Downgrade Possible?
Linode
Linode Staff
I have been trying out your Linode setup for the last few days. I was concerned that I would be out of my depth, but your help files are excellent, as is the community. I would like to ask you some brief questions fundamental to my longer term plans.
I have the Ubuntu 19.04 1GB Linode which I was setting up as a webserver, to host a couple of light usage wordpress websites and maybe a couple of static sites.
I will also need a mail facility, and i believe i will setup Mail-In-A-Box.
A community member mentioned that I may be better off with the LTR Ubuntu 18.04, due to stability and support longer term.
As such i am now considering reconfiguring and setting up 2 x Ubuntu 18.04 1GB, one as webserver, the other as mailserver.
Logistically does this make sense?
If so, I guess i need to rebuild the webserver as i cannot downgrade the OS from 19.04 to 18.04, correct? Or could there be an easy way of transitioning between the two that i am unaware of please?
Finally, i am a little confused about the glue records concerning the mail server nameservers. . My domains are registered with a domain registrar and I have directed these to ns1.linode.com (1-5) so is that sufficient for the name.com configuration.
1 Reply
rgerke
Linode Staff
As such i am now considering reconfiguring and setting up 2 x Ubuntu 18.04 1GB, one as webserver, the other as mailserver.
Logistically does this make sense?
Yes, that does make sense. It's not a bad idea to use the same distribution on both Linodes, for the sake of uniformity and keeping things as simple as possible.
If so, I guess i need to rebuild the webserver as i cannot downgrade the OS from 19.04 to 18.04, correct? Or could there be an easy way of transitioning between the two that i am unaware of please?
My recommendation when doing this is to spin up a brand new Linode with Ubutu 18.04 and transfer your data to it using a utility like rsync or scp. Inline upgrades or downgrades can be risky, so I always recommend doing it through the safest method possible. If you do decide to go this way, and want to use the IP of your current Linode with the new Ubuntu 18.04 Linode, you can swap the IPs between them.
Finally, i am a little confused about the glue records concerning the mail server nameservers. . My domains are registered with a domain registrar and I have directed these to ns1.linode.com (1-5) so is that sufficient for the name.com configuration.
I am a little confused by the domain registrar's documentation that talks about A records and name servers
That should suffice if you're configuring your DNS through our DNS Manager. The A records they refer to are explained in our guides:
The best advice I can give when configuring your DNS is to go through our DNS set-up checklist. Included in that checklist are links to other sections of our guides which show you how to enter the specific DNS records that you'll need. Once you have this all set up, it can take up to 48 hours to propagate, but it's rare that it takes that long.
MX Records set the mail delivery destination for a domain or subdomain, so you'll want to look at these as well.