[CentOS] How to update

Thu Oct 23 15:22:30 UTC 2014
Fred Smith <fredex at fcshome.stoneham.ma.us>

On Thu, Oct 23, 2014 at 08:07:30AM -0700, Néstor wrote:
> HI people,
> 
> I am using centos 5 and I am confused on what file to put in my yum.repo.d
> to update my centos.
> 

do you mean "update", or "upgrade" ??

update simply means to install whatever fixes/enhancements have been
released for Centos 5. you still end up with Centos 5, but it has all
the various fixes/enhancements Centos has made available for it.
You can do the "update" by simply becoming root (in a terminal,
"su -" and enter root's password) then type in "yum update". that's
it.

upgrade means to go to Centos-6 or Centos-7. Until recently, there has
been no centos-blessed upgrade mechanism (though in earlier versions
I have used the installer's upgrade mode, it was always suggested not
to do so because things could go bad in a hurry). 

The recommended method of doing a system upgrade was to back up ALL
your data, install the new version over the prior one, then restore your
data. there is a new upgrade tool now, and some people have tested it,
but I'm not sure if it is officially approved, yet, or not. And,
unfortunately, I don't remember what it's called.

Fred
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