How to Upgrade Oracle Linux 7.9 to 8.10 in OCI Using Leapp

Looking to upgrade your Oracle Linux 7.9 system in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to 8.10 without having to start from scratch?

You can use the Leapp utility to do an in-place upgrade, preserving your existing configurations, data, and settings. This guide walks you through the process step by step so you can upgrade safely and efficiently.

Prerequisites Before you start:

• An OCI VM or Bare Metal instance running Oracle Linux 7.9

• Root or sudo access

• Latest updates installed (yum update -y)

• Recent backup or snapshot (strongly recommended!)

Step 1:

Run the following command to install Leapp and its repository:

sudo yum-config-manager --enable ol7_latest ol7_optional_latest ol7_UEKR6
sudo yum install -y leapp-upgrade --enablerepo=ol7_leapp,ol7_latest
sudo yum install leapp leapp-repository -y
sudo yum install oraclelinux-release-el7
sudo yum install -y leapp-upgrade --enablerepo=ol7_leapp,ol7_latest

Step 2:

Run the pre-upgrade check:

sudo leapp preupgrade

Review the report at:

/var/log/leapp/leapp-report.txt

Fix any blocking issues reported.

Step 3:

Common fixes may include:

• Enabling required repos

• Removing conflicting packages

• Adding answers to leapp prompts in /etc/leapp/answers.conf

Re run the previous Command

sudo leapp preupgrade

One the script come back with no Errors, Inhibitors and high errors then you can proiceed below.

Step 4:

Run the upgrade command:

sudo leapp upgrade

This prepares the system and sets it to reboot.

Step 5:

Reboot the system to begin the upgrade:

sudo reboot

The system boots into the leapp upgrade initramfs and upgrades itself. to keep an eye on the progress you can connect to a cloud console serial connection.

Step 6:

Check that the system is now running Oracle Linux 8.10:

cat /etc/redhat-release

Step 7:

Re-enable or reinstall any needed packages.

Step 8:

Re-enable any repositories needed for OL8:

sudo dnf repolist

Remove obsolete packages:

sudo dnf autoremove

Reinstall or reconfigure any custom software.

Step 9:

Finally, make sure your workloads are running as expected:

• Services are up

• Apps work correctly

• No broken dependencies

  
  

Tips & Recommendations

• Always snapshot your OCI instance before starting

• Read the Leapp documentation for advanced scenarios

• Test on a non-production VM if possible

  
  

Upgrading from Oracle Linux 7.9 to 8.10 with Leapp is a great way to keep your OCI environment secure and up to date without rebuilding from scratch.

By following these steps, you can perform a smooth, in-place upgrade while preserving your existing setup.