external rpm dependency resolution

[Robert Martin]

On 4/3/07, Jeff Johnson <n3npq at mac.com> wrote:
>
> On Apr 3, 2007, at 2:37 PM, Stijn De Weirdt wrote:
>
> > hi all,
> >
> > i'm looking into rpm dependency resolution for an admin tool and i
> > was wondering if existing smart code (or api) could be of any help.
> > (as i am no real rpm guru/expert, i'm very afraid of starting from
> > scratch).
> > any hints or help is very welcome.
> >
> > the situation is as follows:
> > the tool deploys a static list of rpms and repositories to a
> > machine, where all rpms are checked for removal or installation
> > against the local rpmdb. (one of the main reasons of this is to
> > have a form of version control on the rpms installed on the boxes).
> >
> > the problem arises when making this static rpm list. the main
> > annoyance we are currently facing is that during deployment of the
> > machine configuration, we sometimes have dependency problems
> > (missing rpms, wrong version, file conflicts) that we like to
> > resolve before deploying and preferably without having to do test
> > installs (there are lots of different machine types and
> > architecures. setting up and maintaining a tesbed is not the
> > preferred option).
> > (the generation of this list using update/upgrade-like commands
> > would also be a very nice feature)
> >
>
> Here's how to dry lab test installing a static list of rpms against
> some known rpmdb:
>
> 1) Get a copy of /var/lib/rpm from somewhere. Put in /tmp/rpm directory.
>
> 2) Generate a package manifest, i.e. a list of paths to rpm's to
> install. Put in /tmp/manifest file.
>
> 3) Run "rpm -Uvv --dbpath /tmp/rpm --test /tmp/manifest".
>
> Dependency failures should be displayed.
>
> > as most rpm management solutions nowadays seem to do this using
> > local rpmdb and the metadata of the repositories, i'm interested in
> > the opinion of the smart experts on how to best tackle this.
> >
> > the main os is a rhel clone (Scientific Linux), we need support for
> > mixed architectures (i386 and x86_64) and we can generate any kind
> > of metadata that would be needed.
> >
> > if you need some more detail, i'm more than happy to provide it.
> >
>
> If you need more help, contact me privately <n3npq at mac.com>.
>
> 73 de Jeff
> > many thanks,
> >
> > stijn
>
>
you may also want to look into what tools you have to create a
distribution (ie build mirror tree
chop out the rpms you don't want and then rebuild the existing indexes)

-- 
Robert L Martin