Upgrade path

[Eduardo Mercovich]

Dear Mu4ers.

Mail is fundamental for me and I have an ancient version of mu4e
so
because I am afraid of the dedication it could need if upgrading
goes
wrong.

However, and while the ancient one works ok, that is not a good
policy,
so I will upgrade to the current version.

My question is about the upgrade path: what is more secure,
upgrade
major version by version, or go directly to the current one?
(reading
all the intermediate news.org, of course).

As always, thanks a lot for your kind attention and sharing. :)

Best...



--
Eduardo Mercovich

Donde se cruzan tus talentos
con las necesidades del mundo,
ahí está tu vocación.
(Anónimo)

[Joost Kremers]

On Tue, Apr 15 2025, Eduardo Mercovich wrote:
> so I will upgrade to the current version. My question is about the upgrade
> path: what is more secure, upgrade
> major version by version, or go directly to the current one? (reading
> all the intermediate news.org, of course).

I don't see why you would upgrade version by version, given that your mail
stays the same. Upgrading version by version only makes sense for software
that keeps some internal database that cannot be recreated, but that's not
the case for mu4e. In fact, you will *have* to recreate the database on
each major version upgrade, so why do it step-wise?

Your config is the bigger problem, but I think if you go through the NEWS
file, pay attention to the things that affect your config, and read the
manual where necessary, you should be able to update it and have it work
for the latest version.

That's how I would do it, anyway.

--
Joost Kremers
Life has its moments

[jman]

Eduardo Mercovich <eduardo....@gmail.com> writes:

> Mail is fundamental for me and I have an ancient version of mu4e so
> because I am afraid of the dedication it could need if upgrading goes
> wrong. However, and while the ancient one works ok, that is not a good
> policy,
> so I will upgrade to the current version. My question is about the
> upgrade path: what is more secure, upgrade
> major version by version, or go directly to the current one? (reading
> all the intermediate news.org, of course).

How old is your version? Are you using a packaged version from a Linux distribution?

If I remember correctly upgrading from 1.6 and 1.8 was quite painful. In any case breaking changes
are all documented in the changelog so you'll have to look at that and apply the changes.

If you cannot afford any downtime with your mail (which is understandable), an option coulkd be to
duplicate somewhere else your current mu4e+config+mail, then upgrade to the latest mu4e and see what
happens.

Cheers,

[Eduardo Mercovich]

Dear Joost and Jman.

>> [...] what is more secure, upgrade major version by version,

>> or go
>> directly to the current one? (reading all the intermediate
>> news.org,
>> of course).

> I don't see why you would upgrade version by version, given
> that your mail
> stays the same. Upgrading version by version only makes sense
> for software

> that keeps some internal database [...] you will *have* to

> recreate
> the database on each major version upgrade, so why do it
> step-wise?

Ah, got it. Didn't knew it and makes total sense to go straight
to the
last one.

> Your config is the bigger problem, but I think if you go
> through the NEWS
> file, pay attention to the things that affect your config, and
> read the
> manual where necessary, you should be able to update it and
> have it work
> for the latest version.

Yes, all the news.org files should be reviewed. :)

> How old is your version? Are you using a packaged version from
> a Linux
> distribution?

Very old, 1.6.6. And no, I compiled from source if I recall it
right.

> If I remember correctly upgrading from 1.6 and 1.8 was quite
> painful.
> In any case breaking changes are all documented in the
> changelog so
> you'll have to look at that and apply the changes.

Yes, as mentioned before/up, all news.org should be reviewed. :)

> If you cannot afford any downtime with your mail (which is
> understandable), an option coulkd be to duplicate somewhere
> else your
> current mu4e+config+mail, then upgrade to the latest mu4e and
> see what
> happens.

That is a great idea. I am moving to guix, but still don't know
as much
as to do those things and my mu4e install is from before that
anyway.

All in all, I understand (trying clarity for a future someone
that may
need and read this):

1. makes sense to go directly to the last version.

2. We need to review each and every version changes.

3. The biggest issue is probably on my config (so see pt 2).

If this is ok, thank you both very much for sharing time and
attention.
:)

Warm regards...