My trusty Ubuntu 18.04 VPS is EOL, so I want to move to 22.04. I can’t use the Ubuntu do-release-update because the current server is 32-bit. I want to switch to 64-bit for the future.
I searched the forums, and found a link to this wonderful article:
This is terrific, and it gives me confidence to proceed. Some history: When I first set up the server (2018) I used Webmin to cobble some hosts before learning about (and installing) Virtualmin. Some questions before I make the leap:
It appears this procedure will migrate the Virtualmin hosts. Will this procedure also migrate those Webmin-only hosts?
What about other configuration: I run a postfix server for mail redirection…
I run Virtualmin on a non-default (not 10000) port. Since the cloning uses scp to copy the data, the port I use to access Virtualmin won’t matter. Correct?
The article mentions upgrading to 14.04 - any changes for newer Ubuntu versions?
18 and 22 have some fundamental changes in apache, php and dbs - if you will going via this upgrade be prepared to edit htaccess configs as it might break your sites, also php versions will be different so I think you would like to spin virtualmin in virtual machine and test it before you do that move on production server.
If you find any issues you can fix them in that virtual machine. Its mostly that mysql was replaced with maria db which would not make you any headache as they are virtually same but mariadb is much more faster and efficient then mysql (and open source), but outdated code for cms-es and not compatible htaccess settings - you need to take care of… (from my very own experiences), rest you should be totally fine. Regards 32 to 64 os - my advice would be to go with fresh reinstall and base virtualmin setup + all domains and manual restore of emails if you host them there as well as manual restore for public_html folders - all for each site as this is the proper way to make sure everything is working. That was in my case fastest way to get back online but I only host 32 sites so in your case it might be different. In any case test it on non production server or virtual machine before you do it to your production one.
One more thing - also php execution - I would suggest you stick with php fpm for older php code - it works very nice - FastCGI wrapper gave me tons of issues when I went from debian 8 to debian 10 (something like you from 18 to 22). I ended up with fresh install and base setup for virtualmin and each domain and then I just re-upload each site and emails back. I had to edit few very basic stuff in each htaccess as I use custom setup for each domain regards cache and some mods enabled for each site. It took me few hours but again I was dealing with only 32 sites.
Since I did fresh install of os and virtualmin base setup I did not had to deal with postfix issues - virtuamin guys made 7 working awesome. I did not even need to change email.domain… to email@domain… it was already there.
Regards default port - since I run on default port I did not had to change anyhing however this is trivial to change - if you go with fresh install you can set your custom port very fast - this shouldn’t be issue.
The article mentions upgrading to 14.04 - any changes for newer Ubuntu versions? - if you migrating to latest os version of ubuntu from 14.04 then no that is not up to date. BTW next time when new os is released and it is A grade in virtualmin support and newest version lets say 22 is supported by virtualmin and you are on version 21 then it should be relatively safe to distro upgrade to newer version but not from 18 to 22 that would be painful mistake. Also I am not aware how to do distro upgrade from 32 to 64 bit os except fresh install / reinstall but I could be wrong about this one.
Anything else I mentioned from my own experience on very start of this reply.
BW,
George.
Edit: note: that post you mentioned here should be updated by someone from virtualmin guys.
Yes, my plan is to spin up the new VPS with Ubuntu 22.04, then immediately install Virtualmin, then proceed with the rest of the upgrade process. (The nice thing about the Virtualmin migrate tools is that it isn’t a problem if things go awry - I can just blow away the server, reprovision the OS and start from scratch in a few commands.)
Good point. Any links to a good MySQL to MariaDB transition process for Virtualmin? (Or a good search term for the forum…)
I started with a 32-bit system to fit into my memory-starved original VPS. After a hardware (but not OS) upgrade, I still had a 32-bit machine. Thus the need to start over - no distro upgrade, just fresh install / reinstall.
All my websites (well, virtually all) are Wordpress - any pointers to the Forum about the tradeoffs? (what strings should I search for?)
I’m smiling already
Didn’t think it would matter.
@joe and the others on the Virtualmin team. Is it worth having someone look at the Migrating to a New Server article?
regards mariadb and mysql you not need to worry. You would not notice difference and everything will just work, just much faster. Think about mariadb as drop-in replacement of mysql, no need to adjust any wordpress site regards any php configs, just make sure you import existing dbs under same users and passwords and it would work right away.
On wordpress side, once moved over to your new deployment, if wordpress offers you update to latest version - I would do it as you will have newer php version which is not only much faster but also have tons of bug fixes, which let you to take advantage of it, but that is up to your own preferences. Existing code should work under newer php version without issues - no modification of php should be need it. Once again test it on test server before you do this on production one. But I think you will not going to have any issues with wp at all. I can confirm that for wp - as my wp sites worked. (other php cmses had some issues but that is irrelevant for your setup)
To be honest just minor changes in apache configs are easy to fix, I think wordpress have capabilities to regenerate that file if I remember correctly? That make it easier to fix.
BW,
George
Edit: if you would need help or if migration / import goes sour on virtual testing machine, I can have look together with you via google meet call or something.
if you would need help or if migration / import goes sour on virtual testing machine, I can have look together with you via google meet call or something.
And what a kind offer. With this info in hand, I think I’ll be all set. (I’m pretty handy on the Linux command line, and I’ve been horsing around with Apache configs since the nineties.)
My biggest concern was the number of speed bumps I was going to encounter. It sounds as if Virtualmin (and this advice) will minimize them. I’ll write a summary here when I’m done. Thanks again.
