Upgrading antiX from stable to testing

[Member blur13]

Hi! I just want to make sure I’ve got this right. I did search the forum and found some tangentially relevant information but not a step by step guide. First I install antiX 21, then in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/antix.list I comment out the stable repo and uncomment the testing repo. Same for /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list. And then I’m good to go? sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade?

Should I run “sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade” one time before switching the repos?

I’d be grateful if someone could confirm. Thanks!

[Member ModdIt]

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Hi blur13,
I did a full upgrade then set the repos same as you quote,
then sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

full-upgrade slowly replacing dist-upgrade, both do same job.

Up to now testing rarely has any hiccups, those i have experienced probably
due my many changes to an old install. Enjoying latest software especialy Gimp
which requires a newer Glib C than Bullseye provides.

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

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@blur13:

To answer your questions, yes, the method you used certainly works.

If you are unsure about changes you can either add -s or –simulate to any package upgrade, dist-upgrade or full-upgrade commands or manually examine the proposed changes before proceeding.

I usually just look at the altered package list, in particular looking for packages that are removed or replaced. One or a couple of replacement packages may be OK. A large number of changes, unless an entire release of a major component is planned, could be something to investigate before proceeding. As long as the changes you see are consistent with the upgrade, go ahead.

If you have a backup, a USB drive for installation or replacement, it may not matter. Throw caution to the wind if you are willing to reinstall and especially if you want to see what happens when major changes are made.

I’ve gone all the way from Debian Stable to Debian Unstable (Sid) in a single distribution upgrade, then added even more risk by modifying the repositories to siduction (another distribution). At the time I did the change it worked great, but these are the kind of things that you do to experiment and be prepared to pick up the pieces! I had reinstall plans, had that wacky experiment failed.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 2 weeks ago by Brian Masinick.

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Brian Masinick

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

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https://linux.die.net/man/8/apt-get
Provides details on apt-get. Including options many of us have rarely or never used; some of them are worth knowing in case a particular scenario arises.

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Brian Masinick

[Member ModdIt]

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Tapping man apt then enter in the console brings up the manual for the installed version.
No need for Internet. Just learned from the manual there is a difference between dist-upgrade
and full-upgrade.

For newer users.
Entering man programm name opens the manual pages for pretty much all installed software on a
linux system.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 2 weeks ago by ModdIt.

[Moderator caprea]

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Hi blur13,hi Moddit, for switching to testing repos the lists in the file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
also need to be out commented.That’s important.

I also always out comment the list in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bullseye-backports.list
It doesn’t make sense to use a backports list from bullseye on testing anymore.

Edit: Sometimes if the first full-upgrade to testing wants to remove, install or upgrade quite a lot and the situation becomes unclear for me,
I first do an apt upgrade and afterwards the apt full-upgrade, to make it more comprehensible.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 2 weeks ago by caprea.

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

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Good catches @caprea:

On one hand, it probably would not (very often) cause any conflict if an older repository is included, provided you always install the newest packages.
It would, conversely, create a potential issue if SOME packages came from one release tree and others came from a different tree.
Most of the time it wouldn’t make a difference, but in the boundary cases (such as at the end of one release, and a transition to another release), who knows what could happen.

To be perfectly honest with you, I HAVE done those kinds of things, specifically when I was messing with different Debian releases {stable, testing, unstable}.
I actually tried hard to BREAK it badly. MOST of the time things proceed just fine, but right around a release it’s possible to damage a system beyond repair.

I recommend messing around with all of this, PROVIDED you are fully backed up and/or able to replace the entire system. When you CAN do this safely and can reinstall after a mess, you can learn a lot. If, however, you want ONLY a stable system, I would NEVER recommend doing any of these things. This is ONLY for LEARNING, not for a “best practice”.

Following the recommendations that caprea made are consistent with the best practices, so unless you want to experiment, please follow that advice instead of the craziness I’ve mentioned here; this is only for learning, not for every day use!

Best wishes always.

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Brian Masinick

[Member stevesr0]

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I appreciate this discussion, as someone running Sid.

I double checked my repositories. All are in agreement with the suggestions.

This was timely, as I am trying to understand some confusing dependencies which appear using apt-rdepends -r, but aren’t showing up in a simulated removal of the programs. I posted about this issue in the upgrade from package to package + nosystemd thread (post # 83464).

stevesr0

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

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stevesr0 wrote:

I appreciate this discussion, as someone running Sid.

I double checked my repositories. All are in agreement with the suggestions.

This was timely, as I am trying to understand some confusing dependencies which appear using apt-rdepends -r, but aren’t showing up in a simulated removal of the programs. I posted about this issue in the upgrade from package to package + nosystemd thread (post # 83464).

stevesr0

I don’t know for certain, but is that a potential package issue?

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Brian Masinick

[Member seaken64]

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blur13 wrote:

I did search the forum and found some tangentially relevant information but not a step by step guide.

Hi @blur13, did you find this?

https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/antix-19-to-sid/#post-35011

That is the guide I used and it worked for me.

Also, for everyone observing, it is a good idea to start out with a fresh install and immediately change to “testing” or “sid” repos before you go through all your personal modifications and setup. At least that has been my experience. You can do it at any time but as pointed out by the other comments it can be a little dicey sometimes. Make sure you have a good backup.

Seaken64

[Member blur13]

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seaken64,

Thank you for the link! Very useful!

[Member ModdIt]

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Hi Caprea, Thanks, I assumed when switching repos a user would remember to disable those unneeded.

Maybe we need a real howto, even then depending on package states an update one day may be painless,
day after brings errors as some deps have not moved yet. As long as backups are OK no worry.

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