[mythtv-users] Seeking advice, should I do a new install or upgrade?

[Thomas Mashos]

On Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 12:34 PM, Joe Hickey <jfwd at phlobus.net> wrote:
> Hi all,
> I recently moved, and I've finally got all my cat5 cables run where
> they need to go...  Now I'm thinking about how to revive my mythtv
> setup.
>
> My situation is this: old installation was in a small apartment, so it
> was a single combined FE/BE.  I also hadn't upgraded it in a while -
> It is currently running an older (now unsupported) version of
> Mythbuntu and mythtv v0.24, and also the 2TB video storage drive is
> 100% full.  In the new installation, I'd like to get back onto a
> supported distribution.  I'm also doing some HW upgrades, got some
> additional disks, etc etc.  I'm going back to a separate FE / BE setup
> (which was my setup before my last apartment) and the prior combined
> FE/BE box will go back to being an FE only.  Of course it's a
> different TV service provider too.
>
> So basically, almost everything about my setup is changing -- OS
> versions, system roles, IP addresses, hostnames -- all of which can
> cause headaches when done individually.  I'm inclined to do a new,
> fresh install of the latest Mythbuntu and set everything up from a
> clean slate.
>
> HOWEVER, the big caveat is that I'd like to keep all the recorded
> shows.   Is there any way to import the old recorded shows into a new
> install?    Or do I have to first upgrade to 0.25 then purge out and
> re-do my config (tuners, video sources, etc)?  This isn't the easiest
> thing to do because I don't think 0.25 is pre- packaged for my old OS
> version, and AFAIK ubuntu version upgrades have to be done one at a
> time, so that's a big undertaking that I'd rather not do.
>
> Any other thoughts/suggestions?
>
> Thanks in advance!
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This seems doable, I'd treat it as a fresh install and a database
restore. Grab the 12.04.1 ISO from http://mythbuntu.org/downloads as
this version is LTS and will get MythTV updates though the next LTS
(~2 years). Check out the backup and restore script documentation ast
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Database_Backup_and_Restore specifically
the part about changing hostnames. Backup recordings to another drive
and when doing the reinstall mount them wherever you want ( I
recommend /srv/mythtv/recordings/ ). You'll need to go though
mythtv-setup and clear out/readd all the settings (as well as letting
it update the database).

You can also check https://launchpad.net/~mythbuntu/+archive/0.25 and
see if there are 0.25 builds for the release you are currently on in
case you want to upgrade the database first.

Thanks,

Thomas Mashos