Updating FOG and retaining settings

[DBCountMan]

new forum user here. we’ve been using FOG at my workplace to replace ghost and has been working well. question is, since my FOG version is 1.5.5, id like to update to 1.5.7 but have read on a different forum months ago that updating fog will reset/clear all the customization, almost like it is being installed/set up for the first time. is this true? what is the best way to update FOG without having to backup/restore settings especially the dhcp/pxe/ipxe stack?

[george1421]

I’m not sure where you saw that updating resets everything. In my experience it does not, with one exception. If you have gone in and tweaked the FOG PHP code then those settings will be lost when you update FOG. Otherwise everything inside the web ui will remain consistent between updates. You are only moving from 1.5.5 to 1.5.7 so the updates are minor (but necessary) bug fixes.

Updating fog is pretty easy if you use the git method to install FOG. If you used the git method change to the installation directory and issue a git pull then change to the bin directory and run ./installfog.sh It will read the settings from the last time you installed fog, and may prompt you for a few new questions then it will update the FOG programs. You will probably have go to the web ui when instructed in the installer script and update the schema, but the upgrade is pretty painless.

[DBCountMan]

oh ok good. thanks for the prompt reply. so i dont think i used the git method initally. im looking at my home directory and see a folder called “fogproject-1.5.5” and an file called “fogproject-1.5.5.tar.gz”. inside the fogproject folder, i dont see any script files except “uninstallfog.sh”. so should i follow the installation instructions on the fog wiki? i believe i saw something about using git. i assume that the installer will detect fog and try to update it?

[george1421]

@brakcounty Ok so it was installed using the tarball method. That way will work too. You will then just download the 1.5.7 tarball and extract it. That will create a directory called "fogproject-1.5.7” change into that directory and then the bin directory. Inside there key in ./installfog.sh The installer will run and ask to confirm a few settings and then it will upgrade the program code. You will/must have internet access for the installer to complete.

[DBCountMan]

downloaded the latest tarball 1.5.7, extracted, ran installfog.sh, detected fog settings, all was fine until the last part “Here are the settings FOG will use:” the line that says “Image Storage Location: /images” is incorrect, i have my images going to “/Images” (capital I) because i have a RAID array mounted to /Images. I was unable to mount my array on /images so that is why i created a new image storage folder. I canceled the installation. What should i do?

[george1421]

@brakcounty Sorry I didn’t see this until now. There is a hidden file in /opt/fog called .fogsettings (yes it starts with a dot). Edit that file. There should be a value like storagelocation or something like that. Correct that path and the installer should run with the new location in mind.
FWIW: The .fogsettings file contains your first run settings.

[Sebastian Roth]

@brakcounty One important question before you go ahead - what OS do you have? Is it Ubuntu??? If yes, then don’t upgrade to 1.5.7 yet before I have given you more advice. There is an issue in the 1.5.7 release that can cause you trouble on Ubuntu installs!

While George is right that you can change this setting in .fogsettings file I am wondering if it’s more wise to get your RAID storage mounted as /images (lower case “i”) to prevent from possible confusions in the future.

Make sure /images exists and is empty:

mkdir -p /images
ls -al /images

If it’s not empty, then rename and create new:

mv /images /images_old
mkdir /images

Now check to see which device is your RAID on (note the upper case “i” here):

mount | grep "Images"

And finally re-mount that device to /images:

umount /dev/...
mount /dev/... /images

Important: Have a look at the entries in /etc/fstab and make sure you change the line there from /Images to /images as well!

[DBCountMan]

I am running Ubuntu Server
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS
Release: 18.04
Codename: bionic

So I do have an existing “/images” folder that is not empty, and would follow your instructions to back that up as “/images_old” and create a new one called “/images”. Theoretically if all goes well with the above steps and I successfully mount my RAID array to the newly created “/images” folder, what permissions do i need to set or will the data in the RAID array already have the correct permissions and it is just a matter of mounting?

UPDATE
Since i canceled the installation/upgrade process, the web UI is not working. I haven’t tried running any tasks yet but hopefully that part is still working.
UPDATE 8/16/19 3:56pm
so i went ahead and ran the update and broke mysql and mariadb beyond repair. apt update --fix-broken wasnt working. so i backed up my images, and reinstalled ubuntu server and fog 1.5.5 fresh. i luckily had a .sql backup file i exported two days ago and was able to import it via web ui successfully. i also mounted my RAID array to “/images” and its working fine. i will hold off on updating FOG to 1.5.7. Thanks for the input!

[Sebastian Roth]

@brakcounty said in Updating FOG and retaining settings:

so i went ahead and ran the update and broke mysql and mariadb beyond repair. apt update --fix-broken wasnt working. so i backed up my images, and reinstalled ubuntu server and fog 1.5.5 fresh. i luckily had a .sql backup file i exported two days ago and was able to import it via web ui successfully. i also mounted my RAID array to “/images” and its working fine. i will hold off on updating FOG to 1.5.7. Thanks for the input!

Sorry to hear you went through this. I thought my warning a day ago was clear enough but obviously it wasn’t.

There was no need to re-install Ubuntu as the database was still existing in a different directory (/var/lib/mysql-5.7). I suppose it’s all gone now. On the other hand it’s good to know that you got things up and running again using the sql backup file. But it would have saved you a lot of work and trouble if you’d waited for my instructions.

It’s fairly easy to upgrade to 1.5.7 and not break things but I needed to do a test on my end to make sure this is really working as I think it is before I would tell you. When you start the 1.5.7 installer you get to a point where it asks this question:

 *** Detected a potential need to reinstall apache and php files.
 *** This will remove the /etc/php* and /etc/apache2* directories
 ***  and remove/purge the apache and php files from this system.
 *** If you're okay with this please type Y, anything else will
 ***  continue the installation, but may mean you will need to
 ***  remove the files later and make proper changes as 
 ***  necessary. (Y/N): 

If you upgrade from 1.5.5 or 1.5.6 you are save to say No (n) here! In this case you upgrade to 1.5.7 without running into the database issue!

[DBCountMan]

i did read your warning loud and clear, but like i said the Web UI was down and i didnt want to leave the server down all day through the weekend and into this morning, so i rolled the dice. The process of reinstalling everything wasn’t too bad. hey now i have backups of everything and i learned a lesson.
Ok so if i just say “No” to the first part of the installation where it asks if i want to reinstall apache and php, everything else should go through without issue?

[Sebastian Roth]

@brakcounty said in Updating FOG and retaining settings:

Ok so if i just say “No” to the first part of the installation where it asks if i want to reinstall apache and php, everything else should go through without issue?

Yes it should!

[DBCountMan]

Great thanks! should i use 1.5.7 or the latest git version 1.5.7.2?

[Sebastian Roth]

@brakcounty The latest dev-branch has some fixes but it’s not way ahead of 1.5.7 as of now. Still, the Ubuntu upgrade issue described is fixed already and a few other things.

See changes compared to the master branch (1.5.7 really) here: https://github.com/FOGProject/fogproject/compare/dev-branch

It would be great to have more people around actually running dev-branch to find issues earlier. So if you have a little bit of spare time to test things and like to use bleeding edge you are more than welcome.

I will try to be as responsive as possible in case you need help.

[DBCountMan]

i successfully ran the update to 1.5.7. Now i think there is an issue with the network interfaces. I set eno1 for management, and eno2 for imaging/dhcp. I was told on here that it should have been the opposite, but it has been working fine. now this morning i wasnt able to get to the webui from the eno1 network, but was able to on eno2. the port on the switch is set to the correct vlan. i unplugged the cable from eno2, then i was able to get online with eno1. could this have happened during the update?

UPDATE
so i had to re-apply the netplan file after rebooting the server. everything seems fine now. i can access the webui from both connected interfaces.

[willian]

Hello. One question, here at the company we are currently at version 1.5.6 and I am thinking of upgrading to 1.5.7. The FOG server is also the DHCP server. I was wondering if updating will make any changes to the DHCP service or just the FOG settings.

Thanks.

[Sebastian Roth]

@willian Upgrade will rewrite the DHCP config of your FOG server. So make a backup copy if you have modified it.

As well make sure you read und understand this before you upgrade: https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/13488/fog-1-5-7-officially-released

[willian]

@Sebastian-Roth said in Updating FOG and retaining settings:

@willian Upgrade will rewrite the DHCP config of your FOG server. So make a backup copy if you have modified it.

I could even clone the server for testing but later I will see how I do.

As well make sure you read und understand this before you upgrade: https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/13488/fog-1-5-7-officially-released

Is there any important information in this topic about this issue? I read everything but I saw nothing related.

Thanks.