Migrating from RedHat to Fedora

Background

I've currently "got the hook up" for using apt-get with the SILUG repositories on a RH7.3 box.
What's the process for upgrading RH7.3 to RH9.0 or FC1?
Is it as simple as switching to the new sources and then performing an

apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade

Steve's Answer

Almost.

NOTE: I've only done this (RH 7.3 to FC 1) once, and that was on a pretty minimal install (one of my test UML boxes).

1) Change /etc/apt/sources.list

rpm http://apt.kspei.com fedora/1/i386 os updates stable

"os" and "updates" are FC1, "stable" is fedora.us. Add other repositories as needed. (See my previous posts on installing apt on FC1.)

2) Install the "new" apt from the new distribution

apt-get update && apt-get install apt

3) Install Red Hat's gpg key.

Some things are still signed with it instead of the Fedora key for some reason.

cd /etc/apt/gpg \
  && links -source \
    http://ftp.kspei.com/pub/redhat/linux/9/en/os/i386/RPM-GPG-KEY \
    > gpg-pubkey-db42a60e-37ea5438

The next time you run apt, it will import that and any other files that begin with 'gpg-pubkey-' in /etc/apt/gpg. See /usr/lib/apt/scripts/gpg-import.lua.

Be sure to grab the keys for any other repository you use (e.g. freshrpms, my "kspei" stuff, rpm.livna.org, etc.).

4) Install the new kernel

apt-get install kernel\#2.4.22-1.2129.nptl

Note: I didn't actually do this last time, so the next step just installed 2.4.22-1.2115.nptl, which I then had to upgrade, so I think this order will work better.

5) Upgrade the distribution

apt-get dist-upgrade

It should work. Note that upgrading RH9->FC1 had a minor issue with some perl stuff moving around causing conflicts, but I didn't see anything like that going from RH 7.3 to FC1 for whatever reason.

Steve's Other Answer

This assumes that you already have apt installed (from freshrpms, for example). Also note that this only applies to Fedora Core 1, although it should work for upgrading from just about any version of Red Hat Linux. (If you are upgrading from Red Hat 8.0, please consider just upgrading via CD. There are bugs in Red Hat 8.0's rpm that are exponentially more likely to bite you in the ass on big rpm transactions.)

1) Update /etc/apt/sources.list:

# os        = Fedora Core packages
# updates   = Fedora Core updates
# stable    = Fedora.us (Extras) packages
# kspei     = Steve's random stuff (optional, mostly stuff submitted to fedora.us)
# freshrpms = freshrpms.net packages (optional, mostly desktop stuff)
rpm http://apt.kspei.com fedora/1/i386 os updates stable kspei freshrpms
rpm-src http://apt.kspei.com fedora/1/i386 os updates stable kspei freshrpms

# Fedora Extras non-US packages (optional)
rpm http://rpm.livna.org fedora/1/i386 stable
rpm-src http://rpm.livna.org fedora/1/i386 stable

# Macromedia Flash plug-in (optional)
rpm http://sluglug.ucsc.edu/macromedia/apt fedora/1 macromedia

2) Create/edit /etc/apt/preferences:

Package: *
Pin: release c=os
Pin-Priority: 992

Package: *
Pin: release c=stable
Pin-Priority: 991

This will help prevent any conflicts between the various repositories.

3) apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade

If apt-get dist-upgrade fails, you probably just need to clean some things up manually. The simplest route is usually to just apt-get remove the offending packages.

For safety, after upgrading rpm, always run rpm --rebuilddb before doing anything else.

4) Run apt-get update to run the mirror selector (press q since you are already using a mirror) and check for any problems. apt-get -f install should fix any problems. If not, try apt-get -f dist-upgrade, but be sure not to let apt remove anything that shouldn't be removed.

5) The next fun thing is to update gpg keys for any of the non-Fedora repositories you want to use.

# My key, for the "kspei" stuff.
wget -O /etc/apt/gpg/gpg-pubkey-cf71a040-3cf27730 http://apt.kspei.com/conf/gpg-pubkey-cf71a040-3cf27730
# Freshrpms key
wget -O /etc/apt/gpg/gpg-pubkey-e42d547b-3960bdf1 http://ftp.kspei.com/pub/freshrpms/RPM-GPG-KEY
# Livna key
wget -O /etc/apt/gpg/gpg-pubkey-a109b1ec-3f6e28d5 http://rpm.livna.org/RPM-LIVNA-GPG-KEY

apt-get will automatically install any gpg keys the next time you run it (assuming they're in /etc/apt/gpg/ and are named gpg-pubkey-*.

6) apt-get dist-upgrade again. That should upgrade your kernel to the latest version and install a few things that the newer version of apt knows about (like replacing redhat-release with fedora-release.

7) Reboot. You should be all done.