Is it possible to install a different distribution over an existing Linode?
I wanted to switch distributions on an existing Linode. I have no data I need to save. I haven't been able to find a way of doing this through the cloud manager. Does anyone know if it is it possible to do this without creating a new Linode?
If the only solution is to spin up another Linode, does anyone know if it is possible to assign the IP address on my current Linode to the new one?
Thanks!
4 Replies
✓ Best Answer
You can choose the rebuild option for the Linode you want to change distros on and choose the distro that you would rather have from the menu option.
Note, this will wipe out any existing data on that Linode.
That's just what I was looking for. Thanks!
mpeters
Linode Staff
If you did have data that you wanted to save, you could spin up a new Linode with the distribution that you want to use, and then copy the data over manually using a utility such as rsync.
Additionally, you are able to keep the IP address by Transferring the IP Address. This will allow you to swap the IPv4 address between Linodes in the same data center (the IPv6 address will change, however).
For reference, I''ll also share this post related to distribution upgrades as many of the same principals apply:
Although that's not something I need to do at this point mpeters, this information will be very useful to me in the future. Thank you!