Introduction
Upgrading or updating your CentOS 7.0/7.1/7.2/7.3/7.4/7.5 to CentOS 7.6 is a great way to ensure that your system is running the latest version of the operating system. This guide will walk you through the steps necessary to upgrade or update your CentOS 7.0/7.1/7.2/7.3/7.4/7.5 to CentOS 7.6. We will cover the prerequisites, the upgrade process, and post-upgrade tasks. By the end of this guide, you will have a fully updated CentOS 7.6 system.
How To Upgrade or Update CentOS 7.0/7.1/7.2/7.3/7.4/7.5 to CentOS 7.6
1. Update the system:
Before you start the upgrade process, it is important to make sure that all the packages installed on your system are up to date. To do this, run the following command:
sudo yum update
2. Install the yum-utils package:
The yum-utils package contains a set of utilities that can be used to manage yum repositories and packages. To install the package, run the following command:
sudo yum install yum-utils
3. Install the yum-plugin-versionlock package:
The yum-plugin-versionlock package allows you to lock specific packages to a specific version. This is useful when you want to make sure that a certain package is not upgraded during the upgrade process. To install the package, run the following command:
sudo yum install yum-plugin-versionlock
4. Lock the kernel package:
The kernel package is the core of the operating system and should not be upgraded during the upgrade process. To lock the kernel package to its current version, run the following command:
sudo yum versionlock kernel
5. Enable the CentOS 7.6 repository:
The CentOS 7.6 repository contains the packages needed to upgrade your system to CentOS 7.6. To enable the repository, run the following command:
sudo yum-config-manager –enable centos-7-6
6. Upgrade the system:
Once the repository is enabled, you can upgrade your system to CentOS 7.6 by running the following command:
sudo yum upgrade
7. Reboot the system:
Once the upgrade process is complete, you need to reboot your system for the changes to take effect. To reboot the system, run the following command:
sudo reboot
Introduction
CentOS is a popular fork, or derivative, of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux distribution.
CentOS 7.6 is a minor update and was published in December 2018. It includes updates and changes, including support for newer software and server technology. This guide will walk you through upgrading and updating the current version to the latest CentOS release.
Prerequisites
- Access to a command line / terminal window (Menu > Applications > Utilities > Terminal)
- Access to a user account with root or sudo user privileges. To add user to sudoers read this.
- The yum package manager, included by default
Upgrade CentOS to Latest Version: 6 Easy Steps
Step 1: Check current CentOS version
Check the version of your current release with the command:
cat /etc/redhat-releaseThe system should display the CentOS Linux release version. Make sure the first number is at least 7.x.x.
Read this, for a full tutorial on how to check CentOS version.
Step 2: Verify data and backups
Backing up important server data should be done before running a operating system upgrade. Take a moment to verify your system backups.
Step 3: Check for available updates
Check available CentOS updates with the command:
sudo yum check-updateThe system will display a list of available updates, including the core operating system updates. Scan through these to make sure everything is in order.
A good habit is to scan for software that you’ve specifically configured or installed. If you see a familiar package listed, it can indicate that there are updates or changes you’ll want to be aware of. You can research the upgrades to software packages as needed, depending on your system configuration.
Step 4: Package manager cleanup
As the yum package manager updates your system and software, it accumulates additional listings and downloaded data.
To clear these out of your system use the terminal command:
sudo yum clean allReboot the server with:
# rebootThis will clear the caches and lists in the local yum repositories. This can help speed the update process, and it can also help prevent issues.
Step 5: Update CentOS
Enter the command into the terminal:
sudo yum updateThe system should give you a listing of the packages to be downloaded, as well as the disk space required. The system will prompt you to confirm this is OK – press y, and the system will continue with the download and installation.
Note: CentOS 7.6 is a relatively minor release, so the process for updating is fairly straightforward. If you were installing a major update – say, CentOS 6.3 to CentOS 7.6, the process is much more involved.
Step 6: Verify current CentOS version
To verify the current version on CentOS, enter the command into the terminal:
cat /etc/redhat-releaseThe system should display CentOS Linux release 7.6.x is running on the web server.
Conclusion
If you’ve followed along, you should have an updated version of CentOS 7.6.
The recent updates in CentOS include:
- Bug reports sent directly to bugs.centos.org
- Driver updates
- OpenJDK 11 now available
- Thunderbolt-3 support
- Python2 has been deprecated
- Insecure cryptographic algorithms and protocols removed
You can find more detailed instructions and release notes on the CentOS documentation page. Since CentOS is designed around stability and reliability, it is unlikely that this release will cause any significant problems with your configuration.
How To Upgrade or Update CentOS 7.0/7.1/7.2/7.3/7.4/7.5 to CentOS 7.6
Upgrading or updating your CentOS 7.0/7.1/7.2/7.3/7.4/7.5 to CentOS 7.6 is a relatively straightforward process. This guide will walk you through the steps necessary to upgrade your system to the latest version of CentOS.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, you should make sure that your system is up to date. You can do this by running the following command:
yum update
This will ensure that all of your packages are up to date before you begin the upgrade process.
Step 1: Install the Upgrade Tool
The first step is to install the upgrade tool. This tool will help you to upgrade your system to the latest version of CentOS. To install the upgrade tool, run the following command:
yum install yum-plugin-fastestmirror
This will install the upgrade tool on your system.
Step 2: Run the Upgrade Tool
Once the upgrade tool is installed, you can run it to upgrade your system. To do this, run the following command:
yum upgrade
This will start the upgrade process. The upgrade tool will download and install the necessary packages to upgrade your system to the latest version of CentOS.
Step 3: Reboot Your System
Once the upgrade process is complete, you should reboot your system. This will ensure that all of the new packages are properly installed and configured. To reboot your system, run the following command:
reboot
Your system will now be running the latest version of CentOS.
Conclusion
You have now successfully upgraded or updated your CentOS 7.0/7.1/7.2/7.3/7.4/7.5 to CentOS 7.6. You should now be able to take advantage of all of the new features and improvements that come with the latest version of CentOS.
