Hi folks,

I've done a little bit of research and it seems people recommend rather than trying to upgrade I should create a new Linode instance and then migrate my websites to it (I'm thinking one by one testing for breaking changes from PHP version changes). I run a pretty vanilla LAMP stack with a few customisations in config files (which I'm unlikely to remember!). I'm concerned about the version of PHP on 12.04 so want to move.

Does anyone have any good experiences of just backing up and then going for an upgrade or should I spin up a fresh linode and migrate site by site? Is there an easy way of moving data (FTP?) between linodes? I'm happy with command line if pointed in the right direction.

I'm currently on annual billing (with 10% discount).. what will I be charged? I'm 6 months into an annual invoice so obviously don't want to spin up a new Linode and then get charged 12 months on both!? Is the Linode billing smart enough to credit me when I kill my old 12.04 instance against the new one?

Any pointers or tips appreciated!

Steve

Keep this in mind: if you try to upgrade in place and it goes badly (which many of these upgrades seem to do) you'll be down until you can recover (or spin up a new Linode).

Why chance it? If you spin up a new Linode, test things as you copy each site over (I would suggest using subdomains while testing) then you can get everything working without the stress or downtime. If it takes you a week then it costs you a week for an additional Linode (but gives you the luxury of time).

You can contact support or billing regarding your pre-payment (and how they'll handle the short-term additional Linode), but I'm pretty sure your payment is tied to your account and not any individual Linode instance.