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I have a server in a datacenter which uses ubuntu 8.04 server edition. And i have a remote control for this server. I want to delete all things in this server and install a clean ubuntu 9.10 server edition. However, i can't put a cd this server because it is not on my hand. How can i format this server and install clean new ubuntu on this server without using cd-room? Sorry for poor english. Best regards.

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3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

8.04 is a LTS release. I say this not to deter you from upgrading but just to explain something. To upgrade to 9.10, you need to update to 8.10, 9.04 and then 9.10. It's a pig but the default server is quite small so there shouldn't be too many packages. It'll just take a little while.

If you waited for 10.04 (which is another LTS release), you could upgrade directly.

You can find out more about upgrading Ubuntu here: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading

Your other option is getting somebody local to the server to write a new image to the server disk. This might be faster for you.

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I'll add that upgrading isn't as messy as it is in Windows. Ubuntu does a pretty good job of cleaning up after itself. – Oli Feb 4 '10 at 11:37
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you can upgrade it using apt dist-upgrade if you want a clean reinstall, you will need an IP-KVM of some sort

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Hi.thanks for the answer. I already have something like IP-KVM so my connection doesn't closed when i restart the server. But i don't know how can i uninstall ubuntu 8.04 and how can i install ubuntu 9.04 without cd-room? – user33804 Feb 4 '10 at 11:32
most of the IP KVMs I have used have a virtual CD drive, to which you can attach a remote .iso file. You can use that feature to reinstall the OS – dyasny Feb 4 '10 at 15:13
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up vote 0 down vote accepted

I found the solution. Firstly, mount our iso

 sudo mount -o loop /home/ubuntu-9.04-alternate-i386.iso /media/cdrom0

Then, start upgrade

sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade
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