RH9, Plesk 7.0.4 to RHE4, Plesk 7.5+ ???

[StinkiePhish]

It's been a long time coming, but I'm trying to install TCExam software on my Plesk machine and finally need to update it. It requires MySQL 4.1 (we have 3.23), which requires at least Plesk 7.5.4 (we have 7.0.4), and RedHat 9 is now completely depreciated without support and updates.

I am borrowing knowledge from a multitude of posts from various forums, and I'm sure this has been addressed before, but I can't find a definitive guide. I'm merely looking for some opinions on what I understand to be a good method of updating a live, remote server.

Briefly, a solution would be to stage a backup and restore from scratch using a virtual server here in the office. The Plesk update has the potential to be ugly, but by doing it virtually, the hiccups can be taken care of without affecting anything live. Then we can backup and restore, to and from the latest version with ease from the virtual server to a re-imaged remote server.

Here's what I'm thinking in detail:
1. Use VMWare (now free!) to create a "virtual" server on one of our unused desktops. It will use less than 7 GB of space and is entirely self contained, having no effect on the Windows machine.

2. Install CentOS (aka Redhat Enterprise) on this server. Fully patch and update. Install Plesk 7.0.4 and restore a backup of the "live" remote server. Configure email and the website as necessary. Test in a isolated network. Essentially, make the virtual server behave like the live server, but with an updated operating system.

3. Upgrade Plesk one version at a time, ensuring everything works. Record any problems or hacks.

4. Now, with the virtual server fully updated and holding the live server's data (email, website, etc), test it live. Redirect DNS to the office and forward the necessary ports to the virtual server. Check the website, webmail, and email functionality. It should work perfectly and seamlessly transition from the remote server to the virtual server.

5. If the virtual server is fully functional, take a final backup of the remote server. Then request a complete re-image of RedHat Enterprise (for free!) on the remote server. Fully patch and update the OS. Install the latest Plesk and restore a backup *from* the virtual server. This removes any headaches that the updating processing introduces, because they've already been addressed updating the virtual server.

6. Test the remote server before going live with it again. Switch the DNS back over. Done.

The virtual server will only be live for a few hours, ideally during the middle of the night.

[scott]

Some additional optimization here, try running PSA 7.5.4 on your CentOS4 VMware image and use the migration agent from the control panel to import your data locally. Then do a psadump from that, and restore on your new box.

[breun]

By the way, security updates for RH9 are still available. Check out http://www.fedoralegacy.org/. But good luck with the upgrade. The day RH9 is no longer supported will come eventually anyway.

[StinkiePhish]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll give it a try in the upcoming week.