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Idea #9625: Update rollback functionality

Written by Eldmannen the 7 Jun 08 at 14:43. Category: System. Related project: Nothing/Others. Status: New
Rationale
Imagine I work in a corporate environment, I install some updates, and suddenly things stop working.

People cant access their e-mail, or shared files on the network, or perhaps have no internet connectivity.

I am about to crap my pants.

The business workflow stops, people are getting impatient and the boss is hugely disappointed. Now everyone wants to hang me by the balls.

I cant tell them "Just wait a couple of hours, I'll google a solution".

Now, wouldn't it be great with a rollback feature?
$ sudo apt-get rollback samba
Or something, and a second later, everything is back to normal, everyone is happy and my balls are safe.
Tags: rollback

234
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Solution #1: Auto-generated solution of idea #9625
Written by Eldmannen the 7 Jun 08 at 14:43.
Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #9625 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution. Thanks!
1
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Solution #2: Updates should be version numbered, so that user can update to specific version
Written by phoenix the 21 May 09 at 10:54.
Imagine a scenario where a user is using his system for 6 months and suddenly the latest update break the system. To recover the system, the user installs from the original install media and runs update-manager to bring the system up-to-date. Except that here, they want the system to come back to the last working version they had made.

Updates should be pushed out with a version no. so that users can track which version they are on and selectively choose to upgrade to a specific version.
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Solution #3: Have an easy way to store big groups of packages for reinstalling
Written by Ferk the 10 May 09 at 08:39.
Be able to store easily some package-name selections in a file, or in an AptUrl bookmark. They will be light weight and easy to keep in a external device.

After the upgrade the user will be able to double click the file and the package-names selected will be installed from the official repositories.

See also idea #19733 on how to do this: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/19733/

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Auzy wrote on the 7 Jun 08 at 15:16
Actually, wouldn't it be better to track all changes made to apt? So that you can rollback to any previous revision? Might make more sense to do that via Timevault though (otherwise config files may crash and burn)


Either way, +1, its a good idea

Eldmannen wrote on the 7 Jun 08 at 20:38
Auzy,
Yeah, that would be nice too.
You select a date and see all updates installed that day.

jhoger wrote on the 8 Jun 08 at 05:53
My new favorite out-of-context quote

"I am about to c**p my pants." -- Eldamannen of Brainstorm

Anyway I think Auzy is right... if for some reason a squishy-panted admin^H^H^H^H^Hcomputer guy is willing to just let every package update on his production server without testing the changes, the thing that will help this misguided soul the most is being able to rollback everything to just prior to the update, since most likely such a computer guy probably has no idea what broke anyway.

Aside from the colorful language, I'm pretty sure this idea is a dump^H^H^H^Hdupe though.

DanRabbit wrote on the 8 Jun 08 at 14:56
voted up for "now everyone wants to hang me by my balls"

booksbuggy wrote on the 27 Sep 08 at 15:35
My computer has experienced this kind of situation a lot.

phoenix wrote on the 21 May 09 at 10:49
I experienced this with Jaunty recently. Installed a fresh system and when I installed the recommended updates, the notification system for the volume control went haywire, generating 100s of notifications in a second. CPU utilization was 100%.

My only option was to format the system and no run update-manager. I was lucky because this was a freshly installed system. What if it was a 6 month old system and suddenly the updated packages hosed the system?

The system should automatically set a checkpoint before upgrading itself, and provide a simple facility to rollback from the last update.

AndrewLuecke wrote on the 21 May 09 at 17:28
Btw, rolling back isn't always that simple, because config files may have been updated.. Thats why we need full revision control on everything.


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