CentOS 8 Stream to AlmaLinux

1

Hi,

Any plans in place to migrate from CentOS 8 stream, I did attempt this thinking that it may be similar to CentOS8, however I was prompted with:

Check root privileges OK
Check Secure Boot disabled OK
Detect centos version ERROR
Check EL is supported ERROR

So I am guessing I have 2 options:

  1. Downgrade to CentOS 8 and hope for the best, then to AlmaLinux.
  2. Start a new server with AlmaLinux from scratch (I have 3 to migrate and don’t want to ideally spend the time doing this).

Does AlmaLinux have anything in the works for a Stream conversion?

2

I tried and got the same thing.
I gave up, and bought a 1TB SSD, loaded AlmaLinux on that, loaded all the packages that I thought were needed to bring it into sync with the target system, tested as much as I could.

Put the SSD into the server, leaving the old SSD in place, set the new SSD as the boot disk. Fired it up.

Amazingly, it worked (well, about 98% worked). I did find a few random things I had to attend to over the next couple of days, mostly config files I had forgotten about. Since the old SSD was there, it was easy to mount it and copy the bits I needed.

If your three systems are (supposedly) the same config, you should be able to use the same process - just note every package you load and every config file change/replacement on the first system and script it for subsequent ones.

I was quite pleased how easy it ended up being.

3

Hey @djs002. Thanks for the question and info on how the process went. Currently we don’t support conversion from C8 Stream. The big issue here is that they will always be tracking ahead of where we are, which could cause significant issues. We will investigate this in the future as there does seem to be interest in it from the community and of course if anyone in the community would like to assist here that would surely help speeds things along.

4

Could the anaconda-ks.cfg be used as a kickstart file, with some modifications, to build a second server via web-based kickstart?

This might reduce the amount of effort exerted in a rebuild, if forced to do so - correct?

1 Like
5

Greetings Pilgrims,

In a ticket with Plesk, I asked them about an in-place way to install AlmaL from CentOS Stream
They sent me to the usual CentOS 8 scripts.

Here’s what I wrote back only to get the same answer.

One question remains.
I find nothing on the web that tells me if/how you can convert CentOS Stream to anything.
Probably because, generally speaking, Who would want to? Will the CentOS Stream convert to,
E.g., AlmaLinux 8, with CentOS 8 scripts?

I had them close the ticket. So now I’m here. And glad to be here.
BTW - It was Plesk that suggested I replace the defunct version 8 with Stream. At least somebody there thought that was the way to go. WRONG!

Anyway, this is my first time here, and about the only place, I’ve seen this discussed.
I think I’ll be hanging around until this is figured out in a way even I can understand.

6

I am not qualified to assist - but if a migrate2AlmaLinux from Centos 8 stream becomes available, I will use it!!!
I made the mistake of migrating form Centos 8 to Centos 8 stream because it was so simple and I was back up in minutes will all of my configs set correctly. In hindsight - bad move. Repos are breaking all of the time (in Stream) and applications I rely on fail on update. It’s not terrible, just a pain.
Perhaps someday AlmaLinux - I just want to avoid from scratch.