# Debian Knowledge Patch > Debian - Skill: `nevaberry/debian-knowledge-patch-2` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 7 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add nevaberry/debian-knowledge-patch-2` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/nevaberry/debian-knowledge-patch-2/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - License: MIT - Author: nevaberry (https://skillmd.com/u/nevaberry) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/nevaberry/debian-knowledge-patch-2 --- # Debian knowledge patch ## Navigate the references Choose references by the task at hand. Read every relevant file before changing an upgrade plan, package set, boot configuration, network configuration, or stateful service. | Reference | Topics | | --- | --- | | [packages-toolchains-desktops.md](references/packages-toolchains-desktops.md) | Command and package replacements, component splits, desktop stacks, compatibility packages, and pending removals | | [release-platform.md](references/release-platform.md) | Architecture and ABI boundaries, platform defaults, hardware enablement, virtual machines, and support lifecycle | | [security-networking.md](references/security-networking.md) | Remote access, encrypted storage, sysctl, ping, interface naming, TLS, IPsec, and Secure Boot data | | [services-data.md](references/services-data.md) | RabbitMQ, MariaDB, Dovecot, and Bacula migrations | | [upgrade-foundations.md](references/upgrade-foundations.md) | Preflight checks, sequencing, rollback planning, and post-upgrade verification | ## Triage breaking upgrade risks first Before approving an in-place upgrade, identify whether the host is: - reached only through SSH; - using a separate `/boot`; - mounting encrypted filesystems, especially plain-mode dm-crypt; - running RabbitMQ, MariaDB, Dovecot, or Bacula; - dependent on stable network-interface names or `/etc/sysctl.conf`; - using a retired architecture or third-party `armel` or `armhf` binaries; - relying on custom WirePlumber, strongSwan, OpenLDAP, Samba, or libvirt setup; - carrying packages or commands that no longer exist. Treat each match as a required migration, verification, or rollback-planning step. Do not defer it to post-upgrade cleanup. ## Protect remote access and bootability ### Prepare SSH before a remote upgrade - Install `openssh-server` version `1:9.2p1-2+deb12u7` or later from `stable-updates` before starting an SSH-supervised upgrade. - Move variables required by SSH sessions out of `~/.pam_environment`; new sessions no longer read it by default. - Replace DSA keys. OpenSSH 9.8p1 and later cannot re-enable them. - Use `ssh1` from `openssh-client-ssh1` only for devices that provide no other key type. ### Check `/boot` - Require a separate `/boot` to be at least 768 MB with about 300 MB free. - Pay particular attention to systems originally installed with Debian 10 or earlier. - Enlarge an LVM-backed `/boot` with `lvextend` when necessary. Read [security-networking.md](references/security-networking.md) and [upgrade-foundations.md](references/upgrade-foundations.md) before finalizing a remote-upgrade procedure. ## Preserve encrypted storage - Verify that `systemd-cryptsetup` is installed before rebooting an upgraded encrypted system; automatic discovery and mounting moved into that package. - Never let new plain-mode dm-crypt defaults silently replace the parameters used to create existing data. - For a device made with the previous defaults, pin `cipher=aes-cbc-essiv:sha256,size=256,hash=ripemd160` in `/etc/crypttab`. - Recognize the new plain-mode defaults as `cipher=aes-xts-plain64` and `hash=sha256`. Plain mode stores no parameters. A mismatch can make valid data appear random, so verify configuration before attempting repair or reinitialization. ## Stage stateful-service migrations ### RabbitMQ - Convert classic HA queues to quorum queues before upgrading. - Do not plan a direct broker upgrade from the preceding stable release. - Preserve or recreate required state before applying Debian's reset procedure, which removes `/var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia` after the OS upgrade and restarts the service. ### MariaDB - Stop MariaDB cleanly before its major upgrade and confirm `Shutdown complete` in the logs. - If the stop was unclean, recover with 10.11, then stop it cleanly again before moving to 11.8. MariaDB 11.8 cannot crash-recover a crashed 10.11 data directory. ### Dovecot and Bacula - Port and test the incompatible Dovecot 2.4 configuration before the OS upgrade; the `replicator` feature is gone. - Budget hours or days and roughly twice the current database space for a Bacula schema migration, plus dump space under `/var/cache/dbconfig-common/backups`. - Prevent Bacula from exhausting disk space because that can corrupt its database. Read [services-data.md](references/services-data.md) for the complete service-specific requirements. ## Reconcile system and network behavior - Move local sysctl settings from `/etc/sysctl.conf` to `/etc/sysctl.d/*.conf`; `systemd-sysctl` no longer reads the former file. - Review `/usr/lib/sysctl.d/50-default.conf` from `linux-sysctl-defaults`. - Account for `iputils-ping` using ICMP datagram sockets instead of `CAP_NET_RAW`. Unprivileged ping now depends on `net.ipv4.ping_group_range`. - After `apt full-upgrade` and before reboot, test interface naming with: ```bash udevadm test-builtin net_setup_link /sys/class/net/ ``` - Pin an old interface name with a `systemd.link` file if `i40e` behavior or newly honored ACPI `_SUN` data would rename it. - Rework custom strongSwan deployment toward `charon-systemd`, `swanctl`, and `/etc/swanctl/conf.d`. - Review OpenLDAP TLS settings because `libldap2` and `slapd` now use OpenSSL and may load the system trust store when no CA certificates are configured. ## Reconcile package and configuration splits - Review libvirt drivers and storage backends after upgrade; each is now a separate binary package. - Install `samba-ad-dc` for Active Directory domain-controller support. - Install `samba-vfs-ceph` or `samba-vfs-glusterfs` for those backends; most other VFS modules are included in `samba`. - Keep `tzdata-legacy` where a database or service still uses names such as `US/*`. - Port custom WirePlumber setup to its new configuration system; defaults require no action. Consult [packages-toolchains-desktops.md](references/packages-toolchains-desktops.md) before substituting a removed package or command. Some removals have targeted replacements, while others do not. ## Account for architecture and ABI boundaries - Do not plan an upgrade of an existing `i386` installation. Use `i386` only for legacy roles such as chroots and multiarch on `amd64`. - Treat `mipsel` and `mips64el` as removed. - Treat `armel` as installer-less and limited to Raspberry Pi 1, Zero, and Zero W with Debian kernels, while allowing supported existing systems to upgrade. - Rebuild and audit third-party software for `armel` and `armhf`: the 64-bit `time_t` transition changes many library ABIs without changing sonames and can cause silent data loss. - Keep the legacy time ABI expectation only for `i386`. - Match ppc64el guest page-size needs to the host kernel and QEMU machine setting. Read [release-platform.md](references/release-platform.md) for exact platform and virtual-machine constraints. ## Use new platform capabilities deliberately - Expect systemd to mount `/tmp` as tmpfs by default. - Distinguish fresh installations, which enable cleanup of `/tmp` and `/var/tmp`, from upgraded systems, which must opt in. - Use firmware HTTP Boot to start installer or live media directly from a full ISO URL on supported UEFI and U-Boot systems. - Expect automatic Pointer Authentication and Branch Target Identification hardening on supported arm64 hardware. - Expect Hunspell language packages to provide compiled `.bdic` dictionaries for supporting Qt WebEngine browsers. - Allow Plasma 6 applications to coexist with the retained Qt 5 and KDE Frameworks 5 compatibility stack, while treating Frameworks 5 as deprecated. ## Prepare migrations that become urgent next - Move `sudo-ldap` rules to `libsss-sudo` so privilege policy survives its removal. - Install the transitional OpenSSH GSS-API client or server package when relying on `GSSAPI*` options. - Replace fcitx 4 with `fcitx5`, and move Debian LXD deployments to Incus with tools from `incus-extra`. - Replace `sbuild-debian-developer-setup` with `sbuild --chroot-mode=unshare`. - Remove dependency on `libnss-docker`, whose required Docker API disappears after Engine 26. - Select DHCP software by network stack: NetworkManager and systemd-networkd need no ISC client, `ifupdown` can use `dhcpcd-base`, and servers should move to Kea. Use [upgrade-foundations.md](references/upgrade-foundations.md) as the final migration checklist rather than assuming a successful reboot completes the work.