Migrate oct2021 to bullseye2021
page modified January 23, 2022
Specifications may change without notice.
oct2021 and bullseye2021 are the names of the repositories for the two most modern TARPN releases.
It is from one of these two repositories that your node fetches its installers, applications, and any updates.
In addition to the release repositories, there are a plethora of test repositories including nov2020test and jun2021test.
The jun2021test has been renamed oct2021.
If you are using jun2021test, you can use the
tarpn url command to enter
http://tarpn.net/oct2021 and then do
tarpn update.
We were all set with the oct2021 repository, having finally gotten ahead of TNC identification and configuration, and expecting a long reprieve from maintenance, but on Nov 1, 2021, Raspberry PI org dropped the new OS, Bullseye, which is now the recommended system for all Raspberry PIs, complete with incompatabilities with our existing TARPN software and scripts.
So, we scrambled to get our software updated.
This was actually a bit of a pain because a few things changed which had implications.
First, the Python version included with Bullseye made every Python script and pre-compiled program fail.
In order to migrate from buster to bullseye you have to create a new SDcard using the Raspberry Pi Imager program.
To help move your system from the old card to the new card I created a backup and a restore command.
The backup command will grab all of your TARPN node's personal material and store it into a convenient zip file which you can move off-system, and then move to the new SDcard when it is ready.
The zip file looks like this:
node-backup-image-2021-11-30.zip
node-backup-image-2021-12-02.zip
and is located in your Raspberry PI home directory,
/home/pi.
A restore command will look for a filename with node-backup-image-*.zip, in your home directory.
If it finds one and only one, it will restore from that.
The restore program will exit with a warning message if the node is running, set to (AUTO), or if there is a node.ini file already in the home directory
backup with
tarpn backup
and to initiate a restore is
tarpn restore
If you do a tarpn backup and there is already an image file with today's date, it will erase it and replace it.
During the restore process, the date is not checked. It takes the one image file and uses it.
Backup does four separate ZIP incantations, one each for
bpq-extensions,
mail,
user-local-etc, and
bpq-configs with node.ini.
Then it zips all four of those ZIPs into one image file.
Restore checks to make sure that the image file has the required 4 ZIP files included before it starts saving the backed-up files.
Each process takes seconds to run.
Migration instructions if your only operable Raspberry PI system is running your node
Use
tarpn update on your node to get the latest version from the oct2021 repository.
Run
tarpn backup to create the backup zip file as described above.
Move the zip file to your workstation, probably by using an SFTP client like File-Zilla.
Do
tarpn shutdown on your node, removing power when appropriate.
Use Raspberry PI Imager to make a new Bullseye Linux install.
Boot the new SDcard on your Raspberry PI.
Follow the instructions on the Builder
Initialize Raspberry PI for TARPN Node web page to create a new node, but
stop short of running the tarpn config command.
Copy the backup ZIP file from your workstation to the Raspberry PI.
Do a
tarpn restore on the Raspberry PI to expand your old node's personality into the new SDcard's file system.
Do
tarpn to observe the node's status.
Do
tarpn service start if necessary to start the node.
Do
tarpn home update.
Do
tarpn home start if necessary to start the TARPN-HOME.
Migration instructions if you can run a 2nd Raspberry PI
If you have two Raspberry PIs that you can run simultaneiously, set up a new node while leaving the old one running.
Create a new SDcard on your MSWindows, MacOS or Linux workstation using the Raspberry PI Imager program.
Follow the instructions on the Builder
Initialize Raspberry PI for TARPN Node web page to create a new node, but
stop short of running the tarpn config command.
Once you have the new SDcard prepared, with both of the TARPN installers completed, do
tarpn update on the old Raspberry PI card to get the latest tarpn script, having the backup command.
Run
tarpn backup on the old Raspberry PI card.
Use SFTP from one PI to the other to move the image file.
Do
tarpn restore on Raspberry PI running the new card.
Do
tarpn shutdown on both Raspberry PIs, and remove power when appropriate.
Swap the cards.
Startup the new card on the node.
Do
tarpn home update.
Do
tarpn home start if necessary to start the TARPN-HOME.
Finally
Connect to the node using VNC and run QTterm, and connect to the node using a web browser and run TARPN-HOME.
You could have your node running again in a minute or two.
The latest TARPN programs require that your node hears your neighbors before registering the neighbors as routes, so it could take 15 minutes or so before the CHATs establish, but you probably knew that.
The backup includes the log file for CHAT so when you bring up TARPN HOME you'll be back in the chats you left with the usual several days of chat scroll back.
Ditto all the BBS mail and setups.
Thanks K1OC and K4RGN for early beta testing the Bullseye stuff.
Thanks to KE5SXT for the suggestion about adding the date to the image filename.
Thanks to N3LTV and NC4FG for finding the last show-stopper.
Tadd - KA2DEW
