How to upgrade or swap the operating system

[hgmichna]

Please help me with a fundamental issue of understanding. I'm running a Plesk-based server on SuSE Linux 10.1, but would like to update the operating system to version 11 or use a different one altogether, like Ubuntu.

Are all Plesk settings independent of the operating system, such that I could back up everything through Plesk, install a new, different Linux server with Plesk, then restore the backups and expect everything to work again? That would be the ideal solution.

If I decide to just upgrade SuSE, could I do that underneath the Plesk installation? I mean, could I upgrade SuSE, then upgrade Plesk, so it pulls in its version that matches the newer SuSE version, and the web and mail server would work again? That would again be the ideal solution.

Or are things more difficult? Are Plesk backups from one Linux server incompatible with Plesk backups from another? Has anybody here done such a thing? What are the problems?

Hans-Georg

 

[faris]

You should never upgrade to a different OS on top of an existing installation of Plesk. It just won't work. So many things will break.

Yes, in theory you can do a complete Plesk backup, copy it somewhere, install new OS, install Plesk, then restore the backup.

HOWEVER, I am personally terrified of Plesk's backups. I have seen and read about too many disasters where the backup is somehow corrupt or just won't restore for various silly reasons.

The very best way to do what you want is to have two servers:

Server 1 = existing server
Server 2 = new server, with new OS and new Plesk.

You can then use the Plesk Migration Manager to migrate all domains from the old server to the new one. Migration Manager usually works

If necessary you can just rent Server 2 for a month. After you have Migrated everything to Server 2 and tested that all is well, you can then install the new OS on Server 1, and Migrate from Server 2 to Server 1. Test again. As long as all is OK, you can then kill off Server 2.

To make this work effectively you will need plenty of spare IP addresses, and ideally an external DNS server and a 5 minute TTL in order to minimise downtime.

Faris.

 

[hgmichna]

You should never upgrade to a different OS on top of an existing installation of Plesk. It just won't work. So many things will break.

Yes, in theory you can do a complete Plesk backup, copy it somewhere, install new OS, install Plesk, then restore the backup.

HOWEVER, I am personally terrified of Plesk's backups. I have seen and read about too many disasters where the backup is somehow corrupt or just won't restore for various silly reasons.

Thanks for your good information! I may try it some time later, but I will test it on a second server. Perhaps I'm lucky and can restore the backup. If not, I'll try the Migration Manager.

Hans-Georg

 

[faris]

That sounds like a good idea.

The danger happens if you only have one server, do the backup, upgrade, try to restore and BANG - there's a problem and now you have a backup you can't restore, and the original installation is gone :-(

Faris.