Centos 8 vs Almalinux, is it okay to upgrade? A help to understand how to change OS

[Joso]

I'm stuck on whether to move my VPS with cPanel from Centos 8 to Almalinux In several blog sites I have read that almalinux is a 1: 1 system with centos 8, so it should keep all the features without too much difficulty.

The fact is that on my VPS I have two Magento 2.3.7 sites and I have implemented the VPS with Redis and Varnish, and I wanted to add elastichsearc as well.

One of the doubts is precisely on the fact that with centos 8 I already have redis and varnish, if I had to change Centos with Almalinux, would these two extensions remain or should I reinstall them?

Another question, as I have two sites on the VPS, and both have been live for some time, what if something goes wrong?

My hosting allows me to take snapshots so somehow I could be preserved so I can go back. But even if I have this possibility, I would need suggestions from those who are more experienced than me and if anything have already dealt with cases similar to mine.

Thanks

 

[cPRex]

Hey there! I've been using AlmaLinux 8 for about three months now on my personal and haven't had any issues. I wouldn't even know it wasn't CentOS.

One of the doubts is precisely on the fact that with centos 8 I already have redis and varnish, if I had to change Centos with Almalinux, would these two extensions remain or should I reinstall them?

If you are converting the existing operating system, I would expect these to remain in place. I would plan for reinstallation just so you are prepared, but I wouldn't expect it to be necessary.

Another question, as I have two sites on the VPS, and both have been live for some time, what if something goes wrong?

What if something goes wrong on your current system? You could restore from a backup or troubleshoot to see if you can find the issue.

 

[Joso]

Hi cPRex, thanks to your answare. From what I understand, I shouldn't have any problems with switching to Almalinux, well. Just in case, I'll take a snapshot of the VPS hosting panel.

 

[Joso]

@cPRex, I follow the cPanel guide migrate to Almalinux, and after digit
dnf -y update

show me this error:
CentOS-8 - Base
Error: Failed to download metadata for repo 'BaseOS': Cannot download repomd.xml: Cannot download repodata/repomd.xml: All mirrors were tried

How can solve it?

 

[cPRex]

That would indicate an error with the existing system and not a problem with the update. The "dnf -y update" command is just updating the machine first.

That error is actually normal at this point since CentOS 8 is no longer supported. You can just start with the "deploy" script mentioned here:

https://support.cpanel.net/hc/en-us/articles/4404770842263-How-to-convert-from-CentOS-8-to-AlmaLinux-8

 

[Joso]

Hi cPRex, I followed the cpanel article to convert centos in almalinux, after digit "dnf -y update", show me this with errors:

[[email protected] ~]# dnf -y update
CentOS-8 - Base 2.2 MB/s | 4.6 MB 00:02
EA4 ( EasyApache 4 ) 23 kB/s | 3.0 MB 02:13
cPanel Addons Production Feed 4.1 kB/s | 8.9 kB 00:02
cPanel Plugins project 25 kB/s | 423 kB 00:16
CentOS-8 - AppStream 1.8 MB/s | 8.4 MB 00:04
MariaDB105 497 kB/s | 601 kB 00:01
AlmaLinux 8 - BaseOS 9.6 MB/s | 7.0 MB 00:00
AlmaLinux 8 - AppStream 8.6 MB/s | 10 MB 00:01
AlmaLinux 8 - Extras 23 kB/s | 12 kB 00:00
Docker CE Stable - x86_64 241 kB/s | 23 kB 00:00
Elasticsearch repository for 7.x packages 51 MB/s | 43 MB 00:00
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64 12 MB/s | 11 MB 00:00
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux Modular 8 - x86_64 1.9 MB/s | 1.0 MB 00:00
Imunify360 - Gradual Rollout Slot 1 3.1 kB/s | 3.2 kB 00:01
Imunify360 - Gradual Rollout Slot 2 255 B/s | 257 B 00:01
Imunify360 - Gradual Rollout Slot 3 247 B/s | 257 B 00:01
Imunify360 - Gradual Rollout Slot 4 252 B/s | 257 B 00:01
EL-8 - Imunify360 218 kB/s | 3.1 MB 00:14
Remi's Modular repository for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64 3.1 MB/s | 974 kB 00:00
Safe Remi's RPM repository for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64 8.0 MB/s | 2.1 MB 00:00
Error:
Problem 1: package libstdc++-devel-8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma.x86_64 requires libstdc++(x86-64) = 8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma, but none of the providers can be installed
- cannot install both libstdc++-8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma.x86_64 and libstdc++-8.5.0-4.el8_5.x86_64
- cannot install the best update candidate for package libstdc++-devel-8.5.0-4.el8_5.x86_64
- cannot install the best update candidate for package libstdc++-8.5.0-4.el8_5.x86_64
Problem 2: package libxml2-devel-2.9.7-12.el8_5.x86_64 requires libxml2(x86-64) = 2.9.7-12.el8_5, but none of the providers can be installed
- cannot install both libxml2-2.9.7-12.el8_5.x86_64 and libxml2-2.9.7-9.el8_4.2.x86_64
- cannot install the best update candidate for package libxml2-devel-2.9.7-9.el8_4.2.x86_64
- cannot install the best update candidate for package libxml2-2.9.7-9.el8_4.2.x86_64
Problem 3: libgcc-8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma.i686 has inferior architecture
- package gcc-8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma.x86_64 requires libgcc >= 8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma, but none of the providers can be installed
- cannot install both libgcc-8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma.x86_64 and libgcc-8.5.0-4.el8_5.x86_64
- cannot install the best update candidate for package libgcc-8.5.0-4.el8_5.x86_64
- cannot install the best update candidate for package gcc-8.5.0-4.el8_5.x86_64
Problem 4: libgomp-8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma.i686 has inferior architecture
- package gcc-8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma.x86_64 requires libgomp = 8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma, but none of the providers can be installed
- cannot install both libgomp-8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma.x86_64 and libgomp-8.5.0-4.el8_5.x86_64
- package gcc-c++-8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma.x86_64 requires gcc = 8.5.0-4.el8_5.alma, but none of the providers can be installed
- cannot install the best update candidate for package libgomp-8.5.0-4.el8_5.x86_64
- cannot install the best update candidate for package gcc-c++-8.5.0-4.el8_5.x86_64
(try to add '--allowerasing' to command line to replace conflicting packages or '--skip-broken' to skip uninstallable packages or '--nobest' to use not only best candidate packages)
[[email protected] ~]#

Do you have any suggest to solve it?

 

[cPRex]

Can you try using the full details here to ensure the correct repositories are in place?

almalinux-deploy/README.md at master · AlmaLinux/almalinux-deploy

EL to AlmaLinux migration tool. Contribute to AlmaLinux/almalinux-deploy development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

If that doesn't work, I'd recommend reaching out to the CloudLinux support team directly to have them check on this issue.

 

[Joso]

Hi, I solved.. I run dnf -y update --nobest and completed migration.

 

[anton_latvia]

We have upgraded all Centos8 to AlmaLinux - some with cPanel and some without any control panel - absolutely zero issues!

 

[caseyj0]

Please I join the discuss as I just follow the guide here https://support.cpanel.net/hc/en-us...3-How-to-convert-from-CentOS-8-to-AlmaLinux-8
then use
dnf -y update --nobest
Then I reboot.
After that I DL and run the Almelinux script and here I am :



Since 1 hour and there is no activity cpu or disk.
Any ideas please experts ?

 

[anton_latvia]

it does not look, like you've executed it. Can you run:
sh almalinux-deploy.sh

instead of "bash"

 

[cPRex]

The "#" at the beginning of each line would keep the command from running. Please remove the pound sign and run both those commands again.

 

[caseyj0]

Ok guys. Following your advices i got this time :

Error: Error downloading packages:
Curl error (28): Timeout was reached for http://httpupdate.cpanel.net/ea4-c8-x86_64-mirrorlist [Connection timed out after 30000 milliseconds]

If I ran
sh almalinux-deploy.sh
I got :
almalinux-deploy.sh: line 46: syntax error near unexpected token `>'

What I should try now please ?

 

[cPRex]

Can you post the output of the following commands?

cat /etc/redhat-release

and

uname -r

 

[caseyj0]

Hello Modo,

Looks i update it yay!



For cat /etc/redhat-release I have :

AlmaLinux release 8.6 (Sky Tiger)

For uname -r :

4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64

I also try dnf -y update :
got this

EA4 ( EasyApache 4 ) 0.0 B/s | 0 B 06:00
Error: Failed to download metadata for repo 'EA4': Cannot prepare internal mirrorlist: Curl error (28): Timeout was reached for http://httpupdate.cpanel.net/ea4-c8-x86_64-mirrorlist [Connection timed out after 30000 milliseconds]

also try with option --nobest or --allowerasing or --skip-broken same result...

I also try in WHM



So voila here I am....

 

[cPRex]

Did you try running the "dnf makecache" command from that error's output to see if that resolves the issue?

 

[caseyj0]

I ran "dnf makecache" I got :



In WHM It ask for reboot
Reboot..



Oulala I dont like this ...



both option give error...



I sweat now....

 

[caseyj0]

ok I hopefully have a backup image of it. Retoring it....

Now please if we have something more effective than this (because for me it is totally dont work. Fail!)

https://support.cpanel.net/hc/en-us/articles/4404770842263-How-to-convert-from-CentOS-8-to-AlmaLinux-8

Otherwise should I install clean a OS and restore from a cpanel backup ?

And why cpanel dont adopt ubuntu as main OS. Decades I use ubuntu and never let you down one day and declare that they dont support or dvp anymore etc... (I really dont/never like or trust cenTOs and company etc....)

Almelinux wiki

Initial release 30 March 2021 (13 months ago)
Latest release 8.6 / 12 May 2022 (11 days ago)

Heu.. whats next do we have to prepare to migrate to after Alma... ?

 

[caseyj0]

"We are equally pleased to now announce that cPanel & WHM version 102 will fully support Ubuntu LTS (version 20.04) as well."

https://blog.cpanel.com/ubuntu-lts-and-full-cpanel-support/

If I use Ubuntu for Cpanel from now on (Clean install etc...) It would be ok correct ? As Cpanel is now V.104

 

[cPRex]

I'm sorry you're having so many issues with that operating system upgrade. cPanel does fully support Ubuntu at this time, so you could create a new installation and use the Transfer Tool to migrate your data over to the new machine.

I'm not sure Wikipedia is going to be the best source for update logs. Check out their own site here: 8.6 | AlmaLinux Wiki, which was updated last week.