TOPIC: WEBMIN
Upgrading a web server from Debian 11 to Debian 12
25th November 2024While Debian 12 may be with us since the middle of 2023 and Debian 13 is due in the middle of next year, it has taken me until now to upgrade one of my web servers. The tardiness may have something to do with a mishap on another system that resulted in a rebuild, something to avoid it at all possible.
Nevertheless, I went and had a go with the aforementioned web server after doing some advance research. Thus, I can relate the process that you find here in the knowledge that it worked for me. Also, I will have it on file for everyone's future reference. The first step is to ensure that the system is up-to-date by executing the following commands:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt dist-upgrade
Next, it is best to remove extraneous packages using these commands:
sudo apt --purge autoremove
sudo apt autoclean
Once you have backed up important data and configuration files, you can move to the first step of the upgrade process. This involves changing the repository locations from what is there for bullseye (Debian 11) to those for bookworm (Debian 12). Issuing the following commands will accomplish this:
sudo sed -i 's/bullseye/bookworm/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo sed -i 's/bullseye/bookworm/g' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*
In my case, I found the second of these to be extraneous since everything was included in the single file. Also, Debian 12 has added a new non-free repository called non-free-firmware. This can be added at this stage by manual editing of the above. In my case, I did it later because the warning message only began to appear at that stage.
Once the repository locations, it is time to update the package information using the following command:
sudo apt update
Then, it is time to first perform a minimal upgrade using the following command, that takes a conservative approach by updating existing packages without installing any new ones:
sudo apt upgrade --without-new-pkgs
Once that has completed, one needs to issue the following command to install new packages if needed for dependencies and even remove incompatible or unnecessary ones, as well as performing kernel upgrades:
sudo apt full-upgrade
Given all the changes, the completion of the foregoing commands' execution necessitates a system restart, which can be the most nerve-wracking part of the process when you are dealing with a remote server accessed using SSH. While, there are a few options for accomplishing this, here is one that is compatible with the upgrade cycle:
sudo systemctl reboot
Once you can log back into the system again, there is one more piece of housekeeping needed. This step not only removes redundant packages that were automatically installed, but also does the same for their configuration files, an act that really cleans up things. The command to execute is as follows:
sudo apt --purge autoremove
For added reassurance that the upgrade has completed, issuing the following command will show details like the operating system's distributor ID, description, release version and codename:
lsb_release -a
If you run the above commands as root, the sudo prefix is not needed, yet it is perhaps safer to execute them under a less privileged account anyway. The process needs the paying of attention to any prompts and questions about configuration files and service restarts if they arise. Nothing like that came up in my case, possibly because this web server serves flat files created using Hugo, avoiding the use of scripting and databases, which would add to the system complexity. Such a simple situation makes the use of scripting more of a possibility. The exercise was speedy enough for me too, though patience is of the essence should a 30–60 minute completion time be your lot, depending on your system and internet speed.
Setting up MySQL on Sabayon Linux
27th September 2012For quite a while now, I have offline web servers for doing a spot of tweaking and tinkering away from the gaze of web users that visit what I have on there. Therefore, one of the tests that I apply to any prospective main Linux distro is the ability to set up a web server on there. This is more straightforward for some than for others. For Ubuntu and Linux Mint, it is a matter of installing the required software and doing a small bit of configuration. My experience with Sabayon is that it needs a little more effort than this, so I am sharing it here for the installation of MySQL.
The first step is to install the software using the commands that you find below. The first pops the software onto the system while the second completes the set-up. The --basedir option is need with the latter because it won't find things without it. It specifies the base location on the system, and it's /usr in my case.
sudo equo install dev-db/mysql
sudo /usr/bin/mysql_install_db --basedir=/usr
With the above complete, it's time to start the database server and set the password for the root user. That's what the two following commands achieve. Once your root password is set, you can go about creating databases and adding other users using the MySQL command line
sudo /etc/init.d/mysql start
mysqladmin -u root password 'password'
The last step is to set the database server to start every time you start your Sabayon system. The first command adds an entry for MySQL to the default run level so that this happens. The purpose of the second command is to check that this happened before restarting your computer to discover if it really happens. This procedure also is necessary for having an Apache web server behave in the same way, so the commands are worth having and even may have a use for other services on your system. ProFTP is another that comes to mind, for instance.
sudo rc-update add mysql default
sudo rc-update show | grep mysql
Taking the sudo command beyond Ubuntu
27th October 2010Though some may call it introducing a security risk, being able to execute administrator commands on Ubuntu using sudo and gksu by default is handy. It's not the only Linux distribution with the facility, though, since the /etc/sudoers file is found in Debian and I plan to have a look into Fedora. The thing that needs to be done is to add the following line to the aforementioned file (you will need to do this as root):
[your user name] ALL=(ALL) ALL
One that is done, you are all set. Just make sure that you're using a secure password, though, and removing the sudo/gksu permissions is as simple as reversing the change.
Update on 2011-12-03: The very same can be done for both Arch Linux and Fedora, The same file locations apply too.
A quick way to do an update
8th August 2008Here's a quick way to get the latest updates on your PC using the command line if you are using Ubuntu or Debian:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
Of course, you can split these commands up if you prefer to look before you leap. At the very least, it's so much slicker than the GUI route.