next up previous contents
Next: LILO de-installation Up: Updates Previous: Kernel update

System upgrade

Normally, system upgrades (i.e. installation or removal of packages, possibly replacement of large a part of the installed binaries) do not affect LILO . Of course, if a new kernel is installed in the process, the normal kernel update procedure has to be followed (see section 4.3.2). Also, if kernels are removed or added, it may be necessary to update the configuration file.

If LILO is updated by this system upgrade, /sbin/lilo should be run before booting the upgraded system. It is generally a good idea not to rely on the upgrade procedure to perform this essential step automatically.

However, system upgrades which involve removal and re-creation of entire partitions (e.g. /, /usr, etc.) are different. First, they should be avoided, because they bear a high risk of losing other critical files, e.g. the /etc/Xconfig you've spent the last week fiddling with. If an upgrade really has to be performed in such a brute-force way, this is equal with total removal of LILO , followed by a new installation. Therefore, the procedures described in the sections 4.4 and 4.3.1 have to be performed. If you've forgotten to make a backup copy of /etc/lilo.conf (and possibly also of /etc/disktab) before the destructive upgrade, you might also have to go through section 4.1.4 again.



Ross Biro
Sat May 20 13:51:22 PDT 1995