Downgrading Ascii back to Jessie

shirase · 2018-01-11 20:01:20

Recently I decided to upgrade Jessie to Ascii to try it out, here's the steps I took.

2. Changed the name Jessie to Ascii in /etc/apt/sources.list
3. apt-get update
4. apt-get install apt (to make sure apt can handle the new distribution) (flawless)
5. apt-get autoremove
6. apt-get upgrade (flawless)
7. apt-get autoremove
8. apt-get dist-upgrade (flawless)
9. apt-get autoremove
10. reboot

To downgrade, do I need to just change the name back to Jessie in sources.list and follow the steps again?

Last edited by shirase (2018-01-11 20:02:56)

steve_v · 2018-01-11 20:29:14

shirase wrote:

To downgrade, do I need to just change the name back to Jessie in sources.list and follow the steps again?

The answer to that question is going to be exactly the same as it is for Debian: No. If the packages installed are higher versions than those in the repos, apt does nothing.
There is no easy way of downgrading a system, the packaging tools were simply not designed for it.
The is various chicanery one can play with apt pinning to force lower versions to be installed, but there are usually conflicts, and it's always a pain in the ass.
99% of the time, I'd say a reinstall is less hassle.
Or better yet, just make a backup / snapshot before trying out the new stuff.

cynwulf · 2018-01-11 21:09:14

The only way to downgrade is to strip back to a bare system and run an upgrade specifying the release you want to "upgrade", gthen painstakingly go through downgrading individuals and removing problem packages. apt will warn you that packages are to be downgraded (I've done it successfully, but that was back in the days of Debian etch, lenny and squeeze). It's rarely worth the effort however and better to just reinstall.

golinux · 2018-01-11 21:57:41

I thought that could be done with pinning. Search for "downgrade" on this forum and the botbot logs for irc freenode #devuan.

fsmithred · 2018-01-11 22:22:16

nano /etc/apt/preferences.d/hopeforthebest

Add the following:

Package: *
Pin: release n=jessie
Pin-Priority: 1001

Then update/upgrade, and just like I named the file, hope for the best. If it works, you can then delete that file. (you can name the file whatever you want.)

What was that first step, anyway?

Maybe the better question is "Why?"

fungus · 2018-01-12 10:48:22

If you were to leave jessie-backports open that may save you some downgrading.
I agree a fresh installation is best, maybe side by side and copy your .conf files over, but to me it is worth the experimentation and reporting that it can safely be done, today, with current state of the distributions (ascii --> jessie). A month from now it will not be a good indicator that it can be done.

What about things that exist on ascii and don't exist in jessie? Would they be retained as local installations or dumped? I assume the first, but what if their dependencies don't match or are inadequate? Thinking of OpenRC, eudev, runit, sysv-rc, etc.

Last edited by fungus (2018-01-13 00:32:58)

transistor · 2018-01-12 22:12:49

@shirase: May I ask why you want to go back to jessie? Did you have problems with ascii? (I'm asking because I'm thinking about upgrading to ascii...)

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#1 2018-01-11 20:01:20

Downgrading Ascii back to Jessie

#2 2018-01-11 20:29:14

Re: Downgrading Ascii back to Jessie

#3 2018-01-11 21:09:14

Re: Downgrading Ascii back to Jessie

#4 2018-01-11 21:57:41

Re: Downgrading Ascii back to Jessie

#5 2018-01-11 22:22:16

Re: Downgrading Ascii back to Jessie

#6 2018-01-12 10:48:22

Re: Downgrading Ascii back to Jessie

#7 2018-01-12 22:12:49

Re: Downgrading Ascii back to Jessie

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