Upgrading from Fedora 15 to Fedora 16

Sometimes in the life of an average linux user, upgrading to the next release comes in the form of backing up your current files, download the latest images of your favorite linux flavor and perform a fresh install of the operating system.  However there are easier ways to go about upgrading from one version of linux to another.

In this write up I will describe how to upgrade your Fedora 15 linux OS to Fedora 16. Before proceeding with the necessary instructions, first backup all your important data  as in the event something goes wrong (we pray nothing goes wrong), you can always have a fresh start. Now that you have performed the required backup exercise, upgrade your system by following the instructions below:

  1. Open your command terminal and log in as root. If you are not logged in as root, you can switch to the root user by typing the command su  and providing the root password used during first system installation.
  2. Update all rpm packages by running the command yum update rpm.
  3.  Install the latest update available in the repository: yum update -y . If you notice that a new kernel got installed during yum -y update, you should reboot the system now and log in as root as described in step 1.
  4. Next clean the yum cache: yum clean all
  5. Install preupgrade: yum install preupgrade
  6. After preupgrade has been installed, you can begin the upgrade process by typing If you notice that a new kernel got installed during yum -y update, you should reboot the system now:preupgrade at the terminal.

The system will begin upgrading. Ensure that at this moment, there are no interruptions during the upgrade process. Any interruption can leave the system in an unstable state. Well done you now have your Fedora 16 up and running.