Predicting a Red Hat/CentOS Point Release Upgrade

Upgrading a Red Hat or CentOS system isn’t difficult. Just type yum update, it’s easy. So easy, in fact, that is quite possible to upgrade a system you didn’t intend to, or to upgrade a system further than was wanted, which is the subject of this post.

Point Upgrades

Yum update, used on a system which has not been updated for months or years, will cause hundreds of packages to be upgraded. It will also result in a point release upgrade. For example, a system running Red Hat/CentOS 6.2 might change to 6.5 after the update, or even to 6.7 or 6.9. Continue reading

Upgrading ESXi from 5.0.0 to 5.0.0 Update 3

After a security scan showed vulnerabilities, a recent client of mine requested the above update. The target server was a stand alone HP DL360 running ESXi version 5.0 (GA). The upgrade was performed with the following procedure, which should work equally as well for other ESXi versions. A system reboot is required. Continue reading

Raspberry Pi Basic Configuration

The Raspberry Pi is a small Linux computer designed to help children learn programming. Being a full Linux System, it can also be used as a server or as the basis for various projects.

Here are some adjustments you might want to make to a new Raspberry Pi. The examples refer to a Raspberry Pi Model “B” bought from UK distributors New IT in February 2013. But they are pretty universal. Continue reading

Upgrading the Sheevaplug to Debian 6 Squeeze

The Sheevaplug is is a very small computer made by Globalscale. It is designed to offer standard computing functions in a very small space. Consuming just a few watts of power, the Sheevaplug makes a good home server, with applications ranging from network storage to web hosting and home security.

This article explains how to upgrade a Sheevaplug to Debian 6 using a pre-built image available from New IT. It is a quick and simple procedure, requiring less technical knowledge than, for example, installing Debian from scratch. Continue reading