Christopher Juckins

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rocky_linux_10_migration_notes

Rocky Linux 10 Migration Notes

NOTE: The fresh install instructions below were tested on Rocky Linux 10.0 (which is based on Fedora 40)

The instructions below are a work in progress, using Rocky Linux 9 Migration Notes as a starting point and utilizing the Xfce Desktop Environment.

Downloaded the minimal ISO, did my basic install.

  • dnf install net-tools

Installing the bash script produced these errors: 

No match for group package "hardlink"
Error: Unable to find a match: libreoffice*
Error: Unable to find a match: alpine
Error: Unable to find a match: mate-user-admin
Error: Unable to find a match: evince
Error: Unable to find a match: gimp
Error: Unable to find a match: perl-Array-Unique.noarch
Error: Unable to find a match: perl-List-Compare.noarch
Error: Unable to find a match: gparted
Error: Unable to find a match: keepassxc
Error: Unable to find a match: system-config-printer
Error: Unable to find a match: totem
Error: Unable to find a match: wgrib2
Error: Unable to find a match: xrdp
Module or Group 'xfce' is not available.
Error: Nothing to do.
Error: Unable to find a match: xfce4-cpugraph-plugin
Error: Unable to find a match: xfce4-weather-plugin
Error: Unable to find a match: lightdm
Removed '/etc/systemd/system/display-manager.service'.
Failed to enable unit: Unit lightdm.service does not exist

Machine did not boot into any kind of graphical desktop.

Tried full iso and installed GNOME, I just don't like it.

Tried KDE iso and am evaluating it.

* NOTHING BELOW HAS BEEN MODIFIED/TESTED YET *

Before Starting

  • Get inventory of users (see /home)
    • Become familiar with what each one does and the crons they run
  • Copy the following to external hard drive or other machine for restoration after upgrade
    • All users $HOME directories
    • Ensure crons are in each user's $HOME/crontab directory
    • /etc/hosts
    • /etc/samba/smb.conf
    • /var/lib/samba/private/passdb.tbd
    • /var/lib/samba/private/secrets.tbd
    • /etc/vsftpd/*

Installation

  • Perform a minimal or basic install of Rocky Linux 9
  • Backup /etc/selinux/config and change from enforcing to permissive. Reboot.
  • Run the Rocky Linux 10 bash setup script to get the usual extras, add-ons and other packages
  • Reboot target computer and login.
  • Since Xfce will be installed by running the bash script noted above, you can copy in pre-existing configs from another machine that already has Xfce installed.
    • Log out of the target machine
    • Copy files in ~/.config/xfce4/ from another pre-configured machine to the target machine
    • cd .config/xfce4; rsync -avzn –delete –progress . XX.XX.XX.XX:~/.config/xfce4/
    • Copy files in ~/.config/Thunar/ from another pre-configured machine to the target machine
    • cd .config/Thunar; rsync -avzn –delete –progress . XX.XX.XX.XX:~/.config/Thunar/
    • Reboot the target machine
    • See Xfce Desktop image 1 or Xfce Desktop image 2 for suggested icons, placement, etc.
  • Create necessary user accounts
    • mate-user-admin is a graphical admin tool (old tool was system-config-users)
  • Restore user's $HOME directories
    • Copy over non-hidden files/directories first
    • Then rsync other hidden directories in each user's $HOME one-by-one, taking only what is needed
  • Install Apache on Rocky Linux 9
  • Copy/merge in /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf (and all backup versions) from previous machine
  • Test password-restricted pages
  • Run through PHP 8.2 on Rocky Linux 9
  • Copy/merge in a known good /etc/php.ini file from previous machine
  • Ensure a php file loads correctly (localhost, 192.168.X.XX, 127.0.0.1)
  • Check httpd logs for any errors, such as mod security
    • Uninstall mod_security RPMs and restart apache if web pages cycle between Forbidden errors
  • Install phpMyAdmin and use these tips
    • Merge in config.inc.php from previous machine
    • Clear local browser history, then test
    • To create the phpmyadmin database, use the "Import" function and browse to the sql/create_tables.sql script (do this as root db user)
    • To move over users, export from phpMyAdmin on old machine and cut-past into the Import function on new machine.
      • If problematic, save to a .sql file locally and use the Import function.
  • Set up Gmail Relay and test
  • Set up Samba users, passwords, shares (for security cameras)
    • Credentials are stored in my secure password file
      • command will be: smbpasswd -a USER (then enter password at next prompt)
    • Make sure service is running and will start at boot.
    • Check output with: testparm -v
    • The security cameras will need to reformat their nas disk locations to store video files
  • VSFTP (for security cameras)
  • Setup ddclient:
  • Setup duckdns updater cron
  • Setup ydns updater cron
  • Rsync over /var/www/html/
    • Test pages for proper display
    • Check httpd logs for errors
  • Restore and test crons for each user
    • At the top of each user's cron file, add something like [email protected] so that emails sent to localhost are actually delivered to the sys admin
      • Alternatively, look at /etc/aliases and have root send email to my actual email address
    • Check that each cron job runs and the specified log directory exists
    • Modify /etc/environment to include LC_TIME="en_GB.UTF-8" for 24-hour clock used by cron jobs
  • Check network connections and make sure active connection comes up at boot time
  • Restore Thunderbird profile
  • Install VirtualBox
    • Migrate/import VirtualBox machines using these notes
    • I had to create and self-sign MOK (Machine Owner Key) certificates. Info here.
    • My Google Doc "Linux Replacement 2024" has some crude notes
  • Restore Remmina profiles
    • $HOME/.local/share/remmina and $HOME/.config/remmina
  • Test ASMAD for processing end-to-end
    • All perl scripts
    • All python scripts
      • Check my amtrak_status "doc" directory for required python modules
  • Install ClamAV
  • Install local printer
    • Use http://localhost:631/admin and root username/password for credentials
    • If you don't use root credentials, then you need to modify /etc/cups/cups-files.conf and add my username to the SystemGroup line
    • Then restart cups systemctl restart cups
    • Use AppSocket/HP JetDirect to add printer by IP address like ''socket://XX.XX.XX.XX''
    • Choose driver Foomatic/hl1250 en
    • Use option settings to make it the default printer and use 600x600 DPI quality
    • Test using enscript filename.txt (old a2ps command)
    • When using evince to print out PDFs, it seems you need to choose "Print to "LPR".
      • Otherwise the output does not fit the page.
      • Note that Libre Office can print to the printer name "Brother_HL-2170W" without a problem.
    • See if printer is default with lpstat -p -d and/or set it with lpoptions -d PRINTER_NAME
    • lpstat -d should now show the new printer as the default
  • Local RPMs
    • perl-Math-Round
    • Slack
    • sunwait
      • Test with /usr/bin/sunwait -v sun down -0:01:00 33.640411N 84.419853W
  • Check any remaining /etc/yum.repos.d/* configuration setup
    • For example, Ookla Speedtest CLI
      • If Ookla becomes a graphical output, might need to consider dnf install speedtest-cli
  • Mount /disk2 (see adding_a_second_hard_drive)
  • Install PasswordSafe for Linux
  • Add CPU graph and Weather Info to panel
    • Packages are xfce4-cpugraph-plugin and xfce4-weather-plugin which are part of the bash install script noted near top of this page
    • Right-click top panel > Add New Items
    • Add CPU Graph, Weather Info
  • Adjust top and bottom panels
    • Reverse positions
    • Make top panel 24px with icons at fixed 22px
    • Bottom panel 24px with icons at fixed 16px
    • Top panel has these buttons:
      • Show desktop, separator, calculator, xterm, gedit, chrome, chrome beta, firefox, app finder, file manager, screenshot, password safe, keepassxc, shortcut to security cams, VirtualBox, Remmina, XfreeRDP
    • Stop the Keyring popup GUI when starting Chrome (see this post)
      • cd ~/.local/share/keyrings; mv login.keyring login.keyring.IGNORE
      • Log out and log back in or reboot

Post Installation

  • In /root/bin on old/new machines, see final_sync_for_new_server.txt
  • As root, use alpine to check email from crons that indicate any errors or failures
  • Cleanup old files in root, my $HOME
  • Fix date to show 24 hour clock
    • Setting should be in .bashrc
  • If you have slow dnf updates, add these 2 lines to '/etc/dnf/dnf.conf':
    • fastestmirror=1
    • max_parallel_downloads=8

Other Notes

MATE is now available. See MATE Documentation

  • Add System Monitor to panel
    • dnf -y install mate-system-monitor
    • Right-click top panel > Add to Panel
    • In the "Find an item to add to the panel:" search box, enter "System Monitor" and click Add
    • Moving display of current CPU usage should appear

Known issues

  • SHA-1 security signing is not supported on RHEL9 (see RedHat blog post)
    • /etc/cron.daily/google-chrome fails because of this
      • Probably not a critical issue since Chrome can be updated via dnf
rocky_linux_10_migration_notes.txt · Last modified: by juckins