Ubuntu/Linux : updating Lazarus through fpcupdeluxe

[Nel_Fie]

I'd like to install the latest version of Lazarus, but installing through fpcupdeluxe doesn't seem to work. The FPC is correctly updated to 3.2.2, but Lazarus itself remains at 2.2.6. By my understanding, the most recent version should be 3.4?

So my thought is that maybe I need to uninstall the old version manually first. How would I go about doing that?

Or does anyone have any better suggestions how to deal with this problem?

[CharlyTango]

Since it is possible to install multiple instances of Lazarus/FPC simultaneously in different directories with fpcupdeluxe, I avoided updating a Lazarus version (although it is actually possible). I always immediately install a new version in a separate directory without overwriting another existing one. Therefore you can always test the new version extensively before deleting the old one (which is just a simple deletion of a directory and the link to it.

Fpcupdeluxe offers with the file defmods.ini a very comfortable possibility to always create "your" Lazarus including the desired standard components.

Further installation of components is done by OPM (OnlinePackage Manager) which can also be easily installed via fpcupdeluxe with a single mouse click

I currently run several instances at the same time, some for testing, others for testing components and then the productive versions for different projects

[TRon]

I'd like to install the latest version of Lazarus, but installing through fpcupdeluxe doesn't seem to work.

Works for me and about anyone else ^tm

The FPC is correctly updated to 3.2.2, but Lazarus itself remains at 2.2.6. By my understanding, the most recent version should be 3.4?

The most recent official release version is indeed 3.4.

Where did you install the new Lazarus and more importantly how did you start it ?

I myself have 6 or 7 active Lazarus installations and they all require their own menu-entry so that the correct Lazarus version is started.

So my thought is that maybe I need to uninstall the old version manually first.

You can but fpcupdeluxe does not really care about existing installations. Different installations can happily live next to eachother.

How would I go about doing that?

Removing an existing installation depends on how that lazarus version was installed in the first place. Since you forgot to mention that, there is no good possible answer.

Or does anyone have any better suggestions how to deal with this problem?

Just run fpcupdeluxe and do not install the newly created lazarus in the same location as the previous one.

For instance I use the following structure:
/home/apps/lazarus
- 2.2.4
- 2.2.6
- 2.3
- 3.0
- 3.2
- 3.4
- trunk

Which are all individual directories containing the corresponding Lazarus installation. They also use their own config directory that is located in there (but that is my own personal preference)

[dseligo]

What version of fpcupdeluxe did you use?
Latest fpcupdeluxe version is v2.4.0e (https://github.com/LongDirtyAnimAlf/fpcupdeluxe/releases).

[Nel_Fie]

Quick update on the current situation: I've managed to install Lazarus 3.4 via FPCUPdeluxe, using the method suggested by several people above of installing to a new installation path. It took a few tries due to some errors, but now everything seems to work fine.

Since it is possible to install multiple instances of Lazarus/FPC simultaneously in different directories with fpcupdeluxe, I avoided updating a Lazarus version (although it is actually possible). I always immediately install a new version in a separate directory without overwriting another existing one. Therefore you can always test the new version extensively before deleting the old one (which is just a simple deletion of a directory and the link to it.

Fpcupdeluxe offers with the file defmods.ini a very comfortable possibility to always create "your" Lazarus including the desired standard components.

Further installation of components is done by OPM (OnlinePackage Manager) which can also be easily installed via fpcupdeluxe with a single mouse click

I currently run several instances at the same time, some for testing, others for testing components and then the productive versions for different projects

Thank you for the suggestion. That worked out as you describe, and knowing I can simply delete the folders of unneeded versions is exactly the information I needed.

I'd like to install the latest version of Lazarus, but installing through fpcupdeluxe doesn't seem to work.

Works for me and about anyone else ^tm

The FPC is correctly updated to 3.2.2, but Lazarus itself remains at 2.2.6. By my understanding, the most recent version should be 3.4?

The most recent official release version is indeed 3.4.

Where did you install the new Lazarus and more importantly how did you start it ?

I myself have 6 or 7 active Lazarus installations and they all require their own menu-entry so that the correct Lazarus version is started.

So my thought is that maybe I need to uninstall the old version manually first.

You can but fpcupdeluxe does not really care about existing installations. Different installations can happily live next to eachother.

How would I go about doing that?

Removing an existing installation depends on how that lazarus version was installed in the first place. Since you forgot to mention that, there is no good possible answer.

Or does anyone have any better suggestions how to deal with this problem?

Just run fpcupdeluxe and do not install the newly created lazarus in the same location as the previous one.

For instance I use the following structure:
/home/apps/lazarus
- 2.2.4
- 2.2.6
- 2.3
- 3.0
- 3.2
- 3.4
- trunk

Which are all individual directories containing the corresponding Lazarus installation. They also use their own config directory that is located in there (but that is my own personal preference)

Thank you. Apologies if my information was incomplete. My previous version of Lazarus was also installed via FPCUPdeluxe. I expected it to simply update the existing one since that's how most other software works, but having separate versions make sense - as does your folder structure for it. I should probably adopt that going forward.

What version of fpcupdeluxe did you use?
Latest fpcupdeluxe version is v2.4.0e (https://github.com/LongDirtyAnimAlf/fpcupdeluxe/releases).

I downloaded the most recent version of FPCUPdeluxe after failed attempts with an older one.
As stated, I managed to install Lazarus 3.4 by selecting a new install path, so everything seems to work as intended.

[TRon]

Quick update on the current situation: I've managed to install Lazarus 3.4 via FPCUPdeluxe, using the method suggested by several people above of installing to a new installation path. It took a few tries due to some errors, but now everything seems to work fine.

Congratz, at least that is progress 

Thank you. Apologies if my information was incomplete.

yw, and no problem. That is why I asked.

My previous version of Lazarus was also installed via FPCUPdeluxe. I expected it to simply update the existing one since that's how most other software works, but having separate versions make sense - as does your folder structure for it. I should probably adopt that going forward.

Confession time then. I actually do not generally use FPCUpDeluxe and usually build everything manually from source. I do use FPCUpDeluxe on occasion for difficult to setup (cross) compilers. In theory FPCUpdeluxe should be able to 'update' an existing installation (there is even an option for it) but I do not know from experience how well that works.

The most important part to pick up on when using several installations next to each other is for them to all use their own separate configuration directory. Do not use system wide default configuration files and folders and make sure to (properly) change the install path. It easy to forget that because it is just hiding itself (in plain sight) at the top left

FPCUpDeluxe usually does automatically take care of most of these things except for the separate menu/desktop entries (they are all named the same and so will overwrite. How that needs to be solved depends on the menu manager that is used in your distro.

FWIW: when using FPCUpDeluxe I always install outside my existing setup and then manually copy over the installation to my own setup. That is just to make sure that nothing will interfere with my own setup (yes, overly cautious)

[Nel_Fie]

Confession time then. I actually do not generally use FPCUpDeluxe and usually build everything manually from source. I do use FPCUpDeluxe on occasion for difficult to setup (cross) compilers. In theory FPCUpdeluxe should be able to 'update' an existing installation (there is even an option for it) but I do not know from experience how well that works.

The most important part to pick up on when using several installations next to each other is for them to all use their own separate configuration directory. Do not use system wide default configuration files and folders and make sure to (properly) change the install path. It easy to forget that because it is just hiding itself (in plain sight) at the top left

FPCUpDeluxe usually does automatically take care of most of these things except for the separate menu/desktop entries (they are all named the same and so will overwrite. How that needs to be solved depends on the menu manager that is used in your distro.

FWIW: when using FPCUpDeluxe I always install outside my existing setup and then manually copy over the installation to my own setup. That is just to make sure that nothing will interfere with my own setup (yes, overly cautious)

Thank you for the additional feedback and suggestions! I'll have to keep all this in mind next time I update.

Based on the attempts that lead to me creating this thread, I'm not entirely sure how FPCUpDeluxe can update an existing installation of Lazarus (that was done by FPCUpDeluxe). It didn't do it by itself, and I couldn't find any kind of setting. It seemed to update the associated FPC just fine, though.

But when I made a separate installation for Laz 3.4, it actually did create a separate desktop link by itself, without overwriting the old one. So, not sure how that happened.

Well, for now the new installation of 3.4 seems to work as expected despite my ignorance, so I'm not going to mess with it any further unless I run into problems. Fingers crossed.

[dsiders]

Based on the attempts that lead to me creating this thread, I'm not entirely sure how FPCUpDeluxe can update an existing installation of Lazarus (that was done by FPCUpDeluxe). It didn't do it by itself, and I couldn't find any kind of setting. It seemed to update the associated FPC just fine, though.

FPCUpDeluxe creates a git checkout for the repository it is pointed at. If you change anything (even as simple as installing a component) then it no longer matches the repo when it tries to update. There was a message about the things that got skipped because of conflicts in all that text that scrolls by during update - but no one reads it. There is a message written to the log file too - but again no one reads it.

For you own sanity, just blow away the old install and do a new one.

[TRon]

Based on the attempts that lead to me creating this thread, I'm not entirely sure how FPCUpDeluxe can update an existing installation of Lazarus (that was done by FPCUpDeluxe). It didn't do it by itself, and I couldn't find any kind of setting. It seemed to update the associated FPC just fine, though.

I agree with dsiders comment there. If you are more experienced with fpcupdeluxe and more comfortable you could always start experimenting.

But when I made a separate installation for Laz 3.4, it actually did create a separate desktop link by itself, without overwriting the old one. So, not sure how that happened.

Oh, that is good to know and thank your for reporting that. It could very well be that this was addressed/fixed since the last time I've checked that. That is one less thing to worry about then 

Well, for now the new installation of 3.4 seems to work as expected despite my ignorance, so I'm not going to mess with it any further unless I run into problems. Fingers crossed.

In case you do run into issues then you can always ask and present your issue. FPCUpDeluxe is an amazing piece of software that is very helpful for those that are not familiar with the installation process but occasion bad things do happen. That is especially true when installing trunk compiler and IDE (sometimes the original repository simply does not build and FPCUpDeluxe can't fix that either).

[Nel_Fie]

FPCUpDeluxe creates a git checkout for the repository it is pointed at. If you change anything (even as simple as installing a component) then it no longer matches the repo when it tries to update. There was a message about the things that got skipped because of conflicts in all that text that scrolls by during update - but no one reads it. There is a message written to the log file too - but again no one reads it.

For you own sanity, just blow away the old install and do a new one.

Good to know, thank you for the information! Indeed, I'll follow what seemed to be the consensus so far, and install new versions to new paths.

It's the unfortunate nature of complete but long texts that you can't really know if reading it is worth the time until you actually do it. I guess maybe I should have a bit more faith in the future.

I agree with dsiders comment there. If you are more experienced with fpcupdeluxe and more comfortable you could always start experimenting.

I don't think I'll count as "experienced" anytime soon, ha ha! Or at least, I'd be glad to leave the experimenting to people more competent than myself.

Oh, that is good to know and thank your for reporting that. It could very well be that this was addressed/fixed since the last time I've checked that. That is one less thing to worry about then 
In case you do run into issues then you can always ask and present your issue. FPCUpDeluxe is an amazing piece of software that is very helpful for those that are not familiar with the installation process but occasion bad things do happen. That is especially true when installing trunk compiler and IDE (sometimes the original repository simply does not build and FPCUpDeluxe can't fix that either).

No guarantee that it'll create a new link on every install, but it certainly did this time.

I'll certainly report or bring up anything that seems like an issue to me, no worries. I understand the value of FPCUpDeluxe - in fact, back when I first tried to sort through options by which one could install Lazarus on Ubuntu in an older thread, I ended up writing a little guide for other newbies like me who might have the same trouble I did: A beginner's guide to installing Lazarus 2.2.6 for Ubuntu 22.04