[comp.unix.i386] Upgrade/Install Scripts

eric@egsner.cirr.com (Eric Schnoebelen) (07/08/90)

In article <1990Jul07.125218.24439@virtech.uucp> cpcahil@virtech.UUCP
		 (Conor P. Cahill) writes:
- In article <6417@gaboon.UUCP> asv@gaboon.UUCP (Stan Voket) writes:
- >     Has anyone done the upgrade rather than the destructive reinstall on a
- >     big ESDI disk?  Any problems with mail and news not working?
- 
- I did the upgrade on a 680MB ESDI drive and had just a couple of problems (
- like some of my crontab entries got blown away, my gettydefs file got blown
- away,etc).

        I don't see why those files have to be destroyed by the upgrade.
I have just spent the last several weeks working on Convex's next OS
release install tapes, and our install scripts go to great lengths to
not destroy any configuration files, such as gettytab, ttys, passwd,
rc.* and others (ConvexOS is a BSD system, after all).  These
contortions on the part of our install script leaves the upgraded
machine with the same configuration as it originally had, and suggests
the user merge in the new functionality from the new default control
files.

        It is not that hard to determine what files shouldn't be
overwritten, and have the install scripts save them off to the side, and
then replace them to their original home when the install is done.  The
new (improved?) configuration files could be saved off to the side, and
the user told to use them as a prototype for upgrading the existing
configuration files.

        And I know that ISC's install diskette format makes such a
script much easier than the monolithic thing I have been maintaining/updating.

        How about it ISC?  Will we be seeing such a feature in the
Install routines of future releases?

[ ps.  of the last several weeks, only a few hours were spent actually
writing/updating said install script.  Thus it is not that hard..]
-- 
Eric Schnoebelen		eric@cirr.com		schnoebe@convex.com
	Real Programmers don't write specs.  Users should be grateful for
	    whatever they get.  They are lucky to get any program at all.