Re: how to update packages in production

[Geert Hendrickx <ghen%telenet.be@localhost>]

On Wed, Nov 07, 2007 at 09:44:06AM +0100, Zafer Aydogan wrote:
> - Is it possible to update the apache webserver without interrupting the
>    running httpd service during the update ?
> - Is it  possible to update mysql without interrupting the mysql service
>   during the update ?
> - Is it possible to install, add, remove modules for php without
>   interrupting remaining services ?


I've run countless source updates of all those packages with the services still
running, even on slow old SPARC servers where they take a day to compile.  You
can remove Apache + PHP + all modules from the system and it will keep running,
as long as you don't reload/restart in the meanwhile (let alone reboot).  So
there IS a risk (if you have a power outage or another issue that causes the
system to reboot, it will come up with incomplete services).


> Btw, the current hosting environment is FreeBSD with jails. Something like
> jails would be excellent at least as a test bed for projects, before going
> online. Is there something like jails aswell for NetBSD ?


Xen. (Seriously.)


        Geert