[TriLUG] rpm database question

Benjamin Reed ranger at befunk.com
Tue Nov 20 17:05:35 EST 2001


Lisa Lorenzin [lorenzin at 1000plus.com] wrote:
> 
> for folks running redhat, how do you reconcile wanting to compile your own
> versions of things with wanting to keep the rpm database up to date?
> 
> for example, i'm seriously considering installing the latest version of
> sendmail on my new RH7.2 box.  there's not an rpm for it yet, and even if
> there was, i'd like to make some customizations to it (nothing fancy -
> just cosmetic).  at that point, what my rpm database knows about will be
> out of sync with what my box has, which will screw up my automatic updates
> via rhup and confuse me mightily when i go to do something else with
> sendmail in 6 months, having totally forgotten i did this.  (okay, with my
> memory, make that 2 months.)
> 
> so, is there any way around this?  do i have to just choose between
> compiling my own versions and having rpm reflect reality, or can i have my
> cake and eat it too?
> 
> one option would seem to be compiling it, building my own rpm from what i
> compile, removing what i compiled, and installing it via my new rpm - but
> a) that seems like going around my rear to get to my elbow, and b) i've
> never built an rpm before, so i'm not sure i'd be able to trust what came
> out of that process.
> 
> any clues will be greatly appreciated!

Often, you can grab the latest SRPM from, say, rawhide, and grab the
official tarball, and rebuild.  IE:

  - download ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/rawhide/SRPMS/SRPMS/sendmail-8.11.6-4.src.rpm
  - download ftp://ftp.sendmail.org/pub/sendmail/sendmail.8.12.1.tar.gz and
    put it in /usr/src/redhat/SOURCES

  - run "rpm --install sendmail-8.11.6-4.src.rpm"
  - go into /usr/src/redhat/SPECS and edit sendmail.spec -- You will need to
    change the version (usually defined right at the top).
  - run "rpm -ba sendmail.spec" and if all goes well you'll have a new
    sendmail RPM in /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/<arch>.

It's not always that easy, but for minor incremental upgrades it's usually
fine.


-- 
Ben Reed a.k.a. Ranger Rick (ranger at befunk.com)
http://defiance.dyndns.org/ / http://radio.scenespot.org/
Frankenstein was the creator -- not the monster.  It's a common
misconception, held by all truly stupid people. -- Kryten



More information about the TriLUG mailing list