Upgrading an old ipfire System

Getting Started with IPFire Updates Trouble
1

Hello!
I intend to bring an older IPfire system up to date.
Hardware: Netgate SG-2440
Software: IPFire 2.23 (x86_64) - Core Update 134
Can this be upgraded without further ado or should I rather do a new installation of ipfire on this hardware ?

2

Hi @lsv_edra

Welcome to the IPFire community.

Core Update 134 is from nearly three years ago and with 33 Core Updates in between. There have been several major changes to parts of IPFire over that time period and I would suspect that there will likely be some issues with the upgrade over such a large number of Core Updates.

I would recommend doing a backup of your current installation, doing a fresh install and then doing a restore.

Even with this approach there may be some problems when you do the restore as what was backed up for applications in Core Update 137 may be different with Core Update 167 and the old config files for some of the applications may need to be updated to get rid of old deprecated or no longer valid options.

If when you do the restore this prevents IPFire working, due to the deprecated or no longer valid options, you will need to do a fresh install and set IPFire up from scratch.

I would recommend taking a screenshot of each WUI page that you have significantly setup before attempting any upgrade/re-installation so that if you have to do a manual setup you will know what the details of your old setup were.

I would recommend keeping your IPFire system much more up to date in future.

5 Likes
3

Hi @bonnietwin ,
Thank you very much for your detailed answer.
I had already thought of something like that.
Regards
Dirk

4

… Ok, upgrading to the latest Core Update 167 may not be straightforward.
But what about the upgrade to Core Update 141?
At least this is offered in the Pakfire configuration.
Can this be done without any problems?
Or what has to be considered here?
Regards
Dirk

5

If CU 141 is offered, I would just try.
There are chances that the upgrade is possible stepwise.
Nevertheless, document your configuration as Adolf suggested. If the update fails, you need this info for the fresh install.

3 Likes
6

Hi,

um, may I ask what issue you are facing? Does Core Update 167 not work properly in your setup?

Thanks, and best regards,
Peter Müller

7

Hello @pmueller ,
thank you for your post.
But no, I did not say that Core Update 167 would not work.
Please read my thread again from the beginning.
I am talking about upgrading from Core Update 134 to Core Update 167, which probably won’t be easy and straightforward.
Regards
Dirk

1 Like
8

Hi,

while I did read the entire thread, I somehow missed that sentiment. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Thanks, and best regards,
Peter Müller