Re: Upgrading from 3.4.2 to 3.4.5, how to
On 21.01.21 11:10, Steve Charmer wrote: on this documentation page: https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/SPAMASSASSIN/UpgradingVersion "If you install using a Linux package installer: Debian unstable: apt-get install spamassassin " what is the meaning of "unstable" ? it's a debian question, not SA question: https://www.debian.org/releases/ it sounds scary, like the package should not be run in live mail systems, but then why would it be in the package mgr and not in a development package version? because development versions are installed through package manager too. -- Matus UHLAR - fantomas, uh...@fantomas.sk ; http://www.fantomas.sk/ Warning: I wish NOT to receive e-mail advertising to this address. Varovanie: na tuto adresu chcem NEDOSTAVAT akukolvek reklamnu postu. Windows found: (R)emove, (E)rase, (D)elete
Re: Upgrading from 3.4.2 to 3.4.5, how to
Bill Cole wrote: > Bob Proulx wrote: > > Only if you have upgraded to an Ubuntu nightly or installing a > > backport would you get 3.4.5. > > Also required: a time machine. > > 3.4.5 is not yet released. There have been substantial fixes made to the 3.4 > branch since the last pre-release snapshot that is available via Launchpad. > Release of 3.4.5 should be soon-ish. Oh! I see at least one place where I went wrong! I am not fully clued in with Ubuntu but looking at the launchpad page and welcome input on this. https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/spamassassin I looked there and saw "Latest upload: 3.4.5~pre1-3". I know that is a pre-released release-candidate and not the actual release. Looking deeper now I see that this one is from 2020-10-23 when it was uploaded. So for a pre-release it could benefit being refreshed for the latest development. But I think that means that someone tracking Hirsute Hippo would have that version available. I think using the 20.04 bundled spamassassin 3.4.4 would make the most sense for the easiest way forward. Especially if one is not participating in the daily spamassassin development. Because being part of 20.04 means that version will have a large user base and therefore a large community to report bugs and for motivation to fix things there as needed too. (Says me who is using 3.4.2 bundled with Debian Stable 10 "Buster".) Bob
Re: Upgrading from 3.4.2 to 3.4.5, how to
On 21 Jan 2021, at 17:05, Bob Proulx wrote: Only if you have upgraded to an Ubuntu nightly or installing a backport would you get 3.4.5. Also required: a time machine. 3.4.5 is not yet released. There have been substantial fixes made to the 3.4 branch since the last pre-release snapshot that is available via Launchpad. Release of 3.4.5 should be soon-ish. -- Bill Cole b...@scconsult.com or billc...@apache.org (AKA @grumpybozo and many *@billmail.scconsult.com addresses) Not Currently Available For Hire
Re: Upgrading from 3.4.2 to 3.4.5, how to
Steve Charmer wrote: > SA was originally installed using apt-get (Ubuntu-16) I recommend upgrading from Ubuntu 16 to 18.04 and letting it upgrade spamassassin as part of that upgrade. Then upgrade from 18.04 to 20.04 and again let it upgrade spamassassin along with everything else. That's the best way when starting from Ubuntu 16. > BACKUP > I would feel safer if I had a backup of the current spamassassin system. > is there a recommended method to backup all files to a tar? I highly recommend the "etckeeper" package. It automatically keeps a version history of all of /etc in a version repository. It supports git, svn, others, but I prefer git and use etckeeper with a git repository of /etc. The beauty is that after installing then it is all fully automatic. The admin needs to know nothing about version control. But then if one wants to see how /etc has been changed they can always get help from a git person, or svn or whatever, to view the history and retrieve older versions. It's not strickly disaster recovery backup since it is local but it is good for viewing changes due to software upgrades and the like. > I think I have identified these folders as worthy of backup: > > # define an array of folders to backup > backup_dirs=( \ > '/etc/spamassassin' \ That's the local configuration. Definitely good to snapshot. > '/usr/bin' \ > '/usr/sbin' \ > '/usr/share/perl5' \ > '/usr/share/spamassassin' \ Those are all in the packages, since you said you were using a packaged version from Ubuntu. Therefore not really useful to backup since one should not ever restore those from backup on top of a running system. > '/var/lib/spamassassin' \ That's the dynamic daily downloads of rules that are updated routinely. Maybe good for a deep dive by someone skilled in the art. But otherwise on any new or different installation they will be updated again "today" with the latest copy and so backing this up seems less useful. > and I can also backup the bayes database > sa-learn --backup > "${bayes_backup_filename}" Not a bad idea. I have never had the binary bayes databases corrupted but also keep them in normal daily backups. I would pull the binary out of the previous backup. At major releases the format version of the bayes database is upgraded to the next version and will need to be upgraded themselves after the db libraries that use it are upgraded. That will need running a program such as "db_upgrade" to upgrade to the current version of it. That will be an a dbX.Y-util package. > UPGRADE > To upgrade to the latest version, 3.4.5 > do I just run: > > apt-get install spamassassin If you are still running Ubuntu 16.04 then the version installed would be 3.4.2 as that is in the 16.04 release. If you have upgraded to Ubuntu 18.04 then the version installed would still be 3.4.2 as that is in the 18.04 release. If you have upgraded to Ubuntu 20.04 then the version installed would be 3.4.4 as that is in the 20.04 release. Only if you have upgraded to an Ubuntu nightly or installing a backport would you get 3.4.5. https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/spamassassin I am a little out of my depth with Ubuntu. Sorry. > does it simply overwrite existing files? > i.e. I don't need to uninstall the old version first? > > Will my local.cf file stay the same? It is best to never make changes to local.cf. Counter intuitively I know. Because then merges will be required upon package upgrades. Instead I recommend using a local-local.cf file to be your "really local" changes. Since that is not packaged as a "conffile" it will never require merges. However if syntax changes then it will of course need to be updated to match the new syntax. I know, I know... Too much information! But you are doing system administration and this is what you need to know to be doing it successfully. Bob
Re: Upgrading from 3.4.2 to 3.4.5, how to
Steve Charmer wrote: > on this documentation page: > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/SPAMASSASSIN/UpgradingVersion > > "If you install using a Linux package installer: > Debian unstable: apt-get install spamassassin > " > what is the meaning of "unstable" ? > it sounds scary, like the package should not be run in live mail systems, > but then why would it be in the package mgr and not in a development > package version? You are both absolutely correct and also missing the key nature of that bit of the documentation. *If* you are running Debian Unstable *then* running "apt-get install spamassassin" will install the latest packaged version. Since by your response I deduce that you are not running Debian Unstable then this bit of the documentation does not apply to your environment. Therefore ignore it. Actually I read that you are running Ubuntu. Therefore I recommend simply upgrading to the latest Ubuntu LTS and letting it upgrade to the latest spamassassin packaged for it. You mentioned Ubuntu 16.04 so upgrade first to 18.04 and get everything working then continue the upgrade to 20.04 afterward. Always pass through the major release points, never skip a release. Background: Debian has three stages in the package lifecycle. I know you said you are running Ubuntu but Ubuntu is a fork of Debian, similar but different, and the document you refer to above is for Debian, and specifically Debian Unstable. So this is about Debian Unstable to answer your question about the meaning of "unstable". Packages are build and uploaded to the "Unstable" repository. This is the daily bleeding edge. People will swear that they have had no problem running the daily bleeding edge of Unstable, until they do get snagged by upgrading on a day with a broken set of packages. Packages sit in Unstable for a ten day quarantine period. This allows people running Unstable to test these and hopefully file bugs if there are any problems with the newly uploaded package. If no RC release critical bugs have been filed after the waiting period then the package is migrated into the Testing repository. Testing is, more or less, intended to be the always ready release candidate for the next Stable release. In theory Testing might be more robust than Unstable due to the RC bug reporting hold placed upon broken packages. However when packages don't get a bug reported until after they have already migrated to Testing and then get an RC bug reported against them that means that Testing gets frozen with the broken version until the Unstable one gets resolved. In some cases that can be basicaly forever if the problem is not easily resolved. Then the schedule calls for a Stable release to be made every two years from the Testing repository. Stable is very robust and does not change over the lifetime of it. Stable is where people who are clueless say "Debian is too old" because Stable will never upgrade from say Apache 2.2 to Apache 2.4 within a stable release cycle. Those types of breaking changes must happen in the next release. Therefore people who want the daily bleeding edge often run Unstable. And swear it is awesome. Until Unstable is broken one day. And then they need to figure it out and deal with it. And then it depends upon their skill level dealing with Unstable. For the experienced and skilled administrator this is usually very easy. For example by downgrading from the Testing repository which holds a previous version that migrated to Testing. But sometimes it is much more complicated and one must scramble around looking at snapshot.debian.org or by other things. It's pretty rare that someone must resort to hand editing the /var/lib/dpkg/status file by hand to fix things. But not unheard of needing. :-) I run Unstable on my main desktop specifically to find bugs as early as I can and report them so that I can either get them fixed or fix them *before* they get released in Stable and make my life unpleasant for the two year Stable lifecycle. Meanwhile... There are many viewpoints on how software distributions should release an operating system. This is Debian's flow. But people come all different and many prefer different flows. There are many available. Some people prefer a rolling release module instead of the stable release model. There are several other software distros that are based upon rolling releases such as Gentoo, Arch, Void, and others. Therefore people should choose the one they want. It's a big universe. I prefer the Stable release model. Bob
Re: Upgrading from 3.4.2 to 3.4.5, how to
On 1/21/2021 11:25 AM, Bill Cole wrote: On 21 Jan 2021, at 11:08, Steve Charmer wrote: I would "like" to backup everything, for safety, that is why I included a list of the directories (fodlers) which I thought had Spamassassin content, to get feedback from other users if they are the correct folders to backup, in case a restore is needed. Unfortunately, I don't feel any more knowledgeable than before I read your message. By "package databases" did you mean the bayes database? No. The 'apt-get' program needs to maintain an index of what packages are installed, so it has its own database. So if anyone can assist with more advice on "exactly" what to backup and how to run an "upgrade", please chime in. Thank you. Assuming that the packagers of SA for your platform have done their job properly, upgrading the package with apt-get should not modify any of your local config. It will only replace the files contained in the package. I have never had an issue with a SpamAssassin update, but if you are worried about it, a backup of your config directory should be sufficient. This would be the directory containing all of the .cf files. This is /etc/mail/spamassassin on my system, but I build SA from source. The package may put them in a different location. -- Bowie
Re: Upgrading from 3.4.2 to 3.4.5, how to
On 21 Jan 2021, at 11:08, Steve Charmer wrote: I'm sorry, but I do not understand your message. I thought an upgrade fixes bugs. Maybe you are thinking about an update, which seems like it would updates rules in *.samples? From the man page for 'apt-get': update Used to re-synchronize the package index files from their sources. The indexes of available packages are fetched from the location(s) specified in /etc/apt/sources.list(5). An update should always be performed before an upgrade or dist-upgrade. upgrade Used to install the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in /etc/apt/sources.list(5). Packages currently installed with new versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances are currently installed packages removed, nor are packages that are not already installed retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed packages that cannot be upgraded without changing the install status of another package will be left at their current version. An update must be performed first so that apt-get knows that new versions of packages are available. IN SHORT: "update" applies to the package index used by apt-get, "upgrade" applies to the packages themselves. I would "like" to backup everything, for safety, that is why I included a list of the directories (fodlers) which I thought had Spamassassin content, to get feedback from other users if they are the correct folders to backup, in case a restore is needed. Unfortunately, I don't feel any more knowledgeable than before I read your message. By "package databases" did you mean the bayes database? No. The 'apt-get' program needs to maintain an index of what packages are installed, so it has its own database. So if anyone can assist with more advice on "exactly" what to backup and how to run an "upgrade", please chime in. Thank you. Assuming that the packagers of SA for your platform have done their job properly, upgrading the package with apt-get should not modify any of your local config. It will only replace the files contained in the package. -- Bill Cole b...@scconsult.com or billc...@apache.org (AKA @grumpybozo and many *@billmail.scconsult.com addresses) Not Currently Available For Hire
Re: Upgrading from 3.4.2 to 3.4.5, how to
on this documentation page: https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/SPAMASSASSIN/UpgradingVersion "If you install using a Linux package installer: Debian unstable: apt-get install spamassassin " what is the meaning of "unstable" ? it sounds scary, like the package should not be run in live mail systems, but then why would it be in the package mgr and not in a development package version?
Re: Upgrading from 3.4.2 to 3.4.5, how to
I'm sorry, but I do not understand your message. I thought an upgrade fixes bugs. Maybe you are thinking about an update, which seems like it would updates rules in *.samples? I would "like" to backup everything, for safety, that is why I included a list of the directories (fodlers) which I thought had Spamassassin content, to get feedback from other users if they are the correct folders to backup, in case a restore is needed. Unfortunately, I don't feel any more knowledgeable than before I read your message. By "package databases" did you mean the bayes database? So if anyone can assist with more advice on "exactly" what to backup and how to run an "upgrade", please chime in. Thank you.
Re: Upgrading from 3.4.2 to 3.4.5, how to
On Tue, 19 Jan 2021 13:31:33 -0500 Steve Charmer wrote: > SA was originally installed using apt-get (Ubuntu-16) > BACKUP > I would feel safer if I had a backup of the current spamassassin > system. is there a recommended method to backup all files to a tar? > > I think I have identified these folders as worthy of backup: > > # define an array of folders to backup > backup_dirs=( \ > '/etc/spamassassin' \ > '/usr/bin' \ > '/usr/sbin' \ > '/usr/share/perl5' \ > '/usr/share/spamassassin' \ > '/var/lib/spamassassin' \ I only ever backup the equivalent of /etc/spamassassin, and not especially before upgrades. I'm more likely to break it than a package upgrade is. An upgrade should only reinstall the *.sample files under that directory. If you are going to back-up installed files you need to back-up practically everything, including the package database[s], so that you can do a full roll-back. A partial restore of old installed files could leave things in an inconsistent state - although you may get away with it on Debian/Ubuntu. > To upgrade to the latest version, 3.4.5 > do I just run: > > apt-get install spamassassin I've not used Ubuntu or apt-get, but usually package managers have some kind of upgrade command. Unless there's a good reason not to, I'd update everything IIWY. When upgrading SA to a different version you need to run sa-update to populate the new rules directory and optionally run sa-compile if you use it. spamd or any other daemon using the SA perl libraries (e.g. amavisd) should be restarted.
Re: Upgrading from 3.4.2 to 3.4.5, how to
are these the important folders which need to be backed up? PREFIX=/usr, DEF_RULES_DIR=/usr/share/spamassassin, LOCAL_RULES_DIR=/etc/spamassassin, LOCAL_STATE_DIR=/var/lib/spamassassin and... /var/lib/spamassassin/3.004002 does that match to SA version 3.4.2 ? I see 3.00... and think, NO that is not 3.4 ... etc data gotten from running sa-update -D Jan 20 11:44:02.212 [30368] dbg: logger: adding facilities: all Jan 20 11:44:02.213 [30368] dbg: logger: logging level is DBG Jan 20 11:44:02.213 [30368] dbg: generic: SpamAssassin version 3.4.2 Jan 20 11:44:02.213 [30368] dbg: generic: Perl 5.022001, PREFIX=/usr, DEF_RULES_DIR=/usr/share/spamassassin, LOCAL_RULES_DIR=/etc/spamassassin, LOCAL_STATE_DIR=/var/lib/spamassassin Jan 20 11:44:02.213 [30368] dbg: config: timing enabled Jan 20 11:44:02.215 [30368] dbg: config: score set 0 chosen. Jan 20 11:44:02.222 [30368] dbg: generic: sa-update version 3.4.2 / svn1840377 Jan 20 11:44:02.222 [30368] dbg: generic: using update directory: /var/lib/spamassassin/3.004002 >
Upgrading from 3.4.2 to 3.4.5, how to
Hi, I am running version 3.4.2 /usr/bin/spamassassin -V SpamAssassin version 3.4.2 running on Perl version 5.22.1 spamd --version SpamAssassin Server version 3.4.2 running on Perl 5.22.1 with SSL support (IO::Socket::SSL 2.024) with zlib support (Compress::Zlib 2.068) which spamd /usr/sbin/spamd == SA was originally installed using apt-get (Ubuntu-16) == BACKUP I would feel safer if I had a backup of the current spamassassin system. is there a recommended method to backup all files to a tar? I think I have identified these folders as worthy of backup: # define an array of folders to backup backup_dirs=( \ '/etc/spamassassin' \ '/usr/bin' \ '/usr/sbin' \ '/usr/share/perl5' \ '/usr/share/spamassassin' \ '/var/lib/spamassassin' \ ) and I can also backup the bayes database sa-learn --backup > "${bayes_backup_filename}" is there anything else you can recommend for backup prior to installing the newest version? Is there a way to check timestamps on files inside spamassassin folders to guess if any were modified to be different than the files installed at installation time? (it has been a few years & I don't really remember if I did anything bad to those files when I first started learning about SA.) == UPGRADE To upgrade to the latest version, 3.4.5 do I just run: apt-get install spamassassin does it simply overwrite existing files? i.e. I don't need to uninstall the old version first? Will my local.cf file stay the same? Thank you in advance