1 Debian Sarge to Etch On Debian? What does {code}cat /etc/debian_version{code} say? 3.0 is Woody 3.1 is Sarge 4.0 is Etch If you want to dist-upgrade to Etch use something like this for your /etc/apt/sources.list: {code} deb http\://http.us.debian.org/debian etch main contrib non-free deb http\://security.debian.org etch/updates main contrib non-free {code} Or normally the following will work: {code} sed --in-place 's/^\([^#].*debian-non-US\)/#\1/g' /etc/apt/sources.list sed --in-place 's/sarge/etch/g' /etc/apt/sources.list {code} Then run {code} # to minimize all those tedious 'are you sure'? messages. export DEBIAN_PRIORITY=critical export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive # run the dist upgrade apt-get update apt-get dist-upgrade {code} We have run this a few times on VPS'. And the process seems pretty safe/hassle free. If you get errors like these: {code:none} WARNING: The following packages cannot be authenticated! libruby1.8 ruby1.8 ruby Install these packages without verification [y/N]? {code} Run: {code:none} gpg --keyserver pgpkeys.mit.edu --recv-key 2D230C5F gpg -a --export 2D230C5F | apt-key add - apt-get update {code} 2007-03-20 16:40:18.0 2007-03-17 21:50:34.0