basic question on upgrading system SW on DEC3100. We periodically get upgrades from DEC, and I am not sure what the best way to upgrade is? If I go through the installation procedure in the upgrade documents, I have to reeconfigure and reisnatll all the system specific files that need to be modified for a specific system (ex; /etc/passwd /etc/hosts UUCP files, crontab etc.) This is painful and takes a long time, and sometimes one forgets some files that have been modified, in the previous release. Is there a way to install the new subsets without thrashing user modified setup files? On a similar note I have a non DEC disk that is used for /usr . Unfortunately I am unable to specify it in the installation procedure, since the system doesn't recognise it. (It is a wren VI) This means I have to first load the SW to a DEC disk and then copy the whole /usr tree to the WRENVI. Is there a way out?? Desperate. Any help appreciated. Thanks. N. Ramesh (att!harpo!ramesh) Subject: Upgrading DEC3100 software -- Beginner question? Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec Distribution: na Hi! I have a very basic question on upgrading system SW on DEC3100. We periodically get upgrades from DEC, and I am not sure what the best way to upgrade is? If I go through the installation procedure in the upgrade documents, I have to reeconfigure and reisnatll all the system specific files that need to be modified for a specific system (ex; /etc/passwd /etc/hosts UUCP files, crontab etc.) This is painful and takes a long time, and sometimes one forgets some files that have been modified, in the previous release. Is there a way to install the new subsets without thrashing user modified setup files? On a similar note I have a non DEC disk that is used for /usr . Unfortunately I am unable to specify it in the installation procedure, since the system doesn't recognise it. (It is a wren VI) This means I have to first load the SW to a DEC disk and then copy the whole /usr tree to the WRENVI. Is there a way out?? Desperate. Any help appreciated. Thanks. N. Ramesh (att!harpo!ramesh)
alan@shodha.enet.dec.com ( Alan's Home for Wayward Notes File.) (01/02/91)
In article <1990Dec31.151103.2735@cbnewsl.att.com>, ramesh@cbnewsl.att.com (nallepilli.s.ramesh) writes: > [ A commentary on some reinstallations vs. upgrades. ] > > Is there a way to install the new subsets without thrashing user modified > setup files? It depends on the versions. Hopefully the following will be a list of the variations: V3.0 to V3.1 - This was distributed as a real upgrade. V3.x to V4.0 - This is a full reinstallation. Nothing to do, but remember all the files you've changed and restore them. V3.x to V4.1 - Reinstallation. V4.0 to V4.1 - At the moment V4.1 is a complete installation. Sometime soon, the V4.1 upgrade will be available. The way an upgrade is done is to delete everything in the old subset, then install the new subset. In some cases we just overwrite the old pieces of the subset. The problem with deleting all the old stuff is that when the BASE subset goes, many of the programs needed by the upgrade also go and the upgrade falls over on it's face. > On a similar note I have a non DEC disk that is used for /usr . Unfortunately > I am unable to specify it in the installation procedure, since the > system doesn't recognise it. (It is a wren VI) This means I have to first > load the SW to a DEC disk and then copy the whole /usr tree to the WRENVI. > > Is there a way out?? None that I know of, though you might try looking at the scripts left around by the installation procedure to see you they can be hacked. Such hacking is of course UNSUPPORTED and if you have any problems because of it, you're on your own. > > N. Ramesh (att!harpo!ramesh) -- Alan Rollow alan@nabeth.enet.dec.com
mike@denali.uss.tek.com (Michael Ewan) (01/03/91)
In article <1990Dec31.151103.2735@cbnewsl.att.com> ramesh@cbnewsl.att.com (nallepilli.s.ramesh) writes: >On a similar note I have a non DEC disk that is used for /usr . Unfortunately >I am unable to specify it in the installation procedure, since the >system doesn't recognise it. (It is a wren VI) This means I have to first >load the SW to a DEC disk and then copy the whole /usr tree to the WRENVI. The way I did it was as follows: Let the install script install the root partition. Interupt the script. Newfs the /usr partition manually. Install the UxxBASE400 subset. Build a new kernal that understands the non-DEC disk. Reboot. Move the /usr partition to the non-DEC disk. Hack the install script(s) to install the rest of the system. These are in /install.tmp. Look at /.profile to see how they get called. It's somewhat tedious but can be done. Have fun. -- Michael Ewan (503)627-6468 Internet: mike@raven.USS.TEK.COM Unix Systems Support UUCP: ...!tektronix!puffin!raven!mike Tektronix, Inc. Compuserve: 73747,2304 "Fig Newton: The force required to accelerate a fig 39.37 inches/sec."--J. Hart