Member Avatar for jbennet

I want to upgrade my install of redhat 9 to CentOS 3.x

reackon it would work for me just to import thier GPG key, install yum, install their release file, then do yum upgrade?

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Short, practical addendum tied to the thread: converting a Red Hat 9 install into a CentOS 3.x system is effectively a migration between different distribution bases. was right to recommend testing in a virtual machine first; that isolates boot, package and driver problems. Given reported a working result but noticed reduced responsiveness, a cautious workflow and a few checks will save time and avoid data loss.

Checklist to follow before any conversion attempt (do this on the live system and on a VM test copy):

  • Full filesystem and config backups: /etc, /boot, /home, /var/lib/mysql (or other DB dirs).
  • Export installed packages so you can compare and reinstall on a clean system:
tar -czf /root/backup-etc-boot.tgz /etc /boot
rpm -qa > /root/rpm-installed.txt
mysqldump --all-databases > /root/all-databases.sql
tar -czf /root/home-backup.tgz /home
  • Prefer a fresh CentOS install on a spare disk or VM and migrate data and services rather than an in-place wholesale conversion. Reinstall third-party or kernel-level packages manually; package names and dependencies will differ across trees.
  • If you try an in-place approach, work in small groups of packages and keep the RPM database healthy (rpm --rebuilddb), check logs (/var/log/messages, dmesg) and verify bootloader/initramfs after kernel changes.
  • If performance differs after conversion, compare uname -a, review running services (chkconfig --list / service), and collect top, vmstat, iostat output to pinpoint I/O vs CPU sources.

Final note: both Red Hat 9 and CentOS 3 are long out of support. For production or internet-connected systems prefer a maintained, supported release.

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Member Avatar for Stylish

Try it in a Virtual Machine first:

Create VM, install RH 9, attempt upgrade to CentOS 3.x.

Good luck!

Member Avatar for jbennet

Tried it abut an hour ago. It worked. Got a slightly more modern system now, slower than RH9 but oh well.

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