How long can a 12.04 Server 64bit stay up?

[CharlesA]

Upgrades won't change your configurations. They will simply replace the current software with its more recent versions.

You should always take security updates, especially if you have Internet-facing services like mail or HTTP. One way to limit the upgrades to just security ones is to comment out all the lines in /etc/apt/sources.list with the exceptions of the entries that point to security.ubuntu.com. Then run "sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get upgrade".

Yep. I have my server set to install security updates automatically via the unattended-upgrades package. I still have to make sure it is ok after rebooting into a new kernel as most of the time DKMS screws up the install of a third-party module, and I have to remake it.

Another approach is to run a parallel server, perhaps in a VirtualBox VM on your desktop. Configure the VM to be the same as your actual server. The simplest method to do this is to install 12.04 into the VM, then use rsync to make the VM copy a clone of the actual one. Then run the updates on the VM server and see if they cause any problems. If not, then you can run them on the real server as well.

I was doing that but decided it was easier to just do the updates and fix anything that breaks because I could not replicate the hardware RAID card I have in the server itself inside the VM. So far I have not run into many problems but the number one problem so far is the building of the raid card's module via DKMS, which somehow doesn't do it right with the newer 3.2.x kernels.

what i usually do is im trying it 1st at my ubuntu 12.04 desktop before deploying it in the 12.04 server... although desktop and server are way different, i still think that the effect are somehow the same. (and hope what i thought was right)

Updating is pretty much the same between the two. The server version has less packages to update usually, but that might not be the case all the time. There are people who install a GUI on top of the server edition, when they would be better off just installing the desktop version and then installing the services they want on it afterwords.

[Jorel]

Upgrades won't change your configurations. They will simply replace the current software with its more recent versions.

You should always take security updates, especially if you have Internet-facing services like mail or HTTP. One way to limit the upgrades to just security ones is to comment out all the lines in /etc/apt/sources.list with the exceptions of the entries that point to security.ubuntu.com. Then run "sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get upgrade".

its a relief to hear this one, i will definitely do this..

Yep. I have my server set to install security updates automatically via the unattended-upgrades package. I still have to make sure it is ok after rebooting into a new kernel as most of the time DKMS screws up the install of a third-party module, and I have to remake it.

this is what im worrying about, im still a newbie on this environment so im a bit cautious on everything especially on the kernels.

Updating is pretty much the same between the two. The server version has less packages to update usually, but that might not be the case all the time. There are people who install a GUI on top of the server edition, when they would be better off just installing the desktop version and then installing the services they want on it afterwords.

well this one really works for me, as like im building a "Practice Desktop" to act as a Server then once im satisfied with the results then i will deploy it to the Server...

thanks for the suggestions guys...

[CharlesA]

this is what im worrying about, im still a newbie on this environment so im a bit cautious on everything especially on the kernels.

It is likely happening to me because it is having issues creating a new module for that device. The virtualbox modules build fine on the same box.

[LHammonds]

this is what im worrying about, im still a newbie on this environment so im a bit cautious on everything especially on the kernels.

Then I suggest you review your backup process to ease the pain. Restore a backup inside a VM as if you were trying to restore to a new machine and see if you can the server up-and-running.

This will verify your backup procedure / documentation.

If you cannot do this, it is a perfect time to update/create an effective backup/restore procedure.

Once you know that you can recover from a disaster, you will feel much better about the maintenance of your server(s).

I configured my servers to use LVM, have a bit of unallocated space in the LVM for snapshots and use a combination of rsync and FSArchiver to get a good backup of my /boot and LVM partitions. I also have my restore process tested and documented (check my sig for how to install an Ubuntu server for details)

LHammonds

[Jorel]

i see then..

anyway thank you guys for the help, this thread somehow enlightened me on my doubts on the server staying up... so probably my next step is to secure the HDD performance...

Thanks