[CentOS] Re: Reboots -- Short Answer

[Bryan J. Smith]

On Thu, 2005-06-02 at 21:34 -0400, James Olin Oden wrote:
> While I agree with most of your points (the short and long version), I
> think that when you update software on your production servers during
> a maintenance window, its generally a good idea to do a reboot then to
> make sure that your not supprised years later.

I never disagreed with this.  In fact, if you want to test for boot-time
issues, the time to do it _is_ when you have upgraded some details _and_
are in that maintenance window.

I typically find that I'm maintaining a configuration management set
whereby I have at least 1 system non-production and I can already test
for this, and any variation in production.  But if you're going to do it
-- e.g., if you suspect that power or other interruptions will possibly
occur -- then by all means, that _is_ the time to do it.

I was just basically saying don't reboot just because you have a window.
I always reboot my NT servers once a week, and I cringe to see new Linux
administrators try to apply the same logic.  ;->

> It has nothing to do with fixing some problem or Linux really needing
> the reboot, but more of a test to make sure that if/when you loose
> power or for some other reason you have to reboot, that you some level
> of confidence that the box will reboot clean and all production
> services are available.

And you would know your environment better than I.  If that is a real
possibility, then that's the time to do it -- when you change something
during a maintenance window.


-- 
Bryan J. Smith                                     b.j.smith at ieee.org 
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