[CentOS] Yum update corrupted something badly - can only get access through SSH terminal or Webmin

Wed Apr 22 17:48:12 UTC 2009
Dan Roberts <dan at jlazyh.com>

thanks for the details - As the server lives in a closet without a  
monitor on it or even easy access I opted for Webmin so as to have the  
ability to get in and work with it.

I will resubscribe and get back into a better habit - I had been  
checking every day a year ago, and then life got busy.

Things were fine, and I had no trouble the in January when i put a  
monitor on it for some other reasons - but after the hang today it now  
is stuck.

As my cut and past below indicates, the "yum clean all" results in a  
consistent set of errors - any yum command seems to return the same  
errors.

Regardless of how or why they were caused, the issue now is how to  
clear them out so that I can actually get yum to work -

[root at trailrunner yum]# yum clean all
Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "/usr/bin/yum", line 28, in ?
     import yummain
   File "/usr/share/yum-cli/yummain.py", line 29, in ?
     import cli
   File "/usr/share/yum-cli/cli.py", line 30, in ?
     import output
   File "/usr/share/yum-cli/output.py", line 26, in ?
     from i18n import _
ImportError: No module named i18n
[root at trailrunner yum]#




On Apr 22, 2009, at 11:15 AM, Jim Perrin wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 12:47 PM, Dan Roberts <dan at jlazyh.com> wrote:
>> Hey there -
>>
>> This morning I ran the yum updater through Webmin as I do every month
>> or so - after about two hours I realized that I still had the same
>> updating screen going - and no response.   Seemed strange.
>
> So you probably missed the notes and announcements about the 5.3
> release, as well as the release notes about upgrade hiccups.
> There are also quite a few updates here, so the update will take some
> time to run.
>
>> Simple attempts to kill it didn't work so I sent a command to reboot
>> the system - that seemed to work, till I turned on the monitor
>> directly connected to the server -
>
> Updating via webmin may not be the best approach, as some things may
> update which could impact webmin.
>
>> I saw this error go by - and then only a spinning cursor - never get
>> to a login screen.  (I power cycled again and saw it go by again -  
>> and
>> recognized it when I tried again at Webmin and through a terminal
>> connection).
>
> Power cycling a system should be considered a last-resort option, not
> a method for troubleshooting.
>
>> Traceback (most recent call last):
>>   File "/usr/bin/yum", line 28, in ?
>>     import yummain
>>   File "/usr/share/yum-cli/yummain.py", line 29, in ?
>>     import cli
>>   File "/usr/share/yum-cli/cli.py", line 30, in ?
>>     import output
>>   File "/usr/share/yum-cli/output.py", line 26, in ?
>>     from i18n import _
>> ImportError: No module named i18n
>>
>> I deleted the yum cash and no improvement.  I tried the yum clean and
>> no imporvement
>> [root at trailrunner yum]# yum clean all
>> Traceback (most recent call last):
>>   File "/usr/bin/yum", line 28, in ?
>>     import yummain
>>   File "/usr/share/yum-cli/yummain.py", line 29, in ?
>>     import cli
>>   File "/usr/share/yum-cli/cli.py", line 30, in ?
>>     import output
>>   File "/usr/share/yum-cli/output.py", line 26, in ?
>>     from i18n import _
>> ImportError: No module named i18n
>> [root at trailrunner yum]#
>>
>> Not at all sure what happened or why, or where I even start trying to
>> straighten this mess out.
>
> For systems which experienced issues moving from 5.2 to 5.3, a 'yum
> clean all' resolved the majority of issues.
>
>> How do I blow away the apparent yum junk in the hope of getting a
>> local login capability back?
>
> Yum doesn't have anything to do with logging into the system at all.
> I'm not sure why you think this would help. However as previously
> stated a 'yum clean all' should 'blow away' the yum bits. Further
> nuking yum transactions is not to be done lightly, and requires the
> yum-utils package to be installed. We'll go over that command later if
> we have to.
>
>> How or what should I do to reset yum - seems reinstalling the latest
>> version is probably the route.  What is the version that CentOS
>> uses?   Should I go the RPM route or try something more specific?
>>
>> Totally unexpected problem and leaving me feeling very uncertain  
>> about
>> things.
>
> Please subscribe to the Centos-Announce list. You got blind-sided by a
> very public release because you only update every month or so, and
> don't generally follow updates in a manner most admins would consider
> 'good practice'. I believe that had you been aware of the 5.3 release,
> you would have been a bit more careful in things.
>
>
> -- 
> During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a  
> revolutionary act.
> George Orwell
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