Full System Urpmi Upgrade?

[klugee]

I've been using Mandrake for several years and am very happy with it. However, to date, everytime a new major version comes out, I dl the new iso's and install from scratch (keeping my home directory and such of course). When I installed my current 9.1 system, I made a habit of ONLY using Urpmi to install things (aside from a few obscure programs). I also keep my system up to date with urpmi.update / --auto-select (using the usual collection of sources from plf etc). @ any rate, as Mandrake 9.2 is coming out, I would like to use urpmi to upgrade my system to 9.2. I know that this won't happen by default... (ie, the 9.2 rpms come out under the /9.2 folders, not the 9.1 folders...
My question is this: If I switch my urpmi sources to the 9.2 RPM sources, instead of the 9.1 sources, what will happen? More technically, if I switch my current sources, such as:
//raven.cslab.vt.edu/pub/linux/mandrake/9.1/i586/Mandrake/RPMS
to
//raven.cslab.vt.edu/pub/linux/mandrake/9.2/i586/Mandrake/RPMS
are disasterous things going to happen?

Thus, can I do a full system upgrade merely by changing my sources (and installing the new kernel)?

[Satanic Atheist]

You'll still have a 9.1 machine, but this is the "proper" way to upgrade a machine that's classed as production.

Simply put, If I want to upgrade my server from Slackware 9 to 9.1 then I COULD just upgrade the packages. This machine is acting as the main server for the entire network and without it, the whole thing falls apart. Downtime for reinstallation is not really an option.

However, this is what I would recommend you do for ANY Linux machine, whether it's a server or a workstation:

Keep a journal of everything you do to that machine. If you install a package, write it down. If you remove a package, write it down. If you upgrade a package, write it down. If you configure something and it works, write it down. Write down absolutely every you do to administer that machine. If that machine is totally irrecoverable one day, you have a complete log of how you set the thing up so you can do it very quickly again. My journal is not that large, only about 5 pagesor so on an A6 notepad. Yet, it details all the drivers I've compiled, any special commands that had to be passed to make them work, everything. I simply won't have to go hunting for info again. If my backups fail as well as the machine, I could potentially have that machine back in a couple of days or so of hard work. The compiling is what takes most of the time, but whilst it's compiling, I could be configuring other packages. Or down the pub de-stressing...

Just my little bit of sage advice...

James