How to Upgrade from CentOS 5.x to CentOS 5.9

On January 17 2013, CentOS project team leader Karanbir Singh has announced the release of CentOS 5.9 for both the i386 and x86_64 system architecture.

CentOS is an community-supported open source operating system that based on Red Hat. The CentOS 5.9 release is based on the upstream release of EL (Enterprise Linux) 5.9 and comes with all the packages including Server and Client. This release is the ninth update in the CentOS 5.x series and comes with lots of updates, bug fixes and added new functionalities.

What’s new in CentOS 5.9
  1. This new version has major bug-fixes, feature enhancements and added support for new hardware.
  2. The UOP included native support for MySQL to Postfix.
  3. Added Java 7 and Java 6 support.
  4. Ant 1.7.0 version added and older Ant 1.6.5 still available.
  5. Added support for Microsoft Hyper-V drivers.
  6. A new version of rsyslog named (rsyslog5) included. The old rsyslog version 3.22 still available.
  7. Samba3.x updated to samba 3.6.

The complete feature set and release notes of CentOS 5.9 can be found at official announcement page.

Upgrading from CentOS 5.x to CentOS 5.9

If you are already running earlier version of CentOS 5.8 or any other older 5.x version. You can easily upgrade your system by simply running “yum update” command from the terminal. First check out the currently running version of CentOS you are running.

[root@tecmint ~]# cat /etc/redhat-release

CentOS release 5.6 (Final)

If your are using CentOS 5.x version, you can easily upgrade to CentOS 5.9. The upgrade process is very simple all it needed is to run “yum update” command.

But before upgrading, I recommend you all to list down all the packages with ‘yum list updates‘ command. So, you would get the better idea which packages are going to install.

[root@tecmint ~]# yum list updates

The only official way to upgrade any CentOS 5.x to CentOS 5.9 using. (Important: Please take backup of all important data).

[root@tecmint ~]# yum update

Once upgrade process completes successfully, check version again by running the command.

[root@tecmint ~]# cat /etc/redhat-release

CentOS release 5.9 (Final)

Finally, verify your system my checking all services and configuration files.

Download CentOS 5.9 ISO Images

If you are looking for new or fresh installation, then download the CentOS 5.9 images using the following downlaod links for your 32 or 64 bit archietecture.

  1. Download CentOS 5.9 – 32 Bit ISO – (622MB)
  2. Download CentOS 5.9 – 64 Bit ISO – (625MB)
Ravi Saive
I am an experienced GNU/Linux expert and a full-stack software developer with over a decade in the field of Linux and Open Source technologies

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10 thoughts on “How to Upgrade from CentOS 5.x to CentOS 5.9”

  1. Hi Ravi
    My question not related to Centos, actually it is related to fedora. I install fedora 19 in my desktop and after update Schrödinger CAT is booting. this is good for me but today when I restart my system, the system automatic updated again. After updating rebooted by system itself and during rebooting the screen freeze and message showing “varifying DMI pool data………….” the dot is blinking continuously for longer duration. I search in google what it means it showing problem with BIOS setting, which I did not touch. This problem I faced second time with same OS. I am using three Hard disk capacity 2TB, 1TB and 500 GB.

    Could you give help me to sort out this problem
    Thank you

    Reply
  2. Mysql rpm’s are part of the upgrading media (DVD). So you might have not had problem in upgrading your Sql server. Oracle database rpm’s and third party rpms used in application hosting may cause the system to break. I will duplicate the server setup in virtual environment and experiment with your suggestion.

    First part of the question still remains unanswered. If possible can you write a article on offline repo for distribution of rpms to server/client machines

    thanks

    Reply
  3. Hi,
    Thanks for wonderful articles/guides. All your guides are very helpful and makes sysadmin’s life simpler. I have one question regarding the above article. This up-gradation needs server machines to be available on internet for yum sync and updates installation. Can you please advise me on the up-gradation method to do a offline up-gradation for servers operating in private network without a internet connectivity.

    Reply
      • Thanks.. I had gone through that article. The said article mentions about manual installation of updated packages from DVD. I am looking for a complete offline update server solution to distribute updated packages to number of Linux servers/clients present on our private network. It is like setting up a offline repo as WSUS server in windows networks.

        secondly, we have Cent OS 5.6 server with Oracle database for hosting various applications in our LAN setup. Can i use “yum upgrade” command to do a version upgrade in my Linux machine (manually) using DVD media like CentOS 5.9. Will that keep my current server in running state after reboot. I am deliberating a dependency issues may arise leading to server collapse. Please advise.

        Reply
        • I have upgraded my own working Mysql Server CentOS 5.6 to Centos 5.9 using DVD method. I have not faced any problems after up-gradation and server is working fine. My advice is to go ahead.

          Reply
  4. Hey Ravi,
    First of all thanks for all your articles. they really make life on linux enhancements much simpler. i have a Centos 6.3 ( updated kernel 3.7) installed and would like to make it a dual boot with Ubuntu 12.10 but currently i am not able to shrink LVM based Centos6.3 partions to make way for ubuntu. please can u publish an article or at least guide me on e mail with detailed instructions on how to first shrink the centos LVM partions and then install ubuntu or even fedora for a dual boot. Basic problem is shrinking the size of Centos LVM partion using Gparted in rescue mode using installation dvd. please help me as i find yyour solutions to be the most explanatory on the web. here is the partion detail of my disk :

    Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
    /dev/mapper/vg_thakurrajeshsingh-lv_root 50G 16G 31G 35% /
    tmpfs 1.2G 296K 1.2G 1% /dev/shm
    /dev/sda1 485M 79M 381M 18% /boot
    /dev/mapper/vg_thakurrajeshsingh-lv_home 407G 24G 363G 7% /home

    Reply
    • yay ! Finally i was able to shrink LVM and do a ubuntu12.10 dual install with centos 6.3. now the question is when 6.4 update comes later this month(since RHEL6.4 beta was released on 4th dec), when i will do a yum update, how to avoid centos 6.4 grub from overwriting the relatively new ubuntu grub ??

      Reply
      • If your grub boot loader is overwritten, then you don’t have choice to boot the recently installed operating system, In that case you have to restore an overwritten grub boot loader by using Live CD. Boot the system using Live CD and mount the partition and install grub again. This is the recommended way to restore the overwritten grub. And also let me know how you able to shrink the LVM?

        Reply

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