[plug] red hat upgrade

[Craig Ringer]

Jon Miller wrote:
> Like to know if it's possible to update rh7.2 to latest version of fedora
> without breaking apps like mysql and a few modules that runs on this server
 > (it our database server) and it's really come to the end of it use by 
date.

The best answer there is "maybe, try it on a clone install and see". 
glibc is usually fairly backward compatible, as is the plain C ABI, so 
if it's a MySQL install you did yourself you may be OK. It'll depend a 
lot on what dependencies MySQL and any associated modules have.

I would suggest, though, that you try moving your database to a new 
version of MySQL while you're at it. This would simplify the upgrade 
(well, depending again on what those "few modules" you didn't really 
describe are and need) and get you a more modern, nicer DB server. MySQL 
4.x is VERY compatible with older versions (IIRC it even has 
binary-compatible drop-in replacement v3 emulation client libraries) and 
should be fuss-free to upgrade to unless you have a customised or 
seriously extended version.

In fact, you might well want to consider clean-installing the server and 
migrating the apps across to the new server and MySQL install. This 
permits a much lower-stress migration, as the new system can be tested 
while the old is still running, and lets you make other changes that 
might've been put off due to downtime concerns.

Anyway, to be able to give any more useful answer than "try it and see" 
I'd need to know exactly what your plans are, what things you use are 
package managed vs self installs, what exactly those "few modules" are 
(and what they depend on) etc. Even then, all anyone can say is a best 
guess - it's not like RG7.2 -> FC4 is a common upgrade.

Oh, any chance you can turn off the HTML crud your mail client attaches? 
It doesn't even do it correctly (multipart/alternative MIME) so it shows 
up even in clients that know about HTML email.

--
Craig Ringer