Linux System Upgrade

Instructions (Offline)

Version 8.03 | Last Updated 2020-07-31

Copyright ©2004-2020 NetBrain Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 1. Upgrading Linux System Offline

This instruction will guide you to upgrade Linux operating system from v7.x (v7.0 to v7.6) to v7.8 offline. If your
server has access to the Internet, it is highly recommended to upgrade the Linux operating system online.

 Upgrading CentOS to v7.8

 Upgrading RHEL to v7.8

Note: Linux upgrade must be done by the root user because sudo account cannot be used to upgrade the packages at
the OS level.

1.1. Upgrading CentOS to v7.8

1. Create a snapshot or checkpoint of your VMware server for rollback purpose in case of any failure.

Note: Ensure that the MongoDB data has been backed up, all the system services including MongoDB on the Linux
server are running normally, and DON’T restart Linux server during and after the Linux operating system upgrade.

Note: If anything is incorrect, please hold for advice or contact your system administrator.

2. Download the CentOS Linux ISO package.

3. Connect to the Linux server as the root user via SSH with the PuTTY tool. Then run the mkdir /tmp/centos_78
command to create a directory to mount the ISO image.

4. Connect to the Linux server as the root user with the WinSCP tool without internet access and upload the ISO
file to a temporary folder /tmp/.

5. Run the following command to verify the MD5 checksum value. Confirm that the returned checksum value is
identical to the MD5 checksum value below.

md5sum /tmp/CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-2003.iso
16673979023254ea09cc0b57853a7bbd CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-2003.iso

Note: If the checksum value does not match, re-download the ISO file as it may have been corrupted during the
transfers. Then repeat step 4 and 5 to upload the ISO file and confirm the checksum value.

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6. Check the version detail of the CentOS system that is kept in the /etc/redhat-release and /etc/centos-release
directories.

1) Run the uname -a and uname -r commands to check the information about the current system.

2) Run the cat /etc/centos-release command to check the Linux version. For example, the version
information is displayed as CentOS Linux release 7.4.1708 (Core).

7. Mount the uploaded ISO file.

1) Run the following command to mount the uploaded ISO file for read access only.
mount -t iso9660 -o loop,ro /tmp/CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-2003.iso /tmp/centos_78/

2) Run the ls -al /tmp/centos_78/ command to see the content of the mounted folder and make sure the
files and folders are as follows:

8. Back up all the internet-based repository files to a backup folder. As the system will only be updated offline, all
the internet-based repositories must be removed.

1) Run the mkdir /repo-bk command to create a backup folder repo-bk.

2) Run the cd /etc/yum.repos.d command to navigate to the etc/yum.repos.d directory.

3) Run the mv *.repo /repo-bk/ command to move the *.repo files to the repo-bk folder.

9. Create a file to point to the ISO file that has been mounted. It will ensure all the packages will be retrieved from
the ISO file when performing the update.

1) Run the vi /etc/yum.repos.d/local.repo command to open the new file local.repo inside the vi text
editor under the /etc/yum.repos.d directory.

Upgrading Linux System Offline | 3

 2) Copy the following details to the vi editor.
[LocalRepo]
name=Local Repository
baseurl=file:///tmp/centos_78
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-7

3) Press the Esc key to exit the input mode, then enter the :wq! command and press the Enter key to save the
changes and exit the vi editor.

4) Run the ls -l command to confirm that you only have the local.repo file in the /etc/yum.repos.d directory.

10. Run the following commands to upgrade the CentOS system.

1) Run the yum clean all command to clean the cache.

2) Run the yum check-update command to check the available upgrades.

Tip: The system will display a list of available updates, including the core operating system updates. Scan the list to
make sure everything is in order.

3) Run the yum update -y command to upgrade the CentOS system to v7.8.

Tip: This will then update all the packages to the latest version. It may take a while to complete. Keep an eye out for
any errors. If anything is incorrect, please hold for advice or contact your system administrator.

11. Run the service <mongodb service name> status command to double-check the MongoDB service status to
ensure it is running normally after the Linux system upgrade.

Note: The default name of the MongoDB service varies by different system versions. In v7.0b/b1 system, MongoDB
service name is mongodnetbrain; starting from v7.1, MongoDB service name is mongod.

12. Run the cat /etc/centos-release command to check if the CentOS system has been upgraded successfully.
For example, the following information is displayed: CentOS Linux release 7.8.2003 (Core).

13. As the CentOS system has been upgraded to v7.8, then you can continue to upgrade the system Database
Server according to the upgrade guide.

14. After the upgrade, delete the mounted folder, and disable the local repository and recover the original one.

1) Connect to the Linux server as the root user via SSH with the PuTTY tool.

2) Run the following commands to disable the folder mounting to local ISO file.
cd /
umount /tmp/centos_78

4 | Upgrading Linux System Offline

 Note: Ensure that all other users have disconnected from the system because the umount command cannot
succeed if any users are browsing the mount point.

3) Run the rm -rf /tmp/CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-2003.iso command to delete the ISO image, then run the rm
-rf /tmp/centos_78 command to delete all files under the centos_78 directory.

4) Run the rm -rf /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo command to delete the local repository file.

5) Run the mv /repo-bk/* /etc/yum.repos.d/ command to move the files in repo-bk folder to the
yum.repos.d folder. Then run the rm -rf /repo-bk/ command to delete the repo-bk folder.

6) Run the yum clean all command to clean the cache and run the yum check-update command to check
the available upgrades.

1.2. Upgrading RHEL to v7.8

1. Create a snapshot or checkpoint of your VMware server for rollback purpose in case of any failure.

Note: Ensure that the MongoDB data has been backed up, all the system services including MongoDB on the Linux
server are running normally, and DON’T restart Linux server during and after the Linux operating system upgrade.

Note: If anything is incorrect, please hold for advice or contact your system administrator.

2. Navigate to the official website of Red Hat, and download the RHEL 7.8 installation package.

3. Connect to the Linux server as the root user via SSH with the PuTTY tool. Then run the mkdir /tmp/rhel_78
command to create a directory to mount the ISO image.

4. Connect to the Linux server as the root user with the WinSCP tool without internet access and upload the ISO
file to a temporary folder /tmp/.

5. Run the following command to verify the MD5 checksum value. Confirm that the returned checksum value is
identical to the MD5 checksum value below.
md5sum /tmp/rhel-server-7.8-x86_64-dvd.iso
03e744681b67cbfe4c89b9fc7a89f21b rhel-server-7.8-x86_64-dvd.iso

Upgrading Linux System Offline | 5

 Note: If the checksum value does not match, re-download the ISO file as it may have been corrupted during the
transfers. Then repeat step 4 and 5 to upload the ISO file and confirm the checksum value.

6. Mount the uploaded ISO file.

1) Run the following command to mount the uploaded ISO file for read access only.
mount -t iso9660 -o loop,ro /tmp/rhel-server-7.7-x86_64-dvd.iso /tmp/rhel_78/

2) Run the ls -al /tmp/rhel_78/ command to see the contents of the mounted folder and make sure the
files and folders are as follows (there should be a .discinfo file like below):

3) Run the head -n1 /tmp/rhel_78/.discinfo command to check the numeric value in the first line of
the .discinfo file from the mount directory.

head -n1 /tmp/rhel_78/.discinfo

1582647234.022611

7. Backup all the internet-based repository files to a backup folder. As the system will only be updated offline, all
the internet-based repositories must be removed.

1) Run the mkdir /repo-bk command to create a backup folder repo-bk.

2) Run the cd /etc/yum.repos.d command to navigate to the etc/yum.repos.d directory.

3) Run the mv *.repo /repo-bk/ command to move the *.repo files to the repo-bk folder.

8. Create a file to point to the ISO file that has been mounted. It will ensure when we run the update all the
packages will be retrieved from the ISO file.

1) Run the vi /etc/yum.repos.d/local.repo command to open the new file local.repo inside the vi text
editor under the /etc/yum.repos.d directory.

2) Copy the following details to the vi editor.

6 | Upgrading Linux System Offline

 [LocalRepo]
mediaid=1582647234.022611
name=Local Repository
baseurl=file:///tmp/rhel_78
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-release
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1

Note: Replace media_id with the numeric value in the .discinfo file, and replace repository_url with the
/tmp/rhel_78 repository directory.

3) Press the Esc key to exit the input mode, then enter the :wq! command and press the Enter key to save
the changes and exit the vi editor.

4) Run the ls -l command to confirm that you only have the local.repo file in the /etc/yum.repos.d
directory.

9. Check the version detail of RHEL that is kept in the /etc/redhat-release and /etc/os-release directories.

1) To check the information about the current system, run the uname -a and uname -r commands.

2) To check the Linux version, run the following commands:

 Run the cat /etc/redhat-release command. For example, the version information is displayed as
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 7.0 (Maipo).

 Run the cat /etc/os-release command.

10. Run the following commands to check update packages from the DVD ISO repositories.

1) Run the yum clean all command to clean the cache.

2) Run the yum check-update command to check the available upgrades.

Tip: The system will display a list of available updates, including the core operating system updates. Scan the list
to make sure everything is in order.

Upgrading Linux System Offline | 7

 11. Run the yum update -y command to upgrade the RHEL system to v7.8.

Tip: This will then update all the packages to the latest version. It may take a while to complete. Keep an eye out for any
errors. If any errors pop up, please hold for advice or contact your system administrator.

12. Run the service <mongodb service name> status command to double-check the MongoDB service status to
ensure it is running normally after the Linux system upgrade.

Note: The default name of the MongoDB service varies by different system versions. In v7.0b/b1 system, MongoDB
service name is mongodnetbrain; starting from v7.1, MongoDB service name is mongod.

13. Run the cat /etc/redhat-release command to check if the RHEL system has been upgraded successfully. For
example, the following information is displayed: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 7.8 (Maipo).

14. As the RHEL system has been upgraded to v7.8, then you can continue to upgrade the system Database Server
according to the upgrade guide.

15. After the upgrade, delete the mounted folder, and disable the local repository and recover the original one.

1) Connect to the Linux server as the root user via SSH with the PuTTY tool.

2) Run the following commands to disable the folder mounting to local ISO file.
cd /
umount /tmp/rhel_78

Note: Ensure that all other users have disconnected from the system because the umount command cannot
succeed if any users are browsing the mount point.

3) Run the rm -rf /tmp/rhel-server-7.8-x86_64-dvd.iso command to delete the ISO image, then run the
rm -rf /tmp/rhel_78 command to delete all files under the rhel_78 directory.

4) Run the rm -rf /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo command to delete the local repository file.

5) Run the mv /repo-bk/* /etc/yum.repos.d/ command to move the files in repo-bk folder to the
yum.repos.d folder. Then run the rm -rf /repo-bk/ command to delete the repo-bk folder.

6) Run the yum clean all command to clean the cache and run the yum check-update command to check
the available upgrades.

8 | Upgrading Linux System Offline