Overall status

[NeonJohn]

Hey guys and Tim in particular.

I've been hugely busy starting a new induction heater company (Fluxeon
split) and related things and have kinda lost track of where things are now.

My Grase machine is a 12.04LTS desktop machine that really isn't used
for anything else right now.

I would like to bring everything current. I'm thinking 14.04LTS and
Grase 3.8.0?

This machine has been upgraded since Ubuntu 6 or thereabouts so there is
a lot of cruft on it. I'm thinking that a clean install would be
appropriate.

I'm an EE and embedded system programmer. I know Linux fairly well but
know nothing about SQL or how routing works.

So my question is: What do I need to do to upgrade? What do I need to
backup? I have a couple hundred seasonal users so I don't want to lose
the user databases.

Thanks,
John

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Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
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[Timothy White]

Hi John

In theory, you can just do an Ubuntu upgrade to 14.04, then follow the install steps for the latest stable version, which should reinstall anything that is removed during the upgrade. The database should remain intact.

However, a new install is a great idea as well. What version of Grase do you currently have installed?

I would personally go a 2 step approach.

First, upgrade the Grase install to the latest, this will ensure all database upgrades are run. Then take a database dump (both the radius and radmin databases). Obviously checking that these dumps are correct is critical. There is a daily backup in /var/backups/grase, so maybe take a copy from there as well.

Then install your new server, and setup Grase. Lastly, restore the database dumps to the new server.

This will get you a new clean server, with no cruft, and your users database. If you can, please avoid desktop installs of Ubuntu, and go for server installs.

Looking forward to hearing how things go. Give a shout if you need more help.

Regards

Tim

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[NeonJohn]

On 01/28/2016 04:18 PM, Timothy White wrote:
> Hi John
>
> In theory, you can just do an Ubuntu upgrade to 14.04, then follow the
> install steps for the latest stable version, which should reinstall
> anything that is removed during the upgrade. The database should remain
> intact.
>
> However, a new install is a great idea as well. What version of Grase do
> you currently have installed?

v3.7.7.11

> I would personally go a 2 step approach.
> First, upgrade the Grase install to the latest, this will ensure all
> database upgrades are run.

So 3.8 will install on 12.04? I had the notion in my mind that it would
not. Good to know.

Then take a database dump (both the radius and
> radmin databases). Obviously checking that these dumps are correct is
> critical. There is a daily backup in /var/backups/grase, so maybe take a
> copy from there as well.

Taking a database dump (at the database outhouse? :-), is that a Grase
GUI function or do I have to dig down and learn something about how
Grase works?

This time of year (this is a trout fishing resort), the system is pretty
inactive so would I be safe just grabbing the newest /var/backups/grase
files?

> Then install your new server, and setup Grase. Lastly, restore the database
> dumps to the new server.
>
> This will get you a new clean server, with no cruft, and your users
> database. If you can, please avoid desktop installs of Ubuntu, and go for
> server installs.

That turned my head. I've been running the GUI all this time with
12.04. Is there something to trip me up in 14.04? I would otherwise be
running the Gnome retro desktop.

>
> Looking forward to hearing how things go. Give a shout if you need more
> help.

Thanks. It may be a couple of weeks before I give it a shot. Trying to
get product out the door right now.

[Timothy White]

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 11:23 AM, NeonJohn <j...@neon-john.com> wrote:

> I would personally go a 2 step approach.
> First, upgrade the Grase install to the latest, this will ensure all
> database upgrades are run.

So 3.8 will install on 12.04?  I had the notion in my mind that it would
not.  Good to know.

It should work. I have done tests to make sure, but my testing has been focused on 14.04 and Debian 7/8. 

Then take a database dump (both the radius and
> radmin databases). Obviously checking that these dumps are correct is
> critical. There is a daily backup in /var/backups/grase, so maybe take a
> copy from there as well.

Taking a database dump (at the database outhouse? :-), is that a Grase
GUI function or do I have to dig down and learn something about how
Grase works?

This time of year (this is a trout fishing resort), the system is pretty
inactive so would I be safe just grabbing the newest /var/backups/grase
files?

If you aren't worried about "todays" data, just grab the /var/backups/grase file. Probably still a good idea to check the data is valid. A database dump is a mysqldump command to export the entire database, structure and data. There are 2 databases, radius and radmin.

 

> Then install your new server, and setup Grase. Lastly, restore the database
> dumps to the new server.
>
> This will get you a new clean server, with no cruft, and your users
> database. If you can, please avoid desktop installs of Ubuntu, and go for
> server installs.

That turned my head.  I've been running the GUI all this time with
12.04.  Is there something to trip me up in 14.04?  I would otherwise be
running the Gnome retro desktop.

I tell people to avoid the Gui, as that avoids Network Manager being installed, which causes the most issues. If you need the GUI, that's fine, there are just some extra steps for Network Manager in the install the verify. 

>
> Looking forward to hearing how things go. Give a shout if you need more
> help.

Thanks.  It may be a couple of weeks before I give it a shot.  Trying to
get product out the door right now.

No problem.

Tim