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All,<br>
<br>
I have a mythtv setup with one backend and several frontends. The
backend machine also runs a frontend to test any issues locally.
They all run some version of debian with mythtv packages installed
over standard release. Currently they all are on debian bullseye
with possibily running more recent kernels due to the need to
support more modern processors. My tuners are HDhomerun networked on
the same subnet. There are two - one 2-tuner and another 4-tuner
with static IP assignment from my home DHCP server. My current
backend is also on a static IP assignment. Other frontends are on
dynamic assignment. <br>
<br>
However, my backend is old (10+ years) and in need of HW upgrade.
Towards this, I have built a new machine with intel z690 MB and a
core i3-13100. I installed debian testing and ran a complete check
to make sure key hardware components work as expected. I also
checked kernel 5.19 supports all that care about in my new machine.
I am at a point to move my backend SW setup to this machine. To
support this I have a new and unused partition of correct size in
the new machine's disk. Both current and new hardware use UEFI boot
and I do not have any legacy BIOS boot in any of my home machines. <br>
<br>
My plan is to make image copy of the current installation, restore
on the partition created for this purpose and set it up.<br>
Let us call the test installation (debian testing to check the
hardware) as <u>new-base</u> and backend image copy restored on new
hardware as <u>new-backend</u>. We will use <u>current-backend</u>
to refer to the system that is currently running and serving from
the older hardware that I want to replace. I plan to proceed this
way and please let me know if I am making any mistakes. (These steps
are inspired by this: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Backend_migration">https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Backend_migration</a>)<br>
<ol>
<li>Shut down all frontends</li>
<li>On the current-backend, make a fresh db backup and disable
backend service (systemctl disable mythtv-backend)</li>
<li>Reboot current-backend machine using some rescue boot usb and
make image copy of the current install on to a spare disk.
Shutdown the backend machine completely and do not boot it at
all again. </li>
<li>Boot new-backend hardware, bootup new-base installation, image
restore backend on to its designated partition</li>
<li>Fsck this restore to make sure everything is ok, mount it, fix
fstab, hostname and few other essential items in the restore
image. Also make sure using symlinks storage directories now
point to local disk.<br>
</li>
<li>Run update-grub on new-base install so that new-backend image
becomes a choice up on grub prompt on a reboot. <br>
</li>
<li>Reboot the image copy (new-backend) update-grub and
update-initramfs -u and reboot back into new-backend </li>
<li>Since backend.service was disabled before image copy, note
backend is running yet. Run mythtv-setup and fix master-backend
name and IP and any other essential items.</li>
<li>Transfer storage drives from current-backend machine to
new-backend drive and make sure symlinks made in step 5 are
adjusted to point to correct directories.<br>
</li>
<li>After double checking, enable backend-service and start it.
Go to a nonfrontend host, pull up mythweb and check that you can
connect/view the status on the new-backend. Ensure all tuners
are visible and you can see the listing. </li>
<li>Add a recording to see if things work as expected. </li>
<li>Start the frontend on new-backend machine enter setup and
point it to new-backend. Watch live-tv and pull up the new
recording made to check everything is ok</li>
<li>Review status of backend recordings/rules etc to make sure
everything is in order.</li>
<li>Boot up other frontends and point to the new-backend and test
it.</li>
<li>Wait a week for this new setup to work as expected and then
permanently wipe the current-backend install so that it can
never be booted to cause any confusion. </li>
</ol>
Please let me know if I missed any step. <br>
<br>
Since I used UUID for all mounting (or partition reference), I chose
image copy/restore instead of tar to create and restore the
installation. Let me know if you think that is a bad choice also. <br>
<br>
Regards<br>
Ramesh<br>
<br>
<br>
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