backup & upgrade

[mandreko]

i'm currently running redhat 6.2 on my webserver. It basically has apache, php, mysql, and a few other programs (ones that can be overwritten, apache, php and mysql can not).

I'm wanting to upgrade to redhat 7.1 wolverine, cause i just really like it...

Is there a good way to backup my system, so i can do a complete restore? like to make an image of my hard drive, and restore it if it screws up? and if i do successfully upgrade to redhat 7.1, will it still allow me to run mysql, php, and apache the same?

thanks tons,
--
Matt

[bdg1983]

Thought someone would have replied by now with better suggestions.

Powerquests 'Drive Image'

Symantec's 'Ghost'

Any hardware backup (Tape etc.) using Commercial or freeware backup software

'tar' can also be used.

[mandreko]

will those programs backup my exact hard drive? like how i have my partitions and all? will they also backup my mbr?

[rppp01]

<sigh> I haven't done this, but you can use dd to copy an entire disk image to another disk. This allows you to migrate to a larger disk, or what not. This is only really good for moving one box only. If you have several, ghost and what not are the better bet.

[bdg1983]

Forgot about using 'dd'.

I'm not sure. I would suggest you read the specs at their websites. These are commercial packages.

You could also search around freshmeat.net and soundforge.org for freeware packages if available.