[ale] rpm's src vs binary and the confusion

scott mcbrien smcbrien at gmail.com
Fri Jun 7 12:01:21 EDT 2013 

No, %pre is a bit of scripting that happens when you're installing the
RPM.  It occurs before the files are installed into the directory tree.
The purpose of %pre is to adjust the target system, as required, before
your software is put into place.  Likewise, %post is done after the files
are positioned and gives you the opportunity to execute commands after the
file installation has completed.

An example of a %pre, from Red Hat's httpd RPM:
# Add the "apache" user
getent group apache >/dev/null || groupadd -g 48 -r apache
getent passwd apache >/dev/null || \
  useradd -r -u 48 -g apache -s /sbin/nologin \
    -d /var/www -c "Apache" apache
exit 0

Their RPM places files into the directory tree owned by "apache:apache",
and that wouldn't work so well if that user and group didn't exist.  To
that end, they check to see if the user/group is there, and if not, take
care of adding it.

Likewise, here's the %preun from the same RPM:
if [ $1 = 0 ]; then
        /sbin/service httpd stop > /dev/null 2>&1
        /sbin/chkconfig --del httpd
fi

Before we delete all the webserver files, lets stop the service (if it's
running) and delete it from the init directories.  If this was not done,
any running httpd daemons would still be running in memory, but all their
logs, modules, and other files they may need would have been removed with
the RPM removal.

-Scott


On Fri, Jun 7, 2013 at 11:41 AM, Narahari 'n' Savitha
<savithari at gmail.com>wrote:

> Well I think the %pre section should allow you to run a script that is not
> a part of the copy to final location.
>
> I am really confused on how to use the %pre section correctly where the
> source is a part of the Source: tag in the pre-amble.
>
> Should that file be copied to the target location, in which case it is too
> late and the file(s) might have overwritten the files ?
>
> I may need a script(or a bunch of scripts) to run much before any files
> are copied over to the destination.
>
> The %pre is to be able to do that, but I am not able to get the .sh files
> there.
>
> -Narahari
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 7, 2013 at 10:29 AM, Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Shouldn't that script file just be part of your SOURCE and then processed
>> during make to be a plain copy to final location , listed in %files?
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 7, 2013 at 9:19 AM, Narahari 'n' Savitha <savithari at gmail.com
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Ok, Thank you to all of you.  I created my .rpm and tried it out.  A few
>>> questions still linger.  Kindly help.
>>>
>>> My package is not a relocatable package, at least thats what the tool
>>> tells me.  What am I doing wrong that is making it Non-Relocatable ?
>>> Here is the spec file.
>>> http://pastebin.com/rFcE7Y05
>>>
>>> Also please take a look at this link.
>>>
>>>
>>> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7813436/rpmbuild-using-script-files-contained-in-the-package-in-pre-script
>>>
>>> In this the person who has replied says that Makeself allows you to
>>> create a self installable executable which is base64encoded.  But the
>>> question is how do you put a script (aka .sh file) which is a part of the
>>> .rpm file  in the
>>>
>>> %pre section.
>>>
>>> If I want to put Source2:narahari.sh how do you make it available %pre
>>> as in
>>>
>>> %pre -f narahari.sh
>>>
>>> Thank You
>>> -Narahari
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jun 5, 2013 at 12:04 AM, Jeff Hubbs <jhubbslist at att.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>>  Meh.  Admins rotate in and out so much these days and documenting
>>>> things is so unheard of...don't get me started.  Suffice it to say that no
>>>> one will curse your name because no one will remember it. :)
>>>>
>>>> A few years ago I was trying to address a very unhealthy
>>>> Tomcat-behind-Apache platform that was using some very old version of
>>>> Tomcat that was so unstable that it was end-of-lifed and a whole new branch
>>>> of the tree emerged with a "there be dragons" sign left at the old. :)
>>>>
>>>> The Apache people, over and over again, would say DON'T use your
>>>> distro's package manager...just DON'T!!!  And sure enough, on RH and
>>>> -alikes, I could see why at the time.  Whoever managed the Gentoo ebuild
>>>> was very meticulous and it *would* work perfectly, but you could see that a
>>>> "Tomcat way" and a "Gentoo way" of doing and placing things was being very
>>>> carefully reconciled.  Just the same, if you eschewed the Tomcat ebuild
>>>> under Gentoo and just took the Tomcat distribution as the Apache people
>>>> intended, there wasn't any interference and it would work just fine also,
>>>> provided you'd laid in the dependencies by hand via Portage.
>>>>
>>>> On 6/4/13 8:40 PM, Jim Kinney wrote:
>>>>
>>>> +1e^infinity
>>>> KISS principle keeps later admins from putting a price on your head.
>>>> On Jun 4, 2013 8:21 PM, "Scott McBrien" <smcbrien at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>  I would attempt to dissuade you from using a delta rpm.  With
>>>>> deltas, you end up being really really concerned with versions.  So after
>>>>> your first delta gets applied, if you have another update, you make a delta
>>>>> of the delta, which means if there's a machine with the vanilla rpm out
>>>>> there and you apply delta2 on it, things devolve into madness quite
>>>>> quickly.  Does a regular RPM contain more stuff and take up more space?
>>>>>  Sure.  But if an RPM is 10MB or 100MB, who really cares.  The simpler you
>>>>> keep your packages, the more independent you keep your packages the less
>>>>> likely that you get into a situation you can't, or is extremely difficult,
>>>>> to reverse.
>>>>>
>>>>>  If you choose to ignore my advice, you should use not only the
>>>>> package name, but also the version in your Requires for your drpm, that
>>>>> should keep you from applying a drpm to a box that is not at the
>>>>> appropriate version to accept the delta successfully.
>>>>>
>>>>>  But seriously, keep it simple, it will improve your life in the long
>>>>> run, and admins who follow you will praise your good works rather than
>>>>> spitting and cursing at the mention of your name.
>>>>>
>>>>>  -Scott
>>>>>
>>>>> On Jun 4, 2013, at 7:23 PM, "Narahari 'n' Savitha" <
>>>>> savithari at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>   I built my vanilla Tomcat rpm and the %install section has
>>>>>
>>>>>  mkdir -p $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/opt/
>>>>> cp -R /home/virtual/rpmbuild/BUILD/apache-tomcat-7.0.37
>>>>> $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/opt
>>>>>
>>>>>  I also built the delta.rpm and I am in the process of tinkering the
>>>>> %install section for that.
>>>>> What I would like to do is
>>>>>
>>>>>  a. check if apache-tomcat-7.0.37-vanilla is installed (this I can do
>>>>> in the Requires section of the preamble, I presume the name is the name of
>>>>> the rpm package)
>>>>> b. enquire the rpm tool as to where the package
>>>>> apache-tomcat-7.0.37-vanilla is installed ? not sure how to do this.
>>>>> c. cd to the location the apache-tomcat-7.0.37-vanilla is installed
>>>>> and backup a few files.
>>>>> d. then do a cp -r from the BUILD folder to the target folder.
>>>>>
>>>>>  Where should I put the code for all this ?  I presume the %install
>>>>> section ?
>>>>> What all heavy lifting can I or should I do in the %install section
>>>>> and is using macros a requirement or a good thing to do kind of a thing ?
>>>>>
>>>>>  Kindly help.
>>>>>
>>>>>  -Narahari
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, Jun 3, 2013 at 3:31 PM, Scott Plante <splante at insightsys.com>wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>  "Also, tomcat is not really built as in gcc or cc or whatever aka
>>>>>> no make or configure."
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Mostly true, however there is an optional native part, found in the
>>>>>> "[tomcat-root]/bin/commons-daemon-native.tar.gz" file. If you're creating a
>>>>>> Tomcat binary RPM it would be a good idea to compile this, as it allows you
>>>>>> to have Tomcat listen on port 80/443 (or a port <1024) directly without
>>>>>> running Tomcat as root. You don't need this if you're running Tomcat behind
>>>>>> Apache HTTP, but for example WebRTC won't work proxying through ajp.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Scott
>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>> *From: *"Narahari 'n' Savitha" <savithari at gmail.com>
>>>>>> *To: *"Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts - Yes! We run Linux!" <ale at ale.org>
>>>>>> *Sent: *Sunday, June 2, 2013 10:02:11 PM
>>>>>> *Subject: *[ale] rpm's src vs binary and the confusion
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>      Friends:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  I am building an rpm for Apache Tomcat version 7.0.37.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Sorry to ask a lame question but what is the diff between src rpm
>>>>>> and regular rpm ?
>>>>>>  (dont flame, I know I have read it but it confuses me when I am
>>>>>> building)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Also, tomcat is not really built as in gcc or cc or whatever aka no
>>>>>> make or configure.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  So in the install section what should I be really doing ?
>>>>>>  Spec file is here.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://pastebin.com/f6P64tSQ
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Also, if I have a custom name for the rpm I am building, what macros
>>>>>> or env variables are available in the %install section ?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Regards,
>>>>>>  -Narahari
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Ale mailing list
>>>>>> Ale at ale.org
>>>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>>>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Ale mailing list
>>>>>> Ale at ale.org
>>>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>>>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>   _______________________________________________
>>>>> Ale mailing list
>>>>> Ale at ale.org
>>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Ale mailing list
>>>>> Ale at ale.org
>>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Ale mailing listAle at ale.orghttp://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists athttp://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Ale mailing list
>>>> Ale at ale.org
>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Ale mailing list
>>> Ale at ale.org
>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> James P. Kinney III
>> *
>> Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you
>> gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own
>> tail. It won't fatten the dog.
>> - Speech 11/23/1900 Mark Twain
>>
>> http://electjimkinney.org
>> http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/
>>  *
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ale mailing list
>> Ale at ale.org
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.ale.org/pipermail/ale/attachments/20130607/b9eff2e4/attachment-0001.html>

More information about the Ale mailing list