Re: [CentOS] rpm --freshen issue (was: Re: Caught between a Red Hat and a CentOS)

-- David Fix ----- Original Message ----- From: "ken" gebser@mousecar.com To: "CentOS mailing list" centos@centos.org Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 5:12:14 AM Subject: [CentOS] rpm --freshen issue (was: Re: Caught between a Red Hat and a CentOS) On 10/20/2009 12:15 PM Benjamin Franz wrote: > ken wrote: >> Okay, here's one. Maybe someone here can figure it out. >> Upgrading from 4.5 to 4.5. From a 4.6 ISO I copied all the RPMs into a >> directory... let's call it c:/install :). Now the oracle dba has >> strict parameters on what versions can be installed and which can't. >> The rpms in c:/install meet those requirements. In addition, since this >> is a production machine, it can be down at most for one day. So all I >> want to do is upgrade what's currently on the system. Moreover, if >> something horks, I want two chances to back out (the second being asking >> the backup guy to put the system back to yesterday). The command to do >> this would be >> >> rpm --freshen --repackage * >> >> run in that crazy c:/install directory (or what the redhat guy called, a >> "folder"). This command runs fine for one file which has no >> dependencies (i.e., change '*' to a specific rpm). It also upgrades >> three or four co-dependent rpms if they're narrowly specified. But if >> the file/rpm spec is '*', rpm complains about two missing dependencies >> and stops. >> >> Yeah, this directory contains 1507 rpms (IIRC)... which is a lot, but it >> should still work. This is Linux, after all. And there's plenty enough >> memory and cpu to handle it. >> > > Running > > rpm --freshen --repackage * > > for 1500+ rpms probably exceeds the maximum character length for some > part of the system after expansion of the '*' by the shell. That was my first suspicion too. The redhat tech didn't bring that up though. (That doesn't mean I'm going to ignore that as a possible workaround; the original conversation here was about tech support per se. Of course I'm still seeking ways to do the job. And so thanks for the suggestion.) I, too, recall reading some years back about a bash line length limit. Back then, a long time ago, it was 2048 characters. So I ran "echo *" in that same install/ directory and the output included all 1507 files. So the problem's not with a bash command line length limit, but still pointing to the "rpm" command. > > Try breaking it up into smaller chunks (say two or three hundred at a > time). You can match subsets of the files using shell expansions like > > rpm --freshen --repackage [a-g]* > > and tweak the line for any dependency complaints manually. This solution occurred to me also. And right now it's a top contender (along with another I'll mention shortly). If the job environment were different, I'd go with it. But my boss is making me jump through a lot of hoops for this project. This upgrade from v.4.5 to v.4.6 needs to happen in a single, specified day *and* my boss needs to know how long it will take me to accomplish, this so the Oracle dba knows when he can start to on what he's got to do for this upgrade. And I have at most fifteen hours (i.e., two working days) to come up with this fool-proof plan. Plus, I don't have a test box to try things out on. But I've had to do trickier stuff than this in the past with not dissimilar time constraints, so though I should be taking extra boxers to work, I'm not (yet). So what I was thinking of doing is scripting the solution you suggest above. But then, if I'm going to script something, I might as well write a script that will take on the entire task wholistically. I mean something like this: ls -1 install/ > what-to-upgrade.list # create package list while read package | {upgrade package} #just quasi-code here. Loop. if {there's nothing to upgrade} remove pkg from what-to-upgrade.list log this continue fi if {there are dependencies} then for {each dependency} {upgrade package} # yep, recursion fi else [upgrade package} # simplest case, just upgrade one pkg The {upgrade package} function would be fairly simple (I think): - Find the correct package in the install/ directory (containing the RPMs for v.4.6). - Upgrade the 4.5 package with that correct 4.6 package. - Confirm that the 4.6 is installed. - Remove that package name from what-to-upgrade.list - Log that this package has been upgraded. I already see some bogus stuff here, but I'm writing this on the fly. Point is, it seems do-able, and probably within the time constraints. And then, what are the alternatives? One, suggested by the redhat tech (about whom there's more news... later), is to use up2date. I read the manpage on it and it's pretty vague. I'm sure I have, but I don't recall using it before, so I can't fill in the details which the manpage lacks. Lastly, I don't see a way to test up2date to see if it will work within my (dba's) specific parameters. Benjamin, thanks for your constructive response. Any further such (from you or anyone else) will be much appreciated. Best, ken > > Alternatively, use 'createrepo' to create a Yum repository of the RPMs > and use yum to handle it for you.