The following provides information to help you prepare your site for the Ubuntu upgrade from Debian Stretch or Debian Buster to version 22.04.2 LTS (aka Jammy).
What to expect
DreamHost will contact you via email in advance of the upgrade.
The time frame of an upgrade can vary from server to server, however the timing ensures that there are several highly trained engineers on hand should any major issues arise. The upgrade itself should take no longer than an hour to complete.
Any services that rely on the availability of your MySQL server (WordPress or any other database-driven websites, applications, and so on) will not be reachable until the upgrade is complete. This will NOT affect cloud or email services.
Checking the version of Ubuntu
As mentioned above, you will receive an email notifying you of your server's upgrade. However, you can manually check via SSH.
The following command confirms the server is still running Debian.
[server]$ cat /etc/issue Debian GNU/Linux 10 \n \l
And this shows a server running Ubuntu 22.04
[server]$ cat /etc/issue Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS \n \l
MySQL
Server changes
DreamHost MySQL servers are upgrading to MySQL version 8 as part of the Ubuntu upgrade.
See the following article for more information on MySQL 8.0:
ssh-rsa
The ssh-rsa ssh key cipher is no longer allowed. You will need to regenerate your ssh key if you are using ssh-rsa. Please see the following guides for instructions on how to create new key pairs:
Web server version changes
curl
The version of curl is changing from Stretch (7.52.1) or Buster (7.64.0) to 7.81.0.
FFmpeg
The version of FFmpeg is changing from Stretch (3.2.15) or Buster (4.1.6) to 4.4.2.
GCC
The version of GCC is changing from Stretch (6.3) or Buster (8.3) to 11.3 and 12.1.
Java
Ubuntu Jammy includes a new version of Java version 8, 8u362.
Node / NVM
When installing a custom version of Node.js/NVM, the installation will get caught by grsec. You must run a command to change the pax flags so grsec ignores the files. View the following article for full instructions:
OpenSSL
The version of OpenSSL is changing from Stretch (1.1.0l) or Buster (1.1.1d) to 3.0.2.
Passenger
The version of Passenger is being upgraded to Passenger 6. If you are using a Passenger application that utilizes custom .htaccess directives, you will be upgraded to Ubuntu Focal instead.
Perl
The version of Perl is changing from Stretch (5.24.1) or Buster (5.28.1) to 5.34.0.
Python
The following Python versions are changing:
- Python 2 (from 2.7.13/16 to 2.7.18)
- Python 3 (from 3.5.3/3.7.3 to 3.10.6)
Python virtualenv
If your website is using a Python virtual environment and you notice any errors after the upgrade, reinstall your virtual environment and all modules. This helps to ensure everything is compatible with the new libraries on the server.
Ruby
The Ruby version on the server is 3.0.2. If you would like more control over this (e.g., you wish to use an older or newer version of Ruby), DreamHost strongly recommends using RVM.
If you are using Bundler, you only need to run:
[server]$ bundle exec gem pristine
Then, reload Passenger so that the changes take effect by running touch on a restart.txt file from your apps tmp directory:
[server]$ touch tmp/restart.txt
SSH
The version of SSH is changing from Stretch (7.4p1) or Buster (7.9p1) to 8.9p1.
Telnet
Telnet was previously available on Debian Stretch machines. However, since it is a deprecated protocol, it is not available on Jammy machines to help keep your server secure. If you require Telnet, DreamHost recommends running it on your local computer instead.
How can I find support?
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact support.
