System Upgrade How-To

Novell Cool Solutions: Feature
By Scott M. Morris

Digg This - Slashdot This Posted: 2 Feb 2005

This article has been updated for SUSE 10.0. Please refer to the newer article.

If you're like I am, only the latest possible version of your software will do. This includes the recent availability of a new version of my window manager of choice, KDE. After the discovery that the new versions were available, it was a snap to retrieve and install the upgrades. Updating software in YAST is perhaps the easiest of any distribution I have used. Let's walk through how to do this.

One-Time Setup

These first steps you only have to do once. The next time you want to check for new versions, skip down to the "Performing the Update" section, below.

The first thing we need to do is tell YAST where to look for the upgrades. To do this, open up YAST. From the options on the left, SOFTWARE should already be selected. On the right, click CHANGE SOURCE OF INSTALLATION:

The "Software Source Media" window comes up:

This is where we tell YAST where to look for software packages to install them. We are going to add two entries. One will be for general SUSE 9.2 Professional software packages. The other will be for KDE-specific packages.

Click on the ADD drop-down box, and select FTP. Another small window appears:

Type mirror.mcs.anl.gov into the SERVER NAME box. Then put /pub/suse/i386/9.2/ into the DIRECTORY ON SERVER box. When you are done, click OK:

If successful, you will see a new line appear back in the "Software Source Media" window:

Again, click the ADD drop-down box, and select FTP. The small window appears:

Type mirror.mcs.anl.gov into the SERVER NAME box. Then put /pub/suse/i386/supplementary/KDE/update_for_9.2/yast-source into the DIRECTORY ON SERVER box. When you are done, click OK:

Again, another new line appears back in the "Software Source Media" window:

In the "Software Source Media" window, click FINISH.

Performing the Update

If you are not already in YAST, open it now. Click on INSTALL AND REMOVE SOFTWARE on the right:

Eventually, it comes up to the software installation screen:

At the top left, click on the FILTER drop-down box, and select PACKAGE GROUPS. Then, in the box immediately below this, scroll to the bottom, and click on 'zzz All':

Over on the right, in the package list, right-click on any package name. Select ALL IN THIS LIST, and then UPDATE IF NEWER VERSION AVAILABLE:

Most everything that is blue in the package list now has a little black and green recycle icon next to it:

In the lower-right corner of your window, click the ACCEPT button. YAST starts updating your system:

Because of the staggering amount of new packages available, you may have several hundred Megabytes of packages to download. In my case, you can see that I have over a Gigabyte of downloads available.

If you like to have the latest and greatest, SUSE doesn't leave you out in the cold. Novell is doing a great job of providing new updates constantly. This guide will help you keep up to the very latest versions available for your software.

Reader Comments

• Fantastic! If only the documentation said this. Will this work if we add 9.3 to a 9.2 install?
• thanks a lot! I have been searching for this feature a looooong time!!
• very valuable advice. i tried doing it with a mirror site in the UK (http://ftp.mirror.ac.uk/mirror/ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/3.4.3/SuSE/ix86/9.2/) without success though, YAST just hangs forever and i have to clos it with xkill. Any advice?
• Very Helpful. Thanks!
• Really cool solution
• This is sweet. I've always thought that this should be possible, (I've done similer in earlier versions, but had dependancy prob like a previous poster). Now in 10, it's a viable option! Good job Novell/SuSE!
• This is super! I run the upgrade (1.74 GB - 4 hours work for the system - not for me) and all the packages are up to date. I was looking for such a method for a long time. Thanks!
• Freakin' awesome dude!
• Tried to do it for 8.2 and got a bucket load of dependences. How about an article moving from 8.2 to 9.?
• Very nice, do you have any sources for NLD?
• Well written, easy to follow, and just what I needed.
• This is great! I didn't know you could add and prioritize installation sources.
• Very clear explanations of the process. How is this upgrading different from that gotten through YOU (Yast Online Update)? Are there other update mirrors available besides the two sites mentioned in the article?
• Exactly what I need, but I had trouble finding it using the site’s search.
• Good work, keep it up the best instructions I ever seen with walkthrough pictures!! An infinite Thanks. Linuxbeliever
• Thanks alot! Just what I needed, no more no less!
• VERY VERY VERY useful. All SUSE newbies should read this!
• Just what I was looking for, Thanks!
• It is really perfect !!!
• A great help
• I've been looking for about a month for how to upgrade, not just patch. Perfect!
• You don't know how long I've been looking for this. Why don't they teach this in schools?
• Just what I needed Thanks
• Excellent work, but it still doesn't respond my question related to updating the kernel through YOU. I've already tried this once and had to reinstall the whole operating system (there still existed a fix that implied using `mkinitrd -R -u` but, guess what, the mkinitrd package wasn't updated to allow the -R and -u options...) So, I'll keep searching before trying again...
• I got a quick response and a plausible solution to a lingering itch!
• very good!
• Everything the others said; great info!
• Very useful arcticle, indeed. Novell site lacks direct link to this article.
• very important !
• This is great man
• I like it very useful is there any other ftp sites I can use for yast
• Very useful, this is a trick I just recently learned. I also added in a local directory where I can dump rpms downloaded from various sources (which allows YAST to deal with all the dependancies).

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