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The Fedora wiki directions for a DNF system upgrade say to update all packages normally with dnf upgrade --refresh before beginning the version upgrade per se. I can understand that you'd want the latest versions of key packages like the kernel, DNF, and the DNF system update plugin, but do all packages really need to be up to date before beginning the version upgrade? If not, which packages are the bare minimum for the update to work correctly?

As an example (my specific situation), I have a system running Fedora 22, which I want to upgrade to Fedora 24. The system has literally not been used (and therefore not updated) for about 9 months, so almost all packages are out of date. Do I actually need to upgrade all of my packages to the latest Fedora 22 versions (over 3 GiB to download, if not for DRPMs), just to have to download them all again from the Fedora 24 repositories?

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  • FYI, this is more of a curiosity question; as I type this, DNF has already downloaded all the updated F22 packages and is in the process of installing the updates.
    – j_foster
    Commented Jul 4, 2016 at 15:59

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As I understand, upgrade step by step is most supported way.

Upgrading is not only replacing old files to new, it also can contain conversion of old configuration to new (install script in rpm can do many things). This upgrade process tested for some popular upgrade scenarios and can depends on core system components (glibc binutils ...). There possible not declared implicit version dependencies. Step by step continuous upgrade is just most supported and safe.

At least better to upgrade package management software (rpm yum dnf) and important components like binutils ...

UPD.
games and other ... non system applications (LibreOffice, geogebra, *cad, huge IDE like Eclipse, ....) safe to exclude from update before upgrade. This apps definitely not involved in process of upgrade and potential problems with upgrading this apps can be resolved latter manually.

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    I think I get what you're saying, but I don't think it really answers the question. Yes, upgrading to the latest F22 packages is the most supported way, but will anything bad happen if I don't? Since lots of packages only get bugfixes and security updates between Fedora versions, I can't imagine that every package on a fully-updated F22 system will be the same version that it would be on a fully-updated F23 system. Especially true once F22 reaches EOL and stops getting updates.
    – j_foster
    Commented Jul 4, 2016 at 18:52
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    I guess what @j_foster wants to know is if he can skip upgrading, say LibreOffice. And if so, how to tell what is safe to skip.
    – Roflo
    Commented Jul 5, 2016 at 16:54
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    @Roflo Yes, that's what I'm trying to find out. Although I was actually thinking more about a few large (near or over a gig each) games.
    – j_foster
    Commented Jul 5, 2016 at 22:46
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    games and other ... non system applications (LibreOffice, geogebra, *cad, huge IDE like Eclipse, ....) safe to exclude from update before upgrade. This apps definitely not involved in process of upgrade and potential problems with upgrading this apps can be resolved latter manually.
    – mmv-ru
    Commented Jul 12, 2016 at 15:19
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    @mmv-ru Your comment could be turned into an answer without much trouble.
    – Roflo
    Commented Jul 19, 2016 at 13:43

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