upgrade to jessie, what to backup

[Tom Fowle]

the reccommended command, as root, from /etc# gets
tar -cprf etc.tar.gz /etc
tar: You may not specify more than one `-Acdtrux' or `--test-label' option
Tom Fowle

On Thu, Nov 05, 2015 at 06:58:13PM -0800, Tom Fowle wrote:
> tony,
> thanks for all this. Looking at the upgrade documentation leaves me
> thoroughly  intimmidated. My major reason for upgrading was to get beyond
> the current kernel crash that happens a couple 3 times a week.  However with
> my lack of experience, I'd be pretty sure trying the upgrade would be a
> bigger mess.
> I'll re-evaluate the situation from time too time especially if/when they
> stop supporting jessie, and see what happens.
> Thanks again.
> Tom Fowle (official wimp!)
> 
> On Thu, Nov 05, 2015 at 02:22:55AM -0800, Tony Baechler wrote:
> > I know this seems obvious, but did you make a tar archive of /etc in
> > single user mode?  Just doing a file copy to an external drive won't
> > usually work because file permissions aren't preserved.  Most
> > external drives are formatted as NTFS or FAT32 and are not suited
> > for file backups.  Making a tar archive of /etc is generally safer
> > and does preserve permissions.  This command should work, but if
> > not, someone will hopefully correct me:
> > 
> > cd /
> > tar cf etc.tar etc
> > 
> > You might want to check the official Jessie release notes here:
> > 
> > https://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/releasenotes
> > 
> > I suggest installing something like Screen or tmux, just in case the
> > upgrade takes longer than planned or somehow leaves you without a
> > working shell.  It is very useful to be able to create a new window
> > to check configuration files, manuals, web sites, etc.  You can
> > detach, create new windows, etc. Also, keep a script of the output
> > as sometimes messages and warnings are displayed which you might
> > miss.  You do that with the script command.  Run "script" first
> > before starting the upgrade but after launching screen or tmux.  You
> > want to be especially careful about upgrading your kernel and
> > probably want to do that separately after the system upgrade, but
> > follow the guidance in the release notes if in doubt.
> > 
> > On 11/4/2015 10:38 PM, Tom Fowle wrote:
> > >Planning to upgrade from wheezie to jessie.
> > >Backing up to a usb external hard drive, I've done everything under /home
> > >and /etc.
> > >Is there anything else I should backup? or other things to be aware of
> > >before or during the upgrade?
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